Choose a gradual and safe way to lose weight. We tell you everything about a soft diet to lose weight: basic principles, allowed foods and menus of the week.
How to lose weight safely? Many nutritionists believe that a soft diet is an excellent option for losing weight. Principles, contraindications, benefits and menus for a week at home - all the details are in the material.
There are many different weight loss diets designed for short "sprint" runs.
A moderate diet to lose weight compared to them is a marathon, it can last more than six months, while the caloric restriction of food is quite serious. Before starting to lose weight in this way, be sure to contact your doctor and find out if it is really safe for you to eat on a bland diet system to lose weight.
Gentle diet to lose weight: basic principles and contraindications
The soft diet is divided into two main phases: an intensive phase and a new phase.
The intensive phase lasts up to 6 months. During this time, you should limit your calorie intake to 1800 calories per day. As part of your diet, you focus on protein-rich foods. For example, poultry, fish, eggs, low-fat cheese, and tofu. Oil and other salad dressings are excluded from the diet menu and carbohydrates are limited to 20 grams per day. Thus, in the beginning, almost all meals will contain some amount of meat, mostly without garnish or with garnishes in the form of certain vegetables (broccoli, cauliflower and others from the list of allowed foods).
In the second step, you can slowly add fat and carbohydrates and gradually reduce the amount of protein to 70-140 grams per day. The second phase lasts 6 to 8 weeks. In the first month, up to 45 grams of carbohydrates are allowed per day, and in the second month - up to 90 grams.
Talk to your doctor, you may need to take an additional multivitamin, potassium, calcium, magnesium, or sodium supplement during the first phase to protect your body from nutrient deficiencies. You should also monitor your condition, and if it deteriorates, for example, performance decreases or dizziness begins, you should immediately proceed to the next phase or, respectively, repeat or exit the diet.
Why is a soft diet good for you?
A soft diet is not only good for weight loss. Additional benefits of a soft diet:
- reduce cholesterol levels by up to 20%;
- normalization of blood sugar levels;
- lower blood pressure;
- protection against metabolic syndrome.
Unfortunately, even a bland diet is not an ideal recipe for weight loss. Before starting, be sure to consult with a specialist, as the diet has side effects. For example, it can cause nutritional deficiencies in the body.
The diet is not suitable:
- for the elderly;
- for lactating and pregnant women;
- for those with gallbladder problems;
- for people with eating disorders;
- for patients with chronic diseases.
Gentle diet to lose weight: a week's menu
Allowed and taboo foods
We have already described some of the foods that you can consume with a light diet to lose weight. Detailed list of allowed products:
- poultry - skinless chicken, turkey, goose, duck;
- meat: lean meat, pork, lamb;
- fish: flounder, cod, catfish, halibut;
- vegetables: green leafy vegetables, broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, Brussels sprouts, celery, tomatoes, onions, cucumbers, zucchini;
- low-fat dairy products: cottage cheese, low-fat cheese, skim milk;
- eggs and egg whites;
- tofu.
A large number of fats and carbohydrates are excluded from the menu of a moderate diet. Complete list of taboo foods:
- fruits: apples, berries, oranges, grapes, melons, pears, peaches;
- starchy vegetables: potatoes, corn, peas;
- grain: wheat, oats, barley, buckwheat, millet;
- legumes: black beans, lentils, chickpeas, kidney beans, peanuts;
- processed foods: prepared foods, baked goods, potato chips, fast food, candy;
- sweet drinks: juices, sweet tea, sports drinks, soft drinks;
- sugar and sweeteners: honey, maple syrup, table sugar, molasses, brown sugar;
- Fats and oils: olive oil, coconut oil, vegetable oils, salad dressings, butter, margarine;
- Full-fledged dairy products: yogurt, fatty cheese, milk.
You have to eat little by little, in small portions, but often. This diet consists of three main meals a day and some snacks. Well adapted as such:
- Egg;
- A slice of baked meat or fish;
- Curd;
- A slice of skim cheese;
- Several stalks of celery;
- A handful of boiled vegetables from the allowed list;
- A tomato.
Do not forget to drink enough water, the daily norm is about a liter and a half to two, it is best to drink at least a glass half an hour or an hour before meals, and also drink unsweetened green or black tea as snacks to drown the possible feeling of hunger. A good option is mineral water or rosehip broth, herbal tea, of course, you do not need to add sugar to these drinks and, in principle, you have to abstain from sugar. The best way to cook food is steaming, boiling, baking, you can use a microwave oven.
A soft diet to lose weight safely: menus and meals that you can cook at home
Monday
- Breakfast: scrambled eggs with spinach and tomatoes.
- Lunch: fried cod with steamed broccoli.
- Dinner: chicken breast with grilled Brussels sprouts.
Tuesday
- Breakfast: tofu with onion, garlic and bell peppers.
- Lunch: baked chicken garnished with vegetables (no dressing).
- Dinner: pork chops with fried asparagus.
Wednesday
- Breakfast: egg omelette with zucchini, tomato and garlic.
- Lunch: baked cod with boiled cabbage.
- Dinner: salad with lean ground beef, mushrooms, garlic, ginger and chives.
Thursday
- Breakfast: low-fat cottage cheese.
- Lunch: Low carb turkey meatballs with zucchini and tomato noodles.
- Dinner: fried chicken with garlic and lemon (without garnish).
Friday
- Breakfast: boiled eggs with salt and pepper.
- Lunch: baked tofu with steamed green beans.
- Dinner: grilled steak with fried aubergines in the oven.
Repeat any of the days Saturday and Sunday.
Do not forget about the limitations: for the intensive phase, the main part is made up of proteins, for the second, its amount decreases due to an increase in the amount of carbohydrates.
Mild diet recipes
Chicken casserole with vegetables
Ingredients: chicken fillet, cauliflower, broccoli, eggs, low-fat sour cream, low-fat cream, cheese for sprinkling, garlic, spices to taste.
Preparation: if the vegetables are frozen - defrost, if not - rinse with salted water, divide into inflorescences. Cut the chicken, mix it with greens in a baking dish, fill with sour cream diluted with warm water, put in the oven for 20 minutes, temperature - 180 degrees. For the second pour, mix the cream with a part of the cheese, eggs, finely chopped garlic or go through a garlic press, add spices, mix everything well. We remove the chicken with vegetables from the oven, fill it with the freshly prepared filling, distribute the rest of the cheese on top. We return everything to the oven for another 20 minutes.
Vegetable salad
Ingredients: low-fat cheese, celery stalks, tomatoes, cucumbers, red onions, herbs, lemon juice.
Preparation: wash the vegetables, cut them in a deep bowl, send finely chopped skim cheese, chopped celery stalks, herbs, or finely chop them with your hands. Add lemon juice and mix everything well.
Diet soup with meatballs
Ingredients: turkey, chicken or rabbit fillets, broccoli, cauliflower, carrots, onions, eggs, herbs, spices to taste.
Preparation: chop the meat with the onion, add the egg, salt, pepper if desired, mix and form the meatballs. Put the finished meat products in boiling water, add broccoli and cauliflower, previously divided into inflorescences (if you bought frozen vegetables, you do not need to defrost them beforehand), grated carrots on a fine grater, it will give the broth a golden color, spices to taste. Cook until cabbage and meatballs are done, garnish with herbs when serving. You can also add a hard-boiled egg to the soup, half on each plate.
Reviews of a soft diet
Those who have tried this version of a soft diet to lose weight say that it is quite difficult to follow it: the restrictions are strong, the daily amount of calories may be insufficient for those who are used to physical activity or long walks, fatigue, dizziness may appear - if this happens, it will be necessary to increase the caloric content of the diet, and then gradually reduce it, observing the state of health and avoiding fanaticism.
The foods you can eat are tasty enough, but not too varied, the hardest thing for people is to give up baked goods and sweets and switch to vegetables as a garnish. They also recommend not neglecting nutritional supplements and reporting the feeling of hunger, which can accompany you at first, but then most likely you will get used to the new diet.
Going off the diet, as warned by those who have tried it, should be very smooth, even after the completion of the second phase, the foods from the prohibited list should be introduced very carefully, otherwise there is a risk that all efforts on the basis of weight loss it will be wasted. The fact is that the metabolism for a long time, which takes this diet, is rebuilt, the body gets used to processing a certain amount of a certain type of food, therefore, the accumulation of excess fat can be a consequence of an excess. It is better to switch from this diet to a diet made according to the recommendations for proper nutrition, in which case the probability of weight gain will be minimal and there will be sufficient strength and energy.