The holiday season is over and we are back to our daily lives – as usual, with good intentions. We want to stay longer in excellent shape, recruited during the holidays. Alas, reality makes us “stumble” all the time on this beautiful path. To succeed, this time try to follow the rules… don’t be scared: easy and logical.
Work on mistakes
The average woman spends 31 years of her life on a diet. Apparently, she is doing something wrong – otherwise why would she torture herself for so many years?
The well-known nutritionist S. Porter notes that strict diets based on counting calories often make a person feel sad, destitute and depressed. “People want to get rid of excess weight, and this is important for health: after all, obesity can shorten your life by an average of 9 years,” Porter notes. “However, you can’t lose weight in a hurry.” Success is achieved when the diet is not expected too much and too quickly.
All organs of our body live according to their own laws and react to a sudden change in habits in a completely different way than we hope. Too strict diets (less than 1400 kilocalories per day) allow you to lose more than 5 kg per month with damage to health. But the metabolism is rebuilt so that immediately after leaving the diet, the kilograms return very quickly. Graduality is the main rule of healthy diets, none of which will promise you a loss of more than 4-5 kg of weight per month.
Good eating habits – in 4 weeks
Man is a slave of habit, so let it be good habits! After all, just giving up a sweet dessert after dinner in favor of fruit turns into a loss of 2 kg per month. Imagine what can be changed in 4 weeks with a conscious approach. The proposed system is simple, and most importantly – logical, at every step you understand: what, why and why you are doing.
This is important: to maintain a good figure of hunger pangs, discomfort and weakness are not needed. On the contrary, following the advice of the system, you are always full of energy. If the feeling of hunger still visits you, leave the diet and look for healthy substitutes for what you eat, reconsider the time of eating and the general mode of the day. For example, sleep deprivation often “stuck” – that is, we harm ourselves twice: when we do not get enough sleep, and when we eat too much. It is worth starting to sleep the number of hours that is optimal for you – and the issue of overeating will be closed.
Avoid foods labeled “light”: they are not satisfying either in terms of taste or in terms of nutritional properties. The feeling of dissatisfaction provokes the consumption of more food.
First week – intro
The very first steps are necessarily the easiest. When you set realistic goals for yourself and achieve them, you feel satisfied – a good motivation to continue.
- Let’s start with breakfast. It is quite possible that you should say “since breakfast appeared on your menu.” To jump start your metabolism, drink half a glass of warm water with a teaspoon of honey: this simple drink has a cleansing effect and helps you better absorb the nutrients from your breakfast. Followed by a cup of coffee or tea. Green tea is good, however, it also has contraindications: with reduced pressure, it is better to stop at black tea. If you prefer something sweet, spread a slice of whole grain bread (70 g) with your favorite jam or honey. If salty, add pate or boiled egg with salt, or salmon to a piece of bread. Breakfast for excellent students necessarily includes 1 fruit – choose according to your taste and according to the season (fresh fruits contain more vitamins and other useful substances).
- Skip meat three times a week in favor of protein-rich legumes such as red lentils or chickpeas. Portion of boiled product 100 g.
- Avoid foods labeled “light”: they are not satisfying either in terms of taste or in terms of nutritional properties. The feeling of dissatisfaction provokes the consumption of more food.
- Take care of healthy snacks. Eating once every three hours means not waiting for the wolf’s hunger and not overloading the body with excess food. Examples of “good” snacks: 100 g blueberries or 30 g chocolate, or 1 apple, or 10 cherry tomatoes, or 1 yogurt (natural), or 20 g pumpkin seeds, or a glass of freshly squeezed orange juice.
- The daily requirement for foods rich in fiber is 30 g. These can be apples, potatoes cooked “in their skins”, dried apricots, whole grain flour, etc.
Second week – get rid of “empty” calories
- Write down all foods – carriers of “empty” calories; summing up their calories, you will find that sugary drinks and cakes, refined (white bread) and fatty foods (mayonnaise) are not “trifle” at all! Plus 100 kilocalories per day (for example, 5 potato chips) is plus 4-8 kg of your weight per year.
- Let whole grains replace the usual refined ones.
- Let’s talk about fats. “Yes” – olive oil, salmon varieties of fish, dried fruits; “no” – butter, margarine, coconut and palm oil. The first group normalizes the level of cholesterol in the blood.
- Try to replace sugar with honey, maple syrup – but not artificial sweeteners.
No need to weigh anything – it’s tiring and annoying! Try to remember the approximate ratio of volume and weight: 250 g of fresh vegetables – like two fists, 40 g of cheese – like two fingers, a piece of meat the size of a palm is a sufficient portion.
Third week – reduce portions
Now that the body is used to eating healthy food, and the brain fully agrees with this (after all, you are not starving, but on the contrary, you are quite satisfied with both the food system and yourself), it’s time to learn how to dose food. No need to weigh anything – it’s tiring and annoying! Try to remember the approximate ratio of volume and weight: 250 g of fresh vegetables – like two fists, 40 g of cheese – like two fingers, a piece of meat the size of a palm is a sufficient portion.
In a restaurant, visually evaluating the portion, send back to the kitchen the part that you consider superfluous. Choose restaurants where the portion will not be gigantic.
At work, in the self-service dining room, fill your plate with raw/cooked vegetables first: the sight of a full plate gives us confidence that we are eating well. Eat slowly, concentrating on what’s on your plate (and not on what you didn’t get to taste).
Avoid alcohol consumption, especially in the form of cocktails. The ideal option is wine mixed with mineral water.
Week 4 – Maintain New Habits
So, you have learned to distinguish healthy food from unnecessary, got rid of the habit of “empty” calories, learned to understand without weights how much food is enough for you.
Remember that women who perceive their body negatively gain more …
