7 tips on how to eat right and feel your best

2024 Author: Malcolm Clapton | [email protected]. Last modified: 2023-12-17 03:44

Lifehacker, together with gastroenterologist Anna Yurkevich, understands how to lose weight and become healthier if you just change your diet.

1. Give up diets

To achieve a lean body, people often go on low-calorie diets, exclude important nutrients from the diet, and starve. This brings results, but temporary: the weight quickly returns. Reducing Calorie Intake May Not Help You Lose Body Weight. And sometimes he takes with him even more extra pounds and health problems.

Due to the low-calorie diet, the body goes into energy-saving mode. Spends less, but stores more.

Once you return to your normal diet, your body will try to make supplies in case you go hungry again. And restrictions also lead to overeating.

Energy is needed to ensure the functioning of internal organs, to maintain a constant body temperature and muscle tone. It is measured in kilocalories. For normal life, a man needs about 2,500 calories a day, and a woman - 2,000. This is the average data: the individual value is calculated taking into account age and anthropometric parameters.

2. Monitor your diet

Nutrition should be balanced and include proteins, fats, carbohydrates, vitamins, macro- and microelements.

According to American nutritionist Robert Haas, the optimal Eat to Win for Permanent Fat Loss: The Revolutionary Fat-Burning Diet for Peak Mental and Physical Performance and Optimum Health is 50% carbohydrates, 25% protein and 25% - from fats.

Fats

They help the body absorb Fat: the facts vitamins A, D and E. Fatty acids are divided into three groups: saturated, unsaturated and trans fats.

Saturated fat won't harm you as long as you don't exceed your calorie intake. But trans fats should be avoided Intake of saturated and trans unsaturated fatty acids and risk of all cause mortality, cardiovascular disease and type 2 diabetes: systematic review and meta-analysis of observational studies: they increase the risk of cardiovascular disease. There are many of these substances in cakes, biscuits and bread.

Unsaturated fats are involved in the construction of new cells, hormone production, and water metabolism. Some fatty acids, such as omega-3 and omega-6, are not synthesized by the body. We can only get them from food. These are found in avocados, olives, olive oil, nuts, sea fish.

Protein

The building material of the body, and not only for cells, but also for enzymes and hormones. Proteins help build muscle, have strong bones, beautiful hair and nails, and support immunity.

Proteins are animal (lean meat, fish, eggs, dairy products) and vegetable (beans, nuts, seeds, broccoli, green peas, corn). It is advisable to include both types in the diet, because each contains different nutrients.

Scientists recommend 10 Protein and Amino Acids per day to consume about 0.8 grams of protein per kilogram of body weight.

Carbohydrates

Major energy supplier. Carbohydrate foods should form the basis of the diet - 50%. Don't be confused by this figure: it also includes fiber, vitamins and minerals. They are often concentrated in carbohydrate-rich foods.

Carbohydrates are divided into simple (or fast) and complex (slow). The latter are split for a long time and give a long-lasting charge of energy. This means that it is better to eat them in the morning in order to stay full and full of energy until lunchtime. For breakfast, porridge or muesli is perfect.

Simple carbohydrates are quickly absorbed and provide an immediate burst of energy. They are indispensable when you need to invigorate and recover. For example, if you eat a few slices of chocolate after a workout, fatigue will be relieved as if by hand. The fact is that sugar during digestion is broken down into glucose, and this is the very simple carbohydrate - a source of instant energy.

But you should not get carried away with this type of substance, otherwise the High glycemic index foods, overeating and obesity appetite increases, which can lead to overeating.

3. Eat at the same time

Imagine: all day you were spinning like a squirrel in a wheel, ignoring hunger. In the evening we finally got to food - we ate everything and a lot. An emaciated body is not up to counting calories. You went to bed shortly after dinner. This eating behavior leads to energy imbalance and, as a result, to excess weight. Since a person consumes less energy than he consumes.

For a relatively healthy person, three meals are enough. And preferably at about the same time. So our gastrointestinal tract will have time to recover.

Anna Yurkevich gastroenterologist

Do not forget to eat in the morning, otherwise you will have more snacks and snacks until lunchtime. A nutritious breakfast not only gives strength, but also catalyzes the launch of a "sleeping" metabolism, increases efficiency, improves mood.

You should have lunch between 13 and 16 hours. If you can't eat well, and you are running out of energy, you can replenish energy reserves with a protein bar, fruits or nuts.

Have dinner 2-3 hours before bedtime. Going to bed with a full stomach means disrupting the energy balance, tossing and turning at night, and possibly even having digestive problems.

4. Eat after exercise

The higher the degree of physical activity, the more energy the body needs.

For example, for an hour of cleaning, an adult will use an additional 160 kcal. If you spend the same time on a bike ride, then you will need 370 kcal, and for running training - at least 700 kcal. Learn more about calorie expenditure by exercise in our infographic.

The Mayo Clinic, a reputable research organization, recommends Nutrition rules that will fuel your workout to recuperate within 15 minutes of post-workout with high protein foods. For example, you can eat chicken breast, eggs, cottage cheese, almonds, Greek yogurt, tuna, or a protein shake.

Specify?

What To Eat Before And After Your Workout If You Give Up Meat

5. Drink enough

The body is approximately 60% water. It is very important for our health, because it flushes out toxins from organs, transfers nutrients to cells, and helps to digest food.

If there is not enough moisture, dehydration can begin.

Surely everyone has heard that you need to drink eight glasses of water a day. In fact, no one will give an exact figure: everything is individual. If you are not thirsty, do not drink. You need to lay on the water in hot weather and during physical activity.

Figure out

How much water should you really drink?

6. Snack right

But first, determine if you are really hungry. The study showed Reasons for eating ‘unhealthy’ snacks in overweight and obese males and females that 55% of the subjects drank because they were tempted, not because they were hungry.

Choose healthy foods instead of junk food for a snack. Here are some options:

• Protein foods - Greek yogurt, cottage cheese The satiating effects of eggs or cottage cheese are similar in healthy subjects despite differences in postprandial kinetics, hard-boiled eggs, slice of cheese.
• Nuts - Great for satiating almonds A mid-morning snack of almonds generates satiety and appropriate adjustment of subsequent food intake in healthy women and peanuts Lower energy intake following consumption of Hi-oleic and regular peanuts compared with iso-energetic consumption of potato crisps.
• Fresh vegetables and fruits, vegetable salads.
• Dark Chocolate Daily Consumption of Chocolate Rich in Flavonoids Decreases Cellular Genotoxicity and Improves Biochemical Parameters of Lipid and Glucose Metabolism with a cocoa content of at least 70%.

Bookmark?

10 easy recipes for a healthy snack

7. Don't expect instant change

“I will eat well and immediately become slim and healthy” is a mental trap that falls into almost everyone who tries to make their diet more balanced.

If excess weight has been gaining over the years, it is logical to expect that it will not go away in a couple of days.

Anna Yurkevich gastroenterologist

Visible results do not appear immediately. Because of this, people often quit what they started halfway through.

Read also

• How and why to drink flaxseed oil and when it is better to give it up
• 16 healthiest fruits and berries to help you stay healthy
• Will negative calorie foods help you lose weight?