Every year, we set the goal of losing weight and make it our top priority. While it can be a difficult process to get through, weight loss is essentially determined by how committed you are to following a properly formulated workout regimen and a diet plan for weight loss. Whatever nutritional routine you may be following, there are certain rules and guidelines that you must make sure to keep in mind in order to get the best out of your weight loss diet.
The most important rule of thumb of all these guidelines is to follow the principle of calories in versus calories out. This concept simply propounds the theory that in order to maintain your current body weight, the number of calories that you consume must be the same as the number of calories you burn throughout the day. According to this rule, if you want to lose weight, then your body must be burning more calories than you are consuming.
There are three primary body functions that utilise calories:
- Functional Metabolism: Most of the food that you consume is utilised towards basic metabolic functions such as maintaining a heartbeat and respiration activity. The number of calories that is used by your body to carry out these functions is referred to as Basal Metabolic Rate (BMR).
- Digestion: Nearly twenty percent of the calories that you derive from consuming
food is utilised to aid the body’s digestive process. The body uses significant energy to process and breakdown these foods into essential nutrients and minerals and then get rid of the waste via excretion. This process is commonly referred to as the thermic effect of food.
- Physical Activity: Apart from the body’s internal processes, the number of calories that you burn also depends on the amount of external physical activity that you indulge in. Different activities such as walking, crossfit, or even basic chores like washing the dishes or reading the newspaper burn different amounts of calories, depending on the intensity and duration.
From a broader sense of view, it is a fairly simple process. You have to eat less to weigh less. There is going around this fact. Your body enters a state of stability when you match the amount of calories burned during these processes with the amount of calories you consume via food every day. The additional food that you have consumed over the years have accumulated in your body in the form of glycogen and fat cells.
Continuing to eat the same amount of foods will only add to these fat cells instead of utilizing them. Which is why a lot of weight loss diets recommend operating in a caloric deficit. This way the ‘calories in’ will automatically be lesser than the ‘calories out’, causing your body to utilise the energy stored in the fat cells to carry out basic functioning.
However, simply operating at a calorie deficit without considering the nature of the foods that you put inside your body can have unintended consequences. Here are a few things that you need to keep in mind while following a calorie restrictive diet:
- Consume Low Carb Foods: Different sources of food have different effects on your body. Consuming low carb foods such as lean means and eggs can not only provide you with the much needed protein but also boost your metabolic activity and boost the utilisation of stored fat in your body.
- Maintain Water Intake: Maintaining a healthy water intake is perhaps the most crucial step in losing weight, regardless of whether you follow a keto diet plan or the Atkins diet. Not only does water hydrate our organs and promote optimal body functioning, it is also crucial to keep our metabolic activity from dipping. The WHO recommends a minimum intake of 1.5 litres of water a day to sustain our body.
- Balance Your Intake: Split your nutritional intake into portions of essential food groups in order to get the best out of your weight loss diet. A good rule of measure is to get half your intake from healthy carbs, a quarter of it from lean protein, and the rest from healthy fats. It is also important that you consume essential nutrients like vitamins and minerals in order to maintain optimal functioning of your body.
If you find it difficult to maintain an accurate record of your nutritional intake, consider supplementing your diet with supplements like HealthKart Multivitaminswhich have been designed to meet the recommended daily requirements for several nutrients in a single go.
