Previously we talked about the main advantages and disadvantages of diet planning, and now we will determine how is it possible to balance our psychological state and requirements to an ideal shape.
So, the basic rules for making your nutrition plan:
Prioritize
The whole matter boils down to the main aspect of losing weight – to calories, the proportion of proteins, fats, carbohydrates, and trace elements.
Experts recommend about half the calorie content of the diet to be made up of carbohydrates, focusing primarily on “slow” ones (any cereals, pasta).
Protein intake depends on your goals. If you’re not doing anything, just 1 gram of protein per 3 pounds of body weight per day is enough. If you are engaged in power loads – in this case, the most reputable scientific institutions recommend consuming about 1.6-1.8 grams per 3 pounds of body weight per day. If you reduce the percentage of fat, then protein is needed even more than for muscle gain. Different scientific sources recommend 1.8 to 2.5 grams of protein per 3 pounds of your weight.
For endurance training (running, triathlon), the reputable American College of Sports Medicine (ACSM) recommends consuming 1.2-1.4 grams of protein per 3 pounds of weight.
Therefore, while making a nutrition plan, it is important to focus not on the food, but the nutrients in it.
Number of meals
The nutrition plan for the office worker and the young mother with the baby will be different. So take your lifestyle, conditions, and habits as a basis. There are no strict restrictions on the number of meals – you can eat both 2 and 9 times a day. But we think that most people are comfortable eating 3 to 5 times a day in portions, regardless of whether you gain or lose weight.
Choose the right products
First of all, focus on what you like and require minimal effort and cooking time.
It is perfect if 80% of your food is meat, fish, dairy products, fruits, vegetables, nuts, oils, and only up to 20% – foods that are not included in the first 80%. For example, sweets, desserts, soft drinks, hot sandwiches with sausages. In this way, you combine your desires and need without consulting a fitness specialist for advice. You are now able to create the shape of your dreams. Also, this 20 % will strengthen your confidence that you can combine healthy food with the food that you want.
Flexibility
Imagine that you lose weight and your norm for nutrients is 2,300 kcal, 180 grams of protein, 250 grams of carbohydrates, and 60 grams of fat. Then we turn to the nutritional value of what you ate in a restaurant, for example, pizza: 840 kcal, 40 g of protein, 110 g of carbohydrates and 23 g of fat. This product is forbidden to you, but if you ate it once, then you will not destroy your goals. Thus, we can try to balance our plan within the calculated number of calories, which will avoid asocial behavior.
At first, this seems to be a test of your willpower, but with a flexible approach based on your favorite products, you gradually come to understand that it is you who are in control of the situation, so breakdowns tend to zero.
Over time, you will be able to come to the fact that you will gradually move on from a strict nutrition plan, making it your lifestyle.
