It is not difficult to find a woman who is on a diet or who has at least tried one. From menus suggested by professionals, to the so-called fad diets, there is always someone looking for solutions to lose weight.
The truth is that the so-called fad diets , which are those usually followed by celebrities, can be effective in terms of weight loss. However, as these diets are often highly restrictive, it is difficult for anyone to follow them for a long time, which leads to the gain of weight lost in a short time.
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Losing weight permanently involves a number of factors, which mainly include a change in lifestyle. But, before changing, it is necessary to see things in a realistic way, nobody wakes up and decides to change, things are gradual, only then can you change habits, little by little.
The importance of changing habits to lose weight
If you’ve spent your entire life drinking soda and eating high-calorie foods every day, you can’t be fooled into thinking that you’ll be able to change from day to night and start consuming only juices and light foods for the rest of your life.
To change a habit that you have had for a long time, it is important to have willpower and patience, to change it gradually. Thus, your body gets used to the new lifestyle and when you realize it will be eating in a much better and healthier way.
What is food reeducation?
Food reeducation is nothing more than relearning how to eat healthily. Just as a child who misbehaves at school needs to relearn certain lessons, people who eat poorly need to learn again how to eat properly.
Food re-education differs from famous diets because nothing is forbidden in it. If you love chocolate and make a point of eating every day, you can substitute the milk version, which has more fat, for the bitter medium, for example, and eat a small piece every day.
To lose weight in a healthy way you must have a good diet and practice physical activity regularly, being considered a healthy weight loss of up to 4 kg per month. (Photo: Shutterstock)
The secrets of dietary re-education are common sense and moderation. Thus, with gradual changes, weight loss ends up becoming a natural consequence. Of course, the time to lose weight is a little longer than in restrictive diets, however, the fact that it is something easier to maintain for a lifetime, the chances of you gaining weight again are greatly reduced, and this makes up for anything.
With dietary reeducation there is no suffering and stress due to the desire to eat something and not be able. Just be aware of the choices you make, make smart exchanges and, thus, have much more health and quality of life.
The importance of eating every 3 hours
Many people do not understand why they are overweight because they claim to have only 3 meals a day (breakfast, lunch and dinner). Perhaps that is exactly the error. By eating only 3 meals, you end up spending a lot of time without eating, which makes you more hungry and you eat a lot more than you really need.
By distributing meals better, eating every 3 hours, you start to eat smaller meals and do not feel hungry, which reduces the risk of binge eating.
Think about your choices before serving, eat slowly and chew your food well, avoid fried foods, fatty and sweet foods. (Photo: Shutterstock)
Each one must adapt the number of meals to their routine. For example: A person who wakes up at 6 am can do the following:
- 6 am: Coffee
• 9 am: Snack
• Midday: Lunch
• 3 pm: Coffee
• 6 pm: Snack
• 9 pm: Dinner
For those who were used to having only 2 or 3 meals a day, having 6 may seem like an exaggeration. But just knowing how to choose healthy foods and eat in moderation. Thus, 3 hours become the exact time between being satisfied and feeling hungry to leave for the next meal.
Food reeducation (Menu)
- Breakfast: 1 cup of skimmed milk + 1 slice of whole wheat bread + 1 scrambled egg or 1 glass of fruit juice + 2 whole toast with white cheese and 100% fruit jelly.
- Morning snack: 1 fruit or 1 cereal bar.
- Lunch: Cooked vegetables + Whole pasta such as tomato sauce and meatballs or raw salad + pumpkin puree + roasted fish fillet.
- Afternoon snack: 1 fruit or Gelatin
- Dinner: Raw salad and pancake or Vegetable soup with muscle
The exclusion of food groups
Gluten and Lactose
Recently we have seen many people excluding foods that contain gluten and lactose from their diet. Celiacs (people allergic to gluten) and intolerants and lactose, follow this type of diet because they have no other choice, since they are foods that are bad for their bodies. However, most people who are excluding these food groups do so because they believe it will help with weight reduction.
To begin, let’s define gluten and lactose :
- Gluten: It is the protein found in several cereals, such as: wheat, rye, barley and oats. It is responsible for giving elasticity to the doughs, such as bread, for example, and making it soft. It has been proven that gluten does not cause any harm to health (except in the case of celiacs, of course).
- Lactose: It is the natural sugar in milk and its derivatives. There are people who are lactose intolerant and really feel bad about eating any food that contains it. However, when it comes to diets that exclude this sugar, it is important to know that the human body needs it to absorb calcium, which is so important for bones.
In conclusion, when it comes to gluten and lactose, the ideal is to exclude them from the diet only if these substances cause you harm . The fad of diets without them has no health benefits and can be harmful. Look for an endocrinologist or a nutritionist, only these professionals can tell if you have any type of intolerance or allergy to gluten and lactose. (Help to lose weight: Know which professionals to consult)
In food reeducation, no food is necessarily excluded. You can perfectly eat your bread, as long as you do it in moderation. It is also interesting to replace the white flour masses with wholemeal ones, which, even though they are a little more caloric, have more benefits to offer your body.
Photo: Pixabay
Other food groups
Many people, in a hurry to lose weight, end up excluding important foods from the diet. The champions of exclusion are rice and beans . Many medical professionals claim that this is a big mistake. The very Brazilian combination of rice and beans offers a series of nutrients that our body needs and eliminating them can be harmful.
Another negative point of removing rice and beans from the diet is that, if a person is used to eating them every day for lunch and dinner, he will hardly be able to maintain this diet for a long time. That is, the excess weight can even go away quickly, but, as soon as she returns to her “normal diet”, he can return.
The secret to weight loss is common sense
If you want to lose weight permanently, do not exclude food, know how to make smart changes. You can, for example, replace traditional rice with brown rice, reduce the amount of beans . It is not necessary to make radical cuts to lose weight, just have common sense.
Renowned endocrinologist Alfredo Halpern, creator of the famous Diet of the Points, said that it is not necessary to spend on light foods and diets to lose weight. Instead of eating a whole French bread, eat half and remove the kernels, this is a way to “transform” it into a light food in a simple and economical way.
Losing weight doesn’t have to be expensive
Many people who are overweight are accommodated because they believe that eating well is expensive. The truth is that it is possible to be healthy by spending little, just knowing how to research and find better prices.
Find out which day of fruit and vegetable promotion in the supermarket in your city, go to the fair, search for cheaper foods that can replace more expensive ones. That way, with commitment and goodwill, you will be able to re-educate yourself, gain more health and quality of life, and, consequently, lose weight.
