low carbohydrate diet; fat freeCayenne pepper and cabbage soup; Strictly yellow dragee and water. It seems like every day there's a new weight loss meal plan that promises fast results, from the smart to the insane. Eating right for weight loss is something most of us have tried at least once. . . or twice. . . Or, let's face it, many times.
Important points about proper nutrition
Your cousin swears that giving up bread for a few weeks helped her shed the pounds before college. On the other hand, you couldn't eat a piece of bread for five years and still not lose those last few pounds. As soon as you understand the difficulties of one diet, another one appears that will be even more effective.
Take, for example, the study conducted in August 2015. It found that for obese adults, cutting down on fatty foods helped them lose weight 68% faster than cutting down on carbohydrates. What a good news!
But before you start ditching your favorite full-fat dairy products, check out another study that came just two months later. According to this study, following a low-carb diet, like the Mediterranean diet, is more effective in weight loss than restricting carbohydrate intake. Scientists say no diet works well in the long run, and low-fat diets for weight loss may even be harmful.
But hope dies in the end. In fact, there is an optimal eating plan that can help you lose weight. This is a meal plan that works for you. Not your spouse, brother, or co-worker, but one that works for your body's needs and, along with regular exercise, makes you feel great.
What is the right diet for weight loss? A meal plan shouldn't be seen as something you have to stick to for weeks or months until you reach your target weight, after which you can go back to your old habits. In fact, going back to old eating habits is why researchers say diets don't work.
Instead, a healthy eating plan should be a lifestyle change you can stick with because, unlike restrictive diets or fad diets, it's sustainable. The way you eat should make you feel better, provide your body with the nutrients it needs to live a long, happy and healthy life.
How to eat right to lose weight
Below is information on the best healthy weight loss meal plans to help you make the most informed decision.
low carbohydrate diet
By following a low-carb diet or a ketogenic diet (an extremely low-carb diet), you drastically reduce or eliminate your glucose intake. Once your body runs out of glucose and your diet has little or no carbohydrates that your body uses for energy, your body will begin to use stored fat for that purpose, helping you lose weight quickly.
Advantages:
- You will likely experience rapid weight loss, especially in the first few weeks and months. When we eat foods with sugar and carbohydrates, our body releases insulin, a hormone responsible for storing energy and body fat. It signals your cells to store as much energy as possible in the form of glycogen. By drastically reducing carbohydrate intake, our body produces less insulin. Less insulin in our blood means that glycogen is used by our body for energy and not stored, and when it runs out, it starts using fat.
- You can reduce your risk of developing diabetes. When you switch to a low-carb diet, you'll naturally consume far less sugar and starch. Conversely, a diet high in carbohydrates can increase the risk of diabetes, cardiovascular disease, and obesity.
- Once you've ideally replaced grains and other carbohydrates with foods rich in protein and healthy fats, you'll feel fuller and less hungry. Fats and proteins are known for their satiety effects, while cutting back on carbs helps turn off ghrelin, the "hunger hormone. "
Flaws:
- Reducing or completely eliminating carbohydrates from the diet can lead to a lack of energy and a feeling of fatigue. If you are particularly active (for example, you play sports), a low-carb diet can reduce your endurance, which is so necessary during exercise.
- Carbohydrates are hiding in unexpected places like fruits, legumes and quinoa. Completely excluding them from the diet can negatively affect the intake of essential vitamins and minerals.
low-fat diet
Eating a low-fat diet for weight loss reduces the amount of fat consumed, both of vegetable and animal origin. This diet became especially popular in the US after the publication of the federal government's Dietary Guidelines in 1980, which led to the introduction of low-fat foods.
Advantages:
- Fatty foods are also usually high in calories. If you're on a calorie-restricted diet, cutting back on high-calorie foods is likely to help you lose weight.
- Limiting your intake of unhealthy fats (such as trans fats) found in sweets, fast food, processed foods and other processed foods can help you lose weight; In addition, it will heal your body.
Flaws:
- Low-fat foods are often processed foods that contain refined sugars and unnatural ingredients designed to make low-calorie foods look like their naturally high-fat counterparts. These added ingredients can actually cause weight gain.
- Low-fat foods are preferred, people often abuse them. This happens for two reasons: fat-free foods simply don't match the taste and nutritional value of regular foods, and we eat more of them because we know they're low in calories.
- Our body needs fat! Although foods like avocados or butter may be high in calories, they contain healthy fats that our bodies need to function properly. Which do you prefer: butter made from cow's ghee or a "butter substance" created in a laboratory?
Mediterranean diet
The Mediterranean diet originates from Mediterranean countries such as Italy, Spain, Greece, etc. Sh. The Mediterranean diet cannot be called a diet per se - it is a regular diet that includes fresh fruits and vegetables, healthy fats such as olive oil, high-quality poultry and seafood, all of which are natural and grown without synthetic fertilizers, feed, etc. Sh.
Advantages:
- Since this diet focuses on natural foods, you will consume very few processed or sugary foods. You eat nuts more often than cookies, for example.
- An abundance of foods rich in healthy fats contributes to the risk of cardiovascular disease.
Flaws:
- Although healthy fats are good for us, we need to control our food intake. Because it's so delicious, it's easy to give in to the urge to eat a little more, which can lead to overeating.
- Although the Mediterranean diet is great for your body in the long run, if you're looking to lose weight quickly, it's probably not for you.
Vegetarianism or veganism
Although there are different levels of vegetarianism and veganism, most vegetarians avoid eating meat, including seafood and poultry. What do vegans eat? Well, they avoid all animal products, including dairy and eggs.
Advantages:
- A plant-based diet is naturally low in fat and high in fiber. You don't need to count calories when eating a salad.
- A vegetarian diet is associated with lower blood pressure and cholesterol levels. If you want to control these conditions naturally, cutting out meat can help.
- Good quality meat can be expensive! Cutting it out of your diet can really help save money in your budget.
Flaws:
- Avoiding animal products does not guarantee that you will eat healthy, nutritious food.
- High-quality animal meat provides the body with essential nutrients that are difficult to obtain from plant foods. Vegans should be especially careful of their dietary deficiencies and should consider taking supplements.
Paleo diet
What about the paleo diet and veganism? These are the two most fashionable diets. "Go paleo" is something we hear more and more these days, especially in the sports community. The Paleolithic diet consisted of foods that our ancient ancestors ate - natural animal meat (they were fed natural foods), wild fish, nuts, roots, vegetables and fruits.
Advantages:
- Switching to a whole grain diet can be very beneficial as you can eliminate the carbohydrates in grains that raise insulin levels and replace them with more vegetables.
- Following a hunter-gatherer diet will help you get more minerals, omega-3 fatty acids, protein, and healthy fats from your food. In fact, if you follow the Paleo diet correctly, it can help improve your autoimmune condition and help you lose weight naturally.
- By eliminating grains, sugar (a major cause of chronic inflammation and disease) is completely eliminated from the diet. Instead, the diet is loaded with popular anti-inflammatory foods like wild-caught salmon (or similar fish), blueberries, leafy greens, and nuts.
Flaws:
- Unfortunately, many who follow the Paleo diet often consume too much meat, as well as some toxic substances of animal origin.
- In addition, people often consume non-organic foods, including meat, butter, vegetables and fruits. Unless you can afford to buy exclusively organic foods, this diet cannot be considered a Paleo diet.
Remember that you don't need to follow a specific diet, to make a strict menu of the right food for weight loss. Some aspects of a particular diet you may like and others you may not.
For example, you might want to go vegan one or two days a week to give your wallet a break and encourage your family to try different seasonal vegetables.
Or you can reduce your carbohydrate intake for a few weeks to balance your insulin levels and then switch to a Mediterranean diet where whole grains are consumed in moderation. This is all very good!
It is not necessary to eat specific foods every day, week after week to lose weight. It's important to simply eat right, eating mostly organic foods and avoiding processed foods and sweets as much as possible. At the end of the day, "best" diets (diet systems for weight loss) come and go, but organizing a diet based on natural vegetables and fruits, meat and fish, nuts and whole grains never goes out of style.