“Diet is a lifestyle change.”

When the warmer months approach, there are many people who aspire to lose weight and achieve those bodies idealized in social networks, magazines, television, advertising… They place themselves at the starting box of a race against the clock that is full of obstacles and that is usually doomed to failure by pursuing instant changes in a short time.

It seems that finding the ideal date for start what is known as ‘operation bikini’. is impossible, but the endocrinologist and nutritionist Juana Fraile knows when the motivation to achieve these goals is greater: in the new year. It is a cliché, but a change of number in the calendar and resolutions, can drag to achieve the goals set.

We live in a society that celebrates everything through food and drink, the holiday period is full of gatherings with family and friends that can become stones in the way of achieving what you want. For this reason, when patients come to Dr. Fraile’s office close to the holidays, she approaches it as “a first contact. We are really going to do the work in September”..

Healthy eating

The goal of most is to lose weight, as opposed to the option of changing eating habits as a matter of health. The method to achieve what they set out to do is not a diet restrictive, it is education to know what, how much and how to eat in order to lead a lifestyle that puts down roots. Juana explains this with a metaphor: the food we choose is then our energy; “Would you put gas in a tractor? Our food is our fuel.

A caloric deficit must be achieved, but, to do so, “you can’t go from one extreme to the other, you need patience,” he stresses, “you have to work at it.” There are people who drastically change their habits to lose weight, but it can have consequences such as changes in mood, trigger food cravings, alter your energy levels … all for not going through a transition.

Having the dream body should not go through trauma, restrictions or try miracle tricks that do not work, it does by a good diet that will improve, in turn, health. “When you give a person the opportunity to take care of himself, he does not want to leave it”, because “a diet means to find himself well”.

Keto, detox, fasting….

The body asks for what it needs, after a few days of eating out, for example, you can use methods that help detoxify or de-inflate to help it return to its usual state, such as the well-known keto diet (reduce carbohydrates) or detox (depurative). The doctor believes that even “you can replace some food” or “something more restrictive, suppress them”, as in fasting, but it must be done in a controlled and occasional way to achieve its effectiveness and viability.

Occasionally they can be beneficial if you know how to do it, but you have to be careful and carry it out without “severe restrictions maintained over time.” because it is not a feasible diet in the long term. The ideal are mixed diets where in addition to ‘natural’ food, you can include supplements such as those usually offered by Juana; protein shakes or omega 3, which will help accelerate the process of losing weight.

Dangers

There are more and more cases, eating disorders are the order of the day. On the one hand, those that result in restrictive behaviors, known as “anorexia nervosa” and on the other, binge eatingusually related to stress or anxiety and usually occur at night, with carbohydrates and sweets and suddenly.

This shows that food goes beyond being something we use to nourish ourselves.There is a very important link between food, properly speaking, and the emotional side,” confirms the nutritionist.

“With a structured diet, you should not be physically hungry, your body will be fine.Another thing is the emotional hunger that can betray us when we have psychological problems,” she clarifies.

For this reason and taking into account the psychological problems she faces as a professional, it is clear to her that this diet, or rather the way she teaches her patients to eat, must go through knowing the background of the individual problems because it is a priority to “to be emotionally strong” in order to move forward.

Clearly, there are better and worse quality products in terms of their nutritional values and calories, and they should be avoided, but there are patients, such as those with anxiety and stress, who should not be be completely restricted because it can cause them to have the opposite effect.. For Juana, it is necessary to consider what will be more productive, bearing in mind the effort of each one.