Nutrition for weight loss: basic principles
A healthy mind in a healthy body: why it is important to follow the rules of a healthy dietThe human body receives almost all the necessary substances through food and water.
The composition of food products and their properties directly affect health, physical development, ability to work, emotional state and, in general, the quality and length of life. It is difficult to find another factor that would have such a serious impact on the human body.
All vital functions of the body are related to nutrition. It is a source of development of tissues and cells, their constant renewal, saturation of a person with energy. Improper nutrition – both excessive and insufficient – can cause significant harm to human health at any age.
This is expressed in a decrease in the level of physical and mental development, fatigue, inability to resist the effects of adverse environmental factors, decreased performance, and even premature aging and reduced life expectancy.
By the way, every woman who takes care of herself knows that the condition of the skin directly depends on the state of the digestive system, in particular the intestines, and therefore on a healthy diet.
But what exactly is the right way to eat?
There are many theories on this subject, and almost every day new ones appear.
Someone advocates a complete rejection of meat, someone proclaims a raw food diet a panacea for all diseases and troubles, and someone develops food combinations that supposedly allow the body to achieve complete nutritional harmony.
In fact, any dietary restrictions can hardly be considered useful and acceptable to everyone. The human body is a very complex system; for normal functioning, it requires both meat and plant foods.
The lack of nutrients contained in the same meat, such as high bioavailability iron, can cause serious health problems.
Proper nutrition does not consist in controlling calories and rigid diets, but in providing the body with a complete diet, which includes all the products it needs: meat, cereals, vegetables, fruits.
The selection of a diet is one of the main tasks in proper nutrition, but following it daily is no less important.
If you adhere to the basic rules of a healthy diet, not occasionally, but constantly, then you will not have to worry about excess weight, reduced immunity, problems with hair, skin and health in general.
Ration
Forget fast food forever and try not to overindulge in sweets.Eat as many seasonal foods as possible – they contain a maximum of nutrients.
Winter vegetables and fruits grown in greenhouses or brought from afar, due to chemical treatment and long-term storage, not only lose all their benefits, but also become accumulators of nitrates and other harmful chemical compounds.
Limit refined foods as much as possible: sugar, vegetable oil, white wheat flour, refined white rice.
They do not contain fiber, which is very important for the functioning of the digestive tract, as well as for nourishing the beneficial bacteria living in the intestines.
That is why it is much better to eat whole grain instead of white bread, and replace refined sugar with brown or even honey.
Drink water. Tea, coffee and juices do not replace water. The body needs to receive at least 30–35 ml of fluid per 1 kg of body weight per day. Sweet sodas are completely banned, they contain too much sugar.
Don’t forget protein. It is able to give a feeling of satiety for a long time and is also rich in amino acids. Proteins are necessary for the body to build muscle tissue, replace obsolete cells.
Protein-rich foods include various types of meat, fish, squid, shrimp, nuts, mushrooms, some legumes, eggs, cottage cheese.
Cooking food
Use several types of vegetable oil for cooking. It is the best source of essential fatty acids for the body.
It is very good if there are always several bottles with different oils in the kitchen: olive, sesame, linseed, walnut and pine nut oils. Remember that unrefined oils are not suitable for heat treatment.
Cook right. It is possible to save all useful substances in products with minimal heat treatment. It is recommended to cook pasta or cereals for only a few minutes.
By the way, classic Italian pasta should always be slightly undercooked and seasoned with vegetable oil. Meat and fish products must be thermally processed, as they may contain parasites.
But at the same time, it is better to refuse frying in oil, the best ways are boiling, baking in the oven and steaming.Use natural and fresh products for cooking.
Any semi-finished product or long-term storage product with preservatives, flavor enhancers and dyes increases the load on the body, prevents the elimination of toxins, and slows down the metabolism.
A piece of chicken baked in the oven is many times more useful than the highest quality and most expensive sausage from the store.
Mode
Be sure to follow the diet. Infrequent meals are harmful in the same way as constant snacking and the habit of chewing something all the time.
It is optimal for a healthy person to eat 4-5 times a day, the interval between meals for more than 5 hours slows down the metabolism and forces the body to switch to economy mode.
As a result, fat deposits begin to accumulate. Try not to snack at work or in front of the TV. The process of food consumption in this case becomes uncontrollable, not satiety occurs, but overeating.
Eat some fresh vegetables and fruits daily. The recommended amount is 300 g of both. So you get all the necessary vitamins and fiber. It is very convenient to take a pre-cut apple or pear, cucumber or carrot sticks with you to work.
Of course, it is very difficult to immediately and completely change your habits and give up a delicious cake with a cup of strong coffee.
This may require a lot of willpower and lead to stress. So occasionally you can afford a sausage sandwich and a cake. The main thing is that it does not become a daily food.
Recommended products: tasty and healthy
All foods that people eat can be divided into “useful” and “harmful”.
Useful foods must be included in the diet every day: they are rich in amino acids, vitamins, micro and macro elements, fatty acids, and fiber. At the same time, they are easily digested, do not slow down the metabolism and do not have a harmful effect on health.
These products traditionally include the following:
- Fresh berries, fruits and vegetables (vitamin C, fiber).
- Cereals and cereals prepared from them (vitamins B, E, magnesium, potassium, folic acid).
- Dried fruits and nuts (vitamins, fatty acids, protein).
- Poultry meat (protein, amino acids, vitamins A, B, E).
- Fish and seafood (protein, polyunsaturated acids, vitamins D, E, B12, calcium, phosphorus).
- Dairy products: sour cream, cottage cheese, yogurt (calcium, protein, amino acids, vitamins D, A, B12, carbohydrates).
- Green tea (vitamins, minerals, polyphenols).
- Cold-pressed vegetable oils (phospholipids, linoleic and other polyunsaturated acids, vitamins A, D, E).
- Honey (vitamins, trace elements, glucose, fructose, phytoncides, fast carbohydrates).
- Grain bread (fiber, enzymes, amino acids).
The use of these products in the right combinations is what is called a healthy diet, since they bring undoubted benefits to the body and can not only maintain health, but also strengthen it.
Nutritionists recommend, for example, eating cereals on the water in combination with vegetable salads seasoned with olive oil.
By the way, it is not recommended to combine cucumbers and tomatoes in a salad – chopped cucumbers secrete a special enzyme that destroys vitamin C contained in tomatoes.
Cabbage, asparagus, zucchini, radishes, cucumbers are suitable for meat, fish and poultry. Fruits are best eaten separately, before meals or about an hour after.
Products not recommended: unnecessary ballast
But when eating healthy foods, one should not forget about the exclusion of “harmful” foods from the diet – those that cause the accumulation of fats in the body and metabolic disorders:
- Chips, popcorn, crackers, salted nuts.
- Alcoholic drinks.
- Any semi-finished products and concentrates: dry mashed potatoes, instant noodles, etc.
- Sweet pastries, especially those with a high sugar content.
- Fried meals.
- Ready factory sauces, including mayonnaise.
- Smoked products, sausages.
- Sweets.
- Fast food.
- Juices (except freshly squeezed), carbonated drinks.
The use of sugar and salt is also undesirable. If you really can’t refuse them at all, then you can use honey instead of sugar, and use salt to a minimum, only slightly salting the dishes.
Recently, sea and pink Himalayan salts have become popular, containing less sodium chloride and more nutrients.
In fact, changing your eating habits is not that difficult. The small temporary inconvenience caused by this can hardly outweigh the benefits for the body that proper nutrition can give a person.
How to remove the sides: 10 exercises
To remove fat on the abdomen and sides, it is necessary to provide the body with additional calorie consumption. The sides cannot be worked out separately: external exposure is ineffective for subcutaneous fat.
But complex interval training with an active cardio mode works well. Try including running, elliptical, or cycling in your exercise plan. Strength exercises and stretching do not get rid of body fat, but help strengthen muscles, make the body more flexible and toned.
The key point
The key point in a healthy dietThe key point in a healthy diet is to remember not only about food, but also about drinking. It is necessary to maintain the body’s water balance and drink 1.5 – 2 liters of pure water per day.
This amount is evenly distributed throughout the day, but it is necessary to give a water start in the morning – one or two glasses of water, if desired, supplemented with lemon juice, will help wake up the body and start metabolic processes.
It should be understood that drinking is precisely pure water without gas, aromatic and flavoring additives. Coffee, tea or juice, despite the liquid composition, is already equated to food, is not included in the category of proper drinking and does not affect the water balance in any way.
Another benefit of drinking water throughout the day is reducing your appetite. Drinking a glass half an hour before a meal or when you feel hungry will help you fill your stomach and reduce the amount of food you eat.
Proper nutrition for weight loss should not be a burden. Try to treat it as an experiment or adventure rather than a punishment. By choosing a list of the right foods for your taste and periodically rotating them, you will very quickly get used to a healthy menu and take it for granted.
And by creating a suitable daily meal schedule, you will be able to eat right and lose weight effortlessly.