Choose a gradual and safe way to lose weight. We tell you all about a mild diet for weight loss: basic principles, permitted foods and menus of the week.
How to lose weight safely? Many nutritionists believe that a mild diet is a good way to lose weight. Principles, contraindications, benefits and menus for a week at home - all details are in the material.
There are many different weight loss diets designed for short "sprint" runs.
A sparse diet for weight loss compared to them is a marathon, it can last more than six months, while the calorie restriction of food is quite severe. Before you start losing weight in this way, consult your doctor and find out if it is really safe for you to eat on the system with a mild weight loss diet.
Gentle diet for weight loss: basic principles and contraindications
The gentle diet is divided into two main phases: an intensive phase and a new phase.
The intensive phase lasts up to 6 months. During this time, limit your calorie intake to 1800 calories a day. As part of your diet, you focus on protein-rich foods. For example, poultry, fish, eggs, low-fat cheese and tofu. Oil and other salad dressings are excluded from the diet menu, and carbohydrates are limited to 20 grams a day. In the beginning, almost every meal will thus contain a certain amount of meat, mostly without side dishes or with side dishes in the form of certain vegetables (broccoli, cauliflower and others from the list of permitted foods).
In the second step, you can slowly add fat and carbohydrates and gradually reduce the amount of protein to 70-140 grams a day. The second phase lasts 6-8 weeks. In the first month up to 45 grams of carbohydrates a day are allowed, and in the second month - up to 90 grams.
Talk to your doctor, you may need to take an extra multivitamin, potassium, calcium, magnesium or sodium supplement in the first phase to protect your body from nutrient deficiencies. You should also monitor your condition, and if it worsens, for example, performance decreases, or dizziness begins - you should immediately proceed to the next stage or repeat or end the diet, respectively.
Why is a mild diet good for you?
A mild diet is not only good for weight loss. Additional benefits of a mild diet:
- lower cholesterol levels up to 20%;
- normalization of blood sugar
- lowering blood pressure
- protection against metabolic syndrome.
Unfortunately, even a mild diet is not an ideal recipe for losing weight. Before you start, be sure to consult a specialist as the diet has side effects. For example, it can cause nutritional deficiencies in the body.
The diet is not suitable:
- for the elderly;
- for lactating and pregnant women;
- for those with gallbladder problems
- for people with eating disorders;
- for patients with chronic diseases.
Gentle diet for weight loss: menu for a week
Allowed and taboo
We have already outlined some of the foods you can eat on a light weight loss diet. Detailed list of permitted products:
- poultry: skinless chicken, turkey, goose, duck;
- meat: lean meat, pork, lamb;
- fish: flounder, cod, catfish, halibut;
- vegetables: leafy vegetables, broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, celery, tomatoes, onions, cucumbers, courgettes;
- low-fat dairy products: cottage cheese, low-fat cheese, skimmed milk;
- eggs and egg whites;
- tofu.
A large amount of fats and carbohydrates are excluded from the menu with a sparse diet. Full list of taboo items:
- fruits: apples, berries, oranges, grapes, melons, pears, peaches;
- starchy vegetables: potatoes, corn, peas;
- grains: wheat, oats, barley, buckwheat, millet;
- legumes: black beans, lentils, chickpeas, beans, peanuts;
- processed foods: food, baked goods, potato chips, fast food, sweets;
- sweet drinks: juice, sweet tea, sports drinks, sodas;
- sugar and sweeteners: honey, maple syrup, table sugar, molasses, brown sugar;
- fats and oils: olive oil, coconut oil, vegetable oils, salad dressings, butter, margarine;
- full-fledged dairy products: yogurt, cream cheese, milk.
You need to eat little by little in small portions, but often. This diet has three main meals a day and a few snacks. Suitable as such:
- Egg;
- A piece of baked meat or fish;
- Cottage cheese;
- A piece of low-fat cheese;
- Several stalks of celery;
- A handful of cooked vegetables from the list of allowed;
- A tomato.
Do not forget to drink enough water, the daily norm is about one and a half to two liters, it is best to drink at least a glass half an hour or an hour before meals and also drink unsweetened green or black tea as snacks to drown the possiblefeeling of hunger out. A good option is mineral water or rosehip broth, herbal tea, of course, you do not need to add sugar to these drinks, and in principle you should refrain from sugar. The best way to prepare food is to steam, cook, bake, you can use a microwave.
A mild diet for safe weight loss: menus and meals that you can cook at home
Monday
- Breakfast: scrambled eggs with spinach and tomatoes.
- Lunch: fried cod with steamed broccoli.
- Dinner: chicken breast with grilled Brussels sprouts.
Tuesday
- Breakfast: tofu with onion, garlic and paprika.
- Breakfast: baked chicken with a vegetable side dish (no dressing).
- Dinner: pork chops with fried asparagus.
Wednesday
- Breakfast: egg yolk with courgette, tomatoes and garlic.
- Breakfast: baked cod with boiled cabbage.
- Dinner: salad of lean minced beef, mushrooms, garlic, ginger and green onions.
Thursday
- Breakfast: low-fat cottage cheese.
- Lunch: Meatballs with low carb turkey with courgette and tomato noodles.
- Dinner: fried chicken with garlic and lemon (no garnish).
Friday
- Breakfast: hard-boiled eggs with salt and pepper.
- Lunch: baked tofu with steamed green beans.
- Dinner: grilled steak with oven-roasted aubergines.
Repeat some of the days Saturday and Sunday.
Do not forget the limitations - for the intensive phase, the bulk consists of proteins, secondly, their amount decreases due to an increase in the amount of carbohydrates.
Gentle diet recipes
Chicken stew with vegetables
Ingredients: chicken fillet, cauliflower, broccoli, eggs, low-fat sour cream, low-fat cream, cheese for sprinkles, garlic, spices to taste.
Preparation: if the vegetables are frozen - defrost, if not - rinse in salted water, divide into inflorescences. Cut the chicken, mix it with vegetables in a baking tray, fill it with sour cream diluted with hot water, put it in the oven for 20 minutes, temperature - 180 degrees. For the second pour, mix the cream with a portion of the cheese, eggs, finely chopped garlic or pass through a garlic press, add spices, mix everything thoroughly. We take the chicken with vegetables out of the oven, fill it with freshly made filling, spread the rest of the cheese on top. We return everything to the oven for another 20 minutes.
Vegetable salad
Ingredients: low-fat cheese, celery stalks, tomatoes, cucumbers, red onions, herbs, lemon juice.
Preparation: wash the vegetables, cut them into a deep bowl, send finely chopped low-fat cheese, chopped celery stalks, herbs or chop them finely with your hands. Add lemon juice and mix everything thoroughly.
Diet soup with meatballs
Ingredients: turkey, chicken or rabbit fillet, broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, onions, eggs, herbs, spices to taste.
Preparation: chop the meat with onions, add eggs, salt, pepper if desired, mix and shape meatballs. Put the finished meat products in boiling water, add broccoli and cauliflower to them, previously divided into inflorescences (if you have bought frozen vegetables, you do not need to thaw them in advance), grated carrots on a fine grater - it gives a golden color to broth, spices to taste. Cook until cabbage and meatballs are ready, garnish with herbs when serving. You can also add a hard-boiled egg to the soup - half on each plate.
Reviews of a mild diet
Those who have tried this version of a mild diet for weight loss say that it is quite difficult to follow it - the restrictions are strong, the daily amount of calories may be insufficient for those who are used to physical activity or long walks, fatigue, dizziness may occur - if this happens, the calorie content of the diet should be increased and then gradually reduced while observing the state of health and avoiding fanaticism.
Foods you can eat are tasty enough, but not too varied, the hardest for people to give up baked goods and sweets and switch to vegetables as an accompaniment. They also recommend not neglecting nutritional supplements and reporting the feeling of hunger that may accompany you in the beginning, but then you will probably get used to the new diet.
Getting out of the diet, as those who have tried it, warns must be very smooth, even after the end of the second phase, foods from the banned list must be introduced very carefully, otherwise there is a risk that all efforts onbasis for weight loss is wasted. The fact is that for a long time, the metabolism that this diet takes is rebuilt, the body becomes accustomed to processing a certain amount of a certain type of food, therefore the accumulation of excess fat can be a consequence of excessive. It is best to switch from this diet to a diet built according to the recommendations for proper nutrition, in which case the likelihood of weight gain will be minimal and there will be sufficient strength and energy.