How to lose weight in a healthy way? The basis will be to ensure an adequate supply of protein, i.e. to increase the amount of this macronutrient consumed. Protein is definitely an ally of people on a weight loss diet. It has a high satiety index, which means that after eating protein-rich products, we feel fuller for longer. In the context of weight loss, this is an important feature that may prove crucial in the process of regulating the feeling of hunger .
Take care of the right supply of protein
In addition, if you want to lose primarily on body fat and maintain a higher lean body mass (mainly muscles), then paying attention to the supply of protein on reduction can be very important. It was proven that people consuming protein in the amount of 1.6 g/kg of body weight were characterized by a higher percentage of lost body fat, and a lower percentage of muscle tissue compared to people consuming 0.8 g/kg of body weight. So what to eat to lose weight on a diet? Definitely protein-rich products. The best sources of protein in a weight loss diet will be lean meats (chicken, turkey), eggs, legumes, lean dairy products or soybeans.
Interestingly, protein is also characterized by the highest degree of postprandial thermogenesis – the effectiveness of this process is estimated at 15-30%. This means that after consuming protein, the body uses more energy to digest, transport, absorb and store substances than in the case of carbohydrates or fats. Periodically, during this process, the metabolic rate also increases [4]. One study showed that people on a diet containing 29% protein had a significantly higher resting metabolic rate than those consuming twice as much protein [2]. According to general recommendations, a sufficient supply of protein is only 0.8 g.kg of body weight [5]. During reduction, however, it is worth getting closer to the amount of 1.6 g/kg of body weight. If you also visit the gym often and put a lot of emphasis on strength training, you can reach up to 2.4 g/kg of body weight.
Increase the proportion of fibre in your diet
A diet for weight loss should be characterized by a large amount of dietary fiber. In addition to lowering cholesterol, improving diabetic parameters or preventing colorectal cancer, fiber can also have a beneficial effect on the weight loss process. According to the study, women and men who had a higher dietary fiber intake also had lower body weight. Higher fiber intake also reduced the risk of obesity in these people by as much as 30%. Fiber also affects the feeling of satiety. Imagine that one person eats an apple and the other drinks a glass of apple juice. Both foods contain the same amount of carbohydrates. Which person will feel hungry faster? Well, research leaves no doubt that an apple will have a better effect on satiety due to its consistency, but also its higher fiber content. That’s why reach for fresh fruits, vegetables and whole grain cereal products, and it will definitely support your weight loss diet [6]!
If you like something, don’t throw it out of your weight loss diet
You already know about the ineffectiveness of the (pseudo) “all or nothing” principle. There is certainly a product without which you cannot imagine a day. You are happy at the thought that it is soon time for coffee, because your favorite snack will appear with it. And now imagine what you feel when this one product disappears from your menu. Would it help you maintain the reduction? We are sure not. Anyway, we created the slogan “Eat normally, achieve more” precisely so that the weight loss diet is not a torture, but pure pleasure.
If, for example, you love butter cookies, it will be wiser if you eat 1-2 pieces with your afternoon coffee 2 times a week than if you throw yourself into a kilo of such cookies after a month of dieting. It is the flexibility in the diet that helps us maintain it. Because the best weight loss diet is the one that can be maintained. Another tip that will come in handy when reducing weight is to choose smaller packages of your favorite sweets. If you have been buying a bag of chips weighing 180 g so far, you could have eaten it all at once. It will be worth reducing the weight of the product and buying a package of, for example, 120 g. On the other hand, instead of a snicker weighing 50 g, choose a knoppers weighing 25 g. This will also make you feel satisfied with the product you consume, and you will provide 125 calories less!
Have patience and the results will come
It must be said directly. There is no rational weight loss diet that will allow you to lose 20 kg in a month. There are no magic exercises that will reduce fat only in the abdominal area. In the same way, there are no magic supplements and slimming pills that will make you fit into an outfit 2 sizes smaller in 2 weeks. The weight loss process is a process that requires patience, but also a lot of understanding for yourself. Don’t give up if you don’t see an effect on the 30th day of the weight loss diet, because it may appear as early as the 31st day. Over time, the effect will be so visible that you will thank yourself for your perseverance and conscientiousness. Anyway, you may be motivated by the fact that people who followed a longer variant of the slimming diet, i.e. did not apply very large restrictions, achieved greater success in maintaining body weight after the reduction process was completed [7]. So how to lose weight in a healthy way? At your own pace, without haste, with a lot of patience. This approach will allow for long-term results!
The head is the key to success in weight loss
Motivation is the cause of a certain behavior and striving for a goal. The primary motive for eating food is the feeling of hunger, and the feeling of satiety is to stop. However, these primal feelings are quite susceptible to specific factors, such as stress, positive or negative emotions. Negative emotions have been shown to be associated with both an increase in food intake and a decrease in the desire to eat. It all depends on how your body has learned to cope with difficult situations. For some, stress can be helpful to make a reduction diet even more effective, while for others it will make it difficult to lose weight.
Interestingly, positive emotions also influenced higher food intake. Stress is also one of the factors that can cause higher energy intake with food – in one study, as many as 36% of people indicated stress as their cause of obesity. Such people, even if they know what to eat to lose weight on a diet, may not reduce their body weight when they have a large amount of stress. Most of us have the so-called “comfort food” in our lives – a product/dish that can be a remedy for our sadness, stress or anger. The problem, however, is that this mechanism does not last very long. Emotions reappear and fuel the vicious cycle of overeating. The awareness that food will not solve any life problems is extremely important in the context of working on yourself and your figure. If you observe such behaviors in yourself, try to change your habits.
During a stressful situation, a walk or a conversation with someone close to you will be much better affected than eating empty calories that will later entail remorse. However, if you see that you can’t do it on your own, see a specialist, and she will probably help you repair your relationship with food [8, 9.] Sometimes we acquire certain habits as early as childhood, when during a crying fit we receive ice cream or a candy bar to cheer us up, or after completing homework we get a bar of chocolate as a reward. Unfortunately, such treatments are not appropriate in the context of building healthy responses to emotions. Of course, there are other factors such as genetic predisposition, but the process of nutritional upbringing in a child is an extremely important aspect that can hinder or facilitate the process of taking care of the figure in the future.
Is a weight loss diet for the rest of your life?
Weight loss is only a short episode of our lives, but contact with food and building relationships with food lasts a lifetime. No, a weight loss diet does not last a lifetime. Ba! It should not last a lifetime. If you are one of those people who are on a diet all the time and do not see results, then we have a red flag here.
But the diet itself lasts a lifetime. Because diet is not only about losing weight and counting calories, it is the way we eat. And this means that many healthy habits that we have acquired in the process of reduction should be maintained for the rest of our lives. If you achieve your goal after 3 months and then return to your old, not necessarily healthy lifestyle, all your effort will be in vain. Therefore, pay attention to focus not only on weight reduction when following a diet or working with a specialist, but above all on learning healthy eating habits.
Diet for weight loss
A menu that will help you lose 10 kg in a week – unfortunately, you won’t find it here, because it’s unrealistic. Instead, we have prepared a menu for you, thanks to which you can lose weight tasty, healthy and satiated. If you don’t know how to start losing weight, you can start with our sample menu. Remember, however, that the best results will be achieved by an individually selected slimming diet, where the menu will be a pleasure for you!
The entire menu will provide 1800 calories, 89 g of protein, 68 g of fat, 186 g of carbohydrates and as much as 48 g of dietary fiber. If your caloric demand for reduction is lower, you can reduce the weight of individual ingredients in order to reduce the calorie content.
For breakfast, a very simple and quick proposal, i.e. porridge with blueberries. Oatmeal will provide a good dose of fiber. Blueberries, on the other hand, will provide a high satiety and provide a very small amount of calories. Importantly, they contain health-promoting substances such as anthocyanins. Nuts, on the other hand, will provide healthy fats and a bit of fiber. If you want to diversify the taste of oatmeal and increase the amount of protein, add a protein supplement!
Salad, slimming diet, menu – these are 3 concepts that cannot be separated. A well-composed (and tasty!) salad can be on your table every day, and this is exactly what the Greek salad in our proposal is. A large amount of vegetables such as tomato, cucumber, salad, onion to ensure great satiety. In addition, very tasty feta cheese and olives to diversify the taste. What’s more, the addition of wholemeal bread will go well with such a salad. It is also worth seasoning it with spices such as oregano or basil, a little salt and pepper. You can also add chicken breast meat to increase protein and thus satiety. If you don’t know what to eat to lose weight, choose this tasty salad!
For dinner, chickpeas in tomato sauce with thyme. Life will be made incredibly easier by chickpeas already cooked, which you can buy in a jar or plastic bag. It contains huge amounts of dietary fiber and a lot of protein. A large amount of vegetables will ensure satiety after a meal, and spices will beautifully improve the taste, so you will eat a meal with taste. If you don’t know what to eat to lose weight, you already know – chickpeas in tomato sauce!