What is a healthy weight loss diet plan? What types of foods should be excluded from the PP diet, how much protein, carbohydrates and fats should you eat daily?
Basics and rules for healthy eating
For optimal results, especially if you are just starting a healthy lifestyle, you can follow the MyPlate method. That is, you divide each meal into 5 food groups. Read more about them.
Protein
Protein should ideally make up about 20 percent of your total daily calories.
How much protein should you eat?
You should consume about 0, 8 to 1, 2 grams of protein for every kilogram of body weight per day. You should try to distribute this amount throughout all meals and snacks throughout the day, instead of turning them into one or two meals. Protein is especially important if you are trying to achieve weight loss by burning fat in your body. The fact is that the breakdown and absorption of proteins requires more energy than any other macronutrient, which leads to higher calories.
Cereals
Cereals often have a bad reputation, as most foods containing cereals are now industrially processed and converted into fast carbohydrates such as sweet cereals and white bread. If you choose unprocessed grains and cereals, you will immediately get all the benefits of cereals: energy, vitamins and minerals necessary for the normal functioning of the body.
How many cereals do you need?
You need about six servings of cereal or 170 grams a day. A slice of bread and half a cup of cooked rice or pasta are counted per serving. At least half of your portions should be whole grains.
Fruits
What else should you include in your weight loss diet? Fruits. Even the fact that fruits contain sugar, specifically fructose, is not a problem, as long as you do not exceed your daily caloric intake. Your body needs fructose to stay healthy. This way, the fruits are naturally sweet, which means they can satisfy your craving for sugar if you don't want to eat chocolates at night.
How many fruits do you need?
You should consume about two servings a day. A whole apple, orange or banana counts for one serving.
Which fruit should you choose?
You should eat mostly fresh fruit and limit your intake of fruit juices and processed foods such as apple puree (unless you have done it yourself).
Vegetables
If you really want to know how to eat right to lose weight, just remember vegetables - your new best friend. They are rich in fiber, which is good for your digestive system. They are also low in calories and satiety, so you can eat more vegetables than other foods and consume fewer calories at a time, which ultimately leads to quality weight loss.
How many vegetables should you eat?
You need three to four servings.
Which vegetables should I choose?
Try eating lots of dark green leafy vegetables like spinach, cabbage, broccoli and asparagus. Starchy vegetables such as potatoes are also useful. Cooking vegetables (just don't cook them, as they wash away all the nutrients) is one way to improve the taste if you don't like to eat them raw.
Dairy products
We consume dairy products due to the large amount of vitamins and minerals. They are high protein foods, so a snack like cottage cheese is ideal if you need to eat something before your next full meal. Since dairy products are usually a great source of protein, they are also part of the weight loss package.
How many dairy products do you need?
You need about three servings of dairy products each day. One glass of milk or yogurt counts as one serving.
What if you can't / don't want to eat dairy?
They are not dairy products per se, but their nutrients are important for a healthy diet. So, if you can't eat dairy products because of your allergies or lactose intolerance, or you just don't like it, there are other potential ways to get these essential vitamins and minerals and still achieve great results.
- Broccoli, cabbage, figs and oranges are rich in calcium.
- Dark green leafy vegetables (cabbage, broccoli), tomatoes and citrus fruits contain vitamin C.
- Minerals like phosphorus, magnesium and iron are found in many other foods you already eat.
- You can also take a daily multivitamin to fill all these gaps with micronutrients.
What about fat?
Fats and oils are no longer a separate food group. During the diet, you will probably automatically consume the fat you need to stay healthy.
And where do I get fat?
If you eat a healthy variety of foods, you need to get all the healthy fats you need. But no more than 30 percent of your daily calories should come from fat.
The truth about carbohydrates
You may have heard that not all carbohydrates (sugars) are bad. When you see experts talk about how bad sugar is for you, they usually talk about added sugar. Such sugar is added to our food during processing for a number of reasons and should be limited if not excluded.
However, carbohydrates found in cereals, fruits, vegetables and dairy products are not harmful in moderation. You should not be afraid of this type of sugar. In your body it becomes the energy you need to be healthy.How many calories should I consume per day?
Now that you know how to eat well to lose weight, you're probably still wondering how many calories you can eat per day. Technically, you don't have to count calories if you don't want to. The standard for men and women is 2000 kcal. You can calculate your calorie needs if you really want to know them and keep track of them on a daily basis, but it all depends on what you eat and how active you are. Instead, pay attention to the types of foods and portion sizes, as this can be a much more effective but less difficult way to achieve results.
Calculating daily calorie intake for weight loss
To find out how many calories you need per day, you can use one of the formulas to calculate calories. The most commonly used formula is Tom Venut. It looks like this:
Men: 66 + (13, 7 x body weight) + (5 x height in cm) - (6, 8 x age in years)
Women: 665 + (9, 6 x body weight) + (1, 8 x height in cm) - (4, 7 x age in years)
The resulting figure is multiplied by the coefficient of physical activity:
- Sedentary work, sedentary lifestyle: 1, 2
- Average stress level (morning exercises 3 times a week) 1, 38
- Heavy loads1, 56
- Very heavy loads1, 73
- A real extreme (you can't take that much, don't even think. 1. 9
But if you start having questions like "Why can't you lose weight? "It may turn out that the daily caloric intake is greatly overestimated and the body simply does not need to spend fat reserves. In this case, it is better to calculate your daily calorie intake and make a menu based on the data obtained. It is especially important to know the calorie content of the diet, when the weight has stopped after achieving certain results, then it will be easier to reduce the diet by another 500 calories and continue to lose weight.
One serving is:
- 100-150 grams of vegetables (the size of your fist);
- 150 ml dairy products;
- 120 g of meat or fish (approximately the size of a palm; )
- 1 tsp vegetable oil;
- 12 bunches;
- 1 apple, banana, orange or pear;
- 1/2 mango or grapefruit;
- 1/4 avocado.
Keep track of your balance
To lose weight without harming your health and maintaining good health, harmony, the body needs to get enough protein, fat and carbohydrates. Approximate proportions - 75 g protein: 60 g fat: 250 g carbohydrates: 30 g fiber. Foods that contain protein are sources of amino acids to build muscle fibers, maintain healthy skin, hair, nails, fat - for the proper functioning of the brain and nervous system, as well as the skin, and carbohydrates are a source of energy.
Is eating time important?
Optional. Make it easy for yourself and eat when you are hungry, even if it's just a snack. If you prefer to eat six small meals a day than three large meals a day, do so. If you like to eat every few hours, then it is enough to eat 3 times a day at a convenient time. Just don't miss meals (you'll end up eating, but somewhere at night and sabotaging potentially quality results). Diet is important, but not in terms of time, but as a quality.
Meal and meal planning
You can eat several wholesome and balanced meals every day, while maintaining a healthy diet. The secret is to eat different foods. Below is a sample menu for breakfast, lunch and dinner, which will help you start planning your meal.
Daily Rate:
Breakfast
- Lean Greek yogurt or oatmeal with fruit and muesli
- Half a bagel of low-fat cream cheese
Lunch
- 2 elements of shawarma (tortilla, beef, lettuce, guacamole, sour cream)
- 1 cup cooked brown rice with roasted beans
Dinner
- Small salad (lettuce, red onion, tomato, cheese, Italian dressing)
- Roast chicken breasts
- 1 cup green beans
- Baked potatoes with cheese
Snack Ideas
- Celery and nut oil
- Fresh vegetables with hummus
- Sliced fruit and whipped cream
- apple puree
- pretzel
- Dried fruits
- Nuts
- Tortilla and salsa
- Pickled cucumbers
Shopping list
Here are some examples of healthy foods that you can buy from your local grocery store. Knowing which foods to buy is part of the weight loss package.
Healthy food:
- Meat (steak, pork, beef)
- Fish and mussels
- Eggs
- Nuts and seeds
- Cereals
- Wholemeal pasta
- Brown rice
- Buckwheat
- Wholemeal bread
- Greek yogurt
- Cheese
- Milk or soy milk
- Avocado
- Oily fish like salmon
- Nuts
- Fatty yogurt
Beginner's Healthy Eating Planning Guide
Nutrition planning is one of the simplest and most useful things you can do to achieve weight loss results through a healthy diet. Whether it's just for a day or a whole week is up to you. Properly formulated diet gives us not only the opportunity to lose weight, but is also convenient when all food issues are resolved in advance. When the ingredients for a tasty and healthy meal are waiting for us at home, it becomes easier to avoid buying something harmful.
1. How many dishes do you need?
First, let's think about our plans and the plans of our loved ones for the week. From here we can get an approximate idea of how many dishes we need. This could be, for example: six breakfasts for everyone, five family dinners, one lunch four times and one afternoon breakfast.
2. How long will it take to cook?
This is a very important element of effective meal planning and is often overlooked or forgotten. You can make as many plans as you want, but if you don't have enough time to complete them, what's the use of them? With that in mind, expand your list of pre-prepared dinners and lunches. This means that you must first get acquainted with the dishes that you will prepare - the more information you find about them, the easier it will be to find dishes that easily fit into your schedule.
If you have a difficult work week ahead of you, keep in mind fast food, dishes that can be reheated, or pre-prepared dishes that can be served quickly. After all, we don't want to waste time cooking by doing it five times a day. Once you have worked as a chef, you can immediately prepare several dishes that will be eaten during the week. For example, make chili or fry two chickens at once so that it is enough for both dinner and the next. It will also be a tasty and healthy addition to sandwiches and salads.
3. Selection and schedule of dishes
Using your list, choose dishes that fit organically into your schedule. Also, browse your loved ones' favorite foods or browse the recipe book. You also need to consider the time of year, what is sold from seasonal vegetables and what everyone would like to eat. When planning, you must also remember the expiration date of the products. For example, fish dishes should be cooked within one to two days after buying fish, while frozen or dry foods can be prepared later.
You should also be able to use all the ingredients wisely so you don't have to throw anything away. This way you can save time and money. If you want to eat better and spend less money, then buy seasonal products and look for products with discounts and promotions.
Make a list of the best recipes. Creating a list of meals that work for you and your family is one of the easiest ways to calculate and streamline the meal planning process. Every time you find a recipe for a dish you like, include it in this list. You can also store recipes in your fitness diary. This will not only help you with your diet, but will also make it easier to plan your diet.
4. Enter everything in the calendar
It doesn't matter which calendar you use, be it on your computer screen or on the wall. But it's always best to keep a paper copy of your calendar in sight. It is usually hung on the refrigerator. When the plan of today's dishes is visible, then we become more responsible for their preparation. Also, your family won't keep asking, "What's for dinner today? "They can just look at the calendar.
If you prefer a digital calendar, you can create a plan for today's meals on your phone and share this menu with friends and family.
5. Make shopping lists
This is best done at the same time as filling out the calendar. Be sure to write down the quantities of each product you need, and also check how much you have left so you don't accidentally buy too much. You can save time by sorting the products from the list into groups as they appear in the store. For many supermarkets, this is:
- Fruits and vegetables
- Bread and cereals
- Spices and baking products
- Oils
- Crackers
- Drinks
- Dairy products
- Meat and eggs
6. Preparation and preparation of dishes
Chop vegetables, grate cheese, make sauces - just prepare what we can in advance. You can even measure spices, boil potatoes or fry vegetables.
The meal schedule not only puts us in a great position to achieve a healthy diet, but also saves a lot of time, as we can prepare ingredients while you have free time.