Carrying too many or too few pounds for a period of time can harm your health and increase your risk for disease. Extreme diets, which may succeed briefly but cause a weight rebound later, are not the answer. To correct dietary imbalances and promote weight loss or weight gain, use a balanced eating plan that lets you adjust your caloric intake to meet your personal needs. Getting balanced nutrition at different calorie levels is the safe way to lose or gain pounds and then maintain a healthy weight throughout your lifetime.
Balanced Diet
Dietary fat and carbohydrates are usually involved in nutritional imbalances that change your weight. You can control your caloric intake from these influential nutrients with your food choices among the protein, grain, dairy, vegetable and fruit food groups. The National Institutes of Health recommend first choosing a variety of foods in each category to gain all of your essential nutrients each day, and then adjusting portion sizes and meal frequency to hit the calorie goal that you and your doctor select.
Diet to Lose Weight
If you are gaining weight at your current caloric intake or are maintaining a previously developed overweight condition, you need a weight-loss diet plan. The Office of the Surgeon General equates overweight with increased risk for life-threatening heart disease, cancers and type 2 diabetes. Choose low-fat, low-sugar and low-calorie foods within each food group as you exercise daily. When you stop gaining pounds and reach a weight in the healthy range for your height, you can level off your diet to sustain that balance of calorie intake and expenditure.
Diet to Gain Weight
Burn more calories through daily activity than you consume from foods causes weight loss. If you're chronically underweight, you may not get enough calories due to your eating habits, digestive disorders or another underlying medical problem such as thyroid disease. Continuing at a weight deficit can cause long-term muscle, bone and memory problems. Underweight conditions may also indicate nutrient deficiency such as anemia, which can cause further health complications. Let your doctor suggest a safe caloric intake and weight-gain goal. Then choose healthy foods with greater monounsaturated or polyunsaturated fat than saturated fat content, as well as more nutritious whole grains instead of refined grains as part of your balanced meal plan.
Diet to Maintain Weight
When you stop losing or gaining pounds and reach your desired weight, you can shift your caloric intake to the general amount that you normally expend in a day. Your activity level may have risen during your diet period, so you may need to factor that into your weight-maintenance plan. A balanced diet that allows you to stay at the proper weight will let you realize your good-health potential for life.
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