There's no reason a healthy diet can't consist of regular food --- including your favorites, in moderate amounts. The key is increasing the amount of fruits, veggies and whole grains you eat and lowering your fat intake. If you can keep the number of calories you ingest lower than the number you expend, you'll lose weight.
Calories Needed
When you plan your diet, the first thing to determine is how many calories you need per day. According to MyPyramid.gov, this depends on your age, sex and daily activity. Sedentary people require 200 fewer calories than moderately active people and 400 fewer calories than active people, while females require fewer calories per day than males. For example, a moderately active male aged 31 to 45 requires 2,600 calories, while a female in the same categories requires 2,000 calories.
Basic Recommendations
For a 2,000-calorie diet, the government's Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommend 2 cups of fruit and 2.5 cups of veggies. You also need 3 oz. of whole grains and 3 cups of reduced fat dairy products. Your total fat intake should stay between 20 and 35 percent of your total daily calories, with less than 10 percent of those calories coming from saturated fats.
DASH Diet
The National Heart Lung and Blood Institute recommends the DASH Diet, originally formulated to help people lower their blood pressure and lose weight. This diet keeps sodium, fat and cholesterol low while promoting fruits, veggies, low-fat dairy products, nuts, whole grains and lean protein sources such as chicken and fish. At the 2,100 calorie level, the diet caps your fat at 27 percent of those calories, your carbs at 55 percent, your cholesterol at 150 mg per day, and your sodium at either 2,300 mg per day or 1,500 mg per day, depending on your needs.
USDA Food Guide
Like the DASH Diet, the USDA Food Guide can help you eat more nutritious food while providing you with a number of discretionary calories to "spend" on foods that aren't as healthy. At the 2,000 calorie level, they offer 267 calories per day that you can use for anything you like. Your daily choices should also include 27 g of oils such as olive oil or other vegetable oils, 3 cups of milk or dairy products, 5.5 oz. of either beans or lean meat such as chicken, turkey or fish, 6 oz. of grains, with at least half of those being whole grains, 2.5 cups of veggies and 2 cups of fruit.
Physical Activity
No matter which diet you follow, it's important to combine it with physical exercise. The Dietary Guidelines for Americans notes that 30 minutes of moderate exercise --- such as a brisk walk or a bike ride --- on most days of the week can help to reduce your risk of chronic disease, including heart disease. To maintain weight, the guidelines suggest you do about 60 minutes of moderate exercise on most days. To lose weight, you'll need to do between 60 and 90 minutes of moderate exercise.
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