How Weight Loss Works?

Weight loss, how does it work? It's all about energy. You lose weight because over a period of time you expend more energy than you take in.

It's all about energy

To put it simply, what we call the energy balance (what you spend minus what you take in) must be negative.

Where does this energy come from? It is the energy from your food in the form of three molecules: proteins, carbohydrates, and fats. The first two proteins and carbohydrates weigh in at 4 calories per gram, and fat at 9 calories per gram.

In other words, if fat is able to provide twice as much energy as carbohydrates or protein, it will take twice as much effort to burn the same amount of fat.

Weight gain is due to an excessive accumulation of energy in the body, energy that you store and do not expend. Losing weight will therefore consist of destocking this energy.

There are three pillars if you want to lose weight significantly and permanently: nutrition, motivation and training. We will deal with each of these points. But quickly, here is what we can say about each of them.

The 3 pillars of weight loss

Nutrition:

Nutrition is therefore the key to successful, rapid and long-term weight loss. Remeber: you are what you eat. And as we have seen above, losing fat and therefore weight is a question of energy, of caloric deficit. 

To create this caloric deficit you will have to eat better and less. 

First, eat better to provide your body with the macronutrients (proteins, carbohydrates and fats) it needs. And in the right quantities. 

Eating better and less consists in:

• Preparing what you eat.
• Buying less or no processed, industrial foods.
• Incorporating more vegetables and fruits in your diet.

Motivation:

Perhaps you are already aware of all the nutrition tips mentioned above. But, it is one thing to know it, it is another to apply it and this in the long run. Weight loss is first of all in your head. We often forget the psychological dimension when it comes to losing a few pounds. 

Training:

If training is not enough to lose weight, practicing sports or fitness will help you for two reasons. The first reason is that when we say weight loss, we mean fat loss and not muscle loss. By training you will maintain your muscle mass and make sure that the pounds you lose are essentially fat.

Also, the more muscular you are, the more energy you will consume at rest. Being muscular helps you lose weight, even without doing anything!