[Article updated on 19/09/2023]
You feel bad in your clothes, the numbers on the scale don’t suit you… Whatever your reasons, what matters is that you don’t feel at your right weight.
Before reading on
I’m not an expert in this field, but I am passionate about nutrition and health.
The articles you’ll find on my site are the result of in-depth research that I’d like to share with you. However, I would like to stress that I am not a health professional and that my advice should in no way replace that of a qualified physician. I’m here to guide you, but it’s important that you consult a professional for specific questions or medical concerns. Your well-being is important. So be sure to consult the appropriate experts and take the best possible care of yourself.
The first step is to define your healthy weight and the second to establish YOUR strategy!
How to define your correct weight?
Your right weight is the one at which you feel good in your body, your head, your clothes, which allows you to be in good health and to have the energy necessary to do all your daily activities.
Once you have it in mind, it is important to see if it corresponds to a health goal.
Even if weight itself is not important, it is information that allows you to assess your health risk, particularly cardiovascular risk.
One of the indicators for measuring this risk is the body mass index (BMI).
To calculate it, simply apply: BMI = weight in kg/height² in m
- If the BMI is between 18.5 and 25 you have no risk linked to your weight;
- If your BMI is between 25 and 30 you are overweight and have a moderate health risk, above 30 you suffer from obesity and the health risk is significant!
However, this index must be put into perspective because it does not take into account your bones, your musculature and is not valid for pregnant women, children and high-level athletes.
The waist circumference/hip circumference ratio, in centimeters, makes it possible to assess the risks of diseases linked to obesity, the ratio takes into account the accumulation of abdominal fat and gender, this alerts us to a real increase in cardiovascular risks and/or developing pathologies increasing morbidity.
You have cardiovascular risks if the waist/hip circumference ratio (measured in centimeters): is greater than 0.9 for a man and greater than 0.85 for a woman.
Now that you know your correct weight, it is important to adjust your goal so that it is just for you, achievable concretely in your daily life, taking into account your environmental constraints (history, health problem and/or family history, pace of life and work, etc.). The ideal way to avoid regaining the weight lost is to lose around 2 kg per month. If this seems possible to you in terms of time and organization then just establish your strategy!
How to achieve your goal, while preserving your health and vitality?
To achieve your RIGHT weight, you will have to listen to you and adapt your diet but without constraint or frustration.
To do this, we will have to work on:
- meal times and conditions;
- the qualitative and quantitative content of your plate and your drinks;
- managing your desires, snacks, possible nibbles;
- managing your emotions and the impact of your environment on your relationship with food;
- take stock of your physical activity and increase it.
Meal time
It must be at least 20 minutes so that your body counts your intake and adjusts it to your needs, sending you the signs of satiety!
Take your time and eat with all your senses (hearing, smell, sight, touch, taste)!
When you are no longer hungry, stop eating! Likewise, you should not force yourself to eat if you are not hungry (if it is occasional of course).
If you are never hungry at a meal, ask yourself if the previous meal was too big or too close in terms of duration. Sometimes it can be useful to split a meal like breakfast for example: a drink + a fruit and in the morning a dairy product and a butter, jam or butter ham sandwich or a few almonds and 4 dried apricots.
Do not add fuel until the tank is full, otherwise it overflows and everything goes into reserve!
The contents of your plate
It is important to consume foods from all groups: fruits, vegetables, proteins (lean meat, fish, eggs, dried vegetables), starchy foods (potatoes, pasta, rice, cereals), natural dairy products (yogurts, cottage cheese, little Swiss…), fats (vegetable oils, butter…) and variety!
Your plate should consist of: 1/2 plate of cooked or raw vegetables, 1/4 protein (once a day) and 1/4 starchy food (bread accompanies but does not replace starchy foods) to adjust according to your hunger! You need a touch of fat, favor vegetable oils (olive, rapeseed, etc.), at least one tablespoon per meal!
If you’re still hungry, finish your meal with a plain dairy product or a portion of cheese (20-30g once a day) and/or a fruit for a sweet and vitamin-filled touch!
If you are bloated or have a feeling of tight stomach, your plate may have been too large or you may have eaten too quickly! For the next meal, try to reduce the quantities a little until you feel RIGHT, so you feel good when you leave the table!
And of course cook using herbs (garlic, onions, Provence herbs, etc.), spices for colors and flavors: the pleasure of the taste buds is important because the quantity of food consumed is less important when you have fun!
Feast your eyes, your taste buds…try to put at least 3 colors on your plate at each meal, you will lose weight easily, while staying in great shape!
Choose seasonal fruits and vegetables, as much as you like: full of vitamins and guaranteed vitality!
Also remember to hydrate yourself well because this will help your body better transport and use different nutrients and eliminate waste from the body! Drink at least a liter to a liter and a half of water, herbal tea… as much as you want!
A little tea (except green tea, no limit) or coffee (2 cups per day) because they increase your insulin level, reinforce your hunger for sweets and the body’s storage. Be careful with fruit juices (take 100% pure juice and without grape juice), soda, which contain a lot of hollow calories (fast sugar) which you do not need.
How to manage your desires, snacks and possible nibbles?
A mid-morning or mid-afternoon snack is a good rule of thumb, if you are hungry and you have it at least an hour before the meal.
It should remain a break, with small quantities of quality food, which will make you happy, but just to replenish your energy until the next real meal!
Sit down (your body will count this meal and deduct it from your needs for the next meal) and have a piece of fruit, a plain dairy product, a handful (maximum per day) of oilseeds (almonds, cashew nuts, etc.), a slice of bread with a tile of chocolate.
Cook and make your pastries yourself, you will choose quality ingredients and better manage their quantity! Be creative! Incorporate pleasure foods into your meal and swap: a slice of cake for 2 fewer tablespoons of starchy foods at the meal.
To sweeten your desserts you can use brown sugar, coconut sugar or fructose (sweetening power 3 times greater than white sugar: divide the quantity of sugar indicated in the recipe by 3), you will reduce the quantity of quick sugar by your food which we do not need to live, but which is important to preserve by touch for pleasure!
If you feel like snacking outside of meals and snacks, start by having a drink (a glass of water, herbal tea, tea, etc.), sit down and ask yourself if you are really hungry or are you stressed, upset, tired?
Write down this feeling and your response (food and quantity, activity try…) in a small notebook in order to come back to it later and think about the trigger of this emotion/feeling and thus be able to put in place a strategy as soon as a similar situation arises. will introduce themselves and respond other than with food if possible.
Sometimes, even often, this desire corresponds to a real need and it must be heard! Don’t frustrate yourself, treat yourself as soon as you feel like it (during meal or snack time)!
A desire for chocolate corresponds to a need for magnesium/potassium (in case of fatigue and/or stress), energy (sugar, fat: in case of fatigue, lack of sleep, etc.).
Ask yourself what main ingredient this food contains and see if that doesn’t meet a need. It is important if you eat what you want, to stop as soon as the desire or hunger passes and wait until you are hungry again to eat!
Make a list of activities that you can do to de-stress, relax, let off steam, and rest as soon as the need (emotion, feeling) arises!
Get help if necessary from a dietician!
What is your level of physical activity currently?
Evaluate your physical activity time, daily and over the week, currently.
Walking, climbing stairs, cleaning, gardening, cycling, running…
If you average less than 30 minutes per day, it would be good to increase your physical activity time! This will allow you to increase your metabolism, expend more energy, clear your head and exercise your heart and muscles!
Move as much as your health allows!
To reach your RIGHT WEIGHT, take your time, set small goals, listen to yourself. Reward yourself when you achieve these goals by giving yourself time for yourself, a nice piece of clothing… (not food)!
You will succeed because all the resources are within you!