Whether you gain or lose weight is determined not only by your calorie intake and exercise routine, but also by an interplay of several factors. Some of these are genetic and cannot be influenced, while others depend on your lifestyle and diet.
By choosing the right foods, you can control your hormone balance and thus also your weight in your favour. In particular, complex carbohydrates and a protein-rich diet have a positive effect on your weight. That's why we rely on a clever combination of fibre and proteins in our VERIVAL mueslis and porridges. This is the best way to start the day nutritionally.
Healthy mueslis from VERIVAL – try them now!
Find out what factors influence your weight and how you can use this knowledge to your advantage.
The calorie balance must be right
One of the best-known theories about our weight is the so-called calorie balance. This states that those who consume more calories than they burn will inevitably gain weight. This is referred to as a calorie surplus. The excess energy is stored in the form of fat.
If you burn more calories than you consume, this is called a calorie deficit. In this case, the body draws on fat reserves to burn energy and you lose weight.
This formula sounds simple in theory. In practice, however, it is usually not that easy to implement. For example, you may still feel hungry even though you have already reached your total calorie intake, or you may be overcome by a sudden craving.
Our next factor, which also influences your weight, can help somewhat:
If you exercise, you burn excess calories
Here we go one step further and first distinguish between the basal metabolic rate and the active metabolic rate.
Your basal metabolic rate determines how many calories your body needs at rest. This means that your body needs this energy for all vital functions. Most of the energy is consumed by our brain when it produces hormones and controls our organs.
The active metabolic rate, on the other hand, determines how much energy you additionally burn in your daily life. This is where sport comes into play, because it helps you burn extra calories.
However, this does not mean that exercise alone is enough to lose weight. Again, the calorie balance must be right. In other words, you have to consume fewer calories overall than you burn.
Those who focus on strength training and build muscle can not only increase their basal metabolic rate, but also their basal metabolic rate. This is because muscles burn additional calories even when you are at rest.
Find out everything about carbohydrates!
How our metabolism influences our weight
Your metabolism is responsible for various processes in your body. It ensures that your cells are supplied with energy and keeps your bodily functions going. In short, metabolism is the process in the body that converts ingested food into energy. Related to metabolism is the basal metabolic rate, which is the amount of energy burned at rest.
There can be various reasons for a slow metabolism and low basal metabolic rate. For example, it decreases with increasing age. This is partly because the body loses muscle mass and gains fat mass with age. Since muscles burn more energy than fat, the basal metabolic rate decreases.
There are also differences between the sexes: since men usually have more muscle mass than women, they also burn more energy.
In addition, an unhealthy lifestyle can slow down your metabolism. People who eat a high-sugar diet, are on a diet or fast for long periods of time can be affected and may find it difficult to lose weight as a result.
Diets – good or bad?
It seems like there is a new miracle diet every week that is supposed to help you lose those unwanted pounds. With so many options available, it's hard to keep track of them all. These fad diets may tell you to eat only half as much, cut out carbohydrates completely, live on nothing but juice for 10 days, or subsist on nothing but grapefruit.
Many of these diets are very one-sided and characterised by an extreme calorie deficit. This deficit does indeed cause the kilos to drop off in a short time. In the long term, however, this one-sided and low-calorie nutrition is bad for the metabolism and health.
As soon as you go back to your usual diet, you will quickly gain the lost weight. Sometimes you may even gain a few extra pounds.
The reason for this is that these extreme diets cause our metabolism to switch to low flame. The body then runs in what is known as hunger metabolism.
The hunger metabolism weight loss trap (yo-yo effect)
The starvation metabolism is deeply rooted in us and helped our ancestors survive long periods of hunger in prehistoric times.
It kicks in when you consume too few calories to cover your basal metabolic rate over a long period of time. This is exactly what the above-mentioned diets rely on: an extreme calorie deficit.
As a result, the body reduces its calorie consumption to a minimum by, for example, slowing down breathing and the pulse and lowering body temperature. This reduces the basal metabolic rate and you need less energy. So you could say that your body is in energy-saving mode.
This can happen if you diet or fast for a long period of time. If you suddenly go back to your old diet after a starvation diet, you will inevitably consume more calories than you need with your energy-saving basal metabolic rate. The so-called yo-yo effect occurs and you will quickly gain the weight you lost.
You can avoid the yo-yo effect by slowly and gradually increasing your calorie intake again after a diet. In general, however, it is advisable to avoid extreme diets altogether. Instead, focus on a balanced diet to feel comfortable with your weight in the long term.
Calculate how many calories your body needs, and meet your needs with wholesome foods that keep you full for a long time. These include, for example, wholemeal products, fruit, vegetables and proteins such as legumes, dairy products, lean meat or fish. To lose a few kilos without going into starvation mode, it's best not to cut more than 500 calories a day.
It is said that a total of 7000 kcal must be saved in order to lose 1 kg of fat . So if you stick to saving 300 to 500 kcal per day, you can lose 1 kg of fat in a healthy way in two to three weeks.
Hormones control our weight
Hormones play an important role in regulating your weight . If they become unbalanced, it can affect your body weight.
Three of the most important hormones involved are:
- Insulin
- Ghrelin
- Cortisol
Insulin – lowers blood sugar levels
Insulin plays a significant role when it comes to your diet and weight. After eating carbohydrate-rich foods, your blood sugar level rises. To lower it again, your pancreas releases insulin. An increased release of insulin causes you to build up fat. For this reason, it is important to keep your blood sugar level as constant as possible and not let it rise too high. This also prevents excessive insulin release.
Ghrelin – regulates appetite
Another hormone that affects your weight is ghrelin. It is produced in the lining of the stomach and regulates appetite. The more ghrelin that is released, the greater the hunger. This hormone increases before meals and decreases after meals. Studies show that high-protein food lowers ghrelin levels the most.
Cortisol – the stress hormone
Cortisol is an important hormone that is released in greater quantities in stressful situations. As a result, your blood sugar level rises and you experience cravings. By eating small, healthy meals at regular intervals, you can prevent cravings during a stressful workday.
How can you use this knowledge to your advantage? We have put together a few tips for you to help you consciously manage your weight with the right diet.
Achieve your feel-good weight with these nutrition tips
Replace simple carbohydrates with complex ones
If possible, avoid simple carbohydrates such as sweets or white flour products. These enter the bloodstream quickly, causing blood sugar levels to rise rapidly. As a result, your body releases insulin, and the blood sugar drops quickly. This makes you hungry again faster or even ravenous.
It's better to reach for whole grain products, vegetables and high-fibre foods to keep your blood sugar level and thus insulin production constant. Incidentally, one of our favourite ingredients for our mueslis and porridges is particularly suitable for this: oats. Due to its high fibre content, high-quality carbohydrates and good protein composition, oats keep blood sugar levels at an even level. We have looked at whether and how the grain can help you lose weight here: Lose weight with the oat diet – is it possible?
Proteins against hunger
In order to inhibit the production of the hunger hormone ghrelin, it is recommended to eat protein-rich foods such as legumes, dairy products, white meat, fish or eggs.
For breakfast, for example, our delicious sports breakfast, which is rich in vegetable proteins and dietary fibre, is ideal.
Snacks for stressful times
In stressful times, it helps to have healthy snacks such as nuts (hazelnuts, cashews), fruit or chopped vegetables to hand. This way you avoid food cravings caused by the stress hormone cortisol. Also, consciously take time to eat and don't do anything else on the side.
