What can help us to manage our diet better? Here are some tips. Many of them we already know, but we forget them when it comes to applying them. Now that summer is coming and many people have decided to resume their diet, it is time to put them into practice.
Almost all of us are somewhat addicted to eating. We are not addicted to food, as we are not addicted to breathing. We are addicted to eating too much, to snacking, to using meal replacement products, like sachets, shakes, etc. We eat what does not do us any good and sometimes we do not know it, or yes, but we deceive ourselves.
In many occasions it is not easy to get out of this addiction but, above all, what stops us the most to fight against it is the fear of being hungry. With these tips from Endocrinology we may be more comfortable with the diet.
Tips to better manage the diet
Don’t qualify: Let the nutritionist do it. Or, if you do it yourself, be objective. There are people who do it wrong and think they are doing it right, or vice versa. In the following consultations, the diet should be reviewed (especially if you are not losing weight) and the necessary modifications will be made. Wait to see the results to qualify yourself.
Do not starve yourself. If you do:
(a) you will get tired of the diet
b) you will have more appetite at the next meal.
c) you will have more food cravings in general, and
d) your metabolism will slow down and you will go into a state of thrift, sensing that there is no food, slowing your weight loss.
We eat more than we need: Fortunately our organism is able to get rid of the overload to which we subject it, without accumulating it. But this works until a certain moment. After a while, it says enough and stops. From then on it is going to be one kilo on top of another and we talk about metabolism slowing down or insulin resistance.
We not only have to lose weight: We have to lower the metabolism and/or correct the insulin resistance. It is, therefore, as important the starting diet as the maintenance diet. With the latter we have to maintain a good weight (rational, not ideal weight) for about a year to improve the conditions of our body, to correct the situation of brake.
To take carbohydrates only on days of physical activity: In reference to compound carbohydrates (rice, pasta, legumes and potato). And, in addition, that it is at noon, not at night, because in those hours our energy consumption is lower and we accumulate more fat.
Fruit dinner maximum of 3 days a week: There are people who abuse of them makes them gain or not to lose weight. In addition, it should not coincide with the day of the carbohydrate meal, as it would be doubling carbohydrates. Fruits carry simple carbohydrates, but more than vegetables. That night it is recommended to have dinner only vegetables or vegetables with proteins.
The more we eat, the hungrier we are: When we eat less we are also less hungry. That is why it costs more at the beginning of the diet and it costs us less when we have been gradually lowering the level (especially in people who eat a lot).
Check the composition of packaged foods: The fact that it says skim milk in the ingredients, for example, does not mean that it is low in calories (vegetable fats may have been added). Likewise, in the foods in which it says wholemeal (cookies) or 0% fat, or light, it does not mean that they do not contain sugar, since this can be put as sugar or as sucrose, glucose, fructose or dextrose.
Eat slowly: If we eat quickly, when we are satiated we have eaten more than if we had eaten more slowly.
Dinner should be light: Better without bread or fruit (especially in diabetics). It should be only vegetables, only fruit (no more than 3 nights a week), or vegetables with proteins (meat, fish, eggs, dairy products). We should not eat bread or compound carbohydrates (rice, pasta, legumes, potatoes), unless we are doing a very strong physical activity.
To use the culinary imagination: So that the diet is varied, so that we do not get tired and so that we do not feel too much on a diet. The most important thing in a diet is that it is comfortable, so it is recommended:
1. vary the type of salads
2. to vary the type of stews
To use flat and small plates: Of course it will depend on how much or less “eaters” we are. It would be convenient to get used to it and, taking out to the table all the food that we are going to eat, to eat less. It is advisable to take out already to the table even the fruit that we will take at the end of the meal.
To remain with some appetite at the end of the meal: It is not the same as being hungry. We can do this little by little, especially if we eat slowly and we have been reducing the quantities.
Eat fruit twice a day: In pieces or, at least, in juices. At meals or outside meals. Better in pieces because it has more fiber and we have to chew.
Make menus: Better for a whole week and then change it every week.
Look for permitted foods in markets that are pleasing to you: It is recommended to eat good integral bread, good skimmed milk, etc.
If we make a meal of commitment (celebration): That day it is recommended not to eat bread and the other strong meal to make it only of vegetables. Inform us of the menu that we are going to serve to be able to select, since they always tend to put a lot of food.
Have prepared low-calorie treats: For example in lists of “alternatives to sweets” or the list of “foods allowed in free quantity”.