Nutrition guide

What does a healthy weight loss diet plan look like? What types of foods should be excluded from the diet for PP, how much protein, carbohydrates and fats should you eat daily?

Healthy Dietary Basics

healthy food

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 amount to approx. 20 percent of your total daily calories.

How much protein should you eat?

You should consume approx. 0, 8 to 1, 2 grams of protein for every kilogram of body weight per. day. You should try to break down this amount across 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 it takes more energy to break down and assimilate protein than any other macronutrient, resulting in higher calorie expenditure.

Korn

Cereals often have a bad reputation because most cereal foods today are industrially processed into fast carbohydrates such as sweet grains and white bread. If you choose unprocessed grains and cereals, you will immediately get all the benefits of grains: energy, vitamins and minerals necessary for the normal functioning of the body.

How many grains do you need?

You need about six servings of cereal or 170 grams a day. A piece of bread and half a cup of cooked rice or pasta counts as one serving. At least half of your servings should be whole grains.

Fruit

What else should you include in your weight loss diet? Fruit. Even the fact that fruits contain sugar, more specifically fructose, is not a problem as long as you do not exceed your daily calorie intake. Your body needs fructose to stay healthy. Thus, fruits are naturally sweet, which means they can satisfy your sugar cravings if you do not want to swallow chocolate at night.

How much fruit do you need?

You should eat about two servings a day. A whole apple, orange or banana counts as one serving.

Which fruit should you choose?

You should mostly eat fresh fruit and limit your intake of fruit juices and processed foods such as apple puree (unless you have made 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 beneficial for your digestive system. They also have low calorie content and satiety, so you can eat more vegetables than other foods and consume fewer calories at the same time, which ultimately leads to high quality weight loss.

How many vegetables should you eat?

You will need three to four servings.

Which vegetables should you choose?

Try eating lots of dark green leafy vegetables like spinach, kale, broccoli and asparagus. Starchy vegetables like potatoes are also beneficial. Cooking vegetables (not boiling as it washes out all the nutrients) is a way to improve the taste if you do not like to eat them raw.

Dairy Products

We eat dairy products because of their 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 generally a major source of protein, they are also part of a weight loss package.

How many dairy products do you need?

Roughly, you need about three servings of dairy products each day. A cup of milk or yogurt counts as one serving.

What if you can not / will not consume dairy products?

It is not the dairy products themselves, but their nutrients that are important for a healthy diet. So if you can not eat dairy products due to allergies or lactose intolerance, or just do not like them, there are other possible ways to get these important vitamins and minerals and still get good results.

  • Broccoli, cabbage, figs and oranges are rich in calcium.
  • Dark green leafy vegetables (cabbage, broccoli), tomatoes and citrus fruits contain vitamin C.
  • Minerals such as phosphorus, magnesium and iron are found in many other foods that you already eat.
  • You can also take a daily multivitamin to fill these gaps in micronutrients.

What about fat?

Fats and oils are no longer technically a separate food group. During the diet, you are likely to automatically ingest the fats you need to stay healthy.

And where do I get fat from?

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 already heard that not all carbohydrates (sugar) are bad. When you see the 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, the carbohydrates in cereals, fruits, vegetables and dairy products are not harmful in moderation. You should not be intimidated by this type of sugar. In your body, it becomes the energy you need to stay healthy.

How many calories should I consume per day?

How many calories should you consume

Now that you know how to eat well for weight loss, you're probably still wondering how many calories you can eat per day. Technically, you do not have to count calories if you do not want to. The standard for men and women is 2000 kcal. You can calculate your calorie needs if you really want to know and track them daily, but it all depends on what you eat and how active you are. Instead, pay attention to food types and serving sizes, as this can be a much more efficient but less difficult way to achieve results.

Calculating the 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 widely used formula is Tom Venut. She looks like this:

Men: 66+ (13, 7 x body weight) + (5 x height in cm) - (6, 8 x age this year)

Women: 665 + (9, 6 x body weight) + (1, 8 x height in cm) - (4, 7 x age this year)

The resulting number 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
  • Really extreme (you can not take so much, do not even think. 1. 9

But if you start having questions like "Why can't you lose weight? " 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, once the weight has stopped after achieving certain results, then it will be easier to cut the diet by another 500 calories and continue to lose weight.

A serving is:

  • 100-150 grams of vegetables (the size of your fist)
  • 150 ml dairy products
  • 120 g meat or fish (much like a palm tree; )
  • 1 teaspoon vegetable oil;
  • 12 grapes;
  • 1 apple, banana, orange or pear;
  • 1/2 mango or grapefruit;
  • 1/4 avocado.

Keep track of your balance

To lose weight without health damage and maintain good health, harmony, the body needs to get enough proteins, fats and carbohydrates. Approximate ratios - 75 g protein: 60 g fat: 250 g carbohydrates: 30 g fiber. Foods that contain proteins are sources of amino acids for building muscle fibers, maintaining healthy skin, hair, nails, fats for the proper functioning of the brain and nervous system, as well as for the skin, and carbohydrates are an energy source.

Are meals important?

Optional. Make it easy for yourself and eat when you are hungry, even if it's just a snack. If you would rather eat six small meals a day than three large meals a day, do so. If you like to swallow at intervals of a few hours, it is enough to eat 3 times a day at an appropriate time. Just do not skip meals (you end up eating but somewhere at night and sabotaging potential quality results). Diet is important, but not in terms of time, but in quality.

Menu and meal planning

You can eat several complete and balanced meals every day while maintaining a healthy diet. The secret is to eat different foods. Below is a sample breakfast, lunch and dinner to help you get started planning your meals.

Daily ration:

Breakfast

  • Lean Greek yogurt or oatmeal with fruit and granola
  • A half bagel with low-fat cream cheese

Breakfast

  • 2 pieces of shawarma (tortilla, beef, salad, guacomole, sour cream)
  • 1 bowl of cooked brown rice with baked beans

Noon

  • Small salad (lettuce, red onion, tomato, cheese, Italian dressing)
  • Baked Chicken Breast
  • 1 bowl of green beans
  • Baked potatoes with cheese

Snack Ideas

  • Celery and nut butter
  • Fresh vegetables with hummus
  • Sliced ​​fruit and whipped cream
  • Æblemos
  • Kringle
  • 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)
  • Seafood
  • Eggs
  • Nuts and seeds
  • Grain Products
  • Whole grain pasta
  • Brown rice
  • Buckwheat
  • Whole grain bread
  • Greek yogurt
  • Ost
  • Milk or soy milk
  • Avocado
  • Fat fish like salmon
  • Nuts
  • Fed yogurt

Planning Healthy Foods for Beginners

Meal planning

Meal planning is one of the simplest and healthiest things you can do to achieve weight loss results through a healthy diet. Whether it's just for a day or an entire week, it's up to you. A properly formulated diet not only gives us the opportunity to lose weight, but it is also just convenient when all the problems with food are solved in advance. When the ingredients for a tasty and healthy dish are waiting for us at home, it becomes easier to avoid buying something harmful.

1. How many meals do you need?

Let's first think about our plans and our dear plans for the week. From here we can get a rough idea of ​​how many meals we need. This could be, for example: six breakfasts for everyone, five family dinners, a lunch four times and an afternoon snack.

2. How long does 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 do not have enough time to implement them, what good is it to them? With this in mind, expand your list of prepared dinners and lunches. This means that you must first familiarize yourself with the dishes you want to 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 hard work week ahead of you, pay attention to fast meals, reheatable meals, or pre-cooked meals that can be served quickly. After all, we do not want to waste time cooking and doing it five times a day. Once you have worked as a chef once, you can immediately prepare several dishes that are eaten during the week. For example, make a chili or fry two chickens at once, so that is enough for both the day's dinner and the next. In addition, it will be a tasty and healthy addition to sandwiches and salads.

3. Choice and schedule of dishes

Use your list to choose meals that fit organically into your schedule. Also look at your loved ones favorite food or flip through a recipe book. You should also consider the season, what is now on sale from seasonal vegetables, and what everyone would like to eat. When planning, also remember the expiration date of the products. For example, fish dishes should be cooked within one to two days after purchasing fish, while frozen or dry food can be cooked later.

You should also be able to use all the ingredients wisely so you do not have to throw anything away. This way you can save both time and money. If you want to eat better and spend less money, buy seasonal products and look for products with discounts and offers.

Make a list of the best recipes. Having a list of meals that suits you and your family is one of the easiest ways to calculate and streamline your meal planning process. Each time you find a recipe for a dish that you like, place it on this list. You can also keep recipes in your fitness diary. This will not only help you with your diet but also make it easier to plan your meals.

4. Enter everything in the calendar

It does not matter which calendar you use, be it on your computer screen or on the wall. But it is always best to keep a hard copy of your calendar. Usually it is hung on the fridge. When the plan for today's dishes is visible, we become more responsible for their preparation. Also, your family will not constantly ask, “What's for dinner today? ” They can just look at the calendar.

If you prefer a digital calendar, you can create a meal plan for your day on your phone and share this menu with friends and family.

5. Create shopping lists

This is best done at the same time as filling in the calendar. Remember to write down the quantities of each product you need and also check how much you have left so that you do not accidentally buy too much. You can save time by sorting the products in 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
  • Olier
  • Kiks
  • Beverages
  • Dairy Products
  • Meat and eggs

6. Preparation and preparation of meals

Chop vegetables, grate cheese, make sauces - just prepare what we can in advance. You can even measure spices, cook potatoes or fry vegetables.

Meal planning not only puts us in a prime position to achieve a healthy diet, but it also saves a lot of time as we can prepare ingredients while you have free time.