Losing and maintaining healthy weight is an exercise that we must do for life. When attending a nutrition consultation the goal of losing weight or solving a health problem is important, but it is not the main goal. This is, instead, learning again to eat and change our lifestyle so that our diet is not the cause of diseases in the future and, incidentally, correct the health problem that we have.

However, dietitians-nutritionists know that being disciplined 100% of the times when we have to make the decision to eat or drink something is almost impossible if we can only rely on our willpower. Therefore, we do advise that, from time to time and on very specific occasions, the way of eating is different from what it should be usually.

Can it really be fulfilled?

This idea has been perverted, and it is generally understood that we can “do whatever we want” because then we are going to compensate with more exercise, fasting or eliminating certain foods from our diet that, erroneously, are understood as “more caloric “.

Isn’t it true that when “we have to do something” or “we are obliged to” or “I’m going to have to” are concepts that generate rejection? We do not “have to eat” healthily, nor are we “obligated to eat” healthily, and we are not even “going to have to eliminate from our diet” because we immediately get a mad urge to eat unhealthy food .

On the other hand, when “I eat healthy because I like it and I feel good” it is very difficult to be tempted with foods that are not recommended on a regular basis.

When “we are on a diet” or “we have to diet” the chances of us returning to bad habits multiply because “being on a diet” implies a boring diet, with little flavor and that we are forced to do because we have no choice. . Therefore, as soon as we can, we skip it because “a day is a day” and we regain all the lost weight with a few kilos in addition. Because we feel like we’ve failed, the chances of us returning to “dieting” decrease with each attempt.

Reduce amounts to lose weight

When we want to lose weight we have no choice but to eat less. But of all kinds of foods (and watch out, that I say foods and not processed foods, which are very different) and keeping a balance between nutrients . When we have to lose a lot of weight we are going to be much stricter and we are going to allow ourselves a lot less licenses because the truth is that we have a goal to achieve and that we must achieve it in the shortest time possible.

But after losing the excess weight (or lowering cholesterol, or triglycerides …), we return to eating the calories we need based on our body, the exercise we do and the work we do. And that means that we eat the same as when we want to lose weight, although a little more. That is, we continue to eat vegetables in large quantities, fruit, legumes, real proteins, a few carbohydrates and we can allow ourselves a few more licenses when it comes to eating, but always applying common sense.

The problem that has led us to gain weight is still there and we must be able to handle it . We know (because there are studies that show it) that taking breaks in our diet from time to time allows us to maintain a healthy weight for much longer and that having breaks in our hypocaloric diet helps us lose weight much more effectively.

When our diet restricts the calories we need, metabolic adaptations occur that decrease hormones that activate metabolism, while increasing hormones that increase hunger and cortisol, all related to weight gain. In addition, the only thing that permanent energy restrictions achieve is to increase the absorption of nutrients by our intestines. Incorporating breaks reduces these adaptations by somewhat restoring hormone levels.

Psychologically, breaks keep us from feeling like weight loss restriction is endless work. When we take short breaks, we recharge willpower for the next period of restriction and eliminate the feeling of guilt. Who, while trying to lose weight, does not feel that the world is against him with so many plans to go out to eat, with vacations from which he returns with 2-3 kg of more or with friends who are determined to have their birthday? If we skip the diet slightly when we want to, it will be part of the plan, not a sign of weakness. Of course, if we skip our diet, that is for a very good reason, with real foods that we enjoy and being very clear that it must be a finite period of time.

You have to plan the breaks

To plan you have to know what events we have and mark them on our agenda. It is evident that if we have 2-3 events (dinners, birthdays, vacations, weddings …) a week it is impossible that we are going to achieve anything. We have to choose when I’m going to eat differentlyto how I should eat every day. We can, for example, use the holiday periods (which there is one every quarter plus some intermediate party) to know that, with head of course, we can allow ourselves that our diet on those dates is not perfect. Those days, we will enjoy the food (without doing the gross, yes), we will try to make good choices in our meals without stressing ourselves thinking that we are not making it perfect and, at the end of that period of time, we will return to stick to the diet as as we have it marked.

If we have a social life that “forces” us (beware, nobody forces us, we can decide too) to be constantly skipping our correct diet, it is evident that we have to start deciding which events we go to and which we do not go to (or if we go, we will stick to our diet).

But what if we cannot avoid the alteration in our intake?

For example, we have to accompany a family member to the hospital and there is no other option to eat other than the cafeteria menu, which is nothing like how I normally eat. Well, what we will do is take food from homeor, in the cafeteria choose correctly (salads, grilled dishes) and try to do the best possible when we eat at home. If we do not plan the breaks, in all probability after going through the nutrition consultation we will endure a few months (in the best case, a year) eating correctly. After that time one day we will realize that we have gained weight without realizing it and, when we review what we do wrong, we will see that we have been abandoning our correct diet by letting ourselves go uncontrollably down the path of disorderly eating and without controlling our weight with the scale every week.

When that happens, which can happen, the solution is simple: go back to our correct diet and, thus, get back on the right track: review what we do wrong and change it both in diet and physical exercise. If necessary, go back to our nutritionist to help us with it.

The difficult thing is not recovering from a fall, it is wanting to run again. But once you start running it gets easier every day.