What to eat and what not to eat is the most common question that occurs in anybody’s mind while talking about weight loss procedures. No matter how much you push your body during exercise, if your diet is not in balance, losing weight can go difficult for you. Exercise and food habits go hand in hand to help you get a balanced body weight. Many people consider dieting as skipping meals only. But dieting is much more than it. It means taking food with correct nutritional value and incorrect portions with consistency because consistency is the key. So as a beginner, one must know their meal plan for a specific period of time. Here is your 28-day meal plan to start your weight loss journey.
Never ignore breakfast:
Skipping meals should also have a limit. Skipping meals just like that won’t help you in weight loss, even it can deduct some important nutrients for you. And in this, skipping breakfast should never be an option. Breakfast is called the most important meal of the day for some very valid reasons. Breakfast is the first meal of the day. Well, it should give justice to its title. If your first meal will be healthy and gives you a feeling of being full, you won’t jump onto grabbing more out-of-limit food in other meals.
A good breakfast should keep you satisfied so that you don’t crave more during the rest of the day. You should have 400-500 calories with a source of lean protein and filling fat. Starting your day with such a meal will help you burn fat. Food items like eggs, unsweetened yogurt, nuts, fruits, 100 percent whole-grain make a good team against body fat.
Bring regularity to meals :
Well, this might looks the exact opposite of what you expected. But yes, taking regular meals can actually help you in weight loss instead of complimenting the myths. With regular meals, our body performs faster burning of calories. Skipping a meal will ultimately slow down the rate at which our body burns calories. In addition to that, you will feel more hungry without even losing that many calories. So is it even worth it?. Have your meals regularly and try to eat healthily.
Protein- the all time savior :
When it’s about losing fat, a protein-rich diet is a savior. Protein-rich food is known to be a great way to reduce your appetite, hence, results in fat burning.
Protein-rich food also safeguards your muscle mass and metabolism during weight loss. It also helps you to recover faster from any injury or muscle ache during exercise. Meat, seafood, eggs, legumes, and dairy products are protein-rich foods. So, having a part of the protein in your daily diet can help you to burn excessive fat.
Introduce your meals with fruits and vegetables:
Fruits and vegetables are a great source of fiber. They have low calories and fats. Not only this but fruits and vegetables provides you so many essential minerals and vitamins. But like everything comes with some set of instructions, so is this tip. Try to have fruits and vegetables in their natural form or with low-fat cooking techniques. you can also go with frozen or canned fruits and vegetables.They are inspected to be as nutritional as fresh ones just with some minimal differences.
Fruit juices can’t work as a replacement for fresh fruits. Juices have lost fiber from fruits. So eat raw fruits and vegetables instead of juices. Whole fruits satisfy your hunger in a much better way than Dry fruits with an equal amount of calories.
Water-love:
Water has its own set of benefits for your body. It is also called a natural appetite buster. It makes you feel full and as result, you automatically eat less. Water increases the rate at which calories burn in our body. We know water helps to remove waste from our bodies too. A study shows that 30-59 percent of US adults increased water intake in order to lose weight.
How much water should you drink?
Well, some studies show that a person should consumes 8 glass (2 litres) of water per day. Though this number is completely random as level of water consumption is subjective, it varies from individual to individual.
Also, you get water through many food items and beverages too. Dehydration can cause a lack of concentration, mood swings, headaches, etc. A 12-week study says that drinking 500 ml water before a meal resulted in reducing 2kgs of fat. These simple minute changes can help you a lot in achieving your goal. So water- love is something you need.
Also read: In 21 Days Lock Down, Get rid from old bad Habits
Healthy fats, won’t mess it up.
It might sound a bit odd, but increasing intake of healthy fats can actually help you in reducing body fat. Fats take time to digest. They are in stomach for more time making it full. Hence, it reduces appetite. Studies stated that a balanced diet with healthy fats is more effective in reducing weight than consuming a low-fat or fat-free diet. But unhealthy fats result in increasing fat. Hence, it is very important to know what fats to take in.
Olive oil, coconut oil, avocados, nuts are some examples of healthy fats that can help you in your weight loss journey.
Pause on Alcohol.
“Everything is good, but in the limit”. As taught by our ancestors, this statement holds a great level of importance. Some studies do say that alcohol in limit can actually help good cholesterol in your body to increase. But crossing the limit can have opposite and worse consequences. Alcohol offers empty calories, which can trigger the hunger hormones making you feel more hungry and increasing belly fat storage. Alcohol comes with a huge amount of calories. These calories result in weight gain.
Not only directly, but alcohol disturbs the factors affecting weight indirectly too. Like sleep, alcohol affects your sleeping hormone, and that ultimately disturbs your sleeping schedule dis balancing your weight.
Replace sugary beverages with healthy ones.
Replacing your sugar-sweet beverages with some healthy options is an efficient way to reduce weight.
Beverages with high sugar like soda contain more calories and less nutritional value. Alcohol also contains calories and increases your appetite resulting in making you overeat. Instead, you can have any calorie-free beverages like green tea, water. The caffeine in green tea works as a tonic that helps in reducing fat efficiently. Green tea leaves do not undergo the process of an oxidation process, hence it is considered a healthier option. Green tea does not contain a large number of calories. So, making a change in your beverage choices is a green signal.
Plan your diet:
As soon as you get up, you should plan your breakfast, lunch, evening snacks and dinner. You should have a record of how much calories you are taking in on daily basis. Then only you can supervise your development over a period of time.
These tips in your 28-day meal plan can surely give you good results and a positive mindset about weight loss. As mentioned above, consistency is the key. You must also note your daily meals so that you can know what works for you the best, for future reference. You may extend the plan as much as you like. So when are you starting your 28-day meal plan?
