Are you new to the world of a healthy lifestyle and would you like to lose some weight? Are you still looking for the best diet and you really don’t know what to do? The Internet is full of the “guaranteed most effective” diets, but the problem is that it is always considered a completely different form of eating. So who should know this and what really works best? I will probably disappoint you now, but the truth is that it is impossible to say about any and at the same time about most of them. Every body is different and everyone will also enjoy something completely different, so you need to find your way that will be best for you.
If you are still groping and looking for the right path for yourself, in this article I will try to give you some useful advice and tips on how to build a healthy relationship with food, not worry about nonsensical diets, and still get closer to your goal. We will start with the basic rules that you have heard about before and without which it will be difficult for you to lose excess weight.
Caloric deficit
This will probably not be new information for you, but the caloric deficit is simply alpha and omega weight loss. This means that you must have more energy expenditure than income. Whatever the diet, without a caloric deficit, none will work. Of course, this does not mean that you have to eat cucumber for breakfast, tomato for lunch and tap water for dinner. First of all, it is good to know the value of your basal metabolism. On the Internet you will find a lot of calculators that will help you with the calculation. This value will bring you at least a little closer to how much your body needs only to survive, just to function as it should (very simply put). However, you should always consume more calories depending on how much you lead an active life, how often and how intensely you exercise. Of course it’s a very reference number, no calculator on the internet can calculate this reliably for us. Think of it more as a kind of springboard, if you still had no idea how much to eat. No one can give you a clear number that will suit you 100%. Try it, be patient and you are guaranteed to find your ideal caloric intake, where you will feel good and at the same time will constantly bring you closer to your goal.
Enough protein
You’ve probably already registered this “rule”, too. However, it is always important to take in enough protein, so I must mention it here as well. After all, repetition is the mother of wisdom. Most studies agree on an intake of 1.8 g of protein per kilogram of body weight. For women, however, it can be even less, around 1.6 g. This is more true for recreational athletes.
The above rules are such a foundation of any functional diet. Of course, it is necessary to pay attention to other principles, such as drinking regime, receiving enough fiber or regular exercise. But today’s article is not about them. Now let’s look at those tips that could help you stop thinking about weight loss and diets as a necessary evil on the way to your dream character. It is mostly my observations that I find important and that have helped me a lot to think about the diet a little differently. Let’s learn to take food simply as food.
1. Don’t take it so seriously
Food for you should definitely not be a kind of scarecrow in which you see only calories. When you eat something that doesn’t fit in a healthy diet, you should definitely not feel guilty. You should look forward to the food, be able to enjoy it and definitely not be stressed by it. It’s about how you approach it and how you set up your relationship with food in your head. Believe me, I speak from personal experience. I also groped for a long time and it took me a long time to really understand this. I tried different tailor-made menus, and even though they worked as they should, I didn’t enjoy the food, I took it more as a necessity to look the way I wanted, and I was just looking forward to the so-called cheat days (those in I probably don’t even have to imagine these days). Now I know that there are also much better and more pleasant ways to stay fit all the time, to enjoy food, not to need to overeat,
2. It’s also delicious
If you still think that if you want to lose weight, you have to give up all good food, you are wrong. So, of course, it also depends on what you consider good food. For me, good food is one that tastes good to me and makes me feel good. In short, it’s healthy. This does not mean, however, that sometimes I do not like a burger with fries or a dessert with coffee. Sometimes even two. But if only sirloin with six and fried cutlets is a good meal for you, then this way probably won’t work. Try it differently and you may be surprised at how tasty healthy food can be.
3. Don’t be remorseful!
Try to be a little happy and don’t blame yourself for such nonsense as food. It is quite common to occasionally enjoy something unhealthy, calm and really caloric. It’s perfectly fine, so don’t stress, enjoy it and then give your body something more valuable again. Just the fact that you will not forbid it and you will know that whenever you want you can have, for example, blueberry dumplings or pork dumpling zelo without any remorse, will naturally make you think that you do not even want them. Or at least definitely not daily. Keep your diet balanced, and if you sometimes enjoy some of our Czech classics, believe me, nothing will happen at all. The main thing is not to be stressed. As I mentioned above, don’t take it so seriously.
3. Start with small steps
“Well, now I’m going to really enjoy the weekend, I eat everything I come up with, and I’m starting a diet from Monday!”I believe that many of us have already heard this sentence from someone or said it ourselves. You will prepare food boxes on Monday and you are determined to lose weight! Most people, however, last a week or so, a month, but they still bother and count down the days before the next cheat day. But that’s not what it’s about. Don’t tell yourself when you start, start right now, slowly and without extremes and without changing your whole lifestyle from day to day. Start by saying, for example, that instead of yogurt full of sugar, you would rather buy the Greek one, which is full of protein. Instead of a croissant with pate, choose rye pastries with quality ham and so on. Gradually, it will seem normal to you and you won’t even be surprised how your weight goes down without suffering in any way and being a “slave” of food.
4. Get rid of all the extremes, at least from the beginning
From the beginning, the most important thing is to find your long-term sustainable eating style, which you will endure, which will be comfortable for you and in which you will not have to worry in any way. As soon as you don’t need any cheat days, you will feel good, you will not deny yourself what you like, and yet you will still move towards your goal, you have basically won. In my opinion, only after you have a diet like this, you can try, for example, your favorite ketodiet , intermittent fasting or any other stricter style of eating. But you can’t jump into the water if you can’t swim yet.
Building a healthy relationship with food is definitely not a sprint, but a long run. You will definitely not be left without remorse and you will not be able to change your whole lifestyle from day to day. Go for it gradually, with enthusiasm, do it in such a way that you enjoy it, that you enjoy the food, and your body will return it to you. I guarantee you that. 🙂
Quick oatmeal cookies
As a bonus, I have prepared a quick recipe for healthy oatmeal cookies, which you can prepare at home in a few minutes.
Ingredients:
- about 300 g of oatmeal
- 2 apples
- 2 cups of Greek yogurt
- honey, syrup or other sweetener
- cinnamon
- nuts, raisins or whatever you like
Method:
First, mix the flakes, Greek yogurt, cinnamon and possibly honey or sweetener and let stand. Meanwhile, grate the apples, add honey, cinnamon, raisins and nuts. Then mix the mixture with apples to the flakes and shape the biscuits. Bake for about 15 minutes at 180 degrees.
