Jia Ling lost 100 pounds in more than a year! Very inspiring, but doctors advise you not to copy it randomly

The famous entertainment star Jia Ling posted on Weibo that she had "successfully lost 100 pounds" in the past year, which quickly set off an internet sensation. Many people began to ask for weight loss tutorials, while some were worried that excessive weight loss would harm the body, and some felt that it would increase body anxiety. Movie stars lose weight for the role, but is it worth it for ordinary people like us to follow suit?

Do we really need to lose weight?

Do you really need to lose weight? It is recommended to look at these 3 indicators:

1. BMI

BMI = weight (kg) ➗ height (m) squared. A BMI greater than 24 is considered overweight.

2. Waist circumference

Women: Waist circumference ≥ 85cm is considered overweight

Men: Waist circumference ≥ 90cm is considered overweight

3. Body fat percentage

Women: Body fat percentage ≥ 30% is considered overweight

Men: Body fat percentage ≥ 25% is considered overweight

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As long as it is within the normal range, it is a healthy body. From a health perspective, there is no need to lose weight. I also hope that everyone will not blindly develop body anxiety. A healthy body is the most beautiful.

Blind weight loss is not advisable

For the sake of her career, Jia Ling lost 100 pounds in one year while continuing to film. It sounds very inspiring. However, I would like to remind everyone not to use extreme means to lose weight suddenly, otherwise you will end up hurting yourself. Losing weight too quickly will cause various problems, and there are many cases in the news.

Image source: Weibo screenshot

1. Losing weight too quickly leads to amenorrhea.

If you lose more than 10% to 15% of your standard weight in a short period of time, it may lead to amenorrhea. Not having your period at this time is not an easy thing, but it will make people feel uncomfortable and frustrated.

2. Not eating carbohydrates leads to fatty liver

Excessive carbohydrates are one of the causes of obesity, but carbohydrates are essential. The normal energy supply of the human body is mainly carbohydrates, followed by fat. If you do not eat carbohydrates to supply energy when losing weight:

●The body will first try to break down liver glycogen to increase blood sugar energy supply, but the glycogen reserves are only enough for one day at most;

When glycogen is insufficient, the body will try to synthesize fat for energy, so the fat in the liver increases;

●But because the protein intake is not enough to support energy consumption and the protein needed for various body functions - the transport protein decreases, the fat in the liver cannot be transported out (which also leads to an increase in fat in the liver); the enzyme protein decreases, fat decomposition is also affected, and more fat is left.

If you do not eat carbohydrates for a long time, a large amount of fat will accumulate in the liver, which will then develop into fatty liver.

3. Dieting may cause hair loss

Excessive dieting may lead to nutrient deficiencies, and deficiencies in nutrients such as iron, vitamin B3, vitamin D, fatty acids, selenium, etc. may all lead to hair loss.

Master your own weight loss rhythm

Scientific weight loss must be relatively slow and requires long-term persistence. Generally, a weight loss rate of 0.5 to 2 catties per week is within the normal range. However, it is recommended that you choose a reasonable speed based on your basic weight and do not set the highest goal at the beginning.

In terms of diet, you must consume carbohydrates (what we call staple food in our daily life), preferably non-highly processed rice and noodles; reduce fat intake, and increase the intake of high-quality protein, vegetables, and fresh fruits.

When controlling your diet, it is not recommended to follow a very low-energy diet (i.e. a diet with a total energy intake of less than 800 kcal per day) without the guidance of a professional.

In terms of exercise, it is recommended to have a certain intensity and aerobic exercise that activates large muscle groups, such as walking, cycling, climbing, playing ball, jogging, dancing, swimming, rowing, skating, skiing and dancing, etc. Do it step by step, and do not need to exercise at a high intensity. The main thing is to ensure that the exercise lasts for a long time.

For example:

If you plan to lose 2 kg in 1 month, or 0.5 kg per week, you will need a daily energy deficit of about 550 kcal.

Physical activity increases the consumption of 300 kcal. It is best to increase moderate-intensity physical activity by 1 to 1.5 hours per day, or low-intensity physical activity by 2 to 3 hours.

In terms of diet, you need to consume 250 kcal less every day. Women should consume 1100 kcal per day and men should consume 1300~1500 kcal per day.

Usually it is difficult to be so precise when we lose weight, but you can make adjustments in the first two weeks: the food intake can be gradually reduced to one third of the previous amount, and exercise can start with jogging for 30 minutes to 1 hour a day.

It’s really hard to keep losing weight

Friends who often try to lose weight know that losing weight is something that is often taken up and put down, and it is not easy to stick to it.

First, our work and life often disrupt our weight loss plans. We stay up late today and have a social event tomorrow, and suddenly we find that all the weeks of persistence have been wasted.

Second, losing weight becomes more difficult and painful as time goes by. For example, when you reach the weight loss bottleneck, no matter how hard you try, you often cannot lose another pound of weight, and if you relax a little, you will easily rebound. These things will greatly undermine our confidence in persisting.

So please give more encouragement to yourself or your friends who are losing weight, and work hard to embrace a healthier body.

References

[1]ChenL,LuY,ZhouYF,etal.The effects of weightloss-relatedamenorrheaonwomen'shealthandtherapeuticapproaches:anarrativereview.AnnTranslMed.2023;11(2):132.

[2]AnekweCV,ChandrasekaranP,StanfordFC.KetogenicDiet-inducedElevatedCholesterol,ElevatedLiverEnzymesandPotentialNon-alcoholicFattyLiverDisease.Cureus.2020;12(1):e6605.

[3]GuoEL,KattaR.Dietandhairloss:effectsofnutrientdeficiencyandsupplementuse.DermatolPractConcept.2017;7(1):1-10.

This article is a work of Science Popularization China-Starry Sky Project

Produced by: Science Popularization Department of China Association for Science and Technology

Producer｜China Science and Technology Press Co., Ltd., Beijing Zhongke Xinghe Culture Media Co., Ltd.

Author: Jiang Yongyuan, Master of Internal Medicine, Third Military Medical University

Review丨Zhang Yu, Researcher, Chinese Center for Disease Control and Prevention, Doctor of Medicine

Tang Qin, Director and Researcher of the Science Popularization Department of the Chinese Medical Association