How women lose weight. Physiology of weight loss. You will need a cardigan

Olya Likhacheva

Beauty is like a precious stone: the simpler it is, the more precious it is:)

Mar 20 2017

Content

It used to be that a woman expecting a child had to eat for two. Nowadays, gynecologists recommend that expectant mothers be careful about their diet and lifestyle. In order for the baby to be born healthy, and for the woman not to lose her attractiveness after pregnancy, she must know how to lose weight during this difficult period.

Excess weight and pregnancy

During the entire period of waiting for a child, an increase in body weight of 12 kg is considered normal. When a woman gains much more, she begins to think about how to lose weight during pregnancy without harming the fetus. Weight consists of amniotic fluid, baby weight, placenta, additional blood volume and enlarging breasts. The fat layer also increases, which is associated with maintaining hormonal balance in the female body.

For this reason, pregnancy and excess weight are very vague concepts. However, if a woman gains it rapidly, this contributes to the development of complications such as varicose veins, heart pathologies, and gestosis. The most common consequence of extra pounds is swelling, which indicates poor kidney function. It is important for an expectant mother to be able to control her weight in order to avoid unpleasant consequences.

Is it possible to lose weight during pregnancy?

Gynecologists say that only those women whose kilograms threaten to cause complications for her health or the development of the baby should think about how to lose weight during pregnancy. You should remove excess weight during pregnancy if severe obesity poses a danger:

• spontaneous expulsion of the embryo;
• increased blood loss during childbirth;
• premature birth;
• heavy rehabilitation.

How to lose weight while pregnant without harming the baby

To lose extra pounds without harming your baby, you should review your diet and perform special exercises for expectant mothers every day. Losing weight during pregnancy will happen faster with an active lifestyle. To do this you need:

• regularly engage in stretching, stretching, and gymnastics;
• swim in swiming pool;
• go for a massage;
• breathe correctly when walking;
• walk more often in the fresh air.

Diet for pregnant women for weight loss

Proper childbearing requires a review of nutrition. Expectant mothers should not lose weight through a strict diet. However, to prevent nutritional obesity from becoming a cause of complications, you need to know some nuances:

• a diet for losing weight during pregnancy should contain 10% more protein;
• you should give up fast carbohydrates (sugar, sweets);
• most of the diet should consist of cereals, vegetables, cereals, legumes and hard fruits;
• Excessive consumption of freshly squeezed fruit juices should be avoided;
• it is necessary to reduce the time for heat treatment of food;
• To lose weight, you need to eat heavy food before 15:00.

Exercises for weight loss during pregnancy

In addition to adjusting your diet, how else can you lose weight during pregnancy? Physical activity, which includes a complex of breathing techniques and muscle stretching. Particular attention should be paid to the muscles of the pelvis, perineum, and vagina. Exercise not only contributes to weight loss, but also prepares the expectant mother for labor and normalizes the functioning of the heart and vascular system. Before doing any exercises to lose weight during pregnancy, you should definitely consult your gynecologist.

How to lose weight during pregnancy

Excess body weight in a pregnant woman usually begins in the second trimester. How to lose weight during pregnancy is decided by the doctor in each individual case. However, there are general recommendations for weight loss:

• you need to eliminate fluid retention (do not eat salt, drink more water);
• take additional vitamins and minerals;
• reduce consumption of unhealthy fats, flour products, sweet pastries;
• peel meat before cooking;
• eat small meals;
• count calories (2400 kcal/day).

Losing weight in the first trimester of pregnancy

Losing excess weight in the first months is much easier than in subsequent months. How to lose weight during pregnancy if a woman has already gained a lot of weight in the first trimester? The only thing you need is to follow the rules of rational nutrition. Avoiding overly spicy and highly salty foods, which retain water in the body, helps you lose weight in the first trimester of pregnancy.

How to lose weight during pregnancy in the 2nd trimester

If after 14 weeks you begin to gain weight rapidly, then you should take your menu seriously. Weight loss for pregnant women during this period includes one fasting day per week, which is preferably carried out on fermented milk products. You should be careful with chocolate and coffee, as these treats do not allow the calcium necessary for the intrauterine development of the child to be fully absorbed. Eat less foods containing cholesterol: butter, chicken yolks, lard, rich desserts. It is better to replace them with fruits: apples, oranges, pomegranates.

When going on various “quick” diets with the desire to make your thighs slender, you need to think many times about how this will affect the aesthetic perception of other parts of the body. Adipose tissue accumulates unevenly. Somewhere this process happens faster, somewhere slower. Accordingly, the body will not get rid of excess things exactly as we would like.

To find out which parts of the body lose weight first, you need to understand why and how different types of fat deposits are distributed throughout the body. In women, “strategic” reserves of nutrients accumulate mainly on the hips and abdomen. In these places, the structure of the muscle tissue is such that capsules with fat are especially actively created and are difficult to absorb.

The upper body loses weight first

Another thing is the shoulders, arms, chest, back and face. Here, the distances between the muscle fibers are different, and the functions that subcutaneous fat deposits perform are also different. The upper body needs a layer to maintain warmth and maintain elasticity of the skin and joints. With a severe lack of nutrients, the body will easily part with fat here. Therefore, the first to lose weight are:

• arms, especially hands;
• back;
• breast;
• face.

Naturally, a lot depends on the structure of the body, individual physiological characteristics, and the general condition of the body. Diet is a very strong load, a change in the usual mechanisms for processing incoming calories. Therefore, when you lose weight, what loses weight first are those areas that are closest to the systems responsible for cleansing the body - near the kidneys and lymph nodes. Tissues lacking fat cells have a harder time retaining moisture. Due to this, volumes are also reduced. But the question immediately arises: what does dehydrated skin look like, for example, on the face or chest?

How does a person lose weight when losing weight?

Most often, the person on a diet loses weight first. This is because weight loss occurs mainly due to the burning of subcutaneous fat, and the layer of fat on the face is thinner than on other parts of the body. There is no need to worry if you feel like your cheeks are sunken or your nose is cut off. Firstly, you are simply not accustomed to your new appearance, because the face is the first to change. Secondly, you compare your face with your previous body, which is why it seems to you that your face has lost more weight than it actually does.
But it may also be that the face, on the contrary, does not lose weight or almost does not lose weight. Sometimes it depends on the structure - there are women who lose weight “from the bottom up”. However, much more often it means that you have swelling on your face. If this happened to you:

• Go to the doctor, check the condition of the thyroid gland, heart and kidneys. If there are problems, treatment will be required
• get rid of the habit of slouching when walking and lowering your head when sitting or walking
• take a larger pillow than the one you used before for sleeping at night
• while lying in bed, do not read or use any gadgets

And in any case, remember that when losing weight you need to take special care of your face. Maintain skin tone and elasticity to prevent sagging.

How quickly does a diet make breasts lose weight?

The breast consists of mammary gland and fatty tissue. The higher your weight, the more fat there is in this ratio - at a maximum of 90%. Therefore, the more weight you lose, and the larger your breasts were originally, the more they will change. When you lose weight, your breasts will sag and your cup will shrink. Sagging can be avoided by exercising the muscles that support the breasts. However, the decrease in cup volume cannot be compensated for by physical exercise, since there is no muscle tissue in the breast itself.
The rate of breast reduction depends on the overall rate of weight loss. If your diet results in weight loss of more than 3 kg per week, you will notice breast changes at the end of the first week. Mono-diets and diets with a daily calorie content of less than 1200 kcal have the strongest effect on breasts than others. Optimal for your breasts would be a total weight loss of 1-1.5 kg per week.
There is some good news. Your breasts will never be smaller than they were before you started gaining weight, and they lose weight faster than other parts of the body. Therefore, breasts are your natural indicator, showing how much more weight you need to lose. Your arms, hips, and stomach will gradually return to your natural size indicated by your breasts.

Physical activity only affects total energy expenditure

Active physical activity also does not give in the short term the effect that one would like to get: slender legs and a flat stomach. They strengthen the muscle frame and affect the overall calorie expenditure in the body, and not in a specific location. Among the areas that lose weight primarily in women who engage in active physical exercise are also the arms, chest and face. But due to the fact that blood circulation and metabolic processes in the body occur faster, the most “problematic” parts also get rid of fat cells faster.

In addition to physical activity, massage has a good effect on enhancing the results of the diet. If you are concerned that the face or chest is the first to lose weight, then active regular massage will not only enhance metabolic processes, but also stimulate the removal of toxins from the body, especially where fat breakdown is most intense.

For the best effect when losing weight, there is nothing more useful than being patient. What loses weight in the first place, later, if the diet fails, gains more. Therefore, in order not to test the elasticity of the skin, especially on the face and chest, which are already constantly under the negative influence of external factors, it is better to gradually, but over a long period, reduce the level of calories consumed and, depending on the body’s reaction, refrain from doing the opposite. processes.

1. Increased cortisol in the body

Depending on your health, losing weight may increase the production of cortisol, the stress hormone. Your hormones directly affect every function in your body, and your hormones also affect how you eat and how active you are. To reduce stress, engage in activities that are more calming, such as yoga, walking and Pilates, or even just hiking. These exercises help your body not produce large amounts of cortisol, but you still burn calories and lose weight. Your diet should be dominated by the following foods: protein, greens, green vegetables and foods with a low glycemic index, healthy fats. Controlling blood sugar levels is the key to weight loss, properly combat excess cortisol production in the body and then you will not have problems with weight loss.

2. The first thing the body leaves is water

When you diet, at first you will be able to lose a lot of pounds, but then things start to slow down. The reason lies in the fact that first of all the body loses water, and then you will lose fat. Ridding your body of excess water is not bad, but now you know why the kilograms don’t go away so quickly in the second week and you won’t give up halfway.

3. The body stores fat

Yes, when starting any diet, the body sees that it receives fewer calories and will store fat very easily. If you reduce your calorie intake too much, your body will slow down its metabolism and conserve every calorie. The best way to combat this is to eat moderate amounts of calories, at least 1500 calories per day, and exercise. The main thing is that your body does not experience hunger during the day, eat healthy food and then you will not have problems with extra pounds.

4. Need more sleep

Losing weight really takes a toll on the body. You need more rest! Getting enough sleep will give you enough energy and relieve stress. You should sleep at least 8 hours a day, and allow yourself a short 20-minute rest during the day.

5. Feeling irritable

Losing weight can make you very irritable, especially if you previously consumed sugar, junk food and fast food all the time. The body is literally detoxifying, but don't worry, this will pass as soon as your body comes into balance. Processed foods have been shown to be as addictive as drugs, especially sugar. Make sure you have enough protein, greens and healthy fats in your diet.

6. You may be horny.

Losing weight can change your daily routine, making you less likely to want to go to bed early in the evening, which is the perfect time to binge eat. If you don't get enough calories during the day, it will be very difficult to resist temptation in the evening. To combat this, it is recommended to eat a fairly hearty dinner or drink a glass of kefir before bed.

7. Muscle mass is the first to go

When you diet, after drinking water, your muscle mass begins to disappear. To combat this problem, it is necessary to include strength training in your weight loss plan. This will ensure that muscle mass is restored properly. Muscle mass is important for good metabolism, and it also burns fat.

Not eating enough calories every day causes a slower metabolism and, of course, weight gain. If you eat too few calories, you will stop losing weight. A proper healthy diet will help you cope with all your problems, and good physical activity will relieve you of stress and give your body a beautiful, well-groomed appearance.

People can name the parts of the body that they want to correct with 100% accuracy and confidence. Often this is the area of ​​the lower abdomen, buttocks, thighs and waist. These parts of the body are usually called problem areas, since this is where excess subcutaneous fat accumulates, which is extremely difficult to remove. However, before you start losing weight, you should find out which parts of the body lose weight first.

A look from the outside...

Most women are designed in such a way that they lose weight from top to bottom. On almost any diet, losing weight starts from the face, then switches to the arms, chest, down to the waist, then the buttocks and, finally, to the hips, the “breeches” area. At the same time, the kilograms are most noticeably lost from the last zone. Therefore, in order to lose weight specifically in the abdominal area, you need to be patient. Diets for losing belly fat, of course, have a certain effect, placing emphasis differently on our body, but we cannot rely on them 100%.

A look from the inside...

Any trainer or doctor will tell you that the first thing a girl loses weight leaves is water. After it, the intestines are cleansed, then muscle tissue is destroyed, and only after that fat tissue. For this reason, you shouldn’t hope that the hated fat will disappear after a couple of days of going on a diet to lose belly fat, but don’t give up what you started, over time you will achieve the desired effect. Don’t forget about physical activity and abdominal exercises, because we don’t just want to reduce our belly, but make it fit and beautiful.

How does a person lose weight when losing weight?

Most often, the person on a diet loses weight first. This is because weight loss occurs mainly due to the burning of subcutaneous fat, and the layer of fat on the face is thinner than on other parts of the body.

There is no need to worry if you feel like your cheeks are sunken or your nose is cut off. Firstly, you are simply not accustomed to your new appearance, because the face is the first to change. Secondly, you compare your face with your previous body, which is why it seems to you that your face has lost more weight than it actually does.

But it may also be that the face, on the contrary, does not lose weight or almost does not lose weight. Sometimes it depends on the structure - there are women who lose weight “from the bottom up”. However, much more often it means that you have swelling on your face.

If this happened to you:

Go to the doctor, check the condition of the thyroid gland, heart and kidneys. If there are problems, treatment will be required

get rid of the habit of slouching when walking and lowering your head when sitting or walking

take a larger pillow than the one you used before for sleeping at night

While lying in bed, do not read or use any gadgets.

And in any case, remember that when losing weight you need to take special care of your face. Maintain skin tone and elasticity to prevent sagging.

How to lose weight in problem areas

Again, everyone has their own particularly difficult areas in terms of weight loss. Therefore, when you start the fight against excess weight, you must identify those areas from which the fat does not want to “go away”. After this, you can already figure out what methods of losing weight you should resort to.

There are a number of products that are “deposited” in specific places. For example, to lose weight at the waist, you need to give up flour, sausage and alcoholic beverages. To reduce the volume of your hips and buttocks, you will have to give up fast food, sweets and fried foods.

Based on such prohibitions, you can create an individual diet for yourself or use an existing diet, because there are a lot of courses aimed specifically at losing weight on a certain part of the body.

You should also not forget about physical activity. Of course, you need to train all muscle groups, but you can focus on those areas where losing weight is particularly problematic for you. For example, if your workout lasts on average 20-25 minutes, then 10 minutes can be spent on problem areas, and the remaining time on all the muscles of the body.

In addition, you can regularly apply a number of different anti-cellulite procedures to the necessary areas: massage, body wrap, etc. This will help not only reduce this part of the body in volume, but also make the skin smooth, beautiful and elastic.

How to Maintain Your Breast Size

If you are determined to lose weight, but want to maintain your breast size as much as possible, remember a few important rules:

1. Forget about express diets and fasting days, they have a very bad effect on the elasticity of connective tissues. Your choice is proper nutrition, refusal of flour, sweets and late dinners. This way you will lose weight more slowly, but your breasts will remain beautiful.

2. Your choice is protein food, it stimulates the production of collagen, thereby strengthening muscles and increasing tissue elasticity.

3. Drink protein shakes, they also help the synthesis of collagen fibers in the skin.

4. Buy a good, expensive sports bra that fits you perfectly. This is the key to proper breast support and maintaining its shape.

5. If you have breasts larger than size 3, do not get carried away with jumping, racing and running. Give preference to strength training, yoga, Pilates and stretching.

What to do if your legs are not losing weight

Many girls, when losing weight, face the following problem - their legs are the last to lose weight or do not lose weight at all. Why is this happening? What should you do to lose weight in your legs and make them slim and attractive? We will try to answer these questions in this article.

First, it’s worth understanding why fat continues to be deposited on the hips and legs, even if you diet and exercise. The fact is that nature itself took care of this, which should first of all support the reproductive function of a woman. It is thanks to thoughtful nature that women deposit fat in the so-called problem areas - on the butt, stomach and legs.

In addition, unfavorable conditions, poor quality nutrition and other related factors have a significant impact on the functioning of internal organs, which no longer fully cope with the digestive function. This also leads to the fact that the body, for the purpose of self-preservation, begins to store fat in reserve in those very problem areas.

So, in order to lose weight in your legs and remove fat deposits on your hips, you need not so much to go on diets as to carefully choose what to eat. The fact is that often many of us simply do not notice how much fat we eat every day. Meanwhile, in order to lose weight, the daily fat intake should not exceed 30-40 grams.

Prohibited foods for those who want to lose weight in their legs

• chocolate
• fried and fatty foods
• ice cream
• bakery
• egg yolk
• fat cheese
• smoked meats
• nuts
• seeds

Allowed foods for those who want to lose weight in their legs

• raw vegetables and fruits
• lean fish and poultry
• porridge on water
• low calorie dairy products
• whole grain pasta without dressings and sauces

We hope that the question of what is the first thing to lose weight is now closed for you. Alas, no matter how hard you try, you will not be able to get rid of fat deposits in a certain part of the body if it is last in the queue of “candidates for weight loss.” Therefore, expect that becoming slim will be a rather long process, do not become discouraged because losing weight seems too slow, and stubbornly achieve your goal. In the end, you will definitely be able to achieve good results, no matter how difficult it may be.

The process of losing weight is more complicated than “Eat less calories than you burn”!

It would seem that losing weight is very easy: all you need is to maintain a negative balance, receiving fewer calories (energy) than the body needs to function. But it's not that simple. To make the path to an ideal body as effective as possible, we understand the physiological processes that occur when you change your diet.

Energy balance

The most common mistake is to consider the formula for energy balance in the body as a static “eat less and lose weight.” Anyone who has ever tried to lose weight has encountered the fact that after a certain point it stops losing weight, and additional cuts in calories do not lead to the desired result. One of the possible reasons is inflated expectations when a person strives for an unrealistic weight for his physique.

Our weight, like other vital functions, is controlled by the brain, which receives signals from the outside and from the inside (from the intestines, liver, fatty tissues and muscles). In this way, it regulates calorie expenditure, triggering various processes to optimize body functions. That is why the energy balance formula is very dynamic, and cutting back on your diet does not lead directly to weight loss.

As a result of an artificially created lack of energy, many physiological mechanisms are activated, the purpose of which is to optimize the functions of the body in new conditions. Because of this, the metabolic rate decreases and body composition changes (the percentage of fat tissue relative to protein).

Why does weight loss happen?

Essentially, the weight loss process begins when negative energy balance. This means that during this period the number of calories consumed is less than needed for the daily functions of the body.

The body perceives this balance as a signal that “hard times” have come, and starts the regime optimization of energy consumption.

When a person limits the amount of incoming energy in the hope of losing weight, the body does not know that there is, in fact, incredible abundance around and this limited access to food is artificially created - it is programmed to survive.

Weight Loss Phases

Weight loss involves the loss of fat and lean mass, which is the sum of protein (muscle tissue), glycogen, water, minerals and electrolytes.

Usually first phase of weight loss characterized by relatively large protein losses. First of all, the body consumes proteins contained in the gastrointestinal tract and liver, then in skeletal muscles and, to a lesser extent, in internal organs.

An initially thin person who loses 10 kg of fat risks losing about 15 kg of muscle tissue. With significant obesity, the amount of muscle mass lost decreases. It is important to understand that intense loss of fat-free mass occurs only in the first 4 weeks, that is, in the first phase of weight loss. Once the body reduces its basal metabolic rate to a minimum and switches to second phase of weight loss, fat becomes the main source of energy.

The most common goal when working on the body is the desire to reduce the percentage of fat and maintain or increase muscle mass. To do this, you need to figure out which parameters will help achieve the desired result.

With weight loss and a negative energy balance, the rate of reduction in fat mass will depend on the balance of diet and physical activity.

Diet composition and weight loss

The composition of the diet plays an important role in the process of losing weight. In addition to the total amount of energy consumed, macronutrients, various minerals, and electrolytes also influence the physiology of weight loss.

For example, weight loss on a high-protein diet may be much greater than on a low-calorie, nutrient-balanced diet. However, this difference will be due primarily to differences in water balance, and fat and protein losses will be approximately equal.

Scientists have found that there is a lower limit for caloric intake - 1200 kcal/day. If caloric intake falls below this level, the body may activate physiological protection against weight loss.

Additionally, fasting as a weight loss technique results in highly disproportionate protein loss. The rate of weight loss during a low-calorie diet and during fasting is almost identical, but the intensity of muscle loss during a low-calorie diet is much lower than during fasting.

With a low-calorie diet, metabolism quickly adapts - it slows down, which makes such diets not only dangerous, but also ineffective for losing weight. At some point, weight loss decreases, and the body begins to compensate for the lack of energy in other ways.

Weight loss and sports

Exercising increases your energy intake during and after exercise and encourages you to burn fat instead of carbohydrates. In addition, physical activity prevents muscle loss and stimulates its gain. Growing muscle tissue requires more energy, which prevents a decrease in metabolic rate.

Important Takeaways

1. A balanced diet aimed at losing weight is much more effective than low-calorie or unbalanced diets. These weight loss methods can negatively affect the body's functioning; they do not help maintain results and lead, in the long term, to weight gain back.


2. Physical activity can partially prevent metabolic adaptation and preserve muscle mass, maintaining an energy balance favorable for weight loss.

FAQ

When we eat frequently, we do NOT speed up our metabolism. The scientific literature on this topic indicates that if one person eats X amount of calories in one meal and another eats the same amount in 3 or even 6 meals a day, there will be no difference in weight loss. It follows that more frequent meals do not contribute to more effective weight loss.

Studies say that small meals in themselves do not lead to weight loss, but still blood counts (insulin levels, triglycerides) and blood pressure are much better in people who eat frequent small portions.

Research shows that a person who eats their daily calorie intake in one sitting will be more likely to overeat later on because it's hard to maintain moderation if you haven't eaten all day.

Severe hunger pushes you to overeat.

People who skip meals signal to the body that resources are limited, activating all the ancient survival mechanisms. The body will demand food, and when it receives it, it will stock up for future use, because it has no idea when the next meal will be.

If you signal to your body that there is regular and constant access to food, then it will function in the most relaxed mode, determined solely by your weight and lifestyle.

One recent study of the nutrition of athletes showed that if they eat little and often, then the percentage of fat relative to muscle mass is lower compared to athletes who eat once or twice a day, but in huge portions.

The researchers concluded that this is related to how many hours a day a person is in negative energy balance. Having eaten once, the body goes into a huge positive state, but then spends most of the day in an energy deficit, recovering only in the evening with the last large meal.

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