SLIMMING DIETS
In certain periods of life it may be easier to gain weight, especially in adolescence, during periods of stress or menopause; other people from year to year accumulate a few kilos each year which over time become very relevant. There is no need to be alarmed by weight gain, as there are many strategies to address this problem. The first step is certainly to realize that there is a problem to be solved and therefore to implement changes to change one's life. Accumulated weight is always due to the difference between the amount of energy introduced and that consumed, therefore it is necessary to act on two fronts: on the one hand, reduce income and on the other, increase expenditure of energy. It must be considered that energy consumption also depends on the thyroid, which regulates the metabolism, so once it has been established that extra pounds have accumulated, it is right to evaluate thyroid function before starting a diet.
There are also other hormonal dysfunctions that affect fat accumulation and can also be associated with increased blood pressure. It would therefore be better to have your blood pressure measured and maybe do some blood tests such as blood sugar and glycated hemoglobin to rule out the onset of diabetes and ask a doctor if it is appropriate to do other hormonal tests. In fact, in certain disorders, weight gain is associated with other symptoms and a doctor, particularly an endocrinologist, may suspect them and request the necessary tests. Obviously, by treating the underlying disease, it is much easier to achieve a healthy weight.
HOW TO ORGANIZE THE DIET
As I said, the first step is to realize that you need to change your lifestyle. Let's start with energy expenditure. Of course, work often takes up all of our time, but we have to find a way: for example, avoid the lift, try to walk briskly, park further away or try to walk when possible, walk faster, choose the sport we like more and dedicate time, doing the exercise bike in front of the TV, everyone can organize the day as they can but by increasing calorie expenditure. Sports and physical activity must obviously be done in moderation and gradually increasing day by day. In this way the fat mass is gradually reduced in favor of the muscle mass.
The body gains tone and muscle strength increases over time. The change includes the change of power. First of all, breakfast is changed, which becomes the most important meal of the day. After breakfast, daily activity begins and having taken in the necessary calories, the body will use all the necessary energy without saving, therefore with an increase in energy expenditure and an increase in work and school performance! In order not to arrive too hungry at lunch and dinner, it may be advisable to have a small snack mid-morning and mid-afternoon. Change also means awareness of what you eat and how much you eat. A low-calorie diet in general consists of a large increase in the vegetable fraction; this has very few calories and it is right to abound.
Fruit is high in sugar, so take only a small amount. Above all, fatty foods, which are the most caloric ones, should be reduced: oil, butter, cheeses, cold cuts, sweets rich in fat.
It is possible to take large quantities of vegetables keeping only a teaspoon of extra virgin olive oil. Legumes, on the other hand, are caloric, they are good for you but weigh in terms of calories.
What to eat then? Avoid foods in oil, for example choose natural tuna; pasta is fine but put the minimum amount of oil in the sauce. With tomato you can instead abound. White meats and fish are fine, but avoid sauces which are very fat.
The diet therefore begins when you go shopping: choose foods with a lower fat content, reduce packaged sweets which are normally rich in saturated fats; choose lean meats and fish, fill the trolley with vegetables and spices. Fruit juices, carbonated drinks and alcoholic drinks are high in calories. It doesn't mean you have to avoid everything. We need to become aware of how much we are eating-drinking, understand that too much sweetness is not good for you, it promotes diabetes and cardiovascular disease.
You can then drink the fruit juice: diluting it with lots and lots of water. The flavors become more delicate and we will appreciate them more in the awareness that we are drinking the right sweet, delicate, not too much.
The brain needs time to understand that we have eaten enough.
Fill your plate for 3/4 of what you usually eat and try to eat slowly, focusing your attention on what you are eating. So it is better to leave the table and devote yourself to another activity for half an hour. If you are still hungry when you go back to the kitchen, it means that you have eaten too little. If, on the other hand, you are full, it is because you have given your brain time to evaluate that you have eaten enough.
Starting a low-calorie but healthy diet can be the right way to make a change in our lives. The body changes behavior because we are taking more vegetables, more water, because we are eating more for breakfast. We will gain in physical strength especially if we have also started a motor activity that we may have stopped for some time.
It is an opportunity to renew our body and our person, to reduce the symptoms of depression because physical activity is good for the brain as well as for the muscles.Letus also remember that if we actually eat less, it is better to take multivitamins at least in the first period, to compensate for any anomalies in the intake of necessary substances. Someone doesn't want vitamins thinking they might contain calories. Vitamins do not contain calories, they are substances necessary for the chemical reactions of our body and therefore they can rather favor the metabolism. Another important question is carbohydrates. Carbohydrates are pasta, bread, rice, polenta, potatoes, etc. Our body needs a minimum amount of carbohydrates to burn fat well. So no-carb diets are so wrong. Carbohydrates can be reduced but must be taken with each meal.
