A delicious and nutritious protein diet to lose weight is one of the most popular ways to lose weight. It works quickly and efficiently and, in combination with regular physical activity, allows you to get rid of three to five pounds of excess fat and contract your muscles in just one week.
Lose weight with a protein diet to lose weight
The goal is to drastically limit your carbohydrate intake for a while, reduce your fat intake and make protein foods the foundation of your daily diet. It is the high protein content that is the secret of the long absence of hunger in this diet.
Why does a protein diet work? The answer is simple. In the daily diet, carbohydrates predominate, and our body takes energy from them. When carbohydrates in the diet are practically lost, it is protein that becomes the source of energy. The lack of carbohydrates forces the body to break down subcutaneous fat. Protein actively boosts water, due to which weight is also reduced significantly.
Protein foods consume much more energy than light foods with carbohydrates. Increased energy consumption for digestion is again an advantage in the piggy bank of the effectiveness of the protein diet.
Opponents of the diet argue that large amounts of protein can be harmful to health. The fans are sure: if you follow all the rules and do not exceed the allowed period of use of the protein scheme, nothing bad will happen to the body, but the weight will decrease.
Protein diet for weight loss, the main rules
In order for protein weight loss to be as effective as possible and do no harm, you must strictly follow the basic rules:
- do not use canned foods, pickles, marinades, semi-finished products;
- completely abandon all carbohydrate products: flour products, confectionery products, pasta, cereals, starchy and very sweet fruits (potatoes, corn, bananas, grapes, figs), fatty dairy products andsour milk (sour cream, cream);
- excludes alcohol and sugary carbonated drinks;
- to reduce the load on the kidneys, which are forced to remove a large amount of protein breakdown products from the body, the intake regime must be strictly observed: drink at least one and a half, or preferably twoliters of pure non-mineral water without gas every day;
four meals a day are much more effective for weight loss than three meals a day. Therefore, it is worth applying the principles of fractional nutrition during a diet; - portions should not exceed 250-300 grams;
- At least two hours before bedtime, food intake should be stopped. It is best to drink the largest amount of water before six in the afternoon;
- To lose weight, it is very important not to exceed the amount of protein in 180 grams and also adhere to an individual caloric corridor. For some, it is enough to reduce the caloric content by one hundred kcal, while others are losing weight perfectly, observing the usual energy "weight" of the daily diet. In any case, the caloric content of the daily diet should not exceed 1. 5 thousand kilocalories.
You should not eat more than two eggs a day, otherwise you can increase your cholesterol levels and cause serious illness. The yolk is especially dangerous, while the amount of egg whites can be increased, if desired.
Protein foods are easier to digest with green vegetables. This feature should not be overlooked: this way you can significantly facilitate the body's work during the diet.
Important points
What can you eat? Any food with a predominant protein content: meat (give preference to low fat options: beef, veal, rabbit), any fish, eggs, poultry (chicken, turkey, duck), skimmed milk and kefir, natural yogurt. Along with them, the body must receive fiber from raw and cooked vegetables. Lettuce, any cabbage, radish, tomato, zucchini, cucumber are ideal for a protein diet.
To cook meat and vegetables, it is recommended to cook and roast without meat (for example, in an electric pan or foil). Frying should be avoided: this increases the calorie content and reduces the quality of the protein. It would be good to limit the amount of salt (an extra load for the kidneys is useless), seasoning the food with spices and lemon juice.
No matter how happy the results are (and the weight loss will be very fast), under no circumstances should you eat like this for more than a month! You can repeat the diet only after four months so that the body can recover from a protein attack. An unbalanced diet for a long time is very dangerous, so you cannot violate the allowed period.
A protein diet is ideal for healthy young adults. The use of the protein scheme is strictly prohibited for people with diseases of the kidneys, intestines, liver, blood vessels, as well as for pregnant and lactating women, adolescents and those over 60 years of age.
Protein diet menus for the week
Diet for weight loss for a week. The suggested menu is approximate. You can vary the diet as you see fit by controlling its caloric content. Despite four daily meals, you can have a pre-dinner snack in the form of lettuce leaves, a glass of kefir, a slice of cheese or drink some kefir two hours before bedtime.
Monday
- Breakfast: one hundred grams of cottage cheese with a fat content not exceeding 2% (do not add sugar), green tea.
- Second breakfast: 30 grams of cheese, egg (macerated or cooked).
- Lunch: two hundred grams slice of cooked beef (you can cook veal or other lean meat) with a light salad of chopped raw cabbage with a canned pea spoon and vegetable oil (150 grams).
- Dinner: a slice of steamed fish with tomato slices (200 grams of each product).
Tuesday
- Breakfast: boiled egg, salad of any green vegetables with a spoon of oil (150 grams).
- Second breakfast: a cup of low-fat cottage cheese with a spoon of plain yogurt.
- Lunch: boiled or roasted fish with broccoli (total dish weight 250 grams).
- Dinner: a two hundred gram piece of cooked chicken (preferably a dietary breast), two tomatoes, a slice of cheese.
Wednesday
- Breakfast: spring salad of half a tomato and cucumber with sour cream, a boiled egg.
- Second breakfast: thirty grams of nuts with coffee.
- Lunch: two hundred grams of chicken, lettuce.
- Dinner: two hundred grams of meat stew with lentil garnish (one hundred grams of cooked cereal).
Thursday
- Breakfast: an omelet with two eggs, a glass of kefir.
- Second breakfast: one hundred grams of cooked zucchini, 150 grams of boiled or cooked chicken.
- Lunch: beef (200 grams), a tomato.
- Dinner: a cup of low-fat cottage cheese.
Friday
- Breakfast: three tablespoons of steamed oats (do not add oil).
- Second breakfast: boiled egg, a slice of cheese.
- Lunch: cooked chicken breast (150 grams) garnished with its grains (one hundred grams).
- Dinner: a serving of lean pork (no more than 200 grams) and a side of cooked cabbage.
Saturday
- Breakfast: portion of cooked turkey with green beans (total weight not exceeding 250 grams).
- Second breakfast: a cup of low-fat cottage cheese with a spoon of honey.
- Lunch: lean cooked meat, light vegetable salad, seasoned with butter or yogurt.
- Dinner: a portion of fish and a side of roasted zucchini (total weight not exceeding 250 grams).
Sunday
- Breakfast: scrambled eggs in the water of two eggs with a juicy tomato.
- Second breakfast: fifty grams of mixture of nuts with coffee.
- Lunch: beef or vegetable broth with minced chicken dumplings and chopped herbs.
- Dinner: portion of rabbit meat cooked in sour cream sauce and herbs.
How to get out of the diet
If you have the will and strength, you can continue losing weight with a protein diet for another three weeks. In this case, once a week (Saturday or Sunday) you can treat yourself to something forbidden: waffle, candy, cake. This will help prevent a breakdown and the carbohydrate "load" will shake the body.
The time to leave the protein diet is the same as the restriction lasted. In the first few days, it is necessary to gradually introduce "correct" carbohydrates into the diet: cereals, whole grain bread, fruit, a small amount of dried fruit. Make sure to observe fractional meals and drink a liter and a half of water.
Advantages and disadvantages
The protein diet has its advantages and disadvantages. A definite advantage is guaranteed weight loss, as long as all dietary rules are followed. Other benefits include:
- variety in the diet. In mono-diets, it is more difficult to lose weight, as you quickly tire of the same products; the
- diet helps to eliminate excess water, which means that it helps to make the skin more elastic, to eliminate cellulite (a special massage is required);
- allows you to handle a lot of physical activity;
- can be used not only to lose weight, but also to gain muscle mass.
Disadvantages of the protein weight loss scheme:
- Low amounts of fiber can cause constipation.
- Protein foods are expensive.
- Sweet lovers can suffer from depression.
An unbalanced diet is not healthy. To reduce the risks, you should take a multivitamin complex during the week (or month).
Review of the protein diet
The consumption of protein products has been able to reduce the percentage of subcutaneous fat, without training and without feeling hungry. With a diet low in fats and carbohydrates, it was possible to significantly improve appearance without going to the gym. We were able to adhere to this diet for only 5 days. That is, for almost a week, exclusively proteins for breakfast, dinner and lunch, and with that, the muscles became more expressive and toned.
It is not recommended to do this diet for more than a week. Even 5 days is enough, it is better to eat exclusively protein for about 3 days, then change the diet as suggested in Ducan's diet.