How to lose weight in a healthy way
Losing weight makes sense for very simple reasons. Calorie bank exists in our body. The calories we eat build up in this area. Additionally, the more money we spend, the fewer calories we have stored. The body uses these calories to turn them to fat, which adds to our weight. Therefore, we need to burn more calories or consume less calories if we want to lose weight. Burning calories is the process of using more energy.
What about the source of calories now? All of the food and beverages we consume, with the exception of water, contain energy in the form of calories. Calories are defined as "a unit of energy" in the field of nutritional science. Thus, the calories come from the food and water we are eating and drinking.
Since calories are a type of energy, they are burned in the process of everything the body needs energy for. Every process in our body requires energy, which means that calories are burned for everything, including the heartbeat, breathing, and stomach digestion. We burn calories even while we sleep at night because of this. The term "basal metabolic rate," or BMR, refers to the number of calories burned by the body only to maintain itself. It is dependent upon numerous parameters, including our height, weight, and muscular mass.
Aside from this, eating gives the body calories. However, it varies according on the stuff we consume. The idea of the Thermic Effect of Food, or TEF, now becomes clear. After we consume food, our bodies must process it, assimilate the nutrients it contains, and store it.
Our bodies require energy and burn calories in all of this energy. Thus, some materials, such as fats, oils, wheat, and butter, have a low thermal effect. These are easily digested by our body. Almost no calorie burning is required. Conversely, foods heavy in protein or whole grains, dairy, eggs, fruits, vegetables, and fiber-rich foods like spinach and broccoli have a high thermic effect. To burn these nutrients, our body need a lot of calories. That's why eating these kinds of foods makes it hard to acquire weight.
Now, we will automatically lose weight if our caloric intake is less than our body's basal metabolic rate. While this is accurate in theory, it is extremely risky in practice. Without exercise, eating less than our body's maintenance rate can lead to a disruption in our hormonal balance. We'll be more worn out. It will be quite challenging for us to concentrate on our work and studies.
The brain uses over 20% of the energy that the body uses. The body finds it more difficult to maintain self-control. Therefore, healthy weight loss—for which exercise is crucial—should be our main objective rather than weight loss. In actuality, four key points are crucial:
- Diet control
- Exercise
- Proper Sleep
- Keeping ourself stress-free
Now, occasionally, even after consuming particular foods, we still don't feel satisfied. The satiety index is the cause of this. The problem lies in the fact that certain foods make us feel full after eating, while other foods don't. Certain foods have a high satiety index, such as eggs, nuts, low-fat dairy products, legumes, and high-fibre foods. This implies that we will feel relatively fuller if we eat foods rich in satiety for the same number of calories. Despite consuming the same amount of calories, we won't feel as hungry.
The body now requires six distinct basic nutrients for optimum function:
- Carbohydrates
- Proteins
- Fats
- Viatmins
- Minerals
- Water
Thus, it goes without saying that we will require proteins, vitamins, minerals, and water when following a healthy weight loss diet. Now, what about lipids and carbohydrates?
First, let's discuss carbs. One of the body's main sources of energy is the sugar that is produced from carbohydrates. Our body transforms the energy from the carbohydrates into glycogen, which is then stored in the muscles and liver, if it is not used right away. When a person consumes more carbohydrates than their body requires, the excess is stored as fat in the form of fat cells. We acquire weight if this energy is not used right away and is instead stored as fat cells.
According to a 2017 study, there is no difference in weight loss benefits between low- and high-carb diets. The only reason weight loss ultimately succeeds is calorie shortfall. Actually, this has nothing to do with losing weight. Here, just the calories matter.
Today, individuals choose to reduce weight by following a high-protein diet. However, if they simply consume protein, their muscles will expand. It is true that protein is typically used in the maintenance and growth of muscle. Thus, we naturally require more protein if we exercise more and perform weight training. However, the extra protein we eat will also turn into fat if we sit a lot all day, don't move around much, or exercise.
Our bodies lose water weight when they are abruptly devoid of capillaries. Our bodies' ability to store water weight is aided by glycogen storage. Thus, we will undoubtedly lose 1-2 kg of weight if we follow a ketogenic diet for a week. And the reason for that is that our body no longer has as much water. That water weight is going to return as soon as we start consuming carbohydrates again.
It will be helpful to substitute plant-based fat and protein for carbs in a low-carb diet. Now, if we must follow a low-carb diet, either less than 40% or more than 70% of our energy comes from carbohydrates, both of which provide a greater risk to our health.
There's no need to fully cut out carbohydrates from the diet when trying to lose weight in a healthy way. Rather, we must consume wholesome carbohydrates. The brain is fed by carbohydrates. Our mental health may begin to deteriorate if we stop eating carbohydrates. It includes all of the following: anxiety, nervousness, depression, and aggression.
What are good carbohydrates? Carbs that take time for the body to absorb. The blood sugar level is not affected by these, istead provide the body with a consistent energy source. Whole grains, fruits, and starchy vegetables are a few examples of these.
And now, let us discuss fats. The body need this fat nutrient as well, making it an essential nutrient. Since several vitamins, including A, D, E, and K, are fat-soluble, the body need fat in order to absorb them.
In addition, fats are necessary for energy storage, hormone balance, and vital organs protection. Sixty percent of human brains are constituted of fat. We become obese instead of consuming less fat or the wrong kind of fat. Thus, a balanced diet that includes proteins, fats, and carbs is what constitutes a healthy weight loss plan.
What is a healthy proportion, then?
Carbs should make up 45–65% of our calories.
We should consume 20–35% of our calories from fat.
We should consume 10–35% of our calories from protein.
Depending on our individual lifestyle choices, this range determines what percentage of us should be in.
Now, how can we stay within this range, given by Acceptable Macronutrient Ranges (AMDR). What to eat and what not to eat?
What ought to we consume? Whole grains and complex carbs are what we should eat. In addition to wheat and rice, we should eat additional grains like corn, oats, barley, ragi, or bajra. In addition to them, we ought to consume various kinds of lentils or grams. These are foods that contain complex carbs. They also contain protein and fibre.
After then, we can concentrate on other wholesome foods like vegetables and fruits. Kidney beans, chickpeas, soy protein, berries, dried fruits, peanuts, walnuts, flax, chia, and pumpkin seeds, as well as eggs, are some of the other healthy fats. Good fats can also be found in dairy products including milk, curd, and paneer, or cottage cheese. They ought to be consumed in moderation. Since green veggies are healthy for our skin and contain antioxidants, we should eat more of them.
Let's now discuss what foods shouldn't be included in a diet plan for losing weight.
Refined flour comes first. Our bodies metabolize refined carbohydrates very quickly. This results in unhealthful rises in our blood sugar levels. Additionally, we will feel hungry again one to two hours after eating if we consume a lot of food produced with refined flour. because our blood sugar levels quickly drop after consuming these.
The second issue with this is that it contains LDL cholesterol, a type of poor cholesterol that clogs arteries, raises blood pressure, and stimulates appetite and desires for sweets.
Sugar is the second. The issue with refined sugar is the same. This sugar can also be found in ice cream, candies, biscuits, and other cold beverages.
Thirdly, unhealthy fats. We benefit from both monounsaturated and polyunsaturated fats. Plant-based foods such as peanuts, olive oil, pumpkin seeds, walnuts, almonds, pistachios, and so on are good suppliers of these healthy fats. Conversely, we don't really require saturated fats. They can be found in ghee, butter, or raw coconut oil. Overindulging in saturated fats over an extended period of time raises the chance of a heart attack. So, we should consume saturated fats in moderate amount.
What other dangerous ingredients are there in these foods?Apart from bad oil, deep-fried foods, and added sugar, other foods and drinks that contain these ingredients include ice cream, candies, chocolates, biscuits, cereals, packaged juice, and even pricey biscuits that are marketed as high-fiber, multigrain digestives.
For healthy weight loss, we should avoid eating these four things first:
- Maida
- Sugar
- Pacakged foods
- Trans fat
We will be more energized. We'll have more time to focus on our work and education.
If not them, what else is there to eat? Roti-sabzi can be consumed with very little butter or ghee. There are numerous healthful foods such as Idli, Upma, Poha, Dhokla, boiled eggs, omelette, Moong Dal, Dosa, milk, butter milk, curd, lassi, jeera rice, and mushrooms. If they are prepared with butter, olive oil, or desi ghee, one can consume them.
We will sense a change in our taste buds when we start eating more of these foods and less of the unhealthy ones, which is an interesting observation. We'll give up our yearning for that bad food. We'll have an intense desire for fresh produce. We can begin with your favorite fruits or vegetables. While eating these healthy foods, we also learn to manage our portion sizes.
It's best to have a glass of water first before eating to help reduce the amount of food we need to eat. Eat mindfully. We shouldn't fill our stomachs to the brim with food. Rather, we ought to eat until it is 80-90% full.
We will feel less hungry, have less room in our stomachs, and burn fewer calories when we eat more veggies, which have higher volume and fiber.
Apart from this, Exercise is the most crucial factor. There are three categories for the exercises.
First, cardiovascular exercises such as jogging, swimming, or participating in any other sport are crucial for maintaining our cardiovascular fitness, the physical activities that raise our heart rates.
Second, stretching activities are crucial for improving our range of motion. These consist of yoga poses and Surya Namaskars.
Third, strength training plays a crucial role in enhancing our muscle strength and endurance. Among them is lifting big, heavy weights.
Therefore, a healthy lifestyle should ideally balance all three of these activity types. However, as long as our workouts are assisting in the burning of calories, it makes no difference what kind of exercise we perform in order to lose weight. It is important to remember that increasing our caloric expenditure is the key to losing more weight.However, we want to perform the workouts in the manner that most suit us. In addition, we should incorporate as much walking and cycling as we can into our daily lives. These activities burn extra calories, which pile up over the course of the day.
It is our responsibility to exercise; the body will determine where fat needs to be burned on its own. If we maintain this routine, eventually our bodies will become in good condition. The regions of our bodies where fat will be lost are determined by heredity.
Here's one last thing I want to talk about: Stress. Stress and weight increase are significantly correlated. Our bodies release more cortisol when we are under stress. As a result, our metabolism slows down and our need for sugar and fat increases. Therefore, managing stress is crucial if we want to reduce weight. Sports, meditation, and in-person interactions with friends and family are some ways to do this.
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