As the old age goes' you are what you eat', eating healthy defines our health and wellness to a large extent. Unfortunately, for many of us eating healthy and maintaining body weight is a never ending struggle. Many people choose to follow crash diets that are potentially dangerous to our health. Others try to focus more on exercise routines than their diet. Both the approaches are not beneficial for losing weight or gaining muscle. What is needed is a healthy diet that can balance the nutritional needs of our body and support our exercise routines to provide optimum results.
Though people have an idea of what comprises a healthy diet the lure of junk food is hard to resist. As per a recent research results, approximately $190 billion is spent on fast food alone annually in the United States. Another survey conducted on trends of obesity in America by University of Oxford and University of Columbia reveals that by 2030 half of the America will be obese and by 2048 obesity could be the most common disease in the country.
We cannot follow diet plans that worked for others because what works for them may not help us. For weight loss or weight gain programs, diet plans must be individualized. For instance, for losing weight successfully, one can cut down on the calories with a balanced diet plan along with an effective exercise routine. Alternatively for weight gain one can resort to healthy carbs-diet with weight training routine.
The diet plans should be discussed with your physician, nutritionist and fitness trainer to tailor the diet plan for specific and individual needs.
Diet plans for weight loss
Protein is not easily digested in our system and hence, it makes us feel full thereby cutting down the appetite. The high-protein diet should be strictly followed by a recommended amount of fibre intake (25-35 grams/day) and plenty of water consumption to facilitate digestion.
There are many crash or fad diets that are effective but only for a short duration of time. When the crash diet plan is not followed the person tends to gain weight. Unfortunately these diets pose potential health risks. Soup diet or liquid diet is one of the most famous fad diets followed by people who want to lose weight.
Low-Carb Diet coupled with High-Fat diet is thought to be the most effective way to lose weight, however, there are many studies going on to find out more about the accuracy of such results. Carbohydrates are very much needed by our bodies to function normally. Hence, Carbs cannot be eliminated from the diet. However, they can be restricted. The intake of carbohydrates can be decreased over a period to lose calories.
Fruits and vegetables contain necessary nutrients and dietary fibre in plenty. The fruit and vegetable diet can include a big portion of fruits and vegetables along with the daily food. When consumed in balanced portions fruit and vegetable diet can be helpful to maintain body weight.
Many people may struggle to curb their appetite and hence, fail to lose weight. In such cases, weight loss supplementation can be very helpful. Weight loss pills will target the unhealthy appetite and reduce the amount of food intake facilitating weight loss.
Diet plans for weight gain
Carbohydrates are necessary to gain weight but instead of munching on sugary treats and processed junk food one can choose to include healthy carbohydrates such as whole grains, sweet potatoes, bananas, mangoes, legumes, etc.
Alternatively a healthy diet rich in protein can help along with weight training to gain muscles. The inclusion of nuts, seeds, fish etc in the daily diet can pump up the protein intake.
Whether you are trying to lose weight or gain few pounds following healthy options for daily diet can be very beneficial for long-term results:
- A healthy diet should have fresh fruits, vegetables, nuts, legumes, whole grains.
- It is better to cut down on dairy and consume fat-free food.
- The intake of sodium and sugar should be restricted and for a healthy diet trans fats can be eliminated from the everyday diet.
- It is always good to eat at intervals in small portions to check appetite.
It is not just what you eat but how you eat matters a lot. Mindful eating can go a long way to watch the portion size and enjoy what you eat. Some of the tips for mindful eating are:
- Eat slowly and avoid binging
- Enjoy and relish the food
- Avoid watching TV or using your phone while eating
- Eat when you are hungry
ConclusionFood awareness is extremely essential to improve and safeguard our health. Though healthy diet is not easy to follow it is achievable and we need to know what we are consuming and how much we consume so that our weight loss or weight gain programs can be successful and we manage a healthy weight and thus a healthy lifestyle.
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