Principles of a balanced diet. The basis of a healthy lifestyle is proper and balanced nutrition The norms and principles of a balanced diet

You can’t even imagine how proper nutrition can unrecognizably transform your figure. Probably many have repeated more than once: “I eat so little, but I still get fat!”. It would seem that she stopped eating, and that's it. But where, then, to get energy for training, because the lack of food Calories means a breakdown and almost zero effectiveness of training. No starvation! An ideal figure requires a completely different thing - the improvement of our nutrition. All you need is knowledge of the principles of a properly balanced diet and the desire to make small but fundamental changes in your diet. Together with training, they will radically change your figure. Sports medicine has done a great job interviewing thousands of people who have managed to lose weight. The survey showed that they are united by the same thing:

• every day they start with breakfast;
• follow a low-fat diet;
• weighed weekly;
• spend about an hour a day on physical activity.

Agree, already a mini-plan and a guide to action.
To understand how to properly compose and balance nutrition, consider its basic principles.

First principle

is the principle of energy adequacy. Everyone has long known that we need energy to perform any action. For our body, this source is food. Therefore, the amount of energy that enters our body with food must correspond to the amount of energy that the body expends.
Everything is very simple, if a person consumes less energy than he expends, then he must lose weight. After all, fat is the energy accumulated and stored by the body for later. Naturally, with a calorie deficit in food, stored fat must be consumed. That is why it is very important to reduce the number of calories in food in such a way that the energy expenditure exceeds its income.
To control the number of kilocalories, it is necessary to maintain the correct, and most importantly constant, ratio between the main components of nutrition in the proportions of 50:20:30.
That is, you should distribute calories daily so that 50% are carbohydrates, 20 are proteins and 30% are fats. Whether you want to reduce weight or maintain it at the current level permanently, you must make for yourself this ratio of fundamental principles.
Let's take a closer look at the balance between the three main components of nutrition. 50% of daily calories consumed are carbohydrates. It is they that energize us to the greatest extent, in addition, they contain most of the minerals and vitamins that are important for the body, fibers that contribute to rapid satiety and good digestion and, as proven by studies, reduce the likelihood of colon cancer. Most carbohydrates contain a lot of water. Water is one of the main components of metabolism.
The combination of water and fiber (fiber) creates a volume of food that gives a feeling of satiety, preventing overeating. At the same time, the number of calories is relatively small. For example, in a small apple there are only 50 kilocalories, and in a small piece of wholemeal bread - 70, but there is a lot of fiber. Compare these numbers, for example, with high-protein steak - 800 kcal or sweet caramel. - 200 kcal. These figures are very useful to consider and know for those who carefully monitor weight or want to lose weight. No wonder they say: "More fiber - thinner waist";
Nutritionists advise to spice up regular meals with fiber. Boil rice and add vegetables to it - you get a great dish, both low in calories and rich in fiber. It is also good to consume carrots, cabbage, beets, beans, peas, pumpkin, zucchini, tomatoes, potatoes, lettuce (green, leafy). Very high fiber content in cereals, wholemeal bread, figs, raspberries, nuts, dried apples, plums (prunes), apricots (apricots), dried apricots.
Increasing your fiber intake is very simple - switch to whole grain products and add bran to meals when cooking. The benefit is very large - you will feel full, with a low calorie content of the consumed products.
Replace refined carbs (white bread, rice, soft wheat pasta) with fiber-rich carbs (cereals and whole grain breads, brown rice). Wholemeal products should always be preferred over white flour, as they contain significantly more fiber and nutrients. And more about carbohydrates. Recent studies have proven that:
• the human body under normal conditions does not use carbohydrates to build fat;
• the consumption of carbohydrates is quite strictly regulated by the body itself, which significantly reduces the likelihood of overeating.
Why, then, is weight gain associated with flour and sweet, that is, with carbohydrates? The fact is that carbohydrates, being a more attractive fuel for our body than fats, displace fats from the oxidation process. That is, against the background of nutrition with a large amount of carbohydrates, the need for fat oxidation, and hence the body's ability to oxidize them, decreases.
And if there is enough fat in food, then the likelihood of its deposition increases. In addition, flour and sweets turn out to be incredibly fatty: chocolate - 35-45% fat, shortcrust pastry products - 20-25%, creams - fat content 15-55%. But if there is little fat in the diet, then the body's ability to oxidize them will always exceed or approximately equal their amount of food. And in this case, a person, at least, will have a stable weight, so we can safely say that it's not about carbohydrates, but about fats. We only add that we can get fat from carbohydrates if we consume 400-500 g of carbohydrates at a time, or at a time. Now try to eat half a kilo of sugar for an hour - this is exactly 500 g of carbohydrates. I think it is unlikely that you can do it, and certainly your body will not like it.
The second group of foods is of great importance for health, as it supplies our body with proteins. Protein food provides our body with energy resources that will be used if carbohydrates “burn out”. But protein foods should only make up 20% of daily calories, especially for those who want to adjust their weight.
It is best to consume fish, veal and poultry as the main sources of protein, as they contain less fat than beef and pork. We advise to reduce the consumption of the latter, giving preference to fish and poultry (this applies to meat without skin, even better breast) and increasing their consumption to 5-7 times a week. And of course, we should not forget about cottage cheese, yogurt, kefir, fermented baked milk and other dairy products. But! Low-fat, that is, completely fat-free.
The fat content in the daily diet should be about 30%. Here the main problem lies in being able to limit daily fat intake to this figure.
Fats are a relatively low-capacity source of energy. They load us with extra calories we don't need. Therefore, the optimal amount of fat per day is 30-35 g. But a complete rejection of fat is a fatal mistake. Fats are not only a mandatory component of the diet, they also help to lose weight. Yes, don't be surprised. In body fat, not only excess fat in the diet is to blame, but also hormones, in particular insulin. Fats inhibit the secretion of insulin, but the less it is, the less fat you have on your waist and stomach. But that is not all. The less fat you eat, the worse your fat metabolism goes. Simply put, fat burning slows down, as the body no longer considers it a serious source of energy. But fats are also different. You need vegetable and Omega-3 fats, that is, those present in fish, but animal fats will have to be abandoned.
The best way to keep the fat content in food to a minimum is to avoid fried foods, sauces, gravy, an abundance of dessert dishes, a lot of meat. Do not forget about hidden and explicit fat (we wrote about this in the "Fats" section). Limit your consumption of margarine, mayonnaise, and salad dressings. Include olive, linseed and canola oils in your diet. Eat walnuts, peanuts, avocados. These are excellent sources of healthy fats.

While reducing your meat intake, increase portions of fish dishes in your weekly diet. Especially useful are mackerel, salmon, sardine, herring, anchovies, lake trout. Decisively reduce to a minimum animal fats, which are present in meat, whole dairy products, bacon, sour cream, butter. Make a sample menu for yourself for the week. Determine his diet at the rate of 1000, 1500 or 2200 kcal.

These three calorie levels will help you lose weight or maintain your ideal weight. 1000 kcal is the minimum for a woman who wants to lose weight. 1500 kcal - satisfies the average needs of the body to maintain the existing weight.
A woman aged 23-50 years old usually spends from 1600 to 2400 kcal per day, at the age of 51-75 years old - 1400-2200 kcal.
When using these diets, adhere to the following recommendations:

• try to drink less high-calorie drinks. Cut down to 2-3 times a day coffee, tea, Coca-Cola, Pepsi-Cola;
• use vegetable margarine, as it contains more polyunsaturated fats than regular margarine;
• vary salads in color, size of pieces and composition of ingredients. For example, you can sweep different types of lettuce (the darker the leaf, the more vitamins A and iron), watercress, raw spinach, red cabbage, yellow squash, carrots, cauliflower, yellow, red or green peppers, onions;
• drink low-fat dairy products rich in vitamins A and D;
• season salads only with polyunsaturated vegetable oils;
• limit egg consumption to three times a week;
• Eat vegetables raw, baked, steamed. Cooking over a fire significantly reduces the amount of vitamins and minerals.
And remember, the body knows something on its own, namely: there is no overeating of proteins and carbohydrates; and the body's ability to accumulate fat is very large, fat is the only energy substance that our body can accumulate and accumulate for years.

Second principle

It's the 25-50-25 rule. It must be strictly observed by those who wish to lose weight, as it allows you to regulate body weight by controlling the amount of food consumed for breakfast, lunch and dinner. We decipher: 25% of calories should come from breakfast; 50% calories for lunch, 25% for dinner. In other words, eat regularly and distribute calories throughout the day, while limiting yourself at the evening meal. Even for those who do not need to limit weight, it is quite useful to focus on this formula or its modification. Here is one of the options: 25-30-45. Where 25% is breakfast, 30% is second breakfast, 45% is late lunch.
Nutritionists and nutritionists are convinced that if you consume most of the kilocalories before 13 pm, there will be fewer problems with weight. This is due to the fact that the body is more active during the day and, therefore, will be able to digest the amount of food that you have consumed faster and better. At this percentage, a group of obese women consumed 1200 kcal and, despite not having the minimum total calories, lost 0.5 to 1 kg weekly.
Remember we wrote about a study by doctors of a group of people who have successfully lost weight. What united them? Of course - breakfast. If it’s good, and most importantly, to have breakfast right, then you won’t have time to get hungry for dinner and won’t eat too much. But the main thing is different. If you regularly skip breakfast, metabolic processes slow down little by little. The need for energy falls and the calories eaten are unnecessary. As a result, by the age of 30 you are threatened with an increase in your weight from three to five extra pounds. And that's just for skipping breakfast. Conversely, a regular and relatively heavy breakfast, despite age, maintains a high metabolic rate even in old age.
But how to force yourself if you don’t feel like eating at all in the morning? First: have your last meal no later than 7-8 pm. During sleep, digestion stops, so after dinner at midnight, you will meet the morning with a full stomach. What a tough breakfast!
Second: go for a run in the morning. It happens that the stomach is empty, but the body has not yet woken up. Just for this case, a run is needed. If there is no such possibility, an ordinary jump rope will help you - 5-10 minutes of jumping and you will immediately wake up. Well, then a cool shower and vigorous rubbing with a rough towel.
If you want to lose weight, don't leave the house without breakfast.

What is the best thing to consume in the morning?

Morning breakfast should include complex carbohydrates, proteins and fats. For example, oatmeal boiled in water, you can add protein powder and a teaspoon of peanut or any vegetable oil, some crushed fruits or berries to it. Plus a slice of whole grain bread and a cup of sugar-free coffee, plus a multivitamin capsule.

Third principle

- This is the planning of physical activity so that they occur immediately before dinner. Based on research, it can be assumed that the timing of exercise has an impact on changes in weight and fat component.
If you train hard just before dinner - no earlier than two hours before eating, then the proportion of the fat component in the body will decrease sooner. Why or what is it about? Loss of appetite is known to occur within two hours of strenuous exercise, and this is probably why those who work particularly hard in the afternoon consume less food; it is also known that the metabolism increases during the day, and as the night approaches, its intensity decreases. As a result, it is more difficult for the body to burn calories in the evening than in the morning.
Thus, after evening loads, you will not want to load yourself with food, and your body will not have to strain, digesting kilocalories.
The key to weight loss is fat reduction, not just weight loss. This is why exercising before dinner combined with a restrictive diet is an effective way to go.

The fourth principle of right

nutrition is formulated not on the basis of practical advice, but on the basis of a psychological attitude to this issue. Simply put, you should cultivate a healthy fear of being overweight and obese.
It's no secret that a couple of extra pounds on your waist can be a big threat to your body. It is definitely known that excess weight is also associated with the risk of life-threatening complications, such as coronary disease or cancer. Even a small amount of excess fat is a trigger for serious diseases. It can become a repository of poisonous substances, about which we currently know almost nothing.
Low levels of vitality, emotional complications, heart disease - these are just a partial list of what high body fat leads to. But not only excess weight is a risk factor for our body. Strange as it sounds, there are also quite a few cases of illness and even death from malnutrition or malnutrition. Research shows that a healthy person is one who eats well and regularly (at least three times a day), but maintains a stable weight through exercise and diet.

That's why

fifth principle

can be formulated as follows: do not deplete the body with too few calories. This advice seems odd given the problems with overeating rather than undereating. But there is also a growing trend towards voluntary low calorie intake, sometimes with disastrous results. One of the most common forms of malnutrition is anorexia nervosa. This disease often affects wealthy people who are accustomed to give themselves entirely to work, as well as young girls, which is associated with the growing popularity of the modeling business. Trying to blindly follow fashion, they exhaust themselves by severely restricting food, at times even trying to make themselves vomit. But not only the fashion for model figures is to blame for these diseases, it is often associated with an age crisis, age complexes or unrequited feelings of first love. In such cases, the qualified help of a psychologist is necessary.
Experts call another type of malnutrition - "nutritional arrhythmia." This term was coined in connection with the tragic death of 12 marathon runners. They all died mostly in their sleep. At the time of death, their weight was equal to or approaching the minimum for an adult. To achieve the results or records that they have achieved, they had to drastically limit their diet, consuming only the most necessary amounts of calories, fats and other substances. Apparently, the fact is that they ate so little that the heart did not have enough energy to work in conditions of great physical exertion. This led to cardiac arrest. From this we can conclude that people of average build, running average distances, risk less than those who do not adhere to average values ​​​​in everything - in nutrition and in running. Whether you're already a runner or just considering running as a physical activity, stick to harmony. By increasing the amount of exercise and the length of the distance in running, swimming or cycling, also increase the need for food, or you will suffer from a lack of it.

Sixth principle

has to do with counting the calories we consume. Just as body fat needs to be well balanced, so too is a balanced number of calories consumed daily to maintain a healthy weight. True, many nutritionists are not passionate fans of careful calorie counting, since in practice it is almost impossible, well, how to calculate how many calories are in a cutlet, vegetable caviar from vegetables of various shapes or sizes, and many other everyday dishes. And most people do not have enough time to regularly spend it counting calories in their menu. Another negative point is that, in practice, only rations with a given set of certain simple dishes, built not so much to satisfy taste desires, but to simplify the calculation of their calorie content, can only be counted. But the freedom to choose food is a necessary condition for psycho-emotional comfort. As a result, many women simply refuse a balanced diet.
But at the same time, we believe that it is necessary to have an idea of ​​the number of calories in a plate. Therefore, you can first make a list of commonly consumed foods, and then calculate the total number of calories using well-known tables.
You can also focus on the following figures: the value of the first courses is about 200-300 kcal (if the serving is 500 g), milk, cereal soups and combined hodgepodge have - 400 kcal; meat dishes with a side dish - 500-600 kcal; fish - about 500 kcal; vegetable dishes 200-400 kcal; third courses - 100-150 kcal.
When buying products, also pay attention to the figure that corresponds to the calorie content of 100 g of this product. Knowing this value, it is easy to calculate how much energy your body will receive after consuming a certain amount of food. If the energy value is not indicated, but the content of proteins, fats and carbohydrates is given, it is possible to determine the calorie content of products based on the fact that during the oxidation of 1 g of protein and 1 g of carbohydrates, 4.1 kcal is released, and during the oxidation of 1 g of fat - 9.3 kcal . Thus, knowing the composition of the daily diet, that is, everything eaten and drunk per day, we can calculate how much energy we received per day and what is the calorie content of the daily menu.
We told you how to calculate the number of calories, now let's determine how much energy you spend per day. To do this, we need to calculate our daily energy consumption. But first, compare the calories you consume per day with your own needs. They are easy to calculate using the table below.

Calculation of energy consumption in kcal/kg of body weight per day

Fatness	Number of kcal
	rest	Moderate	Significant
Excess	20-25	30	35
Normal	30	35	40
Reduced	35	40	45-50

You can also use one of the formulas below to calculate your basal metabolic rate. What is basal exchange? This is the necessary energy to maintain the vital activity of the body at rest, before meals and at a normal ambient temperature of about 20 degrees.
It is generally accepted that the average basal metabolic rate in women is about 1400 kcal per day. But since this value is related more to the dimensions of the surface of the body than to the mass, it can be calculated more accurately using formulas.
Formula:
655D + 9.6M + 1.9R-4.7V
where M is body weight in kg,
P - height in cm,
B - age in years.
Or by the formula:
18-30 years old - 14.7. MT + 496 (kcal / day),
0.0615. MT + 2.08 (MJ / day),
30 - 60 years - 8.7. MT + 829 (kcal / day),
0.0364. MT + 3.47 (MJ/sg),
more than 60 years - 10.5. MT + 569 (kcal / day) 0.0439. MT + 2.49 (MJ / day),
where MT is the body weight.
This indicator roughly shows how much energy your body spends to maintain its vital functions. All physical activity during the day accordingly supplements these energy expenditures.
There are recommendations on equating the energy value of the daily diet to the basal metabolic rate in order to lose weight. Of course, there is a rational grain in this. On the one hand, a gradual and moderate reduction in the calorie content of food will not cause adverse changes in the metabolic rate, on the other hand, it will allow you to live your day more actively. After all, all physical work and training performed during the day will be provided with energy by burning your own fat reserves.
Remember the principle of energy adequacy! You can not spend less energy than you get from food. Consuming at least 100 excess or excess calories per day will lead to weight gain of 4.5 kg per year. Or another example: 200 extra kilocalories - weight gain up to 9 kg per year!

By consuming more, you put so much “fuel” into the body that it no longer burns and turns into fat. And soon all this load will simply settle on your waist. Just imagine how you will feel, carrying a five- or ten-kilogram load every day from morning to evening.

That's why it's so important to determine the exact number of calories your body needs so that your "fuel" is used for its intended purpose, and not turned into fat.
And finally, in order to lose weight, you need to draw up an individual plan for rational nutrition.
It is not very useful to follow a diet for a month, and then quit everything. Experience shows that if you need to get rid of excess weight or constantly maintain the achieved weight, you must be consistent, otherwise you will definitely fail. An inconsistent approach to dieting leads to the following: your weight jumps up and down as you start or stop using the diet. The facts show that 9.0% of people who decide to follow a weight-restriction program or some kind of specialized diet will definitely abandon it and return to the level from which they started.
To complicate matters further, following a very low-calorie diet of about 500 calories a day, you will gain weight faster, even if you consume fewer calories than before the diet. This is because after this diet, the body rearranges the metabolism in such a way as to maintain the same weight with a lower number of calories.
For example, if you need 2,000 calories to reach your ideal weight, and you eat 500 calories a day for three months, your metabolism will adjust to the lower calorie count. By the third week, the rebuilt metabolism maintains your weight at only 1000 kcal (if this did not happen, then the person would simply die within two weeks from exhaustion).
Let's say you reach your goal and then move on to 1500 kcal per day. And you are surprised to notice that even with such a reduced diet, you continue to add half a kilogram per week, although you consume even fewer kilocalories than before the diet. A low metabolic rate, leading to rapid weight gain, can remain unchanged for a whole year after the end of a low-calorie diet. That is why many obese people, after frequent use of restrictive diets, complain that they put on weight even more than before. To avoid all this, you must constantly adhere to a diet and combine it with physical activity. By organizing your diet according to the 25-50-25 principle (the second principle), you can lose 1 kg-1.5 kg per week, and the lost weight will not return.
It is unwise and impractical to go on a diet from time to time, allowing your weight to jump up and down. This is all the more unnecessary if you draw up your own individual plan for rational nutrition, like the following plan, which was compiled by the American nutrition specialists of the Aerobics Center.

Basic principles of the plan:

• It is necessary that your diet is not only balanced, but also varied. Foods should include carbohydrates (fruits, vegetables, flour and starches, proteins (meat or dairy products, beans or peas), fats (butter or margarine) and liquids at every meal. This will allow you to feel full of energy all day. Carbohydrates are burned first (providing energy for 3-4 hours) Proteins provide energy for the next 1-2 hours, and fats are not completely used up by the 5th or 6th hour, that is, until the next meal .
• It is also very important to take into account the selection of products for individual meals, focusing on the duration of its stay in the stomach.
• 1-2 hours - water, tea, coffee, cocoa, broth, milk, soft-boiled eggs, rice, river fish (boiled).
• 2-3 hours - hard boiled eggs, scrambled eggs, sea fish (boiled), boiled potatoes, bread.
• 4-5 hours - beans, beans, peas, poultry, herring, fried meat.
• 6 hours - mushrooms, bacon, bacon.
• Be sure to follow the 50:20:30 principle (the first principle).
• Reduce your calorie intake and vice versa increase their consumption. 0.5 kilograms of stored fat is equivalent to 3500 kilocalories. To lose 1 kg or 7000 kcal per week, you need to give up 1000 kcal daily. And in order to lose weight faster and reduce predominantly fat rather than muscle mass, you should increase physical activity, including aerobic exercise. But do not overdo it with losing weight. The best option is to reduce weight by 0.5-1 kilogram per week. The body must have time to adapt, otherwise your skin will become flabby, as it will not have time to contract after the rapid decrease in subcutaneous fat and muscle.
• Eat less fatty foods. Sharply limit the consumption of fried meat; butter, margarine, mayonnaise, vegetable oil, sauces, salad dressings; canned food, semi-finished products; fatty meat products - bacon, sausages, sausages, stewed lamb, beef and pork; high-fat dairy products (whole milk, cream, sour cream, cheese, ice cream).
• Use low-calorie salad dressings, limiting your consumption of ready-made dressings. Instead of cream, drink low-calorie yogurt or milk, and eat fat-free fats. Remember that each gram of fat you eat contains 9 kcal, twice as much as 1 gram of protein and 1 gram of carbohydrates.
• Eat less sugar. Refined sugar is a very high-calorie product, especially since it does not contain mineral salts and vitamins. Found in: Jam, jelly, lemonade, caramel, cookies, homemade pies, dessert sweets, canned fruits and sweet juices.
• Try to limit your intake of sugary foods to 1-2 times a week.
• Eat more low-calorie, bulky, high-fiber foods: fruits, vegetables (with seeds and skins), boiled potatoes, wholemeal breads, bran.
• Give preference to lean meat, fish, poultry. If you want to lose weight or keep it normal, eliminate beef, pork, lamb and cheeses.
• It is advisable to use products with a negative energy value, that is, those for the assimilation of which more energy is spent than is released during their digestion - carrots, turnips, rutabaga, beets, cabbage. Minimize your alcohol intake as much as possible. It contains 1.5 times more energy than carbohydrates.
• When cooking, use as little fat as possible. Cook roasted or baked meat on the grill. Stew foods on water, boil vegetables and eat raw without any sauces or seasonings. Buy a heavy-bottomed, Teflon-coated pan so you don't have to use cooking oil.
• Be sure to include raw vegetables, fruits, salads in your diet. Drink tomato juice, natural fruit juices.
• If you are struggling with excess weight, let water be your number one fat burner. Recent studies have shown that water plays a key role in regulating metabolic rate. It turned out that dehydration slows down the exchange, and hence the “burning” of fat. In addition, the less you drink, the higher the concentration of sodium ions in the body, and sodium, as you know, retains water in the tissues. As a result, you “swell up” and become even fatter. For example, half a teaspoon of salt causes a delay of one and a half liters of water in the intestines. Your waist becomes 2.5-4 cm wider.
• First, calculate how much water you need per day. To do this, multiply your weight in kilograms by 30 ml.
• Eat slowly, chewing your food thoroughly. Please allow at least 20 minutes for your appointment. Remember: it takes exactly 20 minutes to feel full. Therefore, the slower you eat, the less likely you are to overeat.
• Prefer hard foods to soft ones. Tough foods like an apple take longer to chew than a banana. Psychologically, you need to chew - it alleviates stress and tension.
• Follow the main principle - diet. Namely: fractional food intake; eating at the same time; dinner at least 3 hours before bedtime; the duration between meals should not exceed 6 hours.
• Avoid "pulse feeding" - this will avoid unforeseen circumstances (for example, holiday meals).
• Avoid unnecessary thoughts about food, keep food out of sight so that there are no temptations. Serve food on plates as much as you can handle, don't overdo it with larger dishes. Do not combine food with watching TV or reading books. Try to focus on what and how much you eat, and don't let yourself daydream about delicious meals or the upcoming dinner.
• Try to move more during the day, exercise regularly.
• Use the stairs instead of the elevator, make it a habit to walk before going to bed, physical activity before meals not only reduces appetite and helps control weight, but also lose weight.
• Do not get discouraged and protect the body from stress. It is a scientific fact that stress interferes with weight loss. What happens is that when the brain "registers" stress, it sends a signal to the adrenal glands, and they secrete the "stress hormone cortisol". Formally, this hormone should multiply your strength due to the additional energy received from the “burning” of muscle tissue by it. However, scientific studies have shown that along the way it produces the deposition of fat in the waist area, which in turn increases the risk of developing cardiovascular disease. Of course, stress is different, since each stimulus has its own critical threshold, beyond which it becomes stress. So, the more endorphins you have in your blood, the higher this very threshold, beyond which the secretion of cortisol begins. Endorphins are actively released during sports. That is why athletes suffer much less from heat and cold, their everyday “stress resistance” is much higher than in normal people.The second factor is growth hormone.The more it is, the lower the sensitivity to stress.Growth hormone is produced during sleep, including during the afternoon rest.Make a good night's rest and afternoon relaxation become your main points of the weight loss program.
• Try to sleep at least 8 hours a night; exercise more, but alternate intense workouts with rest days so that tired muscles can recover, otherwise excess activity will become stress itself.
• Be sure to find time for moments of peace (read a book, listen to music, relax in nature).
• Try not to resort to food and alcohol in the fight against stress.
• Let constant weight control become the same constant habit. Weigh yourself regularly, avoiding adding 1 kg or 1.5 kg to your ideal weight.

These are some of the most important basic principles of a balanced diet. You probably already understood that if you eat too much, even eating only healthy food, then you can start gaining weight and face serious problems. On the other hand, if you eat too little, you can also harm your health.
And finally, if the diet is not balanced, then even with the correct selection of calories in the diet, you can encounter significant energy loss and emotional problems that arise due to the lack of certain nutrients. Therefore, eat right and, in combination with physical activity, you will not only surprise others with your magnificent figure, but also raise your level of vital energy high.

Every day the popularity of proper, balanced nutrition among men and girls is increasing. After all, more and more people are striving to lead a healthy lifestyle, eat healthy food, which will bring exceptional benefits to the body. Before embarking on a rational diet, it is necessary to find out the basic principles of a balanced diet, its foundations, plan.

Balanced diet

Briefly about the principles of rational nutrition

Thanks to rational nutrition, men and women have the opportunity not only to get rid of excess fat, but also to normalize the functioning of the body, give it the necessary minerals, vitamins, nutrients, and reduce the likelihood of diseases. In order for this system to give positive results, it is necessary to find out the basic principles of rational nutrition, which include:

• Energy value. This principle is to ensure that the energy value of food consumed throughout the day corresponds to that which is spent by the body. Only by reaching the equality of these two indicators, the result will follow.
• Nutritional balance. If you limit the intake of fats, proteins or carbohydrates into the body, then you may encounter disturbances in the functioning of the body. Therefore, the principle is that animal and vegetable fats, proteins, and complex carbohydrates should be present in the diet every day.
• Diet. This principle provides for the observance of meals on time. So, for this system it is typical to take food at the same time, while the number of meals should be 4-5. Before eating, you should not load the body with heavy food, so the last meal should take place no later than 3 hours before bedtime, while the food should be light and easy to digest.

By following the nutrition principles of this system for women and men who want to achieve weight loss, the result will be immediate.

Follow the diet

Rational nutrition and its basics

The basics of rational nutrition are very important for burning fat and getting in shape, for both men and women, so you need to familiarize yourself with them:

• For a proper and balanced diet, the diet should be varied. With the help of this rule, the body will be enriched with vitamins, trace elements and nutrients, while it will be possible to diversify the diet.
• The basics of a balanced diet include regular consumption of cereals, bread, vegetables and fruits. With the help of which you can eliminate the deficiency of vitamins, minerals and other elements in the body.
• The body needs calcium and the best sources of calcium are dairy products, the fat content of which is minimal.
• The minimum amount of fat should be present in meat, so preference should be given to low-fat varieties, as well as fish and seafood.

Eat fish and seafood

• The basics of a balanced diet are focused on eating healthy and wholesome food, so you should stop cooking it by frying it with a lot of fat. Instead, you need to fall in love with boiled, baked, comfort food, and replace butter, sunflower oil with olive oil, which has brought more benefits to the body.
• It is necessary to reduce the consumption of fast carbohydrates to 5% of the daily diet. Their use in larger quantities will affect metabolic processes.
• The minimum should be the use of salt and products in which it is contained. It is not recommended to consume more than 6 grams of salt per day.
• During the day, it is necessary to restore the body's water balance. For this, exceptionally pure water is suitable, the daily volume of which is 2 - 2.5 liters.
• The basics of nutrition extend to the prohibition of alcohol.

Can't drink alcohol

Healthy food pyramid for weight loss

Features of rational nutrition and its basis for better perception can be depicted graphically - it will be a healthy diet pyramid. By switching to such a diet, the body, on average, gets used to the use of the amount of necessary substances that it needs for normal work in a month.

The pyramid consists of six points that you should definitely follow:

• The pyramid provides for the consumption of no more than 10 servings of grain products per day. These include cereals, pasta.
• The use of vegetables comes down to 4 doses. The most useful are fresh vegetables, but to add variety to the diet, they can be cooked by baking, stewing.
• The daily consumption of fruits is a must. The healthy eating pyramid reduces their consumption to 2 servings per day.

Mandatory daily consumption of fruit

• The menu should have a place for 5 - 6 tablespoons of vegetable and animal fat.
• A special place is given to dairy products, the benefits of which are great for the body. When choosing dairy products, preference should be given to those with a minimum fat content. The Healthy Eating Pyramid recommends adding at least 2 servings of dairy products to your daily menu.
• When compiling a menu based on the pyramid of proper nutrition, you need to take care of the sufficient intake of protein foods. Protein meals should be from 3 to 7.

Taking as an example the basis of nutrition, which contains the pyramid of healthy eating, the foundation for burning fat, putting the body and body in order for girls and men, is laid. After a month of such nutrition, the result will be noticeable.

Healthy food pyramid

When to eat for weight loss

The diet for weight loss must be followed appropriately. Even if at the beginning of a rational nutrition system, girls and men may experience difficulties, then after a month the body will tune in to this regimen.

This mode is concluded at the time of eating. If the average number of meals is 5 meals a day, then you need to clearly set the time for each meal:

• From 7 to 9 o'clock breakfast should take place, during which the body is enriched with complex carbohydrates.
• From 10 to 11 hours, a second breakfast is served, for which the best option is the first course or fruit.
• From 12 to 14 hours is the best time to refresh yourself with lunch. Lunch should be complete, so you need to eat food rich in proteins, carbohydrates and low fat content.

5 meals a day

• From 15:00 to 16:00 - lunch time. The diet for weight loss in the absence of physical activity may exclude this meal. If sports are present, then as an afternoon snack you can eat fermented milk products, fruits.
• Dinner must take place no later than 19:00. The main condition for this meal is its lightness, the minimum calorie content. To burn fat for girls and men during dinner, carbohydrates are prohibited.

The basic basics of a balanced diet and adherence to the regime will allow you to achieve weight loss in a month of weight without sports. If it is necessary to achieve rapid fat burning, weight loss, this nutrition system should be supported by physical activity.

Balanced diet

How to choose the right products

A weight loss nutrition program implies not only a timetable for meals, a nutrition plan, but also their combination with each other, which is extremely important to follow. By eating properly, the harm to the body caused by fermentation, the feeling of discomfort from an unsuccessful combination of products will be eliminated. In addition, following the system will achieve fat burning in girls and men much faster and more efficiently.

For separate nutrition and a combination of products, a table has been developed with which you can create a menu for burning fat for a week, a month, while the diet will be varied, which will make it easy to follow the system. Table separate power supply looks like this:

main product	What is combined with
Fish and meat products	Vegetables, mostly green.
Cereals, beans	Greens, vegetables containing starch, sour cream, vegetable oil.
Eggs	Vegetables that are green in color and those that do not contain starch.
Milk	Doesn't match.
Cream, butter	Unsweetened fruits, berries, tomatoes, herbs. Vegetables containing and not containing starch, having a green tint, cereals, cereals.
Dairy products	It is combined with fruits, which have a high and medium sugar content, with vegetables, which contain starch, no starch, berries, nuts.
Cheese	With all kinds of vegetables, dairy products, berries and sour fruits, herbs.
Vegetable oil	It goes well with all kinds of vegetables, cereals, legumes, nuts, sour fruits, seeds.
Cereals, legumes	Can be supplemented with sour cream or vegetable oil, vegetables and herbs.
Vegetables containing starch	Vegetables that do not contain starch, greens, vegetable and butter oils, sour cream, cream, dairy products, cereals and legumes.
Green vegetables, non-starchy vegetables, herbs	Perfectly complemented by all products, with the exception of milk.
Sour fruits, tomatoes, berries	They can be supplemented with sour cream, cream, butter, fruits and berries with an average sugar content, green vegetables, as well as those that do not contain starch.
Fruits and berries with medium sugar content	It goes well with fermented milk products, nuts, fruits with a high sugar content, dried fruits, sour berries and fruits.
Fruits high in sugar	Dairy products, non-starchy vegetables, greens, herbs.
Seeds and nuts	It is good to combine with cereals and cereals, potatoes, dried fruits and those containing sufficient sugar, cheeses.
watermelon and melon	Combining is not recommended.

This table will help you understand the principles of separate nutrition, which is used to quickly lose weight and get good results in the next month. Based on it, it is easy to make a plan and follow it.

Separate nutrition for weight loss

Proper nutrition for weight loss women and men

The basics of nutrition for women and men who want to lose weight do not have striking differences, except for the amount of fat, proteins and carbohydrates consumed.

For men who want to achieve fat burning, rapid weight loss, fat, protein and carbohydrate intake is calculated based on body weight, height and age. As a rule, for women, these figures are 20-25% lower.

Modern nutrition systems for men and girls, which are designed for rapid fat burning, weight loss, are based on the following rules:

• It is necessary to follow the dietary schedule, eat food on time.
• The daily calorie content of food for men is about 2500 calories. For girls, this figure should be 20% less.
• Proteins, fats, carbohydrates in the menu should be present regularly.

2500 calories should be consumed by men

• When compiling a nutrition plan for weight loss, it is necessary to take into account the methods of heat treatment of products. For proper nutrition, the best option for cooking is steaming, baking.
• The rules also apply to the exclusion from the diet of alcohol, junk food, in particular, fatty, spicy, overly salty.
• The use of clean water is at least 2 - 2.5 liters.

The diet for weight loss must be set for the entire time of the diet, if it lasts a month, then exactly the same amount and you need to follow the nutrition plan. First you need to make a menu for weight loss not for a month, but for a week, in order to look at the reaction and condition of the body. In order for the system of separate proper nutrition to give results, the menu for the week must be thought out carefully.

A plan for a proper nutrition system for weight loss, which is suitable for both girls and representatives of a strong position, presents a menu for a week. A proper nutrition plan looks like 5 meals at a certain time. For a week of proper nutrition, you can achieve a slight burning of fat and improve the condition of the body.

Sample menu:

• Oatmeal porridge cooked with water and fresh or dried fruit. Fat-free kefir with banana. Shchi with fresh cabbage, steamed chicken cutlet and grilled vegetables. Muesli with natural yogurt. Boiled fish and fruit salad.
• Buckwheat porridge with milk and fruits. Fat-free kefir. Chicken broth, lean beef with sautéed cabbage. Fruit salad. Bran cookies. Low-fat cottage cheese mass with raisins.
• Steam protein omelet with vegetables. Fruit yogurt. Fish broth, baked fish with vegetables. Fruit curd. Steamed chicken breast with stewed vegetables.
• Muesli with natural yogurt, fruits. Sandwich with vegetables and ham. Chicken soup, lean veal and vegetables. Fruit salad dressed with natural yoghurt. Spaghetti with hard unsalted cheese.

Muesli with natural yogurt

• Milk rice porridge with dried fruits. Muesli with nuts. Borscht in vegetable broth, chicken breast with vegetables. Cottage cheese with a minimum fat content, nuts. Fish baked with vegetables.
• Fat-free kefir with bran, fruit. Juice from fresh vegetables. Soup in fish broth, baked fish fillet with vegetables. Yogurt with dried fruits and nuts. Steak with veal and grilled vegetables.
• Cottage cheese casserole with nuts and candied fruit. Fruit salad. Mushroom soup, chicken with rice. Cheese sandwich, fat-free kefir. Sauerkraut and veal.

Adhering to such a system for the first week, you can get good results. For men and women, portions should be calculated based on their weight and the desired end result.

There are many diets, nutrition recipes to achieve certain goals of healing the body. And the fact that our health directly depends on, everyone knows. But first, in order not to get lost in this sea of ​​tips and recipes, you need to know. What changes would you like to make to your daily menu in order to lose those extra pounds without losing your health?

I invite you to the group on Subscribe.ru: Folk Wisdom, Medicine and Experience

Balanced diet

To lose weight, adhering to a strict diet, and then also to keep the achieved weight - such a task is within the power of a person with rare willpower. Maybe you should just change your menu a bit?
A balanced diet is much more beneficial for the figure and health in general than the debilitating fasting that some trendy diets call for. Our advice is very simple.

The basics of proper nutrition

1. Know the measure in the restrictions. A person needs at least 1200 kilocalories per day. If your diet does not contain them, the body goes into "extreme" mode and begins to make reserves - to store fat at the earliest opportunity. Thus, starving, you not only do not lose weight, but also run the risk of getting better.

2. Control portion size, even when it comes to low-calorie foods. A serving of meat, poultry or fish on your plate should be no more than a deck of cards, a side dish (pasta or porridge) - half a glass, a vegetable salad - a glass.

balanced nutrition calculation

6. Alcohol - no more than 2-3 glasses per week. Alcohol slows down the fat burning process. In addition, a drunk person does not control himself so well, so he can eat a lot of excess.

7. Prepare dinner in advance. When you come home from work, it is unlikely that there will be a desire to cook soup. And eating sandwiches, and even at night, is a sure way to obesity.

8. Hungry - drink water. Sometimes we mistake banal thirst for a feeling of hunger. If you drink a glass of water half an hour before a meal, you can significantly reduce your appetite.

9. Don't jump on food as soon as you get a little hungry. This feeling may be false. Perhaps it’s the habit of eating at this particular time, or even just the smell of baking that your colleague is crushing. If the desire to “kill the worm” has not passed after twenty minutes, it’s probably really time to have a bite.

10. Keep the kitchen clean. After dinner, be sure to wash the dishes - and leave so that there is no temptation to chew something else.

These are so simple principles of balanced nutrition I will help you always stay alert and healthy, keep your figure in shape. If you have additions, your experience and suggestions, then please share them in the comments to this article. Be healthy!

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In the last decade, more and more often in relation to health and other issues related to it in one way or another, one can hear the phrase “proper balanced nutrition”. This concept includes, first of all, products that help maintain health in general or some of its individual manifestations (weight control, for example). In addition, proper nutrition implies both the correct diet and its structure.

The only thing that is almost not mentioned at all is the specific figures for a balanced diet. There are mainly categories of "more" or "less". But, you see, “more” for a child is not the same as for an adult. "More" for a woman is not the same as "more" for a man. And "more" - by how much?

Principles of a balanced diet

Modern nutrition does not fully meet the physiological requirements of the body due to the huge "chemicalization" in agriculture and industrial production of products. "Chemistry" is used to improve taste and for long periods of storage, and for a variety of types of one product, etc. And all this together reduces the "healthy" value of food. Therefore, the "correctness" and "balance" of nutrition implies the intake of all the necessary nutritional components in the right quality and quantity.

The principles of proper balanced nutrition for a person living in central Russia, without additional physical activity:

1. Strict observance of the first law of nutrition: energy balance. How many calories you ate - so many spend.
2. The chemical composition of the diet should correspond to your physiological needs. That is, if you need a certain amount of vitamins every day, then they must come with food every day, and not just in spring or winter.
3. Compliance with the diet: regular and optimal distribution of food throughout the day. Numerous studies and observations prove that at breakfast and lunch we should receive about 70% of the total calories of the daily diet. And for an afternoon snack and dinner, about 30% remains.
4. Healthy nutrition should take into account the conditions of human life, i.e. these are the same age needs, latitude of residence, degree of physical activity and others (for example, when traveling to other cities).
5. Minimum processing. This, of course, does not mean that you need to eat everything raw. Human digestion is not adapted to a complete raw food diet. There are simply recipes where vegetables, for example, are first sautéed and then boiled. Or well-known canned food, especially pickled ones. Tasty. However, in terms of health benefits - almost none! In marinades, almost all vitamins are completely destroyed.
6. Diversity! Food should be varied, now stores offer a wide range of products, vegetables and fruits, do not deny yourself this.
7. The temperature regime of food. Better cold than hot; better warm than cold. Why? Because the temperature of our digestion does not exceed 45 0 C. At a higher food temperature, mucous surfaces suffer and digestive enzymes and cells are destroyed.
8. Optimism, positive and calm! Especially while eating.

The structure of a balanced diet

Since the basic metabolism in men and women differs slightly, the norms of a balanced diet for women are approximately the same as for men. Therefore, the figures in the article are averages for men and women. In any case, a slight excess or lack of BJU is compensated by the body without harm to health, when suddenly there is a desire to eat something specific.

Squirrels

Proteins are the main element of our body and the most important element in the diet! The functions will tell about their importance in more detail:

• Structural The whole body is made up of cells, and cells are made up of 80% protein. No protein in the diet - no "bricks" for the construction of the body and organs.

Interesting to know! Therefore, the inhabitants of East Asia (Chinese, Koreans, Japanese, etc.) over the past 20-25 years have increased in height by 10-20 cm. Because they switched from traditional, mainly carbohydrate, nutrition, to European protein.

• immune- our immunity is not just an abstract “immunity of the body to infectious diseases”. Immunity is a system of special cells and proteins that are produced by immune organs. These cells and proteins recognize foreign substances and defend themselves against them in order to maintain their viability. Immune proteins include, for example, the well-known lysozyme and interferon. No protein in the diet - no immunity!
• Transport- all substances in the body bind to protein and are carried by it to its destination. There is no protein in the diet - nothing is digested, it passes through "transit"!

Important! Based on this, proteins should make up 35% of the total volume eaten per day, at the rate of 1.2-1.5 g of protein per 1 kg of weight. This is approximately 80-120 grams of protein per day. The amount of proteins: 20-25% - animal, 45-50% - vegetable protein and 30% - must be given to milk protein.

Those who prefer plant foods can eat a little more plant proteins. Protein champions are legumes. Champion of champions - lentils. Who likes meat cuisine - let them eat a little more animal proteins.

Why is milk protein important - a third of the amount - about 35-40 grams per day? Man is a mammal and milk protein is completely digested. And only with milk protein the body can cover the lack of other replaceable proteins. If someone does not digest milk protein, then this is a question of a disturbed metabolism, in particular, a deficiency of the necessary enzymes. Which, by the way, is also half composed of proteins. At the same time, the fat content of milk and products is not important! On the contrary, the fatter, the more useful, and this fat content does not affect the “weight gain” (and volume).

Fats

Fats are the second most important element in the diet. Their main functions:

• Membrane. The cell wall, the membrane, is a double layer of fat. The cell membrane is its fortress wall, the thicker and stronger the better. If the diet lacks the right (polyunsaturated) fats, then the cell membrane is thin and fragile. And, therefore, viruses and bacteria can easily penetrate through it.
• Oxygen. Oxygen into the blood, and carbon dioxide from the blood is carried to the lungs. And their transfer occurs through the fatty layer that covers the inside of the end of the lungs - the alveoli. This layer is called a surfactant. No fat in the diet - no surfactant in the lungs - no oxygen in the blood.

Important! Fat in our diet should be 25-30% of the total volume of food. About 100 grams per day.

Milk fat is biologically the most complete. It contains all the essential fatty acids, over 140, including the essential ones. In all other fats, both animal and vegetable, the amount of acids is up to 10.

Carbohydrates

We need carbohydrates for energy, due to which all our cells live, membranes function, all metabolism takes place. All carbohydrates can be divided into two categories: slow and fast (or light).

Fast carbohydrates are those that give us energy quickly. These are: 1. sugar (sucrose), 2. starch (potato), 3. white flour and all products from it, 4. bananas are one of the few fruits that contain not fructose, but sucrose. It is fast carbohydrates that are the cause of diabetes, excess weight and volume! And only people with high energy loads - athletes, with hard physical labor or children during periods of rapid growth spurts can change their carbohydrate diet in the direction of increasing fast carbohydrates. All other categories of citizens should reduce the amount of fast carbohydrates.

Important! Carbohydrates in the diet should be approximately 35-40% of the total volume, of which we give 50% to fast and 50% to slow carbohydrates.

Water

Water in the diet is, figuratively speaking, what you can wash your face with. All! No soup, no juice, no tea - these are all solutions. Experts make an exception for green tea if it is sugar-free.

The average physiological norm for a person is 30-40 ml per 1 kg of weight. For a person with a weight of 70-80 kg, you get 2-2.5 liters. During the day. That's right: 100 ml. every hour, including night.

If you want to teach yourself to drink water, you need to always have a bottle or a jar of water in front of your eyes. I saw - drank a couple of sips, woke up - took a sip. For example, put in the places of its location (kitchen, rooms, at work, etc.) 4-5 half-liter bottles. As soon as they saw it, they took a couple of sips. So the required amount of water is collected per day.

If swelling appears, it means that your kidneys are not working properly! In this case, it is necessary to check this kidney function and restore it. Conduct an independent express analysis. At night, within two hours before bedtime, drink up to one and a half liters of water. If you "swim" by morning - this is a bell! So, you need to take care of the kidneys.

Products for a balanced diet

Based on the products described below, you can independently create a complete menu, in accordance with your budget and taste preferences. They will tell you how to form your diet correctly.

• Eggs - in any form, at least 1 per day, provided there is no allergy to them.
• Fiber: Vegetables, fruits, bran and grain bread. Do not forget about high enough.
• The best live yogurt: kefir or biokefir, sour cream with berries, fruits, or raisins. Last resort, with its jam. You can make excellent smoothies based on kefir, a simple and tasty option for both breakfast and snacks. It will also help you shed a few extra pounds.
• Meat - best cooked in foil in the oven or steamed. The use of meat should not be abused, especially fatty (pork, goose), it is better to give preference to chicken, veal.
• From cereals - buckwheat is universal in composition: there are many useful substances, but other cereals should also be included in the diet.
• Fish. From fish universal mackerel. It also contains a wide range of useful substances.
• Dairy products - daily up to 500 ml of milk, 50-100 grams of cottage cheese and cheese per day, you can drink a glass of kefir at night.
• Fats in the form of vegetable oils. 2-3 tablespoons for dressing vegetable salads. Minimum for cooking. It is important to remember: the oil must be unrefined and not deodorized! Even better if there is sediment at the bottom of the bottle. Animal fats no more than 200 grams per week.
• Vitamin and mineral complexes to replenish missing substances in the diet and normalize their metabolism.

You need to limit your diet:

• Fast carbohydrates: premium flour and products from it, sugar, sweets, confectionery, cheap milk chocolate, condensed milk, jam (especially industrial);
• Rice, semolina,
• Potato (starch);
• Boiled sausage, sausages, various smoked meats;
• Marinades;
• Bananas - they have a lot of sugar;
• Margarine and mayonnaise should be completely removed from your diet.

If you switch to the right balanced diet and do not chase fast and great results, then with the right metabolism, extra pounds and centimeters simply will not form, and the existing ones will disappear without harm to health and sagging skin. That is why healthy eating is the best diet for weight loss.

Just be patient and set yourself a deadline of 1 year. And if you also connect moderate long-term physical activity, the results will be faster and more significant! And the mirror will become your best friend!

You can’t even imagine how proper nutrition can unrecognizably transform your figure.

Probably many have repeated more than once: “I eat so little, but I still get fat!”. It would seem that she stopped eating, and that's it. But where, then, to get energy for training, because the lack of food Calories means a breakdown and almost zero effectiveness of training.

No starvation! An ideal figure requires a completely different thing - the improvement of our nutrition. All you need is knowledge of the principles of a properly balanced diet and the desire to make small but fundamental changes in your diet. Together with training, they will radically change your figure.

Sports medicine has done a great job interviewing thousands of people who have managed to lose weight. The survey showed that they are united by the same thing:

• every day they start with breakfast;
• follow a low-fat diet;
• weighed weekly;
• spend about an hour a day on physical activity.

Agree, already a mini-plan and a guide to action. To understand how to properly compose and balance nutrition, consider its basic principles ...

First principle

is the principle of energy adequacy. Everyone has long known that we need energy to perform any action. For our body, this source is food. Therefore, the amount of energy that enters our body with food must correspond to the amount of energy that the body expends.

Everything is very simple, if a person consumes less energy than he expends, then he must lose weight. After all, fat is the energy accumulated and stored by the body for later. Naturally, with a calorie deficit in food, stored fat must be consumed. That is why it is very important to reduce the number of calories in food in such a way that the energy expenditure exceeds its income.

To control the number of kilocalories, it is necessary to maintain the correct, and most importantly constant, ratio between the main components of nutrition in the proportions of 50:20:30. That is, you should distribute calories daily so that 50% are carbohydrates, 20 are proteins and 30% are fats. Whether you want to reduce weight or maintain it at the current level permanently, you must make for yourself this ratio of fundamental principles.

Let's take a closer look at the balance between the three main components of nutrition. 50% of daily calories consumed are carbohydrates. It is they that energize us to the greatest extent, in addition, they contain most of the minerals and vitamins that are important for the body, fibers that contribute to rapid satiety and good digestion and, as proven by studies, reduce the likelihood of colon cancer. Most carbohydrates contain a lot of water. Water is one of the main components of metabolism.

The combination of water and fiber (fiber) creates a volume of food that gives a feeling of satiety, preventing overeating. At the same time, the number of calories is relatively small. For example, in a small apple there are only 50 kilocalories, and in a small piece of wholemeal bread - 70, but there is a lot of fiber. Compare these numbers, for example, with high-protein steak - 800 kcal or sweet caramel. - 200 kcal. These figures are very useful to consider and know for those who carefully monitor weight or want to lose weight. No wonder they say: "More fiber - thinner waist";

Nutritionists advise to spice up regular meals with fiber. Boil rice and add vegetables to it - you get a great dish, both low in calories and rich in fiber. It is also good to consume carrots, cabbage, beets, beans, peas, pumpkin, zucchini, tomatoes, potatoes, lettuce (green, leafy). Very high fiber content in cereals, wholemeal bread, figs, raspberries, nuts, dried apples, plums (prunes), apricots (apricots), dried apricots.

Increasing your fiber intake is very simple - switch to whole grain products and add bran to meals when cooking. The benefit is very large - you will feel full, with a low calorie content of the consumed products.

Replace refined carbs (white bread, rice, soft wheat pasta) with fiber-rich carbs (cereals and whole grain breads, brown rice). Wholemeal products should always be preferred over white flour, as they contain significantly more fiber and nutrients.

And more about carbohydrates. Recent studies have proven that:

• the human body under normal conditions does not use carbohydrates to build fat;
• the consumption of carbohydrates is quite strictly regulated by the body itself, which significantly reduces the likelihood of overeating.

Why, then, is weight gain associated with flour and sweet, that is, with carbohydrates?

The fact is that carbohydrates, being a more attractive fuel for our body than fats, displace fats from the oxidation process. That is, against the background of nutrition with a large amount of carbohydrates, the need for fat oxidation, and hence the body's ability to oxidize them, decreases.

And if there is enough fat in food, then the likelihood of its deposition increases. In addition, flour and sweets turn out to be incredibly fatty: chocolate - 35-45% fat, shortcrust pastry products - 20-25%, creams - fat content 15-55%. But if there is little fat in the diet, then the body's ability to oxidize them will always exceed or approximately equal their amount of food. And in this case, a person, at least, will have a stable weight, so we can safely say that it's not about carbohydrates, but about fats.
We only add that we can get fat from carbohydrates if we consume 400-500 g of carbohydrates at a time, or at a time. Now try to eat half a kilo of sugar for an hour - this is exactly 500 g of carbohydrates. I think it is unlikely that you can do it, and certainly your body will not like it.

The second group of foods is of great importance for health, as it supplies our body with proteins. Protein food provides our body with energy resources that will be used if carbohydrates “burn out”. But protein foods should only make up 20% of daily calories, especially for those who want to adjust their weight.

It is best to consume fish, veal and poultry as the main sources of protein, as they contain less fat than beef and pork. We advise to reduce the consumption of the latter, giving preference to fish and poultry (this applies to meat without skin, even better breast) and increasing their consumption to 5-7 times a week. And of course, we should not forget about cottage cheese, yogurt, kefir, fermented baked milk and other dairy products. But! Low-fat, that is, completely fat-free.
The fat content in the daily diet should be about 30%. Here the main problem lies in being able to limit daily fat intake to this figure.

Fats are a relatively low-capacity source of energy. They load us with extra calories we don't need. Therefore, the optimal amount of fat per day is 30-35 g. But a complete rejection of fat is a fatal mistake. Fats are not only a mandatory component of the diet, they also help to lose weight. Yes, don't be surprised. In body fat, not only excess fat in the diet is to blame, but also hormones, in particular insulin. Fats inhibit the secretion of insulin, but the less it is, the less fat you have on your waist and stomach. But that is not all. The less fat you eat, the worse your fat metabolism goes. Simply put, fat burning slows down, as the body no longer considers it a serious source of energy.

But fats are also different. You need vegetable and Omega-3 fats, that is, those present in fish, but animal fats will have to be abandoned. The best way to keep the fat content in food to a minimum is to avoid fried foods, sauces, gravy, an abundance of dessert dishes, a lot of meat. Do not forget about hidden and explicit fat (we wrote about this in the "Fats" section). Limit your consumption of margarine, mayonnaise, and salad dressings. Include olive, linseed and canola oils in your diet. Eat walnuts, peanuts, avocados. These are excellent sources of healthy fats.

While reducing your meat intake, increase portions of fish dishes in your weekly diet. Especially useful are mackerel, salmon, sardine, herring, anchovies, lake trout. Decisively reduce to a minimum animal fats, which are present in meat, whole dairy products, bacon, sour cream, butter. Make a sample menu for yourself for the week. Determine his diet at the rate of 1000, 1500 or 2200 kcal.

These three calorie levels will help you lose weight or maintain your ideal weight. 1000 kcal is the minimum for a woman who wants to lose weight. 1500 kcal - satisfies the average needs of the body to maintain the existing weight.
A woman aged 23-50 years old usually spends from 1600 to 2400 kcal per day, at the age of 51-75 years old - 1400-2200 kcal.

When using these diets, adhere to the following recommendations:

• try to drink less high-calorie drinks. Cut down to 2-3 times a day coffee, tea, Coca-Cola, Pepsi-Cola;
• use vegetable margarine, as it contains more polyunsaturated fats than regular margarine;
• vary salads in color, size of pieces and composition of ingredients. For example, you can sweep different types of lettuce (the darker the leaf, the more vitamins A and iron), watercress, raw spinach, red cabbage, yellow squash, carrots, cauliflower, yellow, red or green peppers, onions;
• drink low-fat dairy products rich in vitamins A and D;
• season salads only with polyunsaturated vegetable oils;
• limit egg consumption to three times a week;
• Eat vegetables raw, baked, steamed. Cooking over a fire significantly reduces the amount of vitamins and minerals.

And remember, the body knows something on its own, namely: there is no overeating of proteins and carbohydrates; and the body's ability to accumulate fat is very large, fat is the only energy substance that our body can accumulate and accumulate for years.


Second principle

It's the 25-50-25 rule. It must be strictly observed by those who wish to lose weight, as it allows you to regulate body weight by controlling the amount of food consumed for breakfast, lunch and dinner.

We decipher: 25% of calories should come from breakfast; 50% calories for lunch, 25% for dinner. In other words, eat regularly and distribute calories throughout the day, while limiting yourself at the evening meal. Even for those who do not need to limit weight, it is quite useful to focus on this formula or its modification. Here is one of the options: 25-30-45. Where 25% is breakfast, 30% is second breakfast, 45% is late lunch.

Nutritionists and nutritionists are convinced that if you consume most of the kilocalories before 13 pm, there will be fewer problems with weight. This is due to the fact that the body is more active during the day and, therefore, will be able to digest the amount of food that you have consumed faster and better. At this percentage, a group of obese women consumed 1200 kcal and, despite not having the minimum total calories, lost 0.5 to 1 kg weekly.

What unites groups of people who have successfully lost weight? Of course - breakfast. If it’s good, and most importantly, to have breakfast right, then you won’t have time to get hungry for dinner and won’t eat too much. But the main thing is different. If you regularly skip breakfast, metabolic processes slow down little by little. The need for energy falls and the calories eaten are unnecessary. As a result, by the age of 30 you are threatened with an increase in your weight from three to five extra pounds. And that's just for skipping breakfast. Conversely, a regular and relatively heavy breakfast, despite age, maintains a high metabolic rate even in old age.

But how to force yourself if you don’t feel like eating at all in the morning?

First: have your last meal no later than 7-8 pm. During sleep, digestion stops, so after dinner at midnight, you will meet the morning with a full stomach. What a tough breakfast!

Second: go for a run in the morning. It happens that the stomach is empty, but the body has not yet woken up. Just for this case, a run is needed. If there is no such possibility, an ordinary jump rope will help you - 5-10 minutes of jumping and you will immediately wake up. Well, then a cool shower and vigorous rubbing with a rough towel.

If you want to lose weight, don't leave the house without breakfast.

What is the best thing to consume in the morning?

Morning breakfast should include complex carbohydrates, proteins and fats. For example, oatmeal boiled in water, you can add protein powder and a teaspoon of peanut or any vegetable oil, some crushed fruits or berries to it. Plus a slice of whole grain bread and a cup of sugar-free coffee, plus a multivitamin capsule.

Third principle

- This is the planning of physical activity so that they occur immediately before dinner. Based on research, it can be assumed that the timing of exercise has an impact on changes in weight and fat component.

If you train hard just before dinner - no earlier than two hours before eating, then the proportion of the fat component in the body will decrease sooner. Why or what is it about? Loss of appetite is known to occur within two hours of strenuous exercise, and this is probably why those who work particularly hard in the afternoon consume less food; it is also known that the metabolism increases during the day, and as the night approaches, its intensity decreases. As a result, it is more difficult for the body to burn calories in the evening than in the morning. Thus, after evening loads, you will not want to load yourself with food, and your body will not have to strain, digesting kilocalories.

The key to weight loss is fat reduction, not just weight loss. This is why exercising before dinner combined with a restrictive diet is an effective way to go.

Fourth principle

Formulated not on the basis of practical advice, but on the basis of a psychological attitude to this issue. Simply put, you must cultivate a healthy fear of being overweight and obese.

It's no secret that a couple of extra pounds on your waist can be a big threat to your body. It is definitely known that excess weight is also associated with the risk of life-threatening complications, such as coronary disease or cancer. Even a small amount of excess fat is a trigger for serious diseases. It can become a repository of poisonous substances, about which we currently know almost nothing.

Low levels of vitality, emotional complications, heart disease - these are just a partial list of what high body fat leads to. But not only excess weight is a risk factor for our body. Strange as it sounds, there are also quite a few cases of illness and even death from malnutrition or malnutrition.

Research shows that a healthy person is one who eats well and regularly (at least three times a day), but maintains a stable weight through exercise and diet.


Fifth principle

Can be formulated as follows: Don't deplete your body with too few calories.

This advice seems odd given the problems with overeating rather than undereating. But there is also a growing trend towards voluntary low calorie intake, sometimes with disastrous results. One of the most common forms of malnutrition is anorexia nervosa. This disease often affects wealthy people who are accustomed to give themselves entirely to work, as well as young girls, which is associated with the growing popularity of the modeling business. Trying to blindly follow fashion, they exhaust themselves by severely restricting food, at times even trying to make themselves vomit. But not only the fashion for model figures is to blame for these diseases, it is often associated with an age crisis, age complexes or unrequited feelings of first love. In such cases, the qualified help of a psychologist is necessary.

Experts call another type of malnutrition - "nutritional arrhythmia." This term was coined in connection with the tragic death of 12 marathon runners. They all died mostly in their sleep. At the time of death, their weight was equal to or approaching the minimum for an adult. To achieve the results or records that they have achieved, they had to drastically limit their diet, consuming only the most necessary amounts of calories, fats and other substances. Apparently, the fact is that they ate so little that the heart did not have enough energy to work in conditions of great physical exertion. This led to cardiac arrest.

From this we can conclude that people of average build who run average distances are less at risk than those who do not adhere to average values ​​​​in everything - both in nutrition and in running. Whether you're already a runner or just considering running as a physical activity, stick to harmony. By increasing the amount of exercise and the length of the distance in running, swimming or cycling, also increase the need for food, or you will suffer from a lack of it.

Sixth principle

Associated with counting the calories we consume. Just as body fat needs to be well balanced, so too is a balanced number of calories consumed daily to maintain a healthy weight.

True, many nutritionists are not passionate fans of careful calorie counting, since in practice it is almost impossible, well, how to calculate how many calories are in a cutlet, vegetable caviar from vegetables of various shapes or sizes, and many other everyday dishes. And most people do not have enough time to regularly spend it counting calories in their menu. Another negative point is that, in practice, only rations with a given set of certain simple dishes, built not so much to satisfy taste desires, but to simplify the calculation of their calorie content, can only be counted. But the freedom to choose food is a necessary condition for psycho-emotional comfort. As a result, many women simply refuse a balanced diet.

But at the same time, we believe that it is necessary to have an idea of ​​the number of calories in a plate. Therefore, you can first make a list of commonly consumed foods, and then calculate the total number of calories using well-known tables.
You can also focus on the following figures: the value of the first courses is about 200-300 kcal (if the serving is 500 g), milk, cereal soups and combined hodgepodge have - 400 kcal; meat dishes with a side dish - 500-600 kcal; fish - about 500 kcal; vegetable dishes 200-400 kcal; third courses - 100-150 kcal.

When buying products, also pay attention to the figure that corresponds to the calorie content of 100 g of this product. Knowing this value, it is easy to calculate how much energy your body will receive after consuming a certain amount of food. If the energy value is not indicated, but the content of proteins, fats and carbohydrates is given, it is possible to determine the calorie content of products based on the fact that during the oxidation of 1 g of protein and 1 g of carbohydrates, 4.1 kcal is released, and during the oxidation of 1 g of fat - 9.3 kcal . Thus, knowing the composition of the daily diet, that is, everything eaten and drunk per day, we can calculate how much energy we received per day and what is the calorie content of the daily menu.

We told you how to calculate the number of calories, now let's determine how much energy you spend per day. To do this, we need to calculate our daily energy consumption. But first, compare the calories you consume per day with your own needs. They are easy to calculate using the table below.

Calculation of energy consumption in kcal/kg of body weight per day

Fatness	Number of kcal
	rest	Moderate	Significant
Excess	20-25	30	35
Normal	30	35	40
Reduced	35	40	45-50

You can also use one of the formulas below to calculate your basal metabolic rate. What is basal exchange? This is the necessary energy to maintain the vital activity of the body at rest, before meals and at a normal ambient temperature of about 20 degrees.

It is generally accepted that the average basal metabolic rate in women is about 1400 kcal per day. But since this value is related more to the dimensions of the surface of the body than to the mass, it can be calculated more accurately using formulas.

Formula:

655D + 9.6M + 1.9R-4.7V
where M is body weight in kg,
P - height in cm,
B - age in years.

Or according to the formula:
18-30 years old -

14.7. MT + 496 (kcal / day),
0.0615. MT + 2.08 (MJ / day),

30 - 60 years -

8.7. MT + 829 (kcal / day),
0.0364. MT + 3.47 (MJ/sg),

over 60 years -

10.5. MT + 569 (kcal / day)
0.0439. MT + 2.49 (MJ / day),

where MT is the body weight.

This indicator roughly shows how much energy your body spends to maintain its vital functions. All physical activity during the day accordingly supplements these energy expenditures.

There are recommendations on equating the energy value of the daily diet to the basal metabolic rate in order to lose weight. Of course, there is a rational grain in this. On the one hand, a gradual and moderate reduction in the calorie content of food will not cause adverse changes in the metabolic rate, on the other hand, it will allow you to live your day more actively. After all, all physical work and training performed during the day will be provided with energy by burning your own fat reserves.

Remember the principle of energy adequacy! You can not spend less energy than you get from food. Consuming at least 100 excess or excess calories per day will lead to weight gain of 4.5 kg per year. Or another example: 200 extra kilocalories - weight gain up to 9 kg per year!

By consuming more, you put so much “fuel” into the body that it no longer burns and turns into fat. And soon all this load will simply settle on your waist. Just imagine how you will feel, carrying a five- or ten-kilogram load every day from morning to evening.

That's why it's so important to determine the exact number of calories your body needs so that your "fuel" is used for its intended purpose, and not turned into fat.

And finally, in order to lose weight, you need to draw up an individual plan for rational nutrition.

It is not very useful to follow a diet for a month, and then quit everything. Experience shows that if you need to get rid of excess weight or constantly maintain the achieved weight, you must be consistent, otherwise you will definitely fail. An inconsistent approach to dieting leads to the following: your weight jumps up and down as you start or stop using the diet. The facts show that 9.0% of people who decide to follow a weight-restriction program or some kind of specialized diet will definitely abandon it and return to the level from which they started.

To complicate matters further, following a very low-calorie diet of about 500 calories a day, you will gain weight faster, even if you consume fewer calories than before the diet. This is because after this diet, the body rearranges the metabolism in such a way as to maintain the same weight with a lower number of calories.

For example, if you need 2,000 calories to reach your ideal weight, and you eat 500 calories a day for three months, your metabolism will adjust to the lower calorie count. By the third week, the rebuilt metabolism maintains your weight at only 1000 kcal (if this did not happen, then the person would simply die within two weeks from exhaustion).

Let's say you reach your goal and then move on to 1500 kcal per day. And you are surprised to notice that even with such a reduced diet, you continue to add half a kilogram per week, although you consume even fewer kilocalories than before the diet. A low metabolic rate, leading to rapid weight gain, can remain unchanged for a whole year after the end of a low-calorie diet. That is why many obese people, after frequent use of restrictive diets, complain that they put on weight even more than before. To avoid all this, you must constantly adhere to a diet and combine it with physical activity. By organizing your diet according to the 25-50-25 principle (the second principle), you can lose 1 kg-1.5 kg per week, and the lost weight will not return.

It is unwise and impractical to go on a diet from time to time, allowing your weight to jump up and down. This is all the more unnecessary if you draw up your own individual plan for rational nutrition, like the following plan, which was compiled by the American nutrition specialists of the Aerobics Center.


Basic principles of the plan:

• It is necessary that your diet is not only balanced, but also varied. Foods should include carbohydrates (fruits, vegetables, flour and starches, proteins (meat or dairy products, beans or peas), fats (butter or margarine) and liquids at every meal. This will allow you to feel full of energy all day. Carbohydrates are burned first (providing energy for 3-4 hours) Proteins provide energy for the next 1-2 hours, and fats are not completely used up by the 5th or 6th hour, that is, until the next meal .
• It is also very important to take into account the selection of products for individual meals, focusing on the duration of its stay in the stomach.
• 1-2 hours - water, tea, coffee, cocoa, broth, milk, soft-boiled eggs, rice, river fish (boiled).
• 2-3 hours - hard boiled eggs, scrambled eggs, sea fish (boiled), boiled potatoes, bread.
• 4-5 hours - beans, beans, peas, poultry, herring, fried meat.
• 6 hours - mushrooms, bacon, bacon.
• Be sure to follow the 50:20:30 principle (the first principle).
• Reduce your calorie intake and vice versa increase their consumption. 0.5 kilograms of stored fat is equivalent to 3500 kilocalories. To lose 1 kg or 7000 kcal per week, you need to give up 1000 kcal daily. And in order to lose weight faster and reduce predominantly fat rather than muscle mass, you should increase physical activity, including aerobic exercise. But do not overdo it with losing weight. The best option is to reduce weight by 0.5-1 kilogram per week. The body must have time to adapt, otherwise your skin will become flabby, as it will not have time to contract after the rapid decrease in subcutaneous fat and muscle.
• Eat less fatty foods. Sharply limit the consumption of fried meat; butter, margarine, mayonnaise, vegetable oil, sauces, salad dressings; canned food, semi-finished products; fatty meat products - bacon, sausages, sausages, stewed lamb, beef and pork; high-fat dairy products (whole milk, cream, sour cream, cheese, ice cream).
• Use low-calorie salad dressings, limiting your consumption of ready-made dressings. Instead of cream, drink low-calorie yogurt or milk, and eat fat-free fats. Remember that each gram of fat you eat contains 9 kcal, twice as much as 1 gram of protein and 1 gram of carbohydrates.
• Eat less sugar. Refined sugar is a very high-calorie product, especially since it does not contain mineral salts and vitamins. Found in: Jam, jelly, lemonade, caramel, cookies, homemade pies, dessert sweets, canned fruits and sweet juices.
• Try to limit your intake of sugary foods to 1-2 times a week.
• Eat more low-calorie, bulky, high-fiber foods: fruits, vegetables (with seeds and skins), boiled potatoes, wholemeal breads, bran.
• Give preference to lean meat, fish, poultry. If you want to lose weight or keep it normal, eliminate beef, pork, lamb and cheeses.
• It is advisable to use products with a negative energy value, that is, those for the assimilation of which more energy is spent than is released during their digestion - carrots, turnips, rutabaga, beets, cabbage. Minimize your alcohol intake as much as possible. It contains 1.5 times more energy than carbohydrates.
• When cooking, use as little fat as possible. Cook roasted or baked meat on the grill. Stew foods on water, boil vegetables and eat raw without any sauces or seasonings. Buy a heavy-bottomed, Teflon-coated pan so you don't have to use cooking oil.
• Be sure to include raw vegetables, fruits, salads in your diet. Drink tomato juice, natural fruit juices.
• If you are struggling with excess weight, let water be your number one fat burner. Recent studies have shown that water plays a key role in regulating metabolic rate. It turned out that dehydration slows down the exchange, and hence the “burning” of fat. In addition, the less you drink, the higher the concentration of sodium ions in the body, and sodium, as you know, retains water in the tissues. As a result, you “swell up” and become even fatter. For example, half a teaspoon of salt causes a delay of one and a half liters of water in the intestines. Your waist becomes 2.5-4 cm wider.
• First, calculate how much water you need per day. To do this, multiply your weight in kilograms by 30 ml.
• Eat slowly, chewing your food thoroughly. Please allow at least 20 minutes for your appointment. Remember: it takes exactly 20 minutes to feel full. Therefore, the slower you eat, the less likely you are to overeat.
• Prefer hard foods to soft ones. Tough foods like an apple take longer to chew than a banana. Psychologically, you need to chew - it alleviates stress and tension.
• Follow the main principle - diet. Namely: fractional food intake; eating at the same time; dinner at least 3 hours before bedtime; the duration between meals should not exceed 6 hours.
• Avoid "pulse feeding" - this will avoid unforeseen circumstances (for example, holiday meals).
• Avoid unnecessary thoughts about food, keep food out of sight so that there are no temptations. Serve food on plates as much as you can handle, don't overdo it with larger dishes. Do not combine food with watching TV or reading books. Try to focus on what and how much you eat, and don't let yourself daydream about delicious meals or the upcoming dinner.
• Try to move more during the day, exercise regularly.
• Use the stairs instead of the elevator, make it a habit to walk before going to bed, physical activity before meals not only reduces appetite and helps control weight, but also lose weight.
• Do not get discouraged and protect the body from stress. It is a scientific fact that stress interferes with weight loss. What happens is that when the brain "registers" stress, it sends a signal to the adrenal glands, and they secrete the "stress hormone cortisol". Formally, this hormone should multiply your strength due to the additional energy received from the “burning” of muscle tissue by it. However, scientific studies have shown that along the way it produces the deposition of fat in the waist area, which in turn increases the risk of developing cardiovascular disease. Of course, stress is different, since each stimulus has its own critical threshold, beyond which it becomes stress. So, the more endorphins you have in your blood, the higher this very threshold, beyond which the secretion of cortisol begins. Endorphins are actively released during sports. That is why athletes suffer much less from heat and cold, their everyday “stress resistance” is much higher than in normal people.The second factor is growth hormone.The more it is, the lower the sensitivity to stress.Growth hormone is produced during sleep, including during the afternoon rest.Make a good night's rest and afternoon relaxation become your main points of the weight loss program.
• Try to sleep at least 8 hours a night; exercise more, but alternate intense workouts with rest days so that tired muscles can recover, otherwise excess activity will become stress itself.
• Be sure to find time for moments of peace (read a book, listen to music, relax in nature).
• Try not to resort to food and alcohol in the fight against stress.
• Let constant weight control become the same constant habit. Weigh yourself regularly, avoiding adding 1 kg or 1.5 kg to your ideal weight.

These are some of the most important basic principles of a balanced diet. You probably already understood that if you eat too much, even eating only healthy food, then you can start gaining weight and face serious problems. On the other hand, if you eat too little, you can also harm your health.

And finally, if the diet is not balanced, then even with the correct selection of calories in the diet, you can encounter significant energy loss and emotional problems that arise due to the lack of certain nutrients. Therefore, eat right and, in combination with physical activity, you will not only surprise others with your magnificent figure, but also raise your level of vital energy high.