Proper nutrition for a healthy lifestyle: basic principles and menus for the week

Why you need to eat right. Basic rules for a healthy diet. Common mistakes. Example menu for the week.

One of the main problems of the modern world is overweight. Moreover, it interferes with people not only for aesthetic reasons, but also is the cause of many diseases:

• violation of the functions of the respiratory system;
• curvature and deformation of the spine;
• anatomical changes in the digestive tract;
• liver damage;
• violation of the water balance and so on.

This is only a small part of those ailments that are satellites of obesity. One way or another, it leads to poor health, which, ultimately, can even lead to death. Of course, a blog about bodybuilding can occur only in the most advanced cases, and even then not always. But even so, overweight does not give absolutely any pleasure to your body.

It is not worth talking about the aesthetic aspect – despite all the beliefs and resistance, no one will say that he likes to be fat.

Basic principles of proper nutrition

For most people, the phrase “healthy eating” is invariably associated with any kind of self-torture and diet. This occurs against the background of a lack of basic knowledge about the structure of the human body and nutrition. A proper diet is not only useful, but also much more enjoyable than regular food! Eating properly, you can forever forget about feelings of malaise or abdominal pain, as well as about many other ailments.

“We are what we eat” – few people realize how correct this catchphrase is. Indeed, we will look exactly the way we force ourselves to eat. The basis of almost any sport is a healthy menu, which is usually compiled personally, taking into account the individual characteristics of a person. And what is the result? Beautiful and aesthetic figures are for the most part athletes.

But in order to lose weight and gain a beautiful body, it is not necessary to use the services of professional nutritionists or trainers. Proper nutrition is the norm that everyone must adhere to. And believe me, doing this is much easier than constantly running around with doctors. There are very simple, but at the same time effective tricks for this, observing which, you can achieve great success:

• Firstly, the diet should include as much protein food as possible and contain less carbohydrates and fats . In this case, your body will not only use the available fat as fuel, but will not accumulate additional kilograms. Proteins are used for the construction and renewal of tissues, and their use in no way can increase fat reserves.
• Secondly, you should drink plenty of water daily . It is about pure water – tea or coffee, as well as other drinks are not considered. At least 2 liters per day, and after a while you will not only feel much better, but also the fat will burn much faster. Water is an amazing liquid that is used in almost all internal processes. In addition, the quality of the liver, the main body fat burner, depends on its quantity. One should also learn to distinguish between concepts such as hunger and thirst. Sometimes, opening the refrigerator door, you experience the most banal lack of fluid. A glass of water will help get rid of hunger. If hunger does not disappear, then it really is time to eat.
• Rule number 3 – completely eliminate harmful and “unnecessary” food from your diet . It includes fast food, alcohol, sugary drinks and just sweets. Taste is, of course, good, but these products not only do not bring benefits, but, on the contrary, worsen your health. They are rich in fast carbohydrates and trans fats, which are the main source of excess weight. The abuse of such food makes the body put off colossal amounts of nutrients “in reserve”.
• Fractional nutrition . To best accelerate your metabolism, you need to constantly supply the body with nutrients throughout the day. It’s not about having a feast all over the world every time – even the lightest snack is considered a meal. Make sure that you eat at least two to three times between breakfast, lunch and dinner – for example, eat some fruit or vegetable.
• Do not eat less than two hours before bedtime . During sleep, all processes in the body slow down. For this reason, food will be poorly digested.
• Food should be varied . Our body daily needs a huge amount of a variety of substances, minerals, vitamins and so on. In order to fully provide yourself with everything you need, ideally you should eat different foods every day. But in most cases this is rarely possible for anyone, and only a small variety will be enough.
• Serving sizes should be chosen so as to completely get rid of hunger, but at the same time do not feel heaviness in the stomach. For each person, this amount is different, and you need to select it individually.

It is worth mentioning separately one more thing. A healthy diet can serve several purposes:

1. Used in sports to increase muscle mass.
2. Used for weight loss.
3. For overall well-being and health.

Despite the fact that the basic principles in all three cases will be the same, each of them should include the use of a certain amount of calories.

Major nutritional errors

Many people fail to build the right diet because they are trying to do it “at half strength.” That is, they direct their mood in only one direction, completely forgetting about the rest. This happens, for example, when a person crosses out one product from his menu, hoping in this way to achieve any result. The most important and complex thing is that all the rules must be applied together, and it is necessary to observe them equally.

The most common mistakes for beginners:

• Frequent snacks . A healthy diet should really consist of frequent meals. But there is a caveat – between breakfast, lunch and dinner, the number of calories consumed should be minimized. It’s one thing when every two hours you eat a plate of sandwiches, and quite another when you eat a small apple and a portion of low-fat yogurt during the same time.
• Lack of diet . To really bring your body in order, it must receive food at the same time. Thus, he will fully adapt to your regime and will “trigger” a feeling of hunger only when it is necessary.
• Fast food intake . In order for the body to understand that you have eaten something, some time must pass. And some people manage to throw in themselves such an amount of food that they do not need at this moment during this short period. As a result, half of the food eaten will remain in the form of fat or do not have time to digest. In addition, the portions necessary to satisfy hunger are incommensurably smaller than those people are used to eating. Try to eat food at least once, chewing thoroughly, and you will realize that you can eat half as much. It will also help the stomach easier to digest food.
• Passion for various convenience foods . On the one hand, such food does not have too harmful effects on the body. But what is much more important – as a result of manufacturing and long-term storage, practically no useful properties remain in it.
• Lack of breakfast . We all work, constantly in a hurry and rush about our business. But try getting up at least 20 minutes early and have a real breakfast. Wrong snacks on the go when a slice of bread falls out of your mouth while you tie your shoelaces. Breakfast is the main meal during the day, and its role is very much underestimated. During sleep, our body processes and absorbs the remnants of the food that arrived yesterday. Roughly speaking, night is the period when nutrients do not enter the body for a long time. Even if you do not feel hunger, the lack of breakfast can not only lead to a breakdown, but also spoil your mood and health in general.
• Periods of fasting . This is a very common habit among women. Their logic is this: you do not eat, which means that new body fat does not appear in the body. But in reality, everything is not so simple. Our body is an amazing machine, the primary task of which is survival. That is, it will do everything in order to reduce possible health risks. When you stop eating, the body tends to consider this a sign that it is necessary to start saving valuable fat, which will subsequently be used as energy. This natural process helped our ancient ancestors survive, and now it prevents many housewives from losing weight while starving. This approach most often ends with a breakdown during which you gain even more kilograms.

It will be much better if you keep a special food diary in which you will record the amount of food eaten. This way you can calculate the number of calories you eat during the day and plan your diet.

Menu for the week

An approximate menu of proper nutrition for a week should include about 4-6 meals with an interval of 3-4 hours:

For many people, the serious question remains: how to create a healthy diet menu, what principle to proceed from when planning your diet.

In fact, there are no difficulties. It is important to combine and at the same time divide the food into separate categories. That is, you should not eat chicken all day – for other meals you can use fish or cottage cheese as a source of protein. Remember – the more diverse your diet, the better your body will perceive it. But do not go too far and mix immiscible – do not try to combine dairy products and fish in one sitting.

A healthy diet program should include not only these meals – the rest of the time you should have light snacks. For these purposes, perfect:

• Various vegetables and fruits, as well as berries – they are not very high in calories and contain a lot of useful nutrients.
• Nuts – they contain a large number of calories, but at the same time can cause satiety. In them you will find a large amount of protein and omega-3 acids, which are a source of healthy fats.
• Cottage cheese, yogurts and other dairy products.
• Boiled eggs.
• Dried fruits.

Fruits and vegetables (especially sweet ones) should be used with caution – they contain a large amount of fructose, which in large quantities can provoke the deposition of fat in the body. For this reason, it is worth limiting the amount of nuts eaten. But do not be afraid – in small portions they will only be useful.