Dieting is not an easy process because you deny yourself treats and foods you enjoy eating. If you experience a dieting failure, you might think all is lost. You may think you have to cut out whole groups of food in order to achieve quick, visible weight-loss success. But it's more important to change your thinking about dieting so that you don't negatively affect your health. In reality, you need nutrients from every food group. Sensible dieting and diet plans can help you achieve your goal.
Tips
In order to lose weight, you need a diet plan that enables you to eat healthy, nutritious foods and lose weight at a reasonable rate. Find ways to make your weight loss and lifestyle change as easy as possible. Choose long-term strategies that make it easier for you to stick with your diet by making small changes, getting help from your family, cutting down on your intake of sodas and other sugary drinks, eating smaller meals more frequently, eating only until you're full and eating five servings of fruits and vegetables a day, recommends Kids Health.
The Food Groups
You lose weight when you take in fewer calories than you use. If you restrict yourself to eating only a few foods, you're depriving your body of needed nutrition. You may lose weight at first, but when your body senses that it is being "deprived" of nutrients, it goes into "starvation mode." When this happens, your metabolism slows down so your body can preserve its stores of fat, according to the University of Maryland Medical Center.
For this reason, eating a diet that includes foods from each food group--whole grains, fruits and vegetables, lean protein, healthy fats and calcium--means that, while you'll lose weight more slowly, you will lose more over a longer period of time.
The French
Consider how the French eat. They don't cut out high-fat foods, they drink wine on a regular basis and they enjoy rich foods and chocolate. They stay thin because they manage the portions of food they eat and they leave a little food on their plates at the end of the meal, according to "Good Housekeeping." Another hallmark of this plan is that all of the foods and staples are natural and unprocessed. The French don't count calories, fat grams or carbohydrates; they just eat naturally prepared food in moderation. The French don't fear drinking coffee, beer and wine in moderation, either.
Supermarket Diet
The Supermarket Diet helps dieters to lose weight on a slow, steady basis, according to "Good Housekeeping." Dieters who follow this plan draw from each food group: whole grains, fresh fruits and vegetables, lean proteins, healthy fats and calcium. However, at the start of The Supermarket Diet, they are restricted to 1,200 calories per day. After they have lost some weight, they are able to increase daily caloric intake to 1,500 calories, then 1,800 in the maintenance part of this plan. This diet allows some intake of packaged foods, as long as those choices are made wisely. This plan also allows for intake of alcohol and coffee, again, in moderation. Those dieters who use sugar in their coffee are restricted to 1 tsp. per cup.
Be Sensible
Following a sensible diet that includes foods and nutrients from every food group enables you to achieve a steady weight loss. While that loss won't be obvious or drastic, it is healthier to lose weight more slowly so that your body doesn't suffer from lack of nutrients. The Supermarket Diet and "The French Don't" diet plans both enable you to eat from all food groups, with the French plan requiring all-natural ingredients, including fat-laden foods like cheese, milk and butter in moderation.
Member Comments