Choose a gradual and safe way to lose weight. We tell you everything about a gentle diet to lose weight: basic principles, authorized foods and menus of the week.
How To Lose Weight Safely? Many nutritionists believe that a gentle diet is a great option for weight loss. Principles, contraindications, benefits and menus for a week at home - all the details are in the material.
There are many different weight loss diets designed for short "sprint" runs.
A savings diet to lose weight compared to them is a marathon, it can last more than six months, while the calorie restriction from food is quite serious. Before you start to lose weight this way, be sure to contact your doctor to find out if it is really safe for you to follow a gentle diet for weight loss.
Gentle diet for weight loss: basic principles and contraindications
Soft feeding is divided into two main phases: an intensive phase and a re-phase.
The intensive phase lasts up to 6 months. During this time, you should limit your calorie intake to 1, 800 calories per day. As part of your diet, you focus on foods high in protein. For example, poultry, fish, eggs, low fat cheese, and tofu. Oil and other dressings are excluded from the diet menu, and carbohydrates are limited to 20 grams per day. So at first almost every meal will contain a certain amount of meat, most of the time without a side or with side dishes in the form of certain vegetables (broccoli, cauliflower and others from the list of allowed foods).
In the second step, you can slowly add fats and carbohydrates and gradually reduce the amount of protein to 70-140 grams per day. The second phase lasts 6 to 8 weeks. In the first month, up to 45 grams of carbohydrate per day are allowed, and in the second month - up to 90 grams.
Talk to your doctor, you may need to take a multivitamin, potassium, calcium, magnesium, or sodium supplement during the first phase to protect your body from nutrient deficiencies. You should also monitor your condition, and if it deteriorates, for example, if performance decreases or dizziness begins - you should immediately proceed to the next phase or, respectively, repeat or quit the diet.
Why is gentle eating good for you?
A gentle diet is not only good for weight loss. Additional benefits of a gentle diet:
- lower cholesterol levels by up to 20%;
- normalization of blood sugar levels;
- lower blood pressure;
- protection against metabolic syndrome.
Unfortunately, even a gentle diet is not an ideal recipe for weight loss. Before you start, be sure to consult a specialist, as the diet has side effects. For example, it can cause nutritional deficiencies in the body.
The diet is not suitable:
- for old people;
- for nursing and pregnant women;
- for those with gallbladder problems;
- for people with eating disorders;
- for patients with chronic diseases.
Gentle diet to lose weight: menu for a week
Authorized and taboo foods
We have already described some of the foods that you can eat on a light weight loss diet. Detailed list of authorized products:
- poultry: skinless chicken, turkey, goose, duck;
- meat: lean meat, pork, lamb;
- fish: plaice, cod, catfish, halibut;
- vegetables: leafy greens, broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, celery, tomatoes, onions, cucumbers, zucchini;
- low-fat dairy products: cottage cheese, low-fat cheese, skimmed milk;
- eggs and egg whites;
- Tofu.
A large amount of fat and carbohydrate is excluded from the menu of a savings plan. Complete list of taboo foods:
- fruits: apples, berries, oranges, grapes, melons, pears, peaches;
- starchy vegetables: potatoes, corn, peas;
- cereals: wheat, oats, barley, buckwheat, millet;
- legumes: black beans, lentils, chickpeas, beans, peanuts;
- processed foods: ready meals, baked goods, potato chips, fast food, candy;
- sugary drinks: juice, sweet tea, sports drinks, sodas;
- sugar and sweeteners: honey, maple syrup, table sugar, molasses, brown sugar;
- fats and oils: olive oil, coconut oil, vegetable oils, dressings, butter, margarine;
- full-fledged dairy products: yogurt, fatty cheese, milk.
You have to eat little by little, in small portions, but often. This diet consists of three main meals a day and a few snacks. Well suited as such:
- Egg;
- A slice of baked meat or fish;
- Cottage cheese;
- A slice of low fat cheese;
- Several stalks of celery;
- A handful of boiled vegetables from the allowed list;
- A tomato.
Remember to drink enough water, the daily norm is about one and a half to two liters, it is better to drink at least one glass half an hour or one hour before meals, as well as teaunsweetened green or black as a snack to quell any hunger pangs. A good option is mineral water or rosehip broth, herbal tea, of course, you do not need to add sugar to these drinks, and in principle you should refrain from sugar. The best way to cook food is to steam, boil, bake, you can use microwave oven.
A gentle diet for safe weight loss: menus and dishes that you can cook at home
Monday
- Breakfast: scrambled eggs with spinach and tomatoes.
- Lunch: fried cod with steamed broccoli.
- Dinner: chicken breast with grilled Brussels sprouts.
Tuesday
- Breakfast: tofu with onions, garlic and peppers.
- Lunch: baked chicken with a side dish of vegetables (without dressing).
- Dinner: pork chops with fried asparagus.
Wednesday
- Breakfast: egg omelet with zucchini, tomatoes and garlic.
- Lunch: baked cod with boiled cabbage.
- Dinner: salad of lean ground beef, mushrooms, garlic, ginger and green onions.
Thursday
- Breakfast: low fat cottage cheese.
- Lunch: Low carb turkey meatballs with zucchini and tomato noodles.
- Dinner: fried chicken with garlic and lemon (without garnish).
Friday
- Breakfast: hard-boiled eggs with salt and pepper.
- Lunch: baked tofu with steamed green beans.
- Dinner: grilled steak with oven-fried eggplant.
Repeat one of the days on Saturday and Sunday.
Do not forget about the limitations - for the intensive phase the main part is protein, for the second their amount decreases due to an increase in the amount of carbohydrates.
Sweet diet recipes
Chicken casserole with vegetables
Ingredients: chicken fillet, cauliflower, broccoli, eggs, low fat sour cream, low fat cream, cheese for sprinkling, garlic, spices to taste.
Preparation: if the vegetables are frozen - thaw, if not - rinse with salt water, divide into inflorescences. Cut the chicken, mix it with vegetables in a baking dish, fill it with sour cream diluted with warm water, put it in the oven for 20 minutes, temperature - 180 degrees. For the second pour, mix the cream with part of the cheese, the eggs, finely chopped or garlic garlic, add the spices, mix everything well. We take the chicken with the vegetables from the oven, fill it with the freshly prepared filling, distribute the rest of the cheese on top. We put everything back in the oven for another 20 minutes.
Vegetable salad
Ingredients: low-fat cheese, celery stalks, tomatoes, cucumbers, red onions, herbs, lemon juice.
Preparation: wash the vegetables, cut them in a deep bowl, send finely chopped low-fat cheese, chopped celery stalks, herbs, or finely chop them with your hands. Add the lemon juice and mix everything well.
Diet Meatball Soup
Ingredients: turkey, chicken or rabbit fillets, broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, onions, eggs, herbs, spices to taste.
Preparation: chop the meat with the onion, add the egg, salt and pepper if desired, mix and form the meatballs. Put the finished meat products in boiling water, add broccoli and cauliflower, previously divided into inflorescences (if you bought frozen vegetables, you do not need to thaw them first), Grated carrots on a fine grater - this will give the broth a golden color, spices to taste. Cook until cabbage and meatballs are ready, garnish with herbs just before serving. You can also add a hard-boiled egg to the soup - half on each plate.
Sweet Food Reviews
Those who have tried this version of a gentle diet for weight loss say that it is quite difficult to follow it - the restrictions are strong, the daily amount of calories may be insufficient for those who are used to physical activity orat long walks, fatigue, dizziness may appear - if this happens, the calorie content of the diet will need to be increased and then gradually reduced, respecting the state of health and avoiding fanaticism.
The foods you can eat are quite tasty, but not too varied, the hardest thing for people to give up on pastries and sweets and switch to vegetables as a side dish. They also recommend that you do not neglect dietary supplements and report the feeling of hunger, which may accompany you at first, but then you will probably get used to the new diet.
Exiting the diet, as those who have tried it warn, should be very gentle, even after the completion of the second phase, foods on the prohibited list should be introduced very carefully, otherwise there is a risk that allefforts on the basis of weight loss will be lost. The fact is that the metabolism for a long time, which this diet takes, is rebuilt, the body gets used to processing a certain amount of a certain type of food, therefore, the accumulation of excess fat can be a consequenceof excess. It is better to switch from this diet to a diet developed according to the recommendations for good nutrition, in which case the likelihood of weight gain will be minimal, and there will be enough strength and energy.