Choose a step-by-step and safe way to lose weight. We will tell you everything about a gentle diet for weight loss: basic principles, weekly allowances and menus.
How to lose weight safely? Many dietitians believe that a gentle diet is an excellent option for weight loss. Principles, contraindications, benefits and menus for a week at home - all the details are given in the material.
There are many different diets for weight loss that are designed for short, "sprint" races.
The weight-saving diet compared to them is a marathon, it can last for more than six months, and the restriction of food calories is quite serious. Before you start losing weight this way, be sure to contact your doctor and find out if it is really safe for you to eat in a gentle diet system for weight loss.
Gentle diet for weight loss: basic principles and contraindications
The gentle diet is divided into two main phases: the intensive phase and the re-phase.
The intensive phase lasts up to 6 months. During this time, you should limit your calorie intake to 1800 calories per day. Focus on protein-rich foods as part of your diet. For example, poultry, fish, eggs, low-fat cheese and tofu. The diet menu excludes oil and other salad dressings, and carbohydrates are limited to 20 grams per day. Thus, initially, almost all meals contain a certain amount of meat, mostly without a side dish or in the form of side dishes, in the form of certain vegetables (broccoli, cauliflower, and other permitted foods).
In the second stage you can slowly add fats and carbohydrates, gradually reducing the amount of protein to 70-140 grams per day. The second stage lasts 6-8 weeks. Up to 45 grams of carbohydrates per day are allowed in the first month, and up to 90 grams in the second month.
Talk to your doctor, you may need to take extra multivitamins, potassium, calcium, magnesium or sodium supplements during the first stage to protect your body from lack of food. You also need to monitor your condition and if it worsens, for example, performance decreases or dizziness starts - you should immediately go to the next stage, or, consequently, repeat, or exit the diet.
Why is a gentle diet good for you?
A gentle diet is not only good for weight loss. Additional benefits of a gentle diet:
- Lowering cholesterol levels by up to 20%;
- Normalization of blood sugar levels;
- Lowering blood pressure;
- Protection against metabolic syndrome.
Unfortunately, even a gentle diet is not an ideal recipe for weight loss. Be sure to consult a specialist before you start, as the diet has side effects. For example, it can cause nutritional deficiencies in the body.
Diet is not suitable:
- For the elderly;
- For breastfeeding and pregnant women;
- For those who have gall bladder problems;
- For people with eating disorders;
- For patients with chronic diseases.
Gentle diet for weight loss: menu for a week
Allowed and taboo food
We have already described some of the foods you can take for light weight loss. Detailed list of allowed products:
- Poultry: leather chicken, turkey, goose, duck;
- Meat: lean meat, pork, mutton;
- Fish: clusters, cod, boulder, halibut;
- Vegetables: leafy greens, broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, celery, tomatoes, onions, cucumbers, zucchini;
- Low-fat dairy products: cottage cheese, low-fat cheese, low-fat milk;
- Eggs and egg whites;
- Tofu
Large amounts of fats and carbohydrates are excluded from the general diet menu. Complete list of taboo foods:
- Fruits: apples, berries, oranges, grapes, melons, pears, peaches;
- Starchy vegetables: potatoes, corn, peas;
- Cereals: wheat, oats, barley, buckwheat, millet;
- Legumes: black beans, lentils, chicken, beans, peanuts;
- Processed foods: convenient foods, baked goods, potato chips, fast food, sweets;
- Sweet drinks: juice, sweet tea, sports drinks, soda;
- Sugars and sweeteners: honey, maple syrup, table sugar, molasses, brown sugar;
- Fats and oils: olive oil, coconut oil, vegetable oils, lettuce, butter, margarine;
- Complete dairy products: yogurt, fatty cheese, milk.
Need to eat slowly, in small portions, but often. This diet has three main meals a day and a few breakfasts. As suitable as such:
- Egg;
- A piece of baked meat or fish;
- Ხაჭო;
- A slice of low-fat cheese;
- A few stalks of celery;
- One handful of cooked vegetables from the allowed list;
- tomato.
Do not forget enough water, the daily norm is about half to two liters, it is better to drink at least one cup half an hour or an hour before eating, and also drink endless green or black tea for breakfast to quench the possible feeling of hunger. A good option is mineral water or rose broth, herbal tea, of course, you do not need to add sugar to these drinks and, in principle, you should refrain from sugar. The best way to prepare food is to steam, cook, bake, you can use the microwave.
Gentle diet for safe weight loss: Menus and dishes that you can prepare at home
on Monday
- Breakfast: scrambled eggs with spinach and tomatoes.
- Lunch: steamed cod with broccoli.
- Dinner: Chicken breast with fried Brussels sprouts.
On Tuesday
- Breakfast: tofu with onion, garlic and bell pepper.
- Lunch: Baked chicken with vegetable side dish (no dressing).
- Dinner: Pork onion with fried asparagus.
On Wednesday
- Breakfast: Egg omelette with zucchini, tomatoes and garlic.
- Lunch: baked cod with boiled cabbage.
- Dinner: lean ground beef, mushrooms, garlic, ginger and green onions.
Thursday
- Breakfast: low-fat cottage cheese.
- Lunch: low-carb turkey meat, zucchini and tomato noodles.
- Dinner: fried chicken with garlic and lemon (without garnish).
Friday
- Breakfast: Hard-boiled eggs with salt and pepper.
- Lunch: Baked tofu with steamed green beans.
- Dinner: Grilled steak with eggplant fried in the oven.
Repeat any day on Saturday and Sunday.
Do not forget about the limitations - for the intense phase, the main part consists of proteins, and secondly, their number decreases due to an increase in the amount of carbohydrates.
Gentle diet recipes
Chicken pot with vegetables
Ingredients: chicken fillet, cauliflower, broccoli, eggs, low-fat sour cream, low-fat cream, cheese, garlic, spices to taste.
Preparation: If the vegetables are frozen - thaw, if not - rinse in salted water, divide by flowering. Chopped chicken, mix the vegetables in a baking tin, fill it with sour cream, diluted with warm water, bake in the oven for 20 minutes, temperature - 180 degrees. For the second pour, mix the cream with the cheese part, the egg, the finely chopped garlic or put it in the garlic press, add the spices, mix everything well. We took the chicken with the vegetables out of the oven, filled it with the freshly prepared filling, and distributed the rest of the cheese on top. We put everything back in the oven for another 20 minutes.
Vegetable Salad
Ingredients: low-fat cheese, celery stalks, tomatoes, cucumbers, red onions, herbs, lemon juice.
Preparation: Wash vegetables, cut into deep bowls, send finely chopped low-fat cheese, chopped celery stalks, herbs or finely chopped by hand. Add lemon juice and mix everything well.
Dietary soup with meat
Ingredients: turkey, chicken or rabbit fillet, broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, onions, eggs, herbs, spices to taste.
Preparation: Grind the meat with the onion, if desired add the eggs, salt, pepper, stir and fold into a dish. Put the finished meat products in boiling water, add broccoli and cauliflower, previously divided into inflorescences (if you buy frozen vegetables, you do not need to freeze them in advance), grated carrots on a fine grater - it will give a golden broth, spices to taste. Boil until cabbage and meat are cooked, garnish with herbs while serving. You can also add hard-boiled eggs to the soup - half on each plate.
Gentle Diet Review
Those who have tried this version of a gentle diet for weight loss say that it is quite difficult to maintain - the restrictions are strong, the daily number of calories may be insufficient for those who are accustomed to physical activity or long walks, fatigue. Dizziness may occur - if this happens, increase the caloric content of the diet and gradually reduce it, to maintain good health and prevent bigotry.
The food you can eat is quite tasty, but not so varied, it is most difficult for people to give up baked goods and sweets and vegetables. They also advise you not to neglect food supplements and report the feeling of hunger that may accompany you from the beginning, but then you will probably get used to the new diet.
Leaving the diet, as warned, should be very smooth, and after the end of the second phase, food should be imported from the forbidden list very carefully, otherwise there is a risk that the basis for weight loss will be spoiled. The fact is that for a long time the metabolism is restored to this diet, the body gets used to processing certain types of food, so the accumulation of excess fat can be the result of excess excess. It is best to switch from this diet to a diet built on proper nutrition recommendations, in which case the likelihood of weight gain will be minimal and there will be enough strength and energy.