Everything works, but will you cooperate?

We are searching en masse for a miracle pill that will magically give us our ideal weight. Unfortunately, that pill does not exist and will never come. Yet it is not all that difficult. 'Everything works, except the person himself', says Rémon Koetje, Lifestyle coach and trainer at Happy Bodies in Alkmaar. In this blog he explains how that works.

Cause of obesity combination of factors

Half of all Dutch adults are moderately or severely overweight and almost 14 percent of adults are severely overweight, according to the website of the National Institute for Public Health and the Environment. The cause can be found in – a combination of – personal factors such as age, gender, blood pressure or genes, living, residential and working conditions, but of course lifestyle and habits also play a major role. Think of nutrition, exercise and, not to forget, sleep. Odin Nijenhuis, franchisee of Happy Bodies in Aalsmeer and Hoofddorp Floriande, already wrote it in his blog: the person who invents a pill that allows you to lose twenty kilos in a month, never has to work again. But that pill does not exist and will never come. Yet there are plenty of ways to achieve a healthy weight, as long as you are consistent in what you do. Let's zoom in on those lifestyle aspects.

Nutrition

Losing weight starts with making choices in terms of nutrition. You lose weight if you use more energy than you take in: a so-called negative energy balance. For weight loss, it doesn't matter whether you fill your body with hamburgers or spinach, as long as that energy balance is – slightly – negative. But as colleague Danny Kors, head nutrition coach Happy Bodies Lifestyleclubs, wrote in his blog about nutrition and weight loss: your body needs good fuel and by eating as many unprocessed products as possible, you will lose weight faster. At Happy Bodies we work with the smart nutrition app from VYTAL. This way we can help you with a nutrition plan that is tailor-made for you: how many calories do you need, what is a good number of eating moments and how do you make healthier choices. Because let's face it: healthy weight loss is not about filling up, but about good nutrition.

Movement

When you exercise, you burn calories. Regular exercise therefore helps if you want to lose weight, because it contributes to that negative energy balance. One catch: do not overestimate how many calories you burn. If you have walked for an hour and then reward yourself with a delicious apple pie, you will miss your goal. But there are even more reasons to exercise regularly. For example, you improve your immune system and reduce the chance of a chronic disease. Strength training in particular contributes to better health in various ways. And rest assured, you really do not have to exercise like crazy. Moderately intensive exercise already works wonders.

Sleep

'You win the Tour in bed', Joop Zoetemelk once said. But you also lose weight in bed. Various studies have shown that people who sleep less than five hours a night gain more weight than people who sleep longer. Not only are temptations lurking late at night, the body also needs sleep for recovery and regulation. If you sleep too little, your body produces more ghrelin, the hormone that causes a feeling of hunger. So just go to bed on time.