If you are wondering how to lose extra pounds, not just quickly, to celebrate, to button up your favorite outfit, i. e. -how to lose weight correctly, Congratulations! This means that you have already chosen the right carrier and are on the strategically correct path.
Let's find out what proper weight loss means and how you can lose weightRight, but how -wrong? Everything is quite simple here.
If you still have unwanted weight despite all your previous attempts to lose those hated pounds, you were most likely losing weight incorrectly. How to lose weight correctly?
Obviously, so that the kilograms do not return and, of course, without harm to health, because no one wants to be thin, but no one wants to pay for the results achieved with sores and taking drugs for the rest of their life.
Improper weight loss leads to obesity
Nutritionists are increasingly citing improper weight loss as a major cause of the obesity epidemic. The more people try to lose weight, the more they end up weighing. It's a shame, annoying, but true!
Obviously, the problem lies in weight loss methods that are harmful to the body, which, at best, lead to the return of lost kilos, and at worst - to health problems.
So, let's look at how to lose weight correctly and keep the results forever! We have compiled for you the TOP 10 principles of proper nutrition that will help you get back into shape even without dieting.
By systematically, confidently and consciously following these tips, you will enjoy every meal, you will not have to strictly limit yourself in food, and at the same time, the extra kilos will leave you without the painful feeling of hunger and severe appetite suppression, familiar to everyone I was once on a diet.
Principle 1. Lose weight slowly and correctly
We immediately agree with you (in turn, you with yourself) that you should forever forget about trendy tempting diets: 10 kilograms in 10 days, minus 5 kg per week and so on.
Of course, if you try very hard, gather willpower and do not abandon a strict mono-diet (most likely, it will be one of its varieties), then it is quite possible that you will also get the promised result.
But this will have nothing to do with the question of how to lose weight correctly. In this case another question is relevant: at what cost?
It is impossible to eat buckwheat and cabbage leaves all your life, it is unthinkable to give up carbohydrates forever. As soon as the eliminated food products return to your refrigerator, on your table, on your plate, the kilograms lost with so much effort will not be long in coming.
Principle 2. How to lose weight correctly: the calorie counter knows
Anyone who wants to lose weight effectively, that is, seriously and for a long time, must remember two important words: "number of calories". And it makes no difference where they come from.
- If you consume more calories than you burn, your weight increases.
- If you burn more calories than you expend, your weight decreases.
So the goal of any diet is to reduce the number of calories consumed through foods. This can be done in several ways: you can choose low-calorie foods, you can eat less overall, or you can combine both methods in any way you like.
However, it is precisely a too abrupt reduction in calorie intake that is the cause of many failed, and therefore incorrect, attempts to lose weight.
- If you skip meals or feel unsatisfied because portions are too small, you will feel hungry and constantly crave snacks or high-calorie foods.
- If you have ever been on a diet for at least a week, then you know how your psycho-emotional background sharply deteriorates, mood deteriorates, irritability appears for any reason, which leads to the fact that a person lashes out at family and friends .
Principle 3. The right way to lose weight while being well nourished is to eat small meals often.
The simplest strategy for successful weight loss is a combination of three small nutritious meals with a mid-day and evening snack. As a result of this nutritional system, you consume up to five meals a day!
Agree, it's much better than skipping breakfast, lunch or dinner. Frequent meals prevent the development of hunger, and small, dense, nutritious portions ensure you consume sufficient nutrients without excess calories.
Keep in mind that three small meals plus snacks do not equal a chewing habit. It involves constantly eating something throughout the day without taking into account hunger and satiety. This eating behavior leads to excess calories and weight gain.
Frequent fractional meals will prevent you from falling into the despair and despondency of a starving person. After all, very soon you will be able to have a snack again, how and with what – the following principles will tell you.
The main thing that people who lose weight using this system notice is that they have never eaten so much as during such weight loss. And it is easier for the body to part with fat reserves: frequent meals not only increase metabolism, but also signal to the body that there is nothing to be afraid of, there is no threat of starvation and there is no need to store nothing for future use.
Here are some simple and easy tips to put into practice to make it easier for you to eat five meals a day and make it as varied as possible:
- Plan in advance what you will eat during the day, including snacks. It's best to do it the day before.
- If you decide to lose weight the right way, feel free to bring healthy foods with you to work or school in convenient airtight containers.
- In the evening prepare food for the new day. Then you can always eat foods with pre-calculated calorie content, instead of buying snacks and other high-calorie products that are the first to be available in stores when you want to eat.
- Don't rely on the same foods as snacks (like bananas or apples), even if you really like them. Monotony is also a kind of hunger. Five divided meals a day and the abundance of low-calorie and glycemic index foods allow you to follow a varied diet while remaining within the chosen daily "calorie corridor".
Principle 4. To lose weight correctly, do not deprive yourself of nutrients, simply choose their optimal proportion
Changing the composition of nutrients in the diet and the effect of such experiments on accelerating weight loss are still the focus of many nutritionists. Let's dwell on this issue in more detail, because many diets preach: give up carbohydrates, remove fats from the diet, fill up on proteins and thinness is guaranteed.
- In general, the recommended macronutrient distribution range suggests that 45 to 60 percent of calories will come from carbohydrates, 20 to 35 percent from fat, and 10 to 35 percent from protein.
- Some nutrition experts believe a healthier approach to weight loss is to increase your protein intake to 45 percent and reduce your carbohydrate intake to 25 percent.
- Numerous studies report that protein diets cause greater weight loss than high-carb diets with the same number of calories. And also that a diet with fewer carbohydrates and more proteins prevents weight gain after reaching the target value.
Carbohydrates – enemies or friends for those who decide to lose weight correctly?
The theory that carbohydrates cause weight gain and therefore reducing the amount of carbohydrates in the diet leads to weight loss has gained great popularity and gained many followers.
Surely you or someone around you have also tried to lose weight on a low-carb diet. Although it is impossible to completely eliminate carbohydrates from the diet, it is possible to drastically reduce their consumption, so it would be more correct to call this type of diet low-carb.
According to the scientists' findings, the increase in consumption of carbohydrate-rich and sugary drinks is related to the weight gain observed in both children and adults in recent decades. It is logical to assume that as carbohydrate consumption increases, waist size also increases. But how exactly do carbohydrates affect the growth of body fat?
Some researchers argue that it's all about insulin, others that it's all about foods with a high glycemic index, and still others that carbohydrates modify hormones that suppress appetite, which is why hunger occurs after eating foods based on carbohydrates.
The body needs insulin to process glucose. After eating, it responds to the increase in blood glucose level and transports it to the cells.
The more carbohydrates a person consumes, the more insulin they need to maintain normal blood glucose levels. But this is not the only function of insulin. This pancreatic hormone also promotes fatty acid synthesis and lipogenesis in the liver.
Excess glucose that is not converted into glycogen and not used for energy is converted into fatty acids and stored as fat.
Theoretically, the greater the amount of carbohydrates ingested into the body, the greater the amount of insulin secreted by the pancreas and the greater the likelihood that glucose will be stored as fatty acids in adipocytes (fat cells).
Insulin also prevents beta-oxidation of fatty acids by inhibiting lipolysis of fat stored in adipose tissue, which causes retention of fatty acids in adipocytes.
Therefore, the effect of insulin on lipid metabolism creates a tendency towards fat concentration. To avoid high insulin levels, it makes sense to switch to a low-carb diet.
But there is another side of the coin. The composition of the diet can influence the production of hormones that suppress hunger. Remember that hunger increases as ghrelin levels increase and decreases as leptin levels increase.
Choose low glycemic index carbohydrates
The evidence supporting the idea that carbohydrates contribute to weight gain is promising… But!
When researchers tested the effects of high-calorie, high-carbohydrate/low-fat, or high-protein/high-fat/low-carbohydrate diets on weight loss, they did not found no benefit from a high protein diet: weight loss was the same!
Furthermore, limiting carbohydrates significantly reduces the quality of the diet and the choice of dishes in general. Do you remember what you ate when you were on a low-carb diet?
It is very difficult to follow a strict low-carb diet and at the same time lead an active lifestyle: work, study, drive a car, play sports.
"A diet based on a slight restriction of daily calories (10-15% of the usual level) and a significant restriction of foods with a high glycemic index works well. First of all, it concerns sugar and sugar-containing products. Plus a fractional diet and less red meat.
If you are really wondering how to lose weight correctly, remember these simple rules:
- A balanced diet for weight loss should include whole grains, legumes, fresh fruits and vegetables, and as few high-glycemic carbohydrates as possible.
- Leave the simple carbs on the store shelf and take the complex carbs with you.
- If you add foods high in saturated fats, such as whole milk, whole cheese, fatty meats, butter, to your diet, they affect your cardiovascular system. Replace them with white meat, skinless chicken, fish, nuts and oils, which are good not only for your waistline but also for your health (but remember: even unsaturated fats contain nine calories per gram, so don't eat too much of them). of nuts and oils, no matter how healthy they are – it's too easy to overdo the calories).
- The best combination for losing weight is low-calorie foods: fruits, vegetables, grains, some proteins and some fats. It is a combination that includes all five major food groups, is well balanced and can meet nutritional needs.
Principle 5. When losing weight correctly, volume matters.
In this case we are not talking about your shapes, but about the contents of your dish. Both main meals and snacks should be large enough to keep you feeling full and satisfied.
A healthy diet with a proper weight loss strategy includes:
- consumption of low-energy-density, high-volume foods;
- rejection of energy-dense and small-volume foods, which can easily fill the daily calorie intake, but do not make you feel full;
- emphasis on low-calorie "bulk" foods: vegetables with high water content and fruits, which will give you a quick feeling of satiety and reduce hunger, and with it the number of calories consumed.
In fact, if you eat a sizable plate of salad at the start of the meal (large volume, low energy density) you'll probably end up consuming at least 10% fewer calories than you otherwise would.
A similar effect can be achieved by adding vegetables to soups and sandwiches: the portion size will increase, satiety will come sooner and you will consume fewer energy-dense foods
Energy density of foods
- Bass:These foods have seven to one-tenth calories per gram and are rich in water and fiber. Examples include most fruits and vegetables, including tomatoes, melon, strawberries, broccoli, and cauliflower. And also soups with light broth, yogurt and cottage cheese.
- Average:These products contain one and a half to four calories per gram, they also contain less water. These include baked goods, hard-boiled eggs, dried fruit, fillets, hummus, whole-grain bread and cheese.
- High:These foods have four to nine calories per gram and are low in water. These include chips, biscuits, crackers, cakes, butter, butter, fatty meats and bacon.
The main thing to remember is that the basis of the diet should be made up of foods with not too high energy density with a high content of fiber and water, and the rest can be eaten little by little - and as a result, your diet will be balanced and your weight will decrease.
Principle 6. Fiber and water will help you lose weight properly
Fiber promotes satiety and is found in most fruits and vegetables. It has been shown that overweight people consume less than normal weight people. This is why fiber-rich foods are a key part of a weight-loss diet.
It has long been obvious that drinking more water is recommended when losing weight.
Let's add some useful tips for every day:
- You should drink non-carbonated drinking water, without flavors or additives (as a rule they are all sweet, that is, they contain carbohydrates that are not necessary for you);
- Always carry a bottle of water with you in your bag, keep it handy in the car and on your desk;
- It is not recommended to drink a glass in one sip, it is better to drink in small sips and often;
- the water must not be too cold, the room temperature is optimal;
- If you drink half a glass of water 10-15 minutes before meals, you are likely to eat a little less.
"Overeating is one of the main causes of obesity. The problem is that a person gets used to the feeling of fullness in the stomach and then stops noticing it altogether. This is why it is important to develop healthy eating habits. "
Principle 7. Thinness begins in the gut: how to lose weight correctly using knowledge of the microbiome
Eating more plant foods changes the bacteria in your gastrointestinal tract in a way that can have a positive effect on weight.
The term "microbiome" itself refers to the billions of microscopic organisms that live in the human body, including the gastrointestinal tract, skin, lungs, genital tract, and oral cavity.
Most of them are concentrated in the colon, where they are involved in metabolic functions.
For example, gut bacteria silently do many useful things for humans:
- help with digestion;
- influence metabolism;
- extract energy from undigested foods;
- synthesize vitamins, including vitamin K;
- regulate the composition of adipose tissue;
- control peptides released into the gastrointestinal tract.
More than a thousand species of bacteria live in the intestine. They vary from person to person, regardless of age, gender, ethnicity and body mass index.
Recently, scientists have discovered a link between certain bacteria and obesity. If this were true, could we change the composition of our gut bacteria and stop the obesity epidemic?
How you eat, both long and short term, determines what bacteria you will have in your gut and how they will manifest themselves.
Dietary changes affect the body's bacterial metabolism and immune functions by fermenting nutrients and altering the intestinal barrier, allowing bacteria and other intestinal organisms to enter the bloodstream, turning certain genes on or off.
By understanding the role played by diet and gut bacteria, it is possible to find new approaches to prevent obesity.
Principle 8. How to lose weight correctly? In movement!
Regular physical activity not only naturally increases the daily calorie deficit necessary to lose weight, but also helps reduce sedentary behavior, often accompanied by the desire to chew something. Walking burns calories. Sitting in front of the TV with a bag of chips, however, we write.
People are advised to spend an hour to an hour and a half a day doing moderate physical activity, which can help prevent weight gain or promote weight loss.
Moderate physical activity consists of walking at a speed of five kilometers per hour and its equivalents: light gardening, cycling, swimming.
The longer you exercise, the more oxygen is consumed and the higher your metabolic rate. As a result, more calories are burned during the day, even at rest.
Well, if you combine cardio exercises and strength exercises, your metabolism will accelerate even more: muscles require more energy. Keep in mind that a person who weighs more than 70 kg will burn more calories, and a person who weighs less will burn less.
Research shows that taking ten thousand steps a day (equal to about seven kilometers) is enough to significantly reduce the risk of obesity. But people walk on average between nine hundred and three thousand steps, and to increase this number to ten thousand, most must make a conscious effort.
Principle 9. Will you lose weight the right way? Understand the essence of aerobic and anaerobic exercise
Even if you are very far from sport, to embark on the path of correct weight loss it is necessary to regulate your life not only with nutrition, but also with movement.
It is not necessary to set sports records, it is only advisable to increase physical activity, but not on a whim, but completely consciously and purposefully. You can only move for a certain period, but with the mind, it is not without reason that there are special groups of exercises for losing weight.
So, what are the potential benefits of different types and intensities of exercise in the context of weight loss?
- Aerobic exercise is low to moderate intensity physical activity that triggers aerobic reactions to produce adenosine triphosphate. Carbohydrates, fats and proteins provide energy for aerobic exercise, whether brisk walking, jogging, hiking or skiing.
- Anaerobic exercises include weight lifting, brisk running, jumping rope and climbing stairs. They are more intense than aerobic ones, and they also have a shorter duration, because they simply cannot be sustained as long as a lower intensity load. With anaerobic exercise, less fat is oxidized and more glycogen and glucose are used for energy production.
Although aerobic exercise (moderate physical activity) has many health benefits, such as helping to control blood glucose levels, lower blood pressure, and increase high-density lipoprotein levels, especially in overweight and obese people, research shows that in the context of weight loss, they give insignificant results.
Combine exercise and lose weight properly
In a recent study conducted at American Duke University (Durham, North Carolina, USA), scientists observed subjects (there were more than two hundred volunteers) with overweight and obesity. The first group performed aerobic exercises, the second did weight exercises, and the third combined both.
The first group ran about twenty kilometers a week on a treadmill or other equivalent activity. The second group worked with weights three times a week: three sets per day, eight to twelve repetitions per set. The third group did both.
After ten weeks, the first and third groups had lost more weight and fat than the second. Interestingly, the third group also had a significant decrease in waist circumference, which was not observed in the others.
Another study tested the hypothesis that short-term aerobic activity combined with anaerobic exercise provides better results than aerobic activity alone.
Sixteen obese people were divided into two groups. The first did half an hour of aerobic exercise for four weeks, while the second did twenty-five minutes of aerobic exercise and another five minutes of anaerobic exercise.
These five minutes resulted in a significant reduction in body fat compared to the results of the first group.
Total body fat, visceral fat, and abdominal fat also decreased significantly. Add anaerobic exercises to your workouts and stored fat will be broken down more actively.
It is also important to choose the right exercises, with a lot of weight, so as not to hurt yourself.
Principle 10. Do not deviate from your plans: motivation and confidence are the main thing in implementing a plan on how to lose weight correctly
How many good initiatives to lose weight have failed not because of the inability to lose weight, the genetic tendency to be overweight and other excuses that overweight people indulge in, but because of banal laziness.
If you seriously decide that this time will be the last, be consistent and methodical. It's not that difficult and can even turn into an exciting pursuit, especially if you manage to reawaken your passion for sport and the desire to win.
How to do it? Here are some suggestions:
A food diary or food diary will be a great help to systematize the weight loss process according to the rules described above, and most importantly, to increase motivation.
A food diary will allow you to keep track of what you eat during the day, when, where and how much, in what mood and how severe your physical hunger is. Using this information, you can change your environment, your reactions to it, or both to improve your eating behavior and change your weight.
Even if you have had excess weight all your life, this can only mean one thing: all attempts to lose weight were not suitable for your body. Try again by adopting 10 principles on how to lose weight correctly!