To lose the extra pounds, you certainly have to eat less, that’s the basis, but also do physical exercise, and above all, eat better. Three pillars for a harmonious and safe method of weight loss.
Dedicate the first weeks to starting this weight loss, which is real if you eat, without cheating, a little less, and increase through exercise, the “boiler draw”. Then inevitably comes stagnation. Already have the satisfaction, the pleasure, of not gaining weight.
But to go further in weight loss and above all (almost) definitely win the fight, you have to look at the quality of what you put in the boiler.
It’s amazing how most people – especially men – take care of the family vehicle. Would it occur to them to put in diesel when the car runs on gasoline? No, of course not! However, when it comes to powering the motor of one’s own body, or that of one’s children, these elementary precautions have disappeared.
Knowing what is not good for the human machine, what is essential, what is superfluous, is not a colossal task. You have to devote a little time to it, while continuing to respect the first two principles if possible (eat less, exercise, it’s always good to remember them!).
It is possible to achieve this in a few weeks, if not to get rid of all the bad habits, which are sometimes written in our genes. The main dietary errors will then have become obvious…
Not all foods have the same qualities
It is an illustrious doctor who says it, and it sounds like an advertising argument: “Dietetics allows healthy people to maintain their health and helps those who have lost it to regain it…”. Medicine is now convinced of this, for quite a short time in fact, while this ad, we owe it to… Hippocrates, some 400 years before our era! What our brilliant predecessor sensed more than 2,000 years ago, preventive medicine is trying to instil through slogans. Nutritionists will tell you that the best way to eat a balanced diet is to eat everything! Certainly. But eating everything is eating foods that don’t really do your waistline any good. You might as well know them and know how to track them down. In fact, we must prefer the term “varied eating”, which means that we do not favor a single category and therefore, that we remove the risk of deficiency.
There are three major food groups: sugars, fats and proteins. However, within the same category, all foods do not have the same qualities in order to lose weight harmoniously.
A fruit is sugar, just like a piece of chocolate; a chicken breast, a protein, just like a mutton chop; finally, a dose of olive oil is not quite the same thing as a good piece of butter! All have the same balance benefits, but not the same consequences, for those who want to lose weight.
Eating a balanced diet means first of all being careful!
It’s not very pleasant, but once warned, the crease is taken quite easily and the “dietetically correct” taste solutions are endless…
We will have to learn to recognize and prioritize foods that are good for health. And limit those who will make us fat every time.
There are the caricatural modifications that everyone knows: like replacing chips as an aperitif with pieces of carrot or a stick of surimi instead of a chocolate bar, in case of cravings. But faced with the incredible variety of our diet, it is not always so obvious.
A piece of advice, make yourself, over time, a small personal list of the 20 foods that are not recommended and the 20 that will be the basis of the diet of the future slender individual who wants to remain so. Frankly, it’s as sad as that to do without Beaufort, when your list of cheeses will favor Camembert half the fat if you absolutely cannot do without cheese? And even half the fat for a lighter Camembert. Or a slice of grilled liver instead of a paupiette? Or a slice of leg of lamb twice as rich as a merguez? The examples can be multiplied ad infinitum.
In fact, to obtain the desired balance, it is not a question of waging a daily battle, but rather of reasoning in terms of a week or a fortnight; and say to yourself: “I haven’t eaten any fish this week, it’s unfortunate, but an omelette twice a month is enough!” It is also necessary to avoid multiplying the “big meals” which should not take place more than once a week (as soon as you have arrived at the weight which will satisfy you). As for the doses of the first days, everything is a matter of common sense and there is no need to do large studies to know:
That we ate too much.
That we ate badly…
The PNNS, the National Health Nutrition Program
It is the reference in terms of dietetics, or at least it is a program that has thought long and hard about the question, offers 8 key benchmarks, necessary for a good balanced diet. It is a good starting point.
- At least five fruits and vegetables a day.
- Three dairy products a day (4 for children or teenagers).
- Starches at each meal and according to appetite.
- Meat, fish, egg? Once or twice a day.
- Limit fat.
- Do not give in to the strong taste of sweet products.
- Never add salt.
- Drink water at will, during and between meals.
