Diets are often strictly associated with weight loss, but they can be used to achieve a variety of goals. Of course, a diet designed to facilitate weight loss will differ greatly from a diet designed to facilitate weight gain. In any case, as a student, one of the important factors in any diet is the cost.
Weight Loss for Students
Losing weight is by definition an inexpensive proposition, as it will involve consuming less food. The most important aspect of weight loss to remember is the caloric deficit. Start by consulting a basal metabolic rate calculator like the one listed in the Resources section. This will use your age, gender, height and weight to determine the number of daily calories that your body requires to maintain its current weight without exercise. Now, using the nutritional information relevant to your favorite foods, aim to construct a diet with calories totaling 500 less than this number. As MayoClinic.com explains, since 3,500 calories is equivalent to 1 lb. of fat, this will allow you to lose approximately 1 lb. of fat per week. In order to achieve this deficit, start by eliminating simple carbohydrates from your diet. If this doesn't suffice, chip away at your meal sizes as necessary.
Weight Gain for Students
A weight-gain diet will increase your costs to some extent, since it will require the consumption of excess food. The two essential concepts to a weight-gain diet are caloric surplus and ample protein. As an evolutionary adaptation, the body will only gain muscle mass at an optimal rate if it experiences a caloric surplus, in order to conserve energy in case of starvation. As such, construct a diet featuring between 3,000 and 4,000 calories depending on the extent and urgency of your desired weight gain. To accomplish this, split your food up into between five and seven daily meals. Protein contains essential amino acids, which form the building blocks for new muscle tissue, so aim to ingest at least 1.6 g of protein per kilogram of body weight per day. To meet this requirement, make ample use of protein-rich foods such as meat, fish, beans, tofu, eggs and nuts.
General Health for Students
A general health diet should focus on ensuring that you're receiving your daily recommended values of all relevant vitamins, minerals and nutrients. To start, consult the U. S. Department of Agriculture American food pyramid calculator for guidelines. Depending on your age, gender, height and weight, it will provide you with recommended daily quantities of meats, dairy, grains, fruits and vegetables. as well as a daily limit for extraneous junk food calories. Further, in order to cover your bases completely, consider taking a daily multivitamin.
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