Counting calories may seem
old-fashioned today, given the proliferation of low-carb and high protein
The majority of diets offer dieters
1,000 to 1,500 calories each day. Still,
it would be wrong to assume that everyone who needs to lose weight should be on
a 1,000 calorie diet. In fact, the
amount of calories you need is a function of your current weight, your
metabolism, and the amount of exercise you do.
Diets recommended by doctors, as well as many of the meal programs found
in diet books, are based upon a low-calorie model.
When dieting, you should assume that
you will lose only about a pound a week.
However, during the initial stages of your diet, you may find that you
are actually losing more weight than that because you are losing water. While you can use a standardized diet, it is
perhaps best to work with a dietician in order to fine-tune the diet to meet
your individual needs.
Still, even if you are curbing your
calorie count, you’ll need to make sure that what you eat is nutritious. By paying close attention to nutrition
labels, you can determine the vitamin and mineral count of much of what you
consume. There are certain general
requirements for a healthy diet. For
instance, you’ll need to make sure that you are getting enough protein. For the typical woman, this would amount to
50 grams per day; for the typical man, 63 grams per day. Protein is vitally important for
strengthening your muscles and teeth and maintaining good skin tone. Protein sources can include lean meat, fish,
chicken, eggs, beans, and nuts. Experts
recommend that you have at least two servings of protein a day.
While low carb diets may be all the
rage, a number of dieticians say you need as many as 100 grams of carbohydrates
a day. This means consuming as many as
eleven servings of pasta, cereal, and bread in order to maintain a healthy
energy level. You should also eat at least
20 grams of fiber each day to aid your digestion. Less than a third of your calories should
come from fat in order to enable you to keep the pounds off. Only about one-tenth of your calories should
be derived from saturated fat. Also,
keep your cholesterol count under control in order to keep heart disease at
bay.
An important aspect of good nutrition
that many individuals forget is water.
This might be surprising, however, given the fact that most of our body
is made up of H20. Medical experts by
and large agree that you should drink at least eight glasses of water
everyday. Exercise, however, could
make you yearn for additional water.
Water is often considered the secret weapon of weight loss, enabling
people to shed pounds more easily.
Although it may be tempting, you
should not skip meals. This only serves
to decrease your metabolism, causing you to burn fat more slowly. Even a small meal is better than no meal at
all. Weight loss experts, however,
differ about the number of meals you should eat each day. Some recommend the standard three meals with
a couple of snacks, while others recommend five or six small meals each
day. You should probably check with your
physician to see which approach is appropriate for you.
Losing weight can be a difficult
challenge, no matter what your age. There are so many temptations around, so many
opportunities to boost your calorie count.
Also, you might try to follow one diet, only to find that it is
difficult to sustain. As a result, the
low-calorie diet may be the best method around for consistent weight loss. While you might not be able to lose weight
quickly, you can shed pounds eventually.
By being patient and committed to your weight loss program, you can
ultimately lose the weight you need to.
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