Choose a gradual and safe way to lose weight. We tell you everything about a sweet diet for weight loss: basic principles, permitted foods and menus of the week.
How to lose weight safely? Many nutritionists believe that a gentle diet is a great option for losing weight. 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 and "sprint" races.
A sparing diet for weight loss compared to them is a marathon, it can last more than six months, while the calorie restriction of food is quite serious. Before you start losing weight this way, be sure to contact your doctor and find out if it is really safe for you to eat on a gentle weight loss diet system.
Sweet diet for weight loss: basic principles and contraindications
The sweet diet 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 need to limit your calorie intake to 1800 calories per day. As part of your diet, you focus on protein-rich foods. For example, poultry, fish, eggs, low-fat cheese, and tofu. Oil and other salad 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, mostly without a side dish or with side dishes in the form of some vegetables (broccoli, cauliflower and others from the list of allowed foods).
In the second stage, you can slowly add fat and carbohydrates and gradually reduce the amount of protein to 70-140 grams per day. The second phase lasts 6-8 weeks. In the first month, up to 45 grams of carbohydrates are allowed per day, and in the second month up to 90 grams.
Talk to your doctor, you may need to take an extra multivitamin, potassium, calcium, magnesium or sodium supplement during the first phase to protect your body from nutritional deficiencies. It is also necessary to monitor your condition, and if it deteriorates, for example, performance decreases or dizziness begins - you must immediately proceed to the next stage or, respectively, repeat or exit the diet.
Why is a mild diet good for you?
A gentle diet isn't just good for weight loss. Additional benefits of a gentle diet:
- lower cholesterol levels by up to 20%;
- normalization of blood sugar levels;
- lowering of blood pressure;
- protection against metabolic syndrome.
Unfortunately, even a gentle diet is not an ideal recipe for losing weight. Before starting, be sure to consult with a specialist, as the diet has side effects. For example, it can cause nutritional deficiencies in the body.
Diet is not suitable:
- for the elderly;
- for lactating and pregnant women;
- for those with gallbladder problems;
- for people with eating disorders;
- for patients with chronic diseases.
Gentle diet for weight loss: menu for one week
Allowed foods and taboos
We have already outlined some of the foods you can eat on a light weight loss diet. Detailed list of permitted products:
- poultry: skinless chicken, turkey, goose, duck;
- meat: lean meat, pork, lamb;
- fish: flounder, cod, catfish, halibut;
- vegetables: green leafy vegetables, broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, celery, tomatoes, onions, cucumbers, zucchini;
- low-fat dairy products: cottage cheese, low-fat cheese, skim milk;
- eggs and egg whites;
- tofu.
A large amount of fat and carbohydrates is excluded from the menu of a thrifty diet. Full list of taboo foods:
- fruit: apples, berries, oranges, grapes, melons, pears, peaches;
- starchy vegetables: potatoes, corn, peas;
- grain: wheat, oats, barley, buckwheat, millet;
- legumes: black beans, lentils, chickpeas, beans, peanuts;
- processed foods: convenience foods, baked goods, chips, fast food, candy;
- sweet drinks: fruit juices, sweet tea, sports drinks, soda;
- sugar and sweeteners: honey, maple syrup, table sugar, molasses, cane sugar;
- fats and oils: olive oil, coconut oil, vegetable oils, salad dressings, butter, margarine;
- full-fledged dairy products: yogurt, full-fat cheeses, milk.
You have to eat gradually, in small portions, but often. This diet includes three main meals a day and some snacks. Suitable as such:
- Egg;
- A slice of baked meat or fish;
- Milk flakes;
- A slice of low-fat cheese;
- Several celery stalks
- A handful of boiled vegetables from the allowed list;
- A tomato.
Do not forget to drink enough water, the daily norm is about one and a half or two liters, it is better to drink at least a glass half an hour or an hour before meals and also drink unsweetened green or black tea as a snack to cushion the possible feeling of hunger. A good option is mineral water or rosehip broth, herbal tea, of course, it is not necessary to add sugar to these drinks and, in principle, it is necessary to refrain from sugar. The best way to cook food is to steam, boil, cook, you can use a microwave.
A gentle diet for safe weight loss: menus and meals 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 vegetables (without seasoning).
- Dinner: pork chops with fried asparagus.
Wednesday
- Breakfast: Egg omelette with zucchini, tomatoes and garlic.
- Lunch: Baked cod with boiled cabbage.
- Dinner: Lean ground beef salad, mushrooms, garlic, ginger, and green onions.
Thursday
- Breakfast: low-fat cottage cheese.
- Lunch: Low-carb turkey meatballs with zucchini and tomato pasta.
- 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 baked eggplant.
Repeat any of the days on Saturday and Sunday.
Do not forget about the limitations: for the intensive phase, the main part is made up of proteins, for the second their quantity decreases due to an increase in the amount of carbohydrates.
Gentle diet recipes
Chicken flan with vegetables
Ingredients: Chicken fillet, cauliflower, broccoli, eggs, low-fat sour cream, low-fat cream, cheese to sprinkle, garlic, spices to taste.
Preparation: if the vegetables are frozen - defrost, if not - rinse in salted 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 a part of the cheese, the eggs, the finely chopped or garlic press, add the spices, mix well. We take out the chicken with vegetables from the oven, fill it with the freshly prepared filling, spread 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 soup with meatballs
Ingredients: turkey fillets, chicken or rabbit, broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, onions, eggs, herbs, spices to taste.
Preparation: mince the meat with the onion, add the egg, salt, pepper to taste, mix and form the meatballs. Put the finished meat products in boiling water, add broccoli and cauliflower to them, previously divided into inflorescences (if you bought frozen vegetables, it is not necessary to defrost them in advance), grated carrots on a fine grater - it will give a golden color to the broth , spices to taste. Cook until the cabbage and meatballs are ready, garnish with herbs when serving. You can also add a boiled egg to the soup - half on each plate.
Reviews of a gentle diet
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 or long walks, fatigue , dizziness may appear - if this happens, the calorie content of the diet will have to be increased and then reduced gradually, observing the state of health and avoiding fanaticism.
The foods you can eat are tasty enough, but not too varied, the hardest thing for people to give up on baked goods and sweets and switch to vegetables as a side dish. They also recommend not neglecting food supplements and reporting the feeling of hunger, which may accompany you at first, but then you will most likely get used to the new diet.
The exit from the diet, as warned by those who have tried it, must be very easy, even after the completion of the second phase, the foods of the forbidden list must be introduced very carefully, otherwise there is a risk that all efforts on the basis of the loss of weight will be wasted. The fact is that the metabolism for a long time, which this diet requires, is rebuilt, the body gets used to processing a certain amount of a certain type of food, so the accumulation of excess fat can be a consequence of excess. It is better to switch from this diet to a diet built according to the recommendations for proper nutrition, in which case the probability of weight gain will be minimal and there will be enough strength and energy.