What do the rules of healthy eating and weight loss tell you? When we don’t follow the rules, we tend to go overboard with our diets. We eat unhealthily, and we end up getting sick. If we want to lose weight in the healthiest way possible, we need to follow some well-established rules that will tell us exactly what to eat, when to eat, and how much we can eat.
That is why many people go with expensive meal plans. The meals are delivered to them every morning. All they need to do is pop the container in the microwave oven, and they’ll get exactly the calories they need for a day. Whether that’s 1,200 or 1,800 calories, the fitness experts will handle what meals you have to eat every day.
That is the easy way out because it takes away the need for people to plan their meals and develop certain dishes. But what happens when you cannot afford to subscribe to diet meal plans? Are you just going to give up? You can make your own dishes, but that, of course, means you will sometimes fall within the cracks unless you follow these golden rules of dieting and healthy eating:
Eat Three Meals and Two Small Snacks a Day
You should eat only three meals and two small snacks a day. That’s enough to power you up for the day. There’s no good reason why you should go overboard by eating less than that or more than that. Remember that the three meals should be full ones with protein, a bit of carbohydrates, fruits, and vegetables. As for the snacks, you can eat a small serving of pie or a slice of wheat bread. To make your snacks more exciting, you can also whip up a quick-and-easy hummus recipe that you can pair with laffa bread.
Never Skip Breakfast
They say that to eat healthily and lose weight, you must eat like a king in the morning, eat like a princess at lunchtime, and eat like a pauper in the evening. This means you can never skip breakfast seeing as it is the most important meal of the day. That’s a tried-and-tested formula. You need all the energy you can get in the morning to fuel you for the rest of the day. Skipping breakfast will force you to eat more by lunchtime because your body is trying to compensate for the energy you already spent in the morning.
Avoid Eating Post-dinner
You’re just going to sleep at night, so don’t eat any more than you should. Remember that you should eat like a pauper in the evening, which means a salad is good enough for your body that will be just resting anyway. As much as you would love to munch on sweets while you’re binge-watching your favorite shows, you will be better off with nuts and fruits as a post-dinner meal.
Eat the Right Number of Calories
How many calories do you need in a day? Most women will need only 1,200 calories a day. For men, they will need around 2,000 calories a day, so that means more serving. How can you know how many calories you need for the day? You have to use a tool or talk with an expert for that. You have to consider many variables—height, age, lifestyle, and activities—when computing the right calorie intake.
Keep Carbohydrate Intake to a Minimum
Carbohydrates eventually convert to sugar. That’s what’s making you gain weight. So as much as possible, stay away from starchy food such as potatoes, white rice, white pasta, and white bread. If you really need to eat rice and bread, stick with the “brown” version. There are also alternatives for carbohydrates in your diet. Portioning it if you don’t have a choice is a great idea, too, although you have to adjust the other meals.
Don’t Eat Food With Ingredients You Cannot Pronounce
The reason you cannot pronounce the ingredients is that they are chemicals. Stop eating food with these kinds of ingredients because they do nothing for the nutrients that your body needs for the day. Stay away from preserved food and snacks. Focus only on getting as many vegetables and fruits into your system.
These diet rules are based on innovative science. Health and fitness experts have studied and discussed these rules for optimal results—health and fitness. But diet programs must also depend on what you do every day. The body has different needs and different ways to reach its fitness and health goals. Personalize the best plan for yourself, one that you can commit, too, and is possible based on your lifestyle.
