The desire to lose weight haunts many people. For some, this is a tribute to fashion and a desire to look more attractive. For others - the recommendations of a doctor, since excess weight affects the state of health is far from the best way. And the first measure to normalize weight is a low-calorie diet. This is a limitation of the diet in order to effectively reduce weight and keep it in order. A specialist should prescribe a diet, observing the characteristics of the body, age and the amount of extra pounds, as well as concomitant diseases.
You can’t forbid to be beautiful
How many of us turn to a nutritionist when you need to lose weight? No, usually everything happens exactly the opposite. We ourselves choose low-calorie diets and begin the path of trial and error. Someone is groping for a system, which means it is going to success. Others tend to lose weight more quickly and reduce their diet to bread and water. Of course, they will soon break down. The result is a new weight gain, spoiled health and stress.
What should be a low-calorie diet so that it fulfills the tasks assigned to it and at the same time does no harm? We will try to find the answer to this question together.
We are not starving, but we are losing weight
This is the main task that you must set for yourself. It is important to choose a diet that promotes safe, natural weight loss. Most often, this is what nutritionists recommend. Low-calorie diets are a thorough study of the energy value of products. In addition, it is very important to choose the optimal ratio of fats, proteins and carbohydrates.
The essence of diet
First of all, you should be well aware of what goals a low-calorie diet serves. The menu is based on the principles of reducing the number of calories consumed daily. This is the main condition for the use of subcutaneous fat. This is a complex process that is accompanied by hormonal changes.
The result is a gradual weight loss. Ideally, this should be a balanced program that takes into account individual characteristics, designed not even for a long time, but for continuous use. At first, the restrictions will be more serious, and then the menu of a low-calorie diet should only support the result. This means expanding the diet.
Where to begin
It is required to learn the basic principles on which the construction of the menu will be based. We emphasize once again that this is not a hunger strike, but a high-quality, healthy and balanced diet. A low-calorie diet for a week can not promise you stellar results. During this time, the body is only a little cleaned and tuned to the desired wave.
So what underlies:
- Calorie content should be reduced. This is not due to the exclusion of essential foods, but due to a reduction in fat intake. The amount of foods high in fat should be minimal, 60-80 g per day.
- Alcohol and fast carbohydrates are completely eliminated. These are sugar and confectionery, bread and rolls, carbonated drinks.
- The menu includes a large number of protein products. It is important that the fat mass is burned without damage to the muscles.
- Be sure to reduce the amount of salt and seasonings consumed. In addition to fluid retention, they also stimulate the appetite.
- Be sure to break portions into several meals. Instead of three times you need to eat 6-7.
- It takes to drink plenty of water.
As you can see, there are not many rules, but their observance is mandatory in order to achieve a result.
The choice is yours
There are three types of diet. They can be used one after another or limited to only one. Do not forget to consult a doctor, because some diseases are a contraindication.
- A tough, low-calorie diet is 600 kcal per day.
- The main - 1600 kcal per day.
- Moderate - 1200 kcal per day.
Often people begin their journey to harmony with maximum restrictions, gradually moving on to a weakening of the diet. Nutritionists do not welcome this approach, but if you want to lose weight very quickly, many still begin to starve.
Tough diet
This is the most low-calorie diet. It provides meals boiled, steam vegetables and meat products for 7 days. Daily fat intake should not be more than 5 g. For this reason, only healthy people can use such a program. Be sure to consult your doctor, low-calorie diet for weight loss can harm your body.
Main diet
It is he who is the most important stage and step towards harmony. The purpose of this diet is to teach a person to eat properly, to manage in small portions. The most important thing now is to eliminate overeating. Then the weight will begin to decline by itself. If losing weight is too slow, then for a few weeks they switch to a moderate diet, after which they again return to the main one. This is not even a diet, but a new way of life to which you need to adapt. Let's look at a sample menu so you can try it on yourself.
The first day
- We start the morning with porridge. An excellent choice is barley. It is an excellent source of slow carbohydrates, which are a source of energy and important trace elements. Supplement will be a green apple and unsweetened tea.
- For a snack or lunch, take yourself non-fat natural yogurt without dyes and additives. A glass for breakfast will be enough.
- A glass of vegetable broth and 150 g of steam fish will be an excellent option for lunch.
- As an afternoon snack, a glass of tomato juice or 50 g of fruit puree.
- But dinner can be afford more nutritious. This will restore the energy spent per day, to fill the needs of muscles in proteins. Take 150 g of boiled veal, 200 g of vegetable salad with butter or sour cream. You can drink it with a glass of mineral water.
The last meal should be no later than two hours before bedtime. The first day is considered the most difficult. The body is not accustomed to restrictions, and tea without sweets and breakfast without sandwiches with sausage is completely perceived as a tragedy. In fact, this is only a transitional period that needs to be experienced. It will be easier soon.
Second day
The menu of a low-calorie diet for weight loss can hardly be called hungry, but it still requires exposure. The second day will bring some variety. It also involves five meals a day:
- Boiled egg and 100 g of bread.
- Any fresh fruit (apple, grapefruit, persimmon).
- A small plate of vegetable soup, with cereals. Supplement will be 100 g of boiled chicken breast.
- Low-fat cottage cheese - 100 g.
- Vinaigrette - 200 g, as well as 150 g of baked fish.
The menu involves significant variations. The main thing is to adhere to the given proportions and observe the boundaries of the calorie intake. For example, instead of cottage cheese, you can take an omelet from protein.
The third day
According to reviews, a low-calorie diet by this time becomes simply unbearable. But if there is strong motivation, then you can find the strength to continue on.
- For breakfast, cook buckwheat porridge in the water. It is rich in protein and fiber and gives a long-lasting feeling of satiety. Complete your meal with a glass of tea.
- For a snack, a glass of kefir and 50 g of bread are suitable.
- For lunch, prepare a plate of lean borsch, 100 g of steamed veal and a plate of green salad. Agree, it is quite possible to live until noon.
- Apple or pear.
- Baked sea fish, 200 g slice. Can be replaced with steam patties.
You can end there. By analogy with the listed days, you can make a diet for a month. But we promised a low-calorie diet menu for a week, so let's continue.
Fourth day
If you want to quit the whole thing and return to the usual menu, this is not surprising. I really want bread, sweets, not enough spices and salt. All this somewhat reduces the pleasure of the next meal. What can be recommended? Get yourself a notebook in which you will write down all the changes that are happening to you. Of course, this primarily concerns weight and volume.
For this, it is important to enter the initial indicators, and then record all changes. By the way, today there are already applications on the phone that will analyze the data you have entered and even issue recommendations.
So, the menu for the next day:
- egg, orange and compote;
- yogurt - 100 g;
- a plate of vegetable soup and steam chicken fillet, vegetable salad;
- a glass of any berries;
- a glass of kefir and vegetable stew.
Dinner is rather modest, so you have to find something to do so you don’t have to think about food.
Fifth day
The body is in great need of protein, so it is best to start the day with millet porridge. This is a great source of protein. A vitamin supplement will serve as orange juice.
- an Apple;
- boiled veal with coleslaw;
- dried fruits - 150 g;
- low-fat cottage cheese with fruits.
After that, you can repeat the diet of the first and second day. It is not necessary to strictly follow the schedule. You can swap days, this does not change the essence.
Faster Results
It happens that such a menu correction is not enough. The body is quite supportive of the idea of not going beyond 1800 kcal per day, but is in no hurry to part with the accumulated reserves. This is typical for people who lead a passive lifestyle, move little.
In this case, it makes sense to consider the option of a low-calorie 1200 kcal diet. The menu is very similar, so we will not give it again. And to speed up the process of weight loss, you need to spend fasting days. Maximum, you can resort to this measure 3 times a week.
- Depending on your preferences, you can spend fasting days on apples or cucumbers, on watermelons. For this, each of the five meals has 300 g of product.
- Men will like the option with boiled meat more. It is allowed to eat 100 g five times a day.
The average duration is 1 week, after which you again need to go to the main menu. If your work is associated with high physical exertion, then you can not adhere to such a diet for more than two weeks. Be sure to consult your doctor.
Cooking for the whole family and for ourselves
Sometimes this seems like a completely unrealistic task. Where to find so much time? But it is worth paying attention to how simple recipes for a low-calorie diet are. Most of them are cereals on the water, steamed meat and fish, vegetables and fruits, boiled eggs. That is, that does not require long preparation. Best if you take a slow cooker.
Let's look at some popular recipes with which you can diversify your table:
- Vinaigrette without potatoes. For cooking, you need 1 beetroot, 2 carrots and 150 g of sauerkraut. Add a couple of spoons of canned peas, olive oil.
- Pumpkin Stew. It will take 1 kg of pumpkin, peeled and diced, cardamom, a little dried ginger, 200 ml of vegetable broth (boil celery and cabbage, but do not take it ready). Pre-bake the pumpkin for 20 minutes at a temperature of 180 degrees in the oven. Stew half a kilogram of mushrooms in a vegetable broth, add pumpkin and cardamom, bring to readiness, about 12 minutes over medium heat.
- Cod in citrus marinade. For this dish, take 1 kg of fish, the juice of one grapefruit and one onion. Marinate the fish for 30 minutes and bake in the oven.
You can come up with your own recipes, each time making lunch or dinner interesting and tasty.