The importance of proper nutrition for weight loss can hardly be overestimated.You need to get used to healthy and wholesome food, without tormenting yourself with endless diets and hunger strikes.It is enough to know the principles of nutrition and understand which foods you need to eat and which ones are better to forget about forever.In this article we will talk about the basics of losing weight through proper nutrition and food preparation methods.
Diet rules for weight loss
The menu for losing weight should be varied - then the body receives the necessary nutrients, vitamins and microelements in sufficient quantities.But it should also be tasty, because constant stress caused by hunger and boredom caused by monotonous, tasteless food are neither good for the psyche nor for the body.
Basic principles
Before you start creating a menu, you need to understand the principles of healthy eating.
- Eat small and often
It is best to divide the entire daily ration into 5 meals and eat at the same time.The last time you should eat is 2-3 hours before bed.Such a system prevents the body from starving, which means you don't overeat.Fractional meals for weight loss are irreplaceable.
- Avoid fast food
Ready meals are extremely high in calories, contain a lot of preservatives, artificial colors and flavors that give it an appetizing smell and taste, as well as fatty or spicy sauces.In fast food restaurants, hundreds of servings are prepared with the same burnt oil, which contains carcinogens.If you still have doubts, think about it: a standard set of a hamburger, a glass of cola and a bag of fries has 1200-1400 calories, that is, almost the daily requirement, but at the same time such a lunch does not contain vitamins, healthy fiber and almost no proteins.
But in excess there are saturated fats and simple carbohydrates. - Chew your food thoroughly
Experiments have shown that if you chew your food about 40 times, you can lose some weight without changing your eating habits.And when combined with a healthy diet, this simple technique produces truly amazing results.Food that has been chewed thoroughly is easier to digest.In this case, we eat much more slowly and the brain receives a signal of satiety in a timely manner, which eliminates the risk of overeating.
- Drink water
Water is a catalyst for all life processes.Two liters of clean drinking water per day helps to boost metabolism, remove toxins in a timely manner and prevent fluid retention - i.e. edema.The term “water” does not include tea, coffee, juices and other drinks: for example, black tea and coffee dehydrate the body, and fruit juices and drinks contain sugar.This doesn't mean you shouldn't drink juice, but for the body, juice is more of a food than a liquid.
What can you eat while losing weight?
Protein products
Foods that contain a lot of protein require more energy to break down.Such foods quickly relieve hunger and help maintain muscle mass.
Whey protein, beef, fish and chicken contain a lot of protein.If you want to burn fat and build muscle, consume 0.7 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight.
Table of protein food options that are acceptable when losing weight:
| Lean meat | Beef and its offal, broth.Rabbit, low-fat pork ham without rind |
| poultry meat | Turkey, chicken, offal, natural poultry ham |
| Fish | Low or medium fat content – red mullet, halibut, mackerel, pollock, cod, tuna, hake. |
| seafood | Squid, crab, shrimp, mussels and more |
| egg | Any |
Fermented milk products
This food contains calcium, protein, vitamins A, D and the entire line of group B. These elements provide you with the necessary energy for the whole day and help build muscle mass.Sour milk also helps improve the functioning of the digestive tract.
Make it a rule to drink 100 ml of fresh organic kefir in the evening, about an hour before going to bed.
Take dairy products such as kefir, cottage cheese, natural yogurt without additives and sugar, low-fat cheese,
sour milk.
vegetables and fruits
Did you know that water helps you lose a few extra pounds?When you eat foods rich in water, glucose digestion slows down and you feel full for a long time.
When you are hungry, eat raw vegetables.These are the best low calorie foods.One cup of raw vegetables or green salad contains less sugar than 1 piece of fruit.This is not an exhaustive list of such wonderful products.
Complex carbohydrates
The best porridges for losing weight are oatmeal, buckwheat and barley.Oatmeal contains soluble fiber, which requires a lot of energy to break down.This burns a lot of calories and boosts your metabolism.A bowl of oatmeal with fruit or almonds is a good start to the day.
Polyunsaturated fats and acids
Polyunsaturated fats have long been proven to promote weight loss.Such substances normalize blood sugar levels, lower cholesterol and accelerate metabolism.To lose extra pounds, you need to include foods rich in these essential fats in your diet.
Nuts are rich in fatty acids.Therefore, before leaving the store, buy 100 or 200 grams.
The exotic fruit avocado is also rich in fatty acids.It can be eaten both in the morning and in the evening.This product contains an important element - the natural amino acid L-carnitine.It also accelerates metabolic processes, promotes fat burning and protects the cardiovascular system from disorders.
What shouldn't you eat while losing weight?
Very often you hear from a woman that she eats very poorly, but something prevents her from successfully losing weight.Often these women's diets contain foods that are counterproductive to weight loss.
Sugar
Sugar is at the top of the list of enemies due to its rapid conversion into fats.By consuming sugar, you can say goodbye to your thin waist.Therefore, you should avoid drinks with added sugar.
Sweet carbonated drinks and juices
You should not consume excess calories along with liquids.Considering that such drinks contain, on average, fifty calories per hundred milliliters, drinking one glass adds an average of one hundred and fifty kilocalories to your daily diet.Instead, you can also eat a nice portion of salad.
Dairy products with high fat content
It makes no difference whether you substitute standard fat, one percent, or completely low-fat kefir.
Likewise, you should replace whole milk with milk whose fat mass fraction does not exceed one and a half percent.And the calorie content of cottage cheese, cheese and yogurt should be minimal.
Fatty meat
Meat must be included in the diet as it is an essential source of protein.However, it is better to choose chicken breast instead of leg and lean beef instead of the usual but very fatty pork.It is necessary to eat only lean meat.
Sweets consumed with tea
Most women are used to drinking tea along with sweets.On average, waffles, cookies, sweets or snacks have between three hundred and fifty to four hundred and fifty calories, which significantly affects the successful process of losing weight.
Sauces
Even if you eat a small amount of food, but combine it with mayonnaise, ketchup and other high-calorie sauces, the fat and calorie content of such a dish increases several times.
It is necessary to completely exclude any sauces from your daily diet.
Fast food
One hamburger can contain up to six hundred and fifty calories, which is more than half the diet of a girl who has decided to lose weight.
Nuts
The benefits of nuts are undeniable.However, they contain a lot of fat and if consumed daily, weight loss may slow down or stop altogether.
Dried fruits
Healthy but high-calorie foods include dried fruits, the consumption of which should be limited as part of a diet.
flour products
Pancakes, dumplings, cakes, bread and other flour products contain a large amount of simple carbohydrates, which very quickly turn into fat cells.It is necessary to exclude all flour products from your diet.
Calculation of the daily calorie content of foods consumed
Daily calorie intake is the optimal amount of calories you consume per day to maintain your figure and health.Therefore, if the foods consumed are too high in calories, there is a higher risk of gaining extra pounds.However, if the daily diet does not contain enough calories, it can harm your body.
There are many different formulas for calculating your daily calorie intake individually.For example, according to one of these formulas, your weight in kilograms must be multiplied by 14 (for women) or 15 (for men) and then divided by 0.453.The result obtained is the optimal amount of calories to maintain this weight.
Another formula for calculating daily calorie intake takes into account a person's weight, age and height.To find your daily calorie intake using this formula, you need to add your weight in kilograms multiplied by a factor of 9.6 to your height in centimeters multiplied by a factor of 1.8, add the number 655, and then subtract your age in years multiplied by a factor of 4.7:
655 + 9.6*(weight in kg) + 1.8*(height in cm) - 4.7*(age in years).
The result is the daily calorie requirement at rest.If you need to calculate the daily calorie intake required to maintain your existing weight under different loads, you need to make a slight adjustment to the result.For example, if a person does fitness at least once a week or does morning exercises every day, you need to multiply the result by a factor of 1.38.
The result of calculating the daily calorie intake should be increased by a factor of 1.55 if the number of sports activities is between 3 and 5 times a week.If training is carried out more often, 5-6 times a week, a coefficient of 1.73 should be applied.If you need to lose existing weight, the results achieved must be reduced by 20% each.
Proper nutritional menu for weight loss
Make a shopping list.It must contain:
- whole grain bread;
- lean meat (beef, rabbit, chicken, turkey);
- seafood and lean fish;
- Mushrooms;
- eggs;
- low-fat fermented milk products;
- Fruit and vegetables;
- durum wheat cereals and pasta;
- Nuts, seeds and dried fruits (in limited quantities).
Water in the right diet
Fluid is constantly leaving the body.We lose more than half a liter of water every day through the air we breathe.The total fluid loss through sweating and natural excretion is approximately two and a half liters.
Therefore, nutritionists recommend consuming at least one and a half liters of fluid per day, regardless of diet (a certain amount is compensated for by other sources - food, air, etc.).It is better to drink regular drinking water than tea, coffee, juice and other drinks.
You must drink water according to these rules:
- Daily water consumption should be gradually increased to normal levels, half a glass per day.
- It is best to drink filtered water instead of boiled water.Mineral water and other carbonated drinks are not considered substitutes.It is also better to replace compotes and juices with fruit consumption.
- Contrary to popular belief, strong tea and coffee contribute to dehydration.Proper nutrition requires complete renunciation of it.It is better to drink green tea without sugar or weak herbal teas.
- It's easy to recognize the body's water needs: you have to pay attention to the fluid that is naturally excreted.Proper nutrition ensures transparency.Dark urine with a pungent odor indicates the need to increase the amount of clean water in the diet.
- It is best to drink water at room temperature.Water that is too cold or hot causes stomach cramps and slows down digestive processes.
Cooking methods
Preparing food so that it retains its beneficial properties and at the same time reveals interesting flavor notes is a whole science.
Cook
The most classic way to prepare dietary dishes is cooking.To ensure that the food remains healthy with this cooking method, it is important not to cook the dish for too long.
Cooking has been proven to reduce the calorie content of food.An exception is starchy vegetables that are best baked in a dietary diet (potatoes, corn).
When cooking, make sure that the vegetables remain slightly crunchy.If they are cooked for too long, they lose all of their useful ingredients.
Delete
The main thing is not to use additional fats when stewing.If you can't do without it, use low-fat sour cream.
The ideal braising process takes place over low heat;It is also important that the heat is distributed evenly across the bottom of the pot (or other utensils).
Baking (roasting)
Here, too, the main rule is not to use additional fats, otherwise the food will be high in calories.
Please note that food from the oven is never fresh.The main thing is to let the products brown.Remember, if you're baking meat, for example, don't forget to open the foil or wrapper 15 minutes before cooking.This gives the dish an appetizing crust.
Fry
In the dietary diet, the consumption of fried foods is allowed.The main thing is that it is prepared without oil.Because it is precisely the fact that oil increases the calorie content of certain foods that is dangerous for the figure.
The best option for fried foods is grilling.This is especially true when cooking meat or fish.
Conclusions, recommendations of nutritionists
Proper nutrition is the most important basis for your successful weight loss.Follow simple tips, give up foods that are detrimental to weight loss, introduce healthier foods into your diet, create your own weekly menu and stick to it - and the result will not be long in coming!