Proper nutrition is crucial if you want to get rid of excess pounds. What to eat to lose weight fast enough, but without losing health and muscle mass? Many of those who want to lose weight are eager to go on a diet that prescribes certain products and a strict regime. However, as practice shows, it is much easier to follow proper rules rather than strict ones. A few tips below are enough to make your nutrition right and help you lose weight.

Related: Why We Get Fat?

How Often Should You Eat?

Eat at least four times a day with breaks for 2 or 3 hours. You can eat more often, up to eight times a day (by reducing the portions, of course). That perfectly accelerates metabolism and has an excellent fat burning effect if the food composition is adequate: nonfat protein products, complex carbohydrates, fresh vegetables.

But be sure to consider the following – you should feel a pleasant hunger before another meal. If it is not, it means that the previous meal was too rich. However, if the famine is strong enough, you will be prone to eat more than needed. In this case, you should analyze your nutrition and find out the reasons why you are hungry.

Most likely, the reason is that the distribution of food is not even throughout the day. If there is no proper breakfast and no time for a snack, be ready that for lunch/dinner, you will want to eat a whole fridge! And this, as you understand, will not help to normalize the weight.

The Meal Volume – How Much Should I Eat A Day?

The meal volume should not exceed the size of two or three of your fists. The comparison is strange, but it is easy for all of us to imagine and test this volume in practice. It can include any combination of products that you think are reasonable and tasty. But the ideal is a combination of nonfat protein products (1 fist), complex carbohydrates (1 fist), and fresh vegetables (1 fist). The idea of three fists is not new, but it is very productive.

A decent meal, for example, may contain:

✔️ boiled chicken breast (1 fist or less if it seems too much)
✔️ boiled buckwheat (1 fist or less)
✔️ fresh vegetable salad (1 fist)

It is easy, healthy, and nourishing enough, do you agree? Also, this volume does not include drinks.

If, however, there is a feeling of slight hunger after eating in the suggested volume – it is normal. A few minutes after meals, this feeling is naturally gone. Your task is to stop on time and not to stuff your stomach. The volume of two or three fists is quite enough food for any healthy person in one meal. You would not starve to death! But what you get is another healthy habit, no more and no less!

This picture shows a familiar to many, but still too big and, most importantly, an unbalanced portion of food. It should be two times smaller, and its half should consist of fresh vegetables or a salad of such vegetables.

I think the idea with the volume of the meal and its composition is clear enough. Try eating like this for at least a few days, and you will feel how simple, tasty, and pleasant it is. And you will probably stop being drawn to different sweets and donuts.

Also, please remember the main rule of metabolism – the less you eat, the slower your metabolism. And that means you are not losing weight. Rapid metabolism is the key to success in the work on weight normalization.

Refusal of harmful food

Decline to openly harmful products: sweet, sweet drinks, excessively fatty, too spicy, over fried, strong or weak but daily alcohol. For sure, it is necessary to minimize eating in McDonald’s and other fast food places. Think about replacing harmful foods with healthier alternatives.

Imagine, just stopping using sugar in tea or coffee will help you to reduce your weight by 0.5-1 lb per week❗

Related: How To Lose Weight Correctly If You Have An Extra 5-7 lbs?

Diversity in food

Limiting the amount of food does not mean restricting its diversity. There should be everything: grains, vegetables, fruit, meat, fish, poultry, dairy, etc. But remember, to eat diversely is a vast set of products eaten in a week or a month, but not at once. It is much more useful to limit yourself to 2-3 products at one meal, but you should change these products during the week. These recipes for weight loss dinner will help to put this rule into practice.

Daily take at least one portion of quality lactic acid products – yogurt, buttermilk, etc. That will improve the gut flora. After all, one of the causes of excess weight is a metabolic disorder caused by poor gut flora.

Learn how to cook

Learn a few recipes to prepare simple and healthy meals, especially fresh vegetable salads. Try to find some time for it, and you will see how easy it is.

A person who knows how to cook and understand the value of good nutrition will never eat cheap semi-finished products made from obscured ingredients, fast food, and other harmful food.

Become a nutrition specialist – respect yourself – do not eat all kinds of crap❗

Count The Calories

Here is an exercise for you: count the calories and PFC (proteins, fats, and carbohydrates) in the food you eat today. You will immediately see in real figures the energy level of your nutrition. You can do it easily by using mobile applications.

However, controlling the number of calories may be too tiring and frustrating. Few people will want to do that all their life. So, it is much easier to follow the right rules, gradually adapting your nutrition to your needs.

It’s a great idea to keep a diary of food. It will help you to understand what to eat, how and when. By matching your menu with your workload and body weight, you’ll quickly find the best option for you.

Unloading Days

Once a week, spend the so-called unloading days. The idea of such days is that you eat only fresh fruits and vegetables all day long. You can eat salads made of them with the addition of vegetable oil and a small number of nuts, seeds, and other grains. And don’t forget to drink a lot of pure water.

It is better to choose a day off for such days, as the first unloading days may seem difficult – you may feel a headache and weakness.

On the unloading day, it is worth to stay more outdoors, to do some exercises, and to sleep properly.

Sports Nutrition Will Help

You can use sports supplements in your nutrition for weight loss. Here are three effective products: serum protein (whey), any vitamin and mineral complex, and L-Carnitine.

Serum protein (1 serving) should be stirred in clean water and eaten immediately after a workout. I hope you are not surprised that for effective weight loss, you should also do some work. Protein will help to preserve specific muscles for rapid metabolism.

Take L-Carnitine in a dose of 500-1000 mg in the morning, regardless of whether you work out today or not. You can take it after meals. L-Carnitine will speed up fat burning, but only in combination with exercise.

You should drink vitamins according to the schedule provided in the guide – usually after or during meals.

Some Nutrition Weight Loss Tips

✅Protein Before Bed

Before bedtime, always eat two or three boiled egg whites. It is essential if you are working out. This tip helps to maintain specific muscles for rapid metabolism.

✅If You Want Some Sweets

If you want sweets, eat sweet fruit, dried fruit instead. But never snack between meals (except for bran crumbs, see below). Remember that you must have an appetite for your next mealtime, and dried fruits and nuts contain a lot of extra calories that will help you to survive sweets hunger.

✅Eating Bran Crumbs Is A Great Habit

Buy bran in the form of breadcrumbs. Whenever you want to have a snack between meals, use a few of these breadcrumbs. These low-calorie helpers perfectly clean the digestive tract and give a sense of satiety. They will make the weight loss process more comfortable.

Related: Five Weight Loss Tips For Everyone

✅Fresh Fruits And Vegetables

One or two meals per day should consist only of fresh fruits or vegetables. And it is better not to mix different fruits, but you can make simple salads from vegetables (of 2-4 vegetables in a salad). The volume of fruits or fresh vegetables in these meals can not be limited. However, you should not eat a lot of sweet and caloric fruits (bananas, for example) at a time.

✅Drink Water

Drink at least 1.5 liters of clean water per day and it should not be drinks or water with honey, lemon, tea, juice, etc. Start the morning with a glass of clean, warm water.

Try to drink before the meal, not during or after it. But you should not drink water at night. See how to drink water correctly here.

But remember that besides nutrition, there are also exercises for weight loss. The effect of proper nutrition will be much stronger if you start doing at least some basic exercises such as walking and morning exercises.

A Few More Words

Now you know what to eat to lose weight. Proper nutrition for health, of course, is essential. But you have to remember that it’s not just the wrong food that makes you overweight. Being overweight has many reasons. Inappropriate nutrition is the most important, but not the only one.

Stresses at work, life difficulties, lack of sleep, physical inactivity – all this leads to health problems that lead to weight gain. Try to eliminate unnecessary stress, problems that you can solve. Organize your schedule so that there is enough time for sleep, for a proper meal, for rest. That is always possible, find some time and think about that, make the necessary changes, and you will see the results.