In recent years, there have been many diets that aim to change eating habits and lifestyle in order to help the user lose weight. Unfortunately, only a handful of these programs live up to their promises, with some resulting in a yo-yo effect while others limit intake to such an extent that they can cause dietary deficiencies.
Noting the relative effectiveness of these diets, two health professionals have combined their know-how to create the LineCoaching method: the doctor-nutritionist Jean-Philippe Zermati and the psychiatrist-psychotherapist Gérard Apfeldorfer. Their goal? Create an approach to weight problems by putting the user himself and his relationship with food at the heart of the approach. But how does it work? Is LineCoaching an effective method to lose weight without problems and in a sustainable way? Explanations and opinions in this article.
What is the LineCoaching method?
Known for their harsh criticism of weight loss diets, Gérard Apfeldorfer and Jean-Philippe Zermati have launched their own website to support people wishing to lose weight without dieting.
Called LineCoaching, the program is intended to help us regain our healthy weight, by learning to recognize and respect, but not inhibit, our eating sensations. Also known by its credo "lose weight without dieting", this online coaching method is particularly suitable for those who cannot tell the difference between feeling hungry and wanting to eat, or who cannot resist their cravings.
The LineCoaching method was developed in 2011 as part of the GROS (Obesity and Overweight Think Tank) initiative. The latter denounced the ineffectiveness of restrictive diets, which in most cases lead to weight gain and can induce eating disorders.
The LineCoaching method is based above all on exercises aimed at eliminating unnecessary food intake, whether related to emotions or bad habits. Indeed, this is the major factor that makes you eat beyond needs and consequently, makes you gain weight. This program 100% made in France allows you to find an intuitive diet, guided by feelings of hunger, satiation and satiety. Clearly, it does not prohibit any food and does not impose any restrictions in terms of quantity.
LineCoaching method: how is it original?
Many diets promise to lose weight quickly. All of them impose certain food groups to consume and others to avoid, but very few of these diets are interested in the people behind their plates.
LineCoaching is not a diet
The LineCoaching method is exactly the opposite of diets: it is a program that relies on behavioral and cognitive therapies that allows you to profoundly modify your eating behavior in order to lose weight. To do this, the method is based on a personalized food journey according to the user's profile. The goal is to relearn to eat according to your food sensations: hunger, satiety and satiation. This is called intuitive eating.
Clearly, the LineCoaching program offers to lose weight without dieting, because often drastic diets only aggravate the weight problem by failing to consider the user's relationship with food, which is nevertheless at the origin of overweight.
A method that requires work on oneself
The LineCoaching method has several steps for the user. We first identify our eating behaviors to relearn to recognize our feelings of hunger and satiation. We relearn to taste what we eat and then we rediscover the pleasure of eating our favorite foods while being able to stop at satiety.
Since emotions are another major factor in being overweight, emotional eaters who crack in case of stress, sadness or anger must work on themselves in order to increase their emotional tolerance and thus live their emotions without resorting to food compulsions. The different phases of LineCoaching are then complemented by daily physical activity. The latter aims to regain a healthy lifestyle and regulate the mood of the user via the movement of the body.
A method that relies on a real community
According to the founders of LineCoaching, people who seek to lower their weight are often misunderstood by those around them and by society. The latter also thinks, wrongly, that weight loss is only a question of willpower: it is enough to go on a diet. Thus, overweight people find themselves confronted with some kind of aggressiveness, or in compassion. They then need to communicate with people who understand them, and who suffer from the same weight problems. This is why the community is important for the promoters of LineCoaching: to unite people around a common discourse in order to implement the same way of thinking about food.
A method that frees itself from dietary restrictions
In recent years, it has been known that restrictive diets are harmful and ineffective, not to mention the yo-yo effect they cause. ANSES (National Agency for Food, Environmental and Occupational Health and Safety) also recognizes that weight loss diets are dangerous for health and morale.
For its part, the LineCoaching method offers a gentle and natural solution that brings the individual back to his own body and mind. A real challenge on oneself, it imposes more difficult steps to achieve, and you have to go to a little more trouble to achieve a lasting result in the long term.
LineCoaching method: how does it work?
Once the user decides to try the method, the LineCoaching program establishes a free test to determine the eating behavior profile. Indeed, it is the personalized follow-up that is at the heart of the program, a service subject to a monthly fee. Thus, whether it is sports videos, email follow-ups or weekly challenges, the two scientists behind LineCoaching make every effort to offer an optimal result.
Personalized support includes:
- the observation of the user's eating behaviour, depending on the emotions related to food intake,
- the experience of hunger and the discovery of the feeling of satiation,
- the coordination of a personalized food journey,
- listening to food cravings,
- coaching an adapted physical activity to promote peace with the body.
It should be emphasized that LineCoaching differs from diets in that it does not aim to achieve or regain nutritional balance, hence the fact that it does not offer typical meals. Indeed, Gérard and Jean-Philippe believe that when we carefully observe this approach, dietetics naturally returns to normal.
The advantages of LineCoaching
The success of the LineCoaching method is actually explained by the various advantages it offers to its members:
- It is a method that allows you to eat almost any food properly without inducing a feeling of guilt.
- The program allows you to regain your good eating habits.
- It facilitates access to mindfulness exercises, especially for people who cannot go to a therapy center.
- The LineCoaching method also makes it possible to regain a healthy intake of food, especially for people who have experienced frustrations or who have already tried several restrictive diets in vain.
- The method allows to lose up to 4 kg after 3 months of accompaniment, according to a study commissioned by the two scientists behind the LineCoaching.
- It allows a lasting psychological healing of his relationship with food, until he regains his healthy weight.
- The program offers access to a coach for individual follow-up.
- The subscription includes the ability to chat directly with the two founders of the method.
- The LineCoaching method is also a fun program that must be experienced as a game: challenges of different levels of difficulty and tracking tools are unlocked as the user progresses.
The disadvantages of LineCoaching
In the field of weight loss, no diet or program is perfect, and the LineCoaching method is no exception to the rule.
- If the main goal of LineCoaching is to reduce excessive or emotional food intake, it does not lead to the suppression of pounds from other causes. This is particularly the case for pregnant women.
- Unlike restrictive diets, LineCoaching will not make you lose much weight and does not maintain a lower weight, because according to the two founders, each of us is programmed for a weight level independent of thinness.
- The follow-up is done entirely online, which can put off those who want to be in physical contact with a coach or therapist.
- The LineCoaching method is paid: the subscription costs 29 euros per month for 3 months of commitment, or 19 euros monthly for 6 months of commitment (more info below).
- Of course, the results are slower and less spectacular than with restrictive diets. This is actually a long-term method, which does not show very visible results in a few days. However, this deficiency is compensated by a reduced risk of yo-yo effect.
LineCoaching method: what foods to eat?
As a reminder, the LineCoaching method does not impose or prohibit any food. On the contrary, it aims to reconcile with "taboo" foods, which are discouraged in restrictive diets (chocolate, biscuits, bread, chips, cheese …). It is indeed the mindful consumption of these usually proscribed foods that must make it possible to regain the pleasure of eating them without feeling guilty.
Through several challenges and exercises, we become more and more aware that these foods do not make you fat more than others, as long as the food sensations are respected. Thus, the gradual reintroduction of these foods on a daily basis gradually reduces the strong desires to eat them.
How much does the LineCoaching method cost?
Jean-Philippe and Gérard offer several formulas. On the official website of the program, you can consult the following rates:
- Basic subscription for 3 months: 25 euros per month. This formula includes personalized follow-up of the food journey and unlimited exchanges by email or chat with the coaches.
- Basic subscription for 6 months: 19 euros per month. This includes the same benefits for a 6-month commitment.
- "Premium" subscription for 3 months: 45 euros per month. This also includes 3 telephone interviews with a dedicated coach.
- "Premium" subscription for 6 months: 39 euros per month. This package includes 6 telephone consultations.
If the LineCoaching method is indeed paid, it is nevertheless affordable compared to the price of consultations in office with a nutritionist or psychologist.
What physical activity should accompany the LineCoaching method?
When it was created in 2011, the LineCoaching method did not require any special physical activity. However, the two founders recommend sports because the shape course helps to refine the silhouette and find a better relationship with the body. But here again, the method does not impose any particular form of sport, especially since the exercises offered are personalized according to the physical condition of the user. In addition, the training course evolves as progress is made.
LineCoaching method: health risks?
Even if the course is personalized according to the profile of each, some exercises proposed by the psychological coaches are not adapted to people suffering from diseases.
Cardiovascular risks
Too high a blood level of bad cholesterol or triglycerides, or high blood pressure, are cardiovascular risk factors. These metabolic disorders then involve moderating the consumption of certain foods, including foods high in saturated fats (cholesterol), sugary foods (triglycerides) and very salty products (hypertension). However, the LineCoaching method allows the reintroduction of these foods, without realizing that too frequent reintroduction of these foods can have repercussions on health. This is why people at cardiovascular risk who wish to test the method should consult their doctor beforehand.
Blood glucose risks
Among the usual exercises, the coaches offer to skip meals to regain the feeling of hunger. However, in case of diabetes, these exercises can lead to hypoglycemia (too low blood sugar), especially in people treated with insulin. Conversely, too many sugary foods lead to hyperglycemia (too high blood sugar) that could unbalance diabetes.
Risks associated with chronic kidney disease
We know that chronic kidney disease requires a rigorous diet to support kidney function: control of salt, protein, potassium, water intake… However, the LineCoaching method involves the reintroduction of certain foods, which can have an adverse impact on the state of health. Anyone suffering from chronic kidney disease should therefore consult the advice of their doctor before trying the LineCoaching method.
LineCoaching method: how to succeed in the program?
Weight gain often comes from a diet that exceeds needs without taking into account an essential element: pleasure. Great forgotten of weight loss diets, pleasure is at the heart of the LineCoaching method, whose objective is to eat less to lose weight, provided you eat what you like. But to succeed in the challenges imposed by this rather revolutionary method, it is necessary to adopt a few rules.
Learning to trust yourself
Above all, the LineCoaching method differs from other slimming programs in that the diet is determined only by yourself. This method does not prohibit any food and especially not the foods you like the most. To lose weight, you will have to learn to listen to your body in order to identify feelings of hunger and satiety, and you learn to stop when you reach satiety.
After completing a questionnaire about your eating habits, LineCoaching determines your eating behavior profile. The latter will make it possible to determine the exercises and activities of your program in a few steps. And these different activities will make it possible to identify all the facets of your eating behavior in order to find the right reflexes and lose weight sustainably.
Learn to manage your emotions
As we have, emotions are a significant weight gain factor. Indeed, many people eat to calm down and to find comfort. The LineCoaching method involves psychological work on emotions in order to learn to recognize those that push to eat. The goal? Increase emotional tolerance while being able to assume emotions without trying to circumvent them through cravings. By living your emotions better, LineCoaching allows you to manage them without going through compulsive eating.
Playing sports regularly
Diet plays an essential role in a slimming quest, but sport is also a significant ally. Regular physical activity allows, in fact, an interesting caloric expenditure in order to lose weight while keeping a toned body. The LineCoaching method does not impose any particular form of sport.
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