People spend so much energy on strict diets. Weight goes away, but then, when you re-include unhealthy foods in your diet, those extra pounds come back. It’s easy to fix everything – always start by eating right. It’s much more effective than endless diets!
The Healthy Menu isn’t just about green vegetables and lean chicken fillets. You don’t have to cut out your favorite foods to stay fit. You just need to reconsider some of your eating habits. How can healthy eating rules help you lose weight without grueling diets? Find out in this article.
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Rules of Healthy Eating
Here are the rules of healthy eating that will help you lose weight and stay fit.
1. Compliance With The Diet
Do you sit down at the table once a day to eat your fill? This is not a proper way. According to nutritionists, eating too rare (and too frequent) meals is not the best way to help you lose weight and stay in good physical shape.
Train yourself to eat small meals, but at least four times a day. Digestion will work like a clock, metabolism will normalize, and the temptation to snack on unhealthy foods will not bother you.
2. Avoid Drinking Alcohol
It is harder for heavy drinkers to stay in good shape. Alcohol provides empty calories, due to which a person starts to gain weight. So those who always want to stay fit should give up alcohol addiction. You can start by reducing the daily amount consumed.
However, if you are unable to do it yourself, consider getting help. Detox treatment is the first step to getting a better life. Experts will recommend you get a 3-day, 5-day, or 7-day detox treatment, depending on your condition. So, contact them today and get all information about these treatment programs for a better future.
3. Avoid Skipping Breakfast
Change your habits if you don’t eat anything for breakfast! Morning food intake is very important – it triggers metabolic processes in the body, and you yourself will cheer up and tune in for a long day.
In addition, a hearty breakfast relieves you of the desire to fill your stomach with chips, crackers, and biscuits already before lunch to satisfy your hunger. If you don’t feel like eating at all, drink a glass of warm water right after waking up – in half an hour, you will start feeling hungry.
4. Dinner 2-3 Hours Before Bedtime
It’s great if you manage to have dinner before 6 pm. But such a diet does not always fit into the frantic rhythm of life. That is why the rule “do not eat after 6 pm” is rarely followed. The best option for those who are late at work is to have dinner 2-3 hours before bedtime.
It turns out that if you go to bed at 23.00, you can shift the dinner time to 20.00. In a couple of hours, the body will have time to digest food, and you will not go to bed with a heavy stomach. But no matter what time you eat, your meal should not be too high in calories.
Steamed vegetables, lean boiled meat, steamed fish, and salad are the best options for an evening meal. There is no place for pasta, fatty chops, and potatoes on the table!
5. Low-Fat Food Is Not Always Good
Low-fat kefir, cottage cheese, and milk – there are many dairy products on sale with minimal or even zero fat. According to the advertisements, they are beneficial for losing weight due to the minimum calorie content. Nutritionists don’t think so.
But in order for the milk after such processing to at least somehow resemble a live drink, other components are added to it – in particular, sugar. You give up animal fats but add fast carbohydrates to the menu. This is an improper weight loss! In addition, low-fat food loses much of its beneficial properties.
6. Regular Fasting Days
Fasting days are a great way to keep yourself in top physical shape. They are especially useful for those who never go on diets. If the weight is normal, one fasting day every two weeks will be enough.
If you are overweight, give your body unloading once a week. Fasting day does not mean that you have to abandon all food! It is impossible to refuse food (even for one day) completely. There are a lot of options for such “fast” diets.
Choose the food you like and eat it throughout the day. You can arrange an apple, kefir, cottage cheese, or fish fasting day. However, keep in mind that such a diet should not last more than three days.
7. Eat Vegetables Every Day
Vegetables should be the top priority in your diet. It is a source of vitamins and minerals necessary for the body, as well as fiber, which helps to normalize digestion processes. Daily add to the power of at least 300 grams of fresh vegetables (in the off-season and can be frozen). Prepare salads and side dishes from them, add them to the first and second courses. Well-cooked vegetables won’t taste bland!
8. Complete Rejection Of Packaged Juices
It is recommended to introduce fruit, berry, and vegetable juices into dietary food. Add these drinks to your diet, but these should be only natural drinks! Those that are sold cannot boast of benefits – there is a large amount of sugar in the composition. You are not drinking a natural drink but a concentrated, diluted drink in sweet syrup with flavor enhancers.
9. Whole Grain Bread Instead Of Rolls
Wheat flour and butter are used in the preparation of many baked goods. These are not the most successful products in dietary nutrition. Reduce your consumption of buns, white bread, and pies. Refusal from them does not mean that you cannot eat bread at all. Introduce whole grains into your meals. They are not as high in calories due to their lower fat content and fast carbohydrates.
Take Away
Following strict diets can be helpful, but their effects are only temporary; thus, it is better to avoid them. You can still get the desired results by following some healthy eating rules. We mentioned some of them that will surely help you live a healthier life.