Choosing a Safe Diet Plan
Diet plan that sounds too good to be true, promises outrageous amounts of weight loss, or suggests that you ignore whole groups of foods and nutrients is not the right one for you. You do not need to put your health at risk for weight loss. You do not need to ignore foods that you like or eat foods that you do not enjoy to lose weight fast. A safe diet plan is one that gives you a fair amount of sustainable weight loss without making you sick or weak and without putting your body at risk for vitamin or mineral deficiencies. A safe diet plan is also one that does not sound ridiculous when you closely examine it.
In the beginning, you will find that you lose weight much quicker. You will lose the most weight in weeks one and two but start tapering off by weeks three and four meaning that you will also have to continually reevaluate and readjust your efforts to take into account the fact that you weigh less and therefore need smaller amounts of food to maintain yourself.
Portion Control Is the Key
One of the most common myths that will not die in the world of dieting is that if you are eating certain kinds of foods, you can have all that you want. You can have unlimited salad. There are some watery vegetables that you can eat in unlimited amounts, but then there are other healthy foods that are not allowed to be eaten in unlimited amounts. If you are eating too much of even the healthiest foods, you are going to gain weight. It is that simple. Protein is a good example. It is a very important macronutrient and one that the body digests more slowly than any other. If you eat too much protein at one time, the body will automatically store it for later, leading to weight gain. In fact, the body can only metabolize roughly 30 grams of protein at one time. Thirty grams is equal to four ounces of beef, chicken, or fish and this amount should be eaten every three hours or so. In addition to protein from beef, chicken, or fish, anyone who wants to lose weight fast should consider eating at least a percentage of their protein intake from vegetable protein as well. Good examples of vegetarian protein include tofu, mushrooms, nuts, seeds, and legumes.
Why Timing Matters
There are many rigidly written diet plans that have you jumping through hoops and changing your entire lifestyle to comply with their rules. You may have to wake up to eat a meal hours before you normally would. You may find yourself struggling to find some of the ingredients that are needed for the recipes. You may find yourself not allowed to eat after a certain time, starving for the rest of the night. Those diet plans that tell you that you can lose weight fast by eating only three meals a day discount the fact that metabolism can be destroyed by eating too little or not eating often enough. The body becomes convinced that it is starving and will shut down what it considers to be less than necessary or important. It is better to eat small meals more frequently throughout the day, which not only prevents hunger but also keeps the metabolism working more efficiently.