Failure in weight loss plans is not only the result of the body not being able to eliminate fat, but rather of the signals that the mind constantly sends it
There are countless tips, tricks, recipes, and diet plans that can be found in a single Google search and even in this very section. Each of them seems to have the formula for success when it comes to losing weight. And all agree on the basis of suppressing the desire to bring food to your mouth that may be very rich but are not healthy at all.
But for many experts you have to take into account what is called "reference weight" , that is, the weight according to your body mass index. Despite the fact that only the physicist counts, the brain is also a very important agent in determining what your ideal weight is. After all, it is the one that orders the secretion of hunger hormones, such as ghrelin , which is generated when the brain detects that the available energy reserves are being depleted.
The brain is not concerned with how you look physically. Cares about maintaining life
This hormone produces feelings of hunger that convince you that it is time to open the refrigerator to bring something to your stomach . And from there the digestive system will take care after converting the calories ingested into glucose to feed the muscles, the organs, the brain and, in general, the cells. For its part, the leptin hormone generates the opposite direction, that of satiety, releasing when the body feels that it has already eaten enough. In this sense, it is in charge of indicating to the brain that the energy levels that it requested have already been reached.
David Prologo, an obesity doctor in the United States, says that these signs have three main functions: "They tell your body when to look for food, when to slow down and conserve energy, and when to reserve fuel if you feel deprived (reminiscent of times when famines were frequent) ". In short, " all in the name of survival".
In search of a reference point
"The brain is not concerned with how you look physically," says the doctor in an article on the subject in ' The Healthy'. "He cares about maintaining life." This means that both the body and the mind are programmed to remain stable at a certain point. When you start a new diet or are not consuming enough energy for the brain to demand, you may experience symptoms such as weakness, hunger, depression, fatigue, or headaches . "The good thing is that after a few weeks the brain ends up relaxing and does not emit as many signals as the body begins to find a new set point," says Prologo.
You must set long-term goals. Only then will you make the brain feel more comfortable at a lower weight.
It is then when you finally feel that your appetite decreases, and with it the happy cravings that are one of the great reasons why weight loss plans never come to fruition. "To maintain results, long-term diets often do very well by making your brain fit and feel comfortable at a lower weight," observes Jason McKeown , a neurologist.
Changing this body set point is not easy. "It can take months, and even years, " says McKeown. "So you should set long-term goals. Only then will you make your brain feel more comfortable at a lower weight, which will speed up your body metabolism and decrease appetite. If you think short-term even if you lose a lot of weight in In a short time and you get quick results, you will have more chances to win it again, since your body and brain are not happy at all. "
