Some make it effortlessly, others find it difficult. Losing weight works differently for everyone, depending on motivation, discipline, and diet concept. But for some, the matter seems hopeless. "I just don't answer," they complain and have the right explanation or apology ready. Five particularly popular allegations - and what's to it.
"It's the hormones to blame."
Hormones have a major impact on the figure: They regulate, for example, when you feel hungry and determine which parts of the body fat accumulates. But you are not at the mercy of them.
If you have the feeling that you are constantly hungry, you should check your menu once: Do you have enough fillers such as protein-rich foods and vegetables on it? Are three meals eaten regularly? These two points are important in order not to let the hormones get out of hand.
An underactive thyroid can also slow down the metabolism and make it difficult to lose weight. Last but not least, hormonal changes during menopause make women gain weight more easily. But even that doesn't mean that losing weight is impossible - exercise can get the metabolism going again.
"The many diets have messed up my body."
That's only true if you get it wrong. Then the yo-yo effect occurs. Those who go hungry while on a diet continue to reduce their basal metabolic rate and end up with less and less food. Of course, that has its limits.
Here, too, the ripcord can be pulled: get the metabolism going with endurance exercise and build metabolically active muscles with strength training. Then you can go on a diet more often - if it is still necessary at all.
"I don't eat much at all."
That can be a fallacy. Some people do not perceive constant snacking and nibbling in between as "real" food that has a caloric impact. For them, only the main meals count.
But: the licorice confectionery during the drive, the banana in the morning, one or the other biscuit during the meeting, the handful of peanuts in front of the TV - these exemplary snacks alone add a whopping 400 kilocalories to the clock. It is known from studies that these calories are not automatically saved on main meals.
"I almost only serve salad now."
Women in particular tend to put too much pressure on the calorie brake. But those who go hungry from lettuce to lettuce only regulate their metabolism down, and then really no more pounds can melt. The top priority is: get full of protein-rich foods. Namely, they heat up the metabolism.
The body consumes 20 to 30 percent of the energy that the protein supplies to burn protein. Also important: only three meals a day, so that fat reserves can be burned in between.
"Everyone in the family is fat."
There's a little something to it. Because to a certain extent, we inherit our appearance. The stature, for example, or where the fat deposits are located in us, for example on the stomach, thighs, or hips. Whether we have a lively or rather sluggish metabolism is also determined in the genome.
But: Overweight parents and grandparents are rarely born fat. And our pounds didn't just fly to us. What and how much we eat is in our own hands. And a lazy metabolism can also be revved up - with exercise and muscle building.
