Czechs are getting fat and everyone is fighting it as best they can. For the past few years, for example, intermittent fasting. “However, this can be counterproductive,” warns the nutritionist.
In the Czech Republic, 70 percent of men and 43 percent of women are slightly overweight or even obese, according to the Czech Statistical Office, which maps the living conditions of the local residents every spring.
The numbers are based on last year’s data, but any doctor will confirm that the situation is not improving. Rather the opposite. Czechs are getting fat and everyone is fighting it as best they can. For the past few years, for example, intermittent fasting. But as a nutritionist says in the MUDr.ování podcast, it can be counterproductive.
Dr. Václava Kunová studied at a time when the field of nutrition was not yet taught in medicine. That’s why she was also educated in this area in parallel, and has been consistently devoted to the topic for many years. Thanks to this, he has a wealth of experience with what an improperly set diet or an excess of effort can do to a person.
“I see diet fatigue in many people. A person is fixated on the moment when he steps on the scale in the morning. It expects a lower number, but it’s not there. Maybe it goes down a bit from Monday to Friday, then the weekend comes and the person in question says to himself, I’m going to treat myself now, because what else would I get out of life. So on Monday he is back where he was,” the expert describes a typical vicious circle in which many people who are trying to lose weight get involved. At that point, it’s easy to succumb to the variety of shake and soup type diet programs on offer.
MD Václava Kunová
While studying at the Faculty of Medicine of the Charles University, she was also educated at the Society for Nutrition.
As a dietician, she participated in the European Diogenes Nutrition Study, which investigated the influence of nutrition and genetics on weight reduction and subsequent maintenance of weight loss.
She is the author of many books on nutrition.
Photo: MUDr.ování, List of News
Dietician Václava Kunová.
“I honestly hate drastic ‘bag’ diets because they don’t teach you anything. In addition, you don’t always lose fat, often it’s just water and muscle mass,” says Dr. Kunová in an interview. And he reminds us that losing weight mainly means understanding how different foods affect processes in the body and eating habits.
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If we understand that vegetables are very filling and proteins keep the blood sugar level normal, we will not be attacked by food cravings, especially sweets. This is exactly what can happen if one drastically restricts nutrient intake.
“The word diet should not be heard too often. Because you can have a dumpling with sirloin, even if you are trying to lose weight. You just need to put it in the context of other meals,” the expert explains the principle of healthy weight loss.
Time doesn’t matter
“No one is going to do it for you,” says the expert to all those who tend to look for simple instructions for losing weight. Intermittent fasting can be just that for some. But even that has its proverbial “buts”.
“If you not only want to lose weight, but also look good, that means without signs of fatigue, a continuous supply of nutrients is more beneficial,” says Dr. Kunová.
Why can intermittent fasting be counterproductive for weight loss? Why is it better to deal with what we eat than when we eat it? And why do we overestimate physical activities? You can listen to the entire interview with the weight loss expert in the MUDr.ování podcast at the beginning of the article.
Doctoring
Conversations about health with a healthy perspective. Publicist Lucie Šilhová interviews doctors and other experts in the MUDr.ování podcast and, with their help, looks for answers to questions that interest most of us. Every Wednesday at 11:00 on Proženy.cz, on Podcasty.cz and in all podcast applications such as Spotify and Apple Podcasts.