• Wellbeing Ana Morales, the anti-diet psychologist: "The discourse of healthy food demonizing processed foods and sugars is dangerous"
  • Survey More than half of Spaniards are self-conscious about showing their bodies on the beach
  • This is how Instagram filters got out of hand

January, like September, is a month full of resolutions. Many of them revolve around the gym and the scale. It's like a mantra that settles into the discourse right after swallowing the last piece of cake. Then come the resolutions of amendment and we cling to nails such as willpower and sacrifice. For some, it's just a matter of shedding a couple of pounds. Nothing that can't be remedied by a 'samurai' diet of a few weeks. For others, the story is quite different.

We are talking about those who always go around on a pendulum, with seasons of military discipline at the table and in the gym and, others, with a certain mess and change of size. These profiles live between restriction and wide sleeves with all that entails feelings of guilt and frustration. In addition, when it comes to public figures, any significant alteration in weight elicits harmful comments and judgments. That happens to the presenter and 'youtuber' Ibai Llanos, who a few days ago came to the fore, that is, to the networks, with this post. The reasons were none other than to justify himself to a certain extent and defend himself against those who hurt him:

Along these lines, many women under the media spotlight are also questioned about their silhouette, even enduring direct questions about their 'freshness', what is the secret of their miracle diet, the efficiency of their exercise table and a long and indiscreet etcetera. Some examples, to name a few, illustrate this page: Carlota Corredera, Vicky Martín Berrocal, Tania Llasera and Tamara Falcó.

Returning to Ibai Llanos, who half a year ago managed to lose 17 kilos, he explains in this X publication how it is difficult for him to maintain the necessary perseverance to lose weight and also recognizes his difficulties in maintaining discipline. He alludes to the fact that he is "absolutely overwhelmed with work" and that, therefore, he does not prioritize his health as he should. However, he concludes: "I will get my physical change. I'm sure."

No intervention by Llanos goes unnoticed, since his followers number in the millions. On this occasion, the reactions have not been long in coming and are not without controversy. Are all the signs of concern about your weight to look after your health or is there fatphobia behind it? Should he set an example for his fans, many of them children and teenagers, and not abuse the junk food he eats in many of his videos? Is it only physical health that counts?

Losing weight isn't just willpower

Shutterstock

Ana Morales, a psychologist specialising in emotional nutrition and body acceptance, provides some keys to explain why losing weight is not so easy and how harmful certain comments can be. "When they tell you that you have to lose weight, they're reminding you that you're not valid the way you are and that you used to just be better," she explains. And he adds: Do these comments imply concern for health or hide a rejection of being overweight? Don't they know that you also have mirrors at home?" she protests. The expert complains that these attitudes do not always take into account mental health, without which "physical health cannot exist".

That harassment and demolition when someone has (many or fewer) kilos to spare has translated, in this case, into someone like Ibai Llanos coming out to excuse himself: "Neither he nor anyone else has to justify himself or give explanations about his weight, or whether there are such and such reasons for having gained weight." "He already knows he's fat and he knows that obesity is a risk factor for many diseases. But he's had to come out and say he's doing it wrong. That's an attack on their self-esteem," he insists. This consideration, he says, leads us to think that we are that number that comes out on the scale.

It is common to fall into the 'mistake' of permanent restriction. "It's impossible to always be on a strict diet. Also, our body reacts and the metabolism adapts, so it's not effective," says Morales. This claim, he explains, is supported by experiments that have shown, such as the one carried out in 1944 by the University of Minnesota in the middle of World War II (called the Minnesota Starvation Experiment), how calorie restriction is not always 'successful' in reducing sizes.

"There were 36 soldiers, who ingested 1,570 calories a day, walked 5 kilometers a day and were subjected to hard physical labor for two hours. They sought to know the effects of hunger and physical exercise on the human body and saw how weight loss reaches a limit. The reality is that other factors are involved, such as stress, genetics, hours of sleep, etc.," he says.

In addition, this "sabotage" of our own body to food restriction and physical activity is evidenced by the fact that "during the rest of the day we save as much energy as possible", we do not feel like doing anything and, in short, our body settles into a thrifty lethargy that goes against our interest in losing weight. "That's why, when we sweat it out in the gym on January 2, we spend the afternoon on the couch," he says.

In that experiment they also demonstrated something that many dieters see in their meats: the more prohibition for a bun, the more we want to eat it. "The brain tries to destroy any willpower. It bombards us constantly. That's why it's so hard to stay on a diet for six months or a year." Ibai Llanos himself acknowledges in his post and subsequent comments that he does not lack commitment and tenacity in his work, but in the 'healthy' life, the story is different.

The psychologist also alludes to the fact that behind obesity (many times) and eating disorders (always) hide traumas and wounds of greater depth: "Has anyone stopped to think why Ibai Llanos acknowledges in these tweets that he is overwhelmed with work and that he has a whole family and close environment to support? Does such a young guy [28 years old] have to bear that responsibility? Nothing comes for free. Maybe all that pressure will be relieved by eating," he says.

Realistic goals come first

Willpower is valid as a fuel with which to start a change of life, but it is not enough to maintain motivation for a long time. So what do we do? José María Soniano, a personal trainer specialising in women, is convinced: "With regard to nutrition and exercise, the key is to find those routines that we can sustain over time. The pineapple diet, for example, serves to correct an excess in a timely manner, but nothing more. It's impossible to follow those restrictions permanently."

For this, he explains, some find their 'perfect' formula in intermittent fasting or protein diets. "We have to find what we can maintain and that, of course, is healthy." And he 'prescribes' the same medicine for physical training: "It's difficult to exercise, especially when we have so many daily obligations, but if we want to take care of ourselves, we have to find a way. Strength training must be prioritized to increase muscle and with it, metabolism. It can be at the beginning of the day, before starting routines, in free spaces... Even if it's just a little, 30 minutes a day is better than nothing," he says.

In this sense, Ana Morales insists on the need for objectives to always be realistic: "It is common to work with a polarized mind, that is, either I follow a strict diet or I do a wide diet in Castilla. If you function like this and one day you don't go to the gym, your purpose collapses. We have to be aware of this precisely so that we don't fall into the 'all or nothing' scenario, because it generates a lot of frustration."

Thus, he recommends taking the mantra of weight loss out of focus: "We have to look for motivation in not getting tired when climbing stairs, in being able to buy the clothes we like, in feeling agile... In this way, we will try to ensure that the idea of going on a diet does not work against us," he concludes.