Every one of the thousands of diet plans out there claims to be your solution to lasting weight loss. Despite these claims, 95 percent of dieters regain some or all of their lost weight within three to five years. You can devise your own good and healthy diet plan by emphasizing whole, fresh products; limiting portion sizes; and making sure to include a variety of foods at every meal.
Features
A good and healthy diet plan includes most foods in moderation. Whole grains, fresh fruits and vegetables, lean proteins, unsaturated fats such as plant oils and low- or nonfat dairy products all provide important nutrients that your body needs for energy, disease prevention and optimal health. You should strive to limit intake of saturated and trans fats, found in fatty cuts of red meat, full-fat dairy and commercial fried foods. Keeping your intake of added sugar at the levels recommended by the American Heart Association -- below 6 tsp. per day for women and 9 tsp. for men -- also helps prevent overdoing your calorie intake.
Calorie Intake and Portion Sizes
Eating fewer calories than you burn daily brings about weight loss. For most people, diets ranging from 1,200 to 1,800 calories offer enough calories for good nutrition while still being low enough to make a difference on the scale. Filling those calories with quality foods helps prevent you from feeling deprived and abandoning your weight loss goals.
Eating reasonable portion sizes is another way to keep healthy and lose weight. A standard serving of meat, fish or poultry is just 3 to 5 oz.; a cup of pasta actually equals two servings of grains; and a cup of skim milk or yogurt equals one serving of dairy.
Considerations
Following a fad diet or a diet that worked for your neighbor is probably not a good strategy. If a plan forbids some or all of your favorite foods or requires you to do things such as cook complex recipes when you hate the kitchen, it is simply not going to work for you in the long term. Instead of chasing the latest craze, adopt a sensible plan that involves making healthier food choices, moderating portion sizes and increasing physical activity.
Meal Ideas
A good, healthy breakfast could include an omelet with egg whites, fresh peppers and red onion and a whole-grain English muffin; a bowl of oatmeal with skim milk, raisins and a sprinkling of nuts; or nonfat, plain yogurt with high-fiber, whole-grain cereal. A sandwich on whole-grain bread made with 2 oz. of turkey or chicken, spinach leaves and tomato alongside baby carrots, a small serving of hummus and a piece of fruit is a healthy, calorie-controlled lunch. Peruse magazines and websites focused on light cooking to find dinner recipes, or simply grill or broil chicken breast, lean sirloin or fish and serve with a cup of brown rice, whole-wheat pasta or quinoa and a cup of roasted or steamed vegetables, with a side salad drizzled with olive oil dressing.
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