Many people in the Netherlands suffer from obesity. About 47% of adults in the Netherlands are overweight. Obesity and overweight can lead to various health problems such as diabetes type II, an increased risk of cardiovascular disease, high blood pressure, joint complaints and even cancer. It is therefore necessary to combat obesity so that you can lead a healthy, pleasant life. But how do you lose weight in a healthy way, without falling into endless yo-yoing? The core is in the movement. By exercising more in addition to a diet, you prevent the yo-yo effect. The yo-yo effect is what you see when people lose a lot of weight quickly with a crash diet. People lose weight quickly on such a diet, but at a certain point they get tired of the diet. Because they still consume just as many calories as before, but then start eating more, they gain weight again, and gain weight. When you exercise in addition to a diet you absorb this, you can, as it were, eat more. This is also because you build muscle mass through sports and exercise, and the more muscles you have, the more you use during rest time. By exercising you can lose weight in the long term, without having to change your eating schedule significantly. Simply because the muscle mass you build also requires a lot of energy and therefore calories during rest time.

Basic idea

The basic idea behind any diet is: to lose weight you must be 500 calories below your daily calorie intake. Your daily calorie intake is determined by the amount of exercise you do in a day, your age, gender and weight. You can calculate your BMR (Body Mass Rate) as follows.

• Men: BMR= 66 + (13.7 * weight in kilos) + (5 x height in cm) – (6.8 x age in years)
• Women: BMR= 655 + (9.6 * weight in kilos) + (1.8 x height in cm) – (4.7 x age in years)

The Body Mass Ra te indicates how many calories you use daily. To lose weight you need to eat less than 500 calories per day. To lose 1 kilo you need to eat about 9,000 fewer calories, of course spread over several days.

Healthy food

If you want to lose weight in a healthy way, a strict diet is not necessary. However, you must adhere to a few basic rules. The first of these is healthy eating. Make sure you get all the nutrients: a small portion of potatoes or pasta, lots of vegetables and at least 1 piece of fruit per day. However, do not drink too much fruit juice, because in addition to vitamins, it also contains a lot of sugars. It is better to drink water or light products if you really want to drink something tasty. Furthermore, make sure you get enough fiber, for example by eating muesli, brown bread or fruit.

Prefer proteins over carbohydrates

When losing weight, it is better to eat proteins than carbohydrates. This is because you burn proteins more easily and also because your body uses proteins to grow muscles. Carbohydrates remain in your body for a long time and your body has a harder time burning carbohydrates compared to proteins. Examples of things that are good to eat are: eggs (but not too many because they also increase cholesterol), low-fat yogurt, meat and (oily) fish.

Antioxidants

Antioxidants are free radicals, substances that are found in certain food products. There appears to be a link between consuming products containing antioxidants and a number of health benefits. For example, antioxidants appear to prevent cancer. This is because antioxidants prevent oxidation, the decay of body cells. For example, polluted air and cigarette smoke contain oxidants that can damage the body’s cells and provoke the body’s cells to behave abnormally. This process is counteracted by eating many products with antioxidants. Examples of antioxidants in food are vitamin C, vitamin E, resveratrol, selenium, chromium, zinc, uric acid and citric acid.

Leave the sugar and salt aside

Many people do not know how much sugar and salt they consume in a day. Nowadays, even ready-made microwave meals contain a lot of sugar and salt. These substances ensure that we like things, they enhance the taste of food. To lose weight, you can simply replace sugar with sweetener. You can buy this in the supermarket in the form of small tablets and in liquid form. This is only harmful to you if you use a very high dose of sweetener. If you replace all the sugar in your drinks with sweetener, for example by only drinking light products, using liquid sweetener for yoghurt and drinking coffee and tea with sweetener, you will remove a huge number of calories from your daily intake. . Without really noticing it, because the taste of the food and drinks remains virtually the same, so you will lose weight just by choosing smartly.You have to be frugal when it comes to salt . A little is fine, after all, you should still be able to enjoy food, but sprinkling a little less and consciously with salt ensures that you do not consume too much salt and retain moisture, etc.

6 eating moments per day

When dieting, it is important to start eating something early in the morning to get the metabolism going. A good opener is, for example, a bowl of yogurt with fiber-rich muesli with some liquid sweetener. This gets your stomach going and the metabolic process begins. By eating something small every 6 times, you firstly prevent hunger pangs and keep your metabolism going. Your metabolism is like a heater that you try to keep as active as possible throughout the day. You also prevent your body from going on strike and storing extra food it consumes. Your body knows that it gets some nutrition every so often, so you ensure rest and combustion in your body.

A lot of water

Why is it so important to drink a lot of water when losing weight? Well, that’s because water contains no calories, it quenches thirst, it prevents you from drinking high-calorie drinks such as cola and fruit juice and it makes you feel full. After all, your stomach is filled with water, and that makes you feel less hungry. Drinking water is also important to ensure that all fat cells and waste products can be removed as best as possible. If you don’t drink enough water and you lose weight, you will get a headache because any toxins in your fat cells cannot be removed properly.

Exercise for an hour every day

Daily exercise is extremely important for losing weight. At the beginning of this article we already made it clear how important exercise is. Incorporating an hour of exercise into your life every day ensures that your calorie consumption remains high throughout the day. The more you exercise, the less it matters if you overdo it at the end of your diet and eat a little more. In addition, your body becomes more toned. If you lose weight and don’t exercise, you will lose weight, but at some point you will have a weak, thin body that gets tired quickly. You will notice that your fitness improves and that being active also becomes more fun and easier. Fortunately, people build up their fitness quickly, the most gains can be achieved within 1 to 2 weeks. If you sit on the exercise bike or walk outside for an hour every day for a week, you should notice after 1 week that you are less out of breath and walk more briskly when you are outside or climb stairs. The profit is therefore very easy and quick to achieve. Try to make exercise part of your life. Remember, exercise alone won’t get you there. If you exercise more, but also eat more as a reward, you will not lose weight but you may even gain weight. So make a combination: exercise more and eat less.

Every pound comes through the mouth: avoid binge eating

To lose weight you need good, long-term motivation. The pounds are easier to put on than to lose. Try to keep your goal in sight and try to turn negative thoughts into positive ones. Don’t think: ‘I accidentally ate a bounty, which is bad’, but think: ‘I have been doing very well for 3 weeks, I have now had a nice snack for once, but I really have to move on because I know how unhappy I am because of my weight, now on again!’. So don’t be too hard on yourself, but do start losing weight again if you notice that you are starting to lose weight. Constantly keep in mind how you felt when you were overweight, and tell yourself: never again. Don’t give up and stay positive, you will get there.

I am not losing weight (anymore).

Every kilo added or lost is a simple addition, so if you are not losing weight you really have to take a critical look at your own eating or exercise pattern. Have you really not had a snack in between? Have you really been going to the gym faithfully? There is often a moment when people have not adhered to the diet. The sum is simple, the number of calories must be 500 calories less than the daily calorie consumption, and there is actually no way to get in between that. So if you are not losing weight, there must be a defect in your behavior somewhere (with the exception of course for people who find it very difficult to lose weight due to medical conditions, but even then you have to stay positive and persevere, be happy with every pound that is lost). Everyone has their own waste rhythm, and everyone has their own goals. Be proud of your results. Also remember that when you have lost weight, your daily calorie consumption also decreases because you have less weight to carry. In order to lose weight, you must again be 500 calories below your new daily calorie consumption.

Keep it up

Losing weight happens through trial and error, but persevere. Whether you go fast or a little slower: you will get there. Persistence wins and those who persevere long enough will eventually reach their goal. When you are at your target weight, exercise is especially important to maintain. Do not fall into excesses and continue to eat healthy. Think about what a shame it will be if you step on the scale and you are back to your old weight. Is that one hamburger worth it? The only people who can get away with eating fast food are children and teenagers, for adults it is a crime. So avoid any kind of fast food or fun food and get your eating pleasure from quality food. If you still want to eat a hamburger, you can do some extra exercise on such a day.