Losing weight doesn't have to mean eating nothing but salad or cutting out carbohydrates. A balanced and healthy diet should provide all of your essential nutrients. Your body requires proteins, carbohydrates, fats and many vitamins and minerals that can often be neglected in crash diets. A nutritional diet with sensible portion control will allow you to lose weight and keep that weight off.
Daily Calories
To cut calories, you must first find out how many you are consuming each day and how many you need to consume to maintain your present weight. The average daily calorie allowance for men is 2,500 calories and 2,000 for women. This differs depending on activity level, metabolic rate and other factors so yours may differ considerably. A cut of 500 calories per day will give you gradual weight loss at a safe rate of approximately 1 lb. a week.
Breakfast
At breakfast, try to include proteins, whole grains and fruit. This balance will give you energy to get through the morning and prevent hunger and often unhealthy snacking. A breakfast consisting of a whole wheat mini bagel with cream cheese, low-fat yogurt, a cup of fresh berries and a black coffee contains less than 400 calories. Similarly, try a 3/4 cup of oats with two large scrambled eggs and a cup of orange juice for about 450 calories.
Lunch
If you bring your own lunch to work, choose a sandwich with whole grain bread, lean meats and salad. If you use a dressing, choose a vinegerette or light mayonnaise rather than full fat. Meats to go for include turkey, chicken and lean cuts of ham and beef. You can enjoy a few potato chips and a piece of fruit with your lunch and still keep the calories under 500. If your friends drag you out to a fast food restaurant at lunch, try to keep to your diet.
Dinner
Try to make you plate at dinner as colorful as possible including at least 2 vegetable as well as a protein and a carbohydrate. A typical home-cooked meal could be salmon with baked potato, asparagus and sweetcorn. Another day, you might choose grilled chicken in a stir fry sauce with rice or noodles and a mixture of mushrooms, peppers and onions. As a guide, aim for between 450 and 700 calories at dinnertime.
Snacking and Dessert
Between meals, avoid temptation to break you weight loss plan by carrying healthier snacks such as fruit, cereal bars and occasionally, smaller portions of less healthy snacks. A snack between breakfast and lunch as well as another between lunch and dinner should suffice. Keep snacks to under 100 calories each. If you have a sweet tooth after dinner, eat a little less at dinner and enjoy a lower calorie dessert options such as strawberries and light cream or frozen yogurt or small portions of your other favorites.
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