Choose a gradual and safe way to lose weight. We tell you all about the gentle weight loss diet: the principles, the foods and menus allowed during the week.
How to lose weight safely? Many nutrition experts believe that a gentle diet is a great way to lose weight. Principles, contraindications, benefits and menus for a week at home - all the details can be found in the material.
There are a number of different weight loss diets designed for short, sprint races.
A weight-sparing diet compared to them can last a marathon, lasting more than six months, while food calorie restriction is quite severe. Before you start losing weight this way, be sure to contact your doctor to find out if it is really safe for you to eat on the gentle diet system used to lose weight.
Gentle diet for weight loss: principles and contraindications
The gentle diet is divided into two main stages: an intense phase and a phase.
The intensive phase lasts up to 6 months. During this time, you should limit your calorie intake to 1, 800 calories per day. As part of your diet, you focus on protein-rich foods. For example, poultry, fish, eggs, low-fat cheese and tofu. Excluding oil and other salad dressings from the diet menu, carbohydrates are limited to 20 grams per day. Thus, at first, almost every meal contains a certain amount of meat, mainly without garnish or as a side dish in the form of certain vegetables (broccoli, cauliflower and others on the list of allowed foods).
In the second step, you can slowly add fats 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, 45 grams of carbohydrates per day are allowed, and in the second month, a maximum of 90 grams.
Talk to your doctor, you may need to take extra multivitamins, potassium, calcium, magnesium or sodium supplements in the first phase to protect your body from nutrient deficiencies. You should also monitor your condition and if it worsens, such as decreased performance or dizziness begins - you should immediately resume the next phase or repeat or quit your diet.
Why is a gentle diet good for you?
A gentle diet is not only good for losing weight. Additional benefits of a gentle diet:
- reducing cholesterol levels to 20%;
- normalization of blood sugar levels;
- lowering blood pressure;
- protection against metabolic syndrome.
Unfortunately, even a gentle diet is not an ideal recipe for weight loss. Be sure to consult a professional before starting, as the diet has side effects. For example, it can cause nutritional deficiencies in the body.
The diet is not right:
- for the elderly;
- for breastfeeding and pregnant women;
- for people with gallbladder problems;
- for people with eating disorders;
- for patients with chronic disease.
Gentle diet for weight loss: menu for a week
Allowed and taboo foods
We’ve already outlined some foods you can eat with a light diet. Detailed list of authorized products:
- poultry: skinless chicken, turkey, goose, duck;
- meat: lean meat, pork, lamb;
- fish: flounder, cod, catfish, halibut;
- vegetables: leafy greens, broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, brussels sprouts, celery, tomatoes, onions, cucumbers, zucchini;
- low-fat dairy products: cottage cheese, low-fat cheese, skimmed milk;
- eggs and egg whites;
- tofu.
Large amounts of fat and carbohydrates are excluded from the frugal diet menu. Complete list of taboo foods:
- fruits: apples, berries, oranges, grapes, melons, pears, peaches;
- starchy vegetables: potatoes, corn, peas;
- cereals: wheat, oats, barley, buckwheat, millet;
- legumes: black beans, lentils, chickpeas, beans, peanuts;
- processed foods: snacks, baked goods, potato chips, fast food, candies;
- sweet drinks: juice, sweet tea, sports drinks, soda;
- sugar and sweeteners: honey, maple syrup, table sugar, molasses, brown sugar;
- fats and oils: olive oil, coconut oil, vegetable oils, salad dressings, butter, margarine;
- whole dairy products: yogurt, fatty cheese, milk.
It should be eaten little by little, in small portions, but often. This diet has three main meals a day and some snacks. Good for:
- Egg;
- A slice of fried meat or fish;
- Cottage cheese;
- A slice of low-fat cheese;
- Multiple stalks of celery;
- A handful of cooked vegetables from the whitelist;
- A tomato.
Do not forget to drink enough water, the daily norm is about one and a half to two liters, it is best to drink at least one glass half an hour or an hour before a meal, and also drink unsweetened green or black tea as a snack. suppresses the possible feeling of hunger. A good option is mineral water or rosehip broth, herbal teas, of course, no sugar should be added to these drinks, and in principle, you should refrain from sugar. The best way to cook food is steaming, cooking, baking, you can use a microwave.
A gentle diet for safe weight loss: menus and foods 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: fried chicken with vegetables garnish (without dressing).
- Dinner: pork chop with fried asparagus.
Wednesday
- Breakfast: egg omelette with zucchini, tomatoes and garlic.
- Lunch: fried cod with boiled cabbage.
- Dinner: lean minced beef, mushrooms, garlic, ginger and green onion salad.
Thursday
- Breakfast: low-fat cottage cheese.
- Lunch: Low carb turkey dumplings with zucchini and tomato pasta.
- Dinner: fried chicken with garlic and lemon (without garnish).
Friday
- Breakfast: hard boiled eggs with salt and pepper.
- Lunch: fried tofu with steamed green beans.
- Dinner: grilled steak with oven-baked eggplant.
Repeat any day on Saturday and Sunday.
Don’t forget about the limitations - for the intensive phase, the main part is made up of proteins, in the second their amount decreases due to the increase in the amount of carbohydrates.
Gentle diet recipes
Chicken with casserole vegetables
Ingredients: chicken fillet, cauliflower, broccoli, eggs, low-fat sour cream, low-fat cream, cheese sprinkles, garlic, spices to taste.
Preparation: if the vegetables are frozen - thaw, if not - rinse in salt water, divide into inflorescences. Cut the chicken, mix it with vegetables in a baking sheet, fill it with sour cream diluted with warm water, put in the oven for 20 minutes, temperature - 180 degrees. For the second pouring, mix the cream with some of the cheese, eggs, chopped garlic or by passing through a garlic press, add spices, mix everything thoroughly. Take the chicken out of the oven with vegetables, fill it with the freshly prepared filling, and distribute the rest of the cheese on top. We return everything to the oven for another 20 minutes.
Green salad
Ingredients: low-fat cheese, celery stalks, tomatoes, cucumbers, red onions, herbs, lemon juice.
Preparation: Wash the vegetables, cut into a deep bowl, send chopped, low-fat cheese, chopped celery stalks, herbs, or chop gently with your hands. Add lemon juice and mix everything thoroughly.
Dietary soup with meatballs
Ingredients: turkey, chicken or rabbit fillet, broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, onions, eggs, herbs, spices to taste.
Preparation: chop the meat with the onion, add the eggs, salt, pepper, if necessary, mix and shape the meatballs. Put the finished meat products in boiling water, add broccoli and cauliflower, previously divided into inflorescences (if you bought frozen vegetables, you do not need to thaw them in advance), grated carrots on a fine grater - this gives a golden color to broth, spices to taste. Cook until cabbage and meatballs are ready, garnish with herbs when serving. You can also add a hard egg to the soup - half on each plate.
Reviews of the gentle diet
Those who have tried this version of the gentle weight loss diet say it is quite difficult to follow - the restrictions are strong, the daily caloric intake may be insufficient for those who are accustomed to physical activity or long walks, fatigue, dizziness may occur - if this happens, the caloric content of the diet should be increased and then gradually reduced, taking into account the state of health and avoiding bigotry.
The food eaten is quite tasty, but not very varied, it’s hardest for people to give up baked goods and sweets and switch to vegetables as a side dish. You are also advised not to neglect dietary supplements and report a feeling of hunger that may accompany you at first, but you will most likely get used to the new diet.
Exit from the diet, as tried, should be warned, it should be very smooth, even after the end of the second stage, very carefully introduced foods on the blacklist should be introduced, otherwise there is a risk that weight loss will be wasted. The fact that the long-term metabolism that this diet takes is rebuilt makes the body accustomed to processing certain amounts of certain types of food, so the accumulation of excess fat can be an excessive consequence. It is best to switch from this diet to a diet built in accordance with the recommendations for proper nutrition, in which case the likelihood of weight gain will be minimal and sufficient strength and energy will be sufficient.