Diets and especially the way of eating are one of the main components for a healthy body and a good appearance. It is important to know that when diets are only followed for a certain period of time and then replaced again with junk food, the results are short-lived. Therefore, it is important for a person to build a sustainable lifestyle that makes them more independent from following different diet regimes.
When the diet becomes a food regimen that one sticks to, then the results are long-lasting.
Sport is an extremely important component of a healthy lifestyle. Just 20 percent of sports can significantly reduce the risk of a number of diseases, as well as improve tonicity and hormones that help a person feel happy.
Before choosing a certain diet and proceeding with its implementation, a consultation with a specialist is needed to help assess whether it is suitable given the individual characteristics of each organism.
Why should we choose a protein diet and how will it contribute to the positive state of the body? The answer to this question comes after getting acquainted with the essence of the protein diet.
Essence of protein diet
A diet based on protein products is the most effective way to lose weight. Eating products such as meat, eggs and fish helps to melt away excess body mass, while at the same time creating a feeling of satiety without ingesting an excessive amount of calories. The best result with a protein diet is achieved if the diet is combined with healthy sleep and physical exercise.
Protein diet means eating foods rich in proteins.
Foods rich in protein are:
– meat and fish;
– eggs;
– dairy products such as white cheese, yellow cheese, cottage cheese, milk.
There isn't a wide variety of protein-rich foods that are low in fat and carbohydrates. Most foods in their natural form have all three essential nutrients. A basic principle of the protein diet is to limit the intake of food that is easily transformed into fat, eat mainly high-protein food with lots of vegetables, excluding potatoes, in order to maintain the muscles. This diet is combined with exercise to preserve muscle mass.
It is important to lose mainly subcutaneous fat, not subcutaneous fat and muscle. The principle of losing weight is simple: when there is a lack of energy, the body begins to break down fat and muscle in the body in order to obtain energy.
In order to make the body think that the muscles should not be used for energy, it is necessary to put these muscles into continuous use so that the body does not get rid of them, but only breaks down the fat.
The protein diet is oriented this way, because protein is food for the muscles, it can be stored as subcutaneous fat only if it is taken more than necessary.
It is accepted for men that the dose of protein is up to 3 grams per kilogram of body weight, which practically means that an 80-kilogram man can take 3x80=240 grams of protein per day.
For women, the protein dose is below 3 grams, about 2.5 grams per kilogram of body weight, which means that a 60-kilogram woman can take 2.5x60=150 grams of protein per day.
Foods allowed on a protein diet
A lot of salad and fresh vegetables is the main recommendation in the protein diet. Salads offer a wide variety of options as well as an abundance throughout the year. Tomatoes, cucumbers, lettuce, cabbage, zucchini, peppers, carrots, turnips can be included, they can be consumed in almost unlimited quantities. Tomatoes contain lycopene, which is thought to enhance the effect of a protein diet, but this is more of a rumor, because you need large amounts of them to feel the effect of lycopene.
Foods prohibited on a protein diet
Sweet things are forbidden, including fruit. Cakes, biscuits, pastries, sponge cakes are completely excluded. Everything with a sweet taste is excluded from the food.
Baked goods are also excluded from this diet. This includes bread, macaroni, spaghetti.
Prohibited processing of food is frying and, in particular breading.
Basic guidelines for preparing a personal protein diet
- Meat and grilled fish, roasted without fat or boiled, are foods that should be included more often in the daily menu.
- Salads should not be flavored with oil or olive oil. 1 tablespoon per day, carefully measured, is allowed. If you generally eat medium-fat meat, yellow cheese, white cheese and eggs, you should keep in mind that these foods, in addition to protein, also contain fat. In this case, it is better not to add fat to salads.
- Eggs - must be present boiled or baked, only with salt and spices. To make them tastier, you can add 50 grams of white cheese to them. They can also be prepared scrambled or into mish-mash, but without adding fat. The yolk of the egg contains 5-6 grams of fat and this should be taken into account.
- Cottage cheese - can be salted and eaten with tomato salad or it replace white cheese in shopska salad.
- There are high-protein foods, but with a lot of fat and carbohydrates, so their consumption should be carefully considered:
100 grams of nuts contain about 15-20 grams of protein, about 40-50 grams of fat and 20-30 grams of carbohydrates.
Beans, lentils, peas, chickpeas in a raw dose of 100 grams contain about 20 grams of protein, 60-70 grams of carbohydrates.
Meal schedule when following a protein diet
It is good to eat 7-8 times a day, which is impossible for people who go to work. Therefore, there is a principle that can be applied.
The idea is to never feel hungry, but also never to feel full. With severe hunger, the chance of coming off the diet is huge. Therefore, eat every 2 hours or whenever possible. An example day of a protein diet:
- 7-8 am - breakfast, approximately 200 grams of yogurt;
- 10 am - late breakfast, for example tomato salad with cottage cheese;
- 12 pm – lunch, for example meat or fish with salad;
- 2 pm – afternoon snack, approximately 200 grams of yogurt;
- 4 pm – late afternoon snack, for example eggs with spices and salad;
- 6 pm – dinner, for example grilled meat or fish and salad;
- 8 pm. – a light late dinner, for example a handful of nuts.
Contraindications for carrying out a protein diet
A protein diet is not a balanced diet, because it lacks fats and carbohydrates. It is contraindicated for people with kidney diseases and healthy people should drink a lot of water during the diet. The presence of diseases of the digestive system and the cardiovascular system also exclude the use of this diet.
Many of the foods that are included do not contain fiber, so constipation is possible and with insufficient hydration, dehydration can occur, so everything must be strictly followed.
Proper implementation of this type of diet guarantees successful weight loss. Its best performance is the world famous Dukan diet, which has many followers and gives excellent results.
See also some ideas for:
- protein candies;
