A nutritious and delicious protein diet for weight loss is one of the most popular ways to lose weight. It works quickly and efficiently, and when combined with regular physical activity, you can get rid of three to five pounds of excess fat and tone your muscles in just a week.
Lose weight with a protein diet for weight loss
The bottom line is to severely limit your carbohydrate intake for a while, cut down on 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 on this diet.
Why does a protein diet work? The answer is simple. Carbohydrates predominate in our daily diet and our bodies take energy from them. When carbohydrates are practically lost from food, protein becomes a source of energy. The lack of carbohydrates forces the body to break down subcutaneous fat. Protein actively drives water, which also significantly reduces weight.
Protein foods consume much more energy than light carbohydrate foods. The increase in energy consumption for digestion is again a plus in the piggy bank for the effectiveness of the protein diet.
Opponents of the diet argue that high amounts of protein foods can be harmful to health. Fans are sure: if you follow all the rules and do not exceed the allowable period of time for using the protein scheme, nothing bad will happen to the body, but weight will actually decrease.
Protein weight loss diet, the main rules
In order for protein weight loss to be as effective as possible and not cause any damage, you should strictly adhere to the basic rules:
- Do not use canned food, cucumber, marinades or semi-finished products.
- completely dispenses with all carbohydrate products: flour products, confectionery, pasta, cereals, starchy and very sweet vegetables and fruit (potatoes, corn, bananas, grapes, figs), fatty milk products and fermented milk products (sour cream, cream);
- exclude alcohol and sugary carbonated drinks;
- In order to reduce the load on the kidneys, which are forced to excrete a large amount of decomposition products from protein food from the body, you need to strictly adhere to the drinking regime: drink at least one and a half, or preferably two liters 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 fractionated nutrition while dieting. - servings should not exceed 250-300 grams;
- Food intake should be stopped at least two hours before going to bed. It is better to drink most of the water before six in the evening.
- To lose weight, it is very important not to exceed the amount of protein in 180 grams and also to adhere to an individual calorie corridor. For some, it is enough to reduce the calorie content by one hundred kcal, while others lose weight perfectly, while maintaining the usual energy "weight" of daily food. In any case, the calorie content of the daily diet should not be higher than 1, 5 thousand kilocalories.
You shouldn't eat more than two eggs a day, otherwise you could raise your cholesterol level and cause serious illness. The egg yolk is especially dangerous, while the amount of egg white can be increased if desired.
Protein foods are easier to digest with green vegetables. This function should not be neglected: this will allow you to greatly facilitate the work of the body while dieting.
Important points
What can you eat? All foods with a predominant protein content: meat (prefer low-fat options: beef, veal, rabbit), fish, eggs, poultry (chicken, turkey, duck), skimmed milk and kefir, natural yogurt. Along with them, the body should get fiber from raw and steamed vegetables. Lettuce, cabbage, radishes, tomatoes, zucchini and cucumbers are ideal for a protein diet.
For cooking meat and vegetables, we recommend cooking and baking without meat (e. g. in a slow cooker or foil). Roasting must be avoided: this increases calorie content and decreases protein quality. It would be nice to limit the amount of salt (an additional burden on the kidneys is useless) and season the food with spices and lemon juice.
No matter how satisfied the results are (and weight loss will happen very quickly), you should definitely not eat like this for more than a month! You can only repeat the diet after four months to allow the body to recover from a protein attack. A long unbalanced diet is very dangerous, so you can not violate the allowable deadline.
A protein diet is ideal for healthy young adults. It is strictly forbidden to use the protein scheme in people with diseases of the kidneys, intestines, liver, blood vessels, as well as in pregnant and lactating women, adolescents and people 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 wish and keep track of the calorie content. Despite the four meals a day, you can have an aperitif in the form of lettuce leaves, a glass of kefir, a slice of cheese or a little kefir two hours before going to bed.
Monday
- Breakfast: one hundred grams of cottage cheese with a fat content of not more than 2% (do not add sugar), green tea.
- Second breakfast: 30 grams of cheese, egg (steep or soft-boiled).
- Lunch: Two hundred-gram slice of boiled beef (you can cook veal or other lean meat) with a light salad of raw, finely chopped cabbage with a spoonful of canned peas and vegetable oil (150 grams).
- Dinner: a slice of steamed fish with tomato slices (200 grams of each product).
Tuesday
- Breakfast: boiled egg, green vegetable salad 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 baked fish with broccoli (the total weight of the dish is 250 grams).
- Dinner: a two hundred gram boiled chicken (preferably a diet breast), two tomatoes, a slice of cheese.
Wednesday
- Breakfast: Spring salad made from half a tomato and a cucumber with sour cream, a boiled egg.
- Second breakfast: 30 grams of nuts with coffee.
- Lunch: two hundred grams of chicken, salad.
- Dinner: two hundred grams of beef stew with a lentil garnish (one hundred grams of cooked muesli).
Thursday
- Breakfast: an omelette made from two eggs, a glass of kefir.
- Second breakfast: one hundred grams of steamed zucchini, 150 grams of steamed or cooked chicken.
- Lunch: beef (200 grams), a tomato.
- Dinner: a cup of low-fat cottage cheese.
Friday
- Breakfast: three tablespoons of steamed oatmeal (do not add any oil).
- Second breakfast: boiled egg, a slice of cheese.
- Lunch: cooked chicken breast (150 grams) garnished with their beans (100 grams).
- Dinner: a serving of lean pork (no more than 200 grams) and a side dish of steamed cabbage.
Saturday
- Breakfast: A serving of cooked turkey with a side dish of green beans (total weight no more than 250 grams).
- Second breakfast: a cup of low-fat cottage cheese with a spoonful of honey.
- Lunch: cooked lean meat, light vegetable salad, seasoned with butter or yogurt.
- Dinner: a serving of fish and a side dish of baked zucchini (total weight not more than 250 grams).
Sunday
- Breakfast: scrambled eggs on water made from two eggs with a juicy tomato.
- Second breakfast: fifty grams of mixed nuts with coffee.
- Lunch: meat or vegetable broth with chicken balls and chopped herbs.
- Dinner: a serving of rabbit meat, cooked in sour cream sauce and herbs.
How to get off the diet
If you have the desire and the strength, you can lose weight on a protein diet for another three weeks. In this case, you can indulge yourself with something forbidden once a week (on Saturday or Sunday): waffles, sweets, cakes. This will help avoid a breakdown, and the carbohydrate "load" will jolt the body.
Leaving the protein diet takes just as long as the restriction. In the early days, you need to gradually introduce "proper" carbohydrates into the diet: cereals, whole-grain bread, fruits, a small amount of dried fruits. Be sure to observe fractionated meals and drink one and a half liters of water.
advantages and disadvantages
The protein diet has its advantages and disadvantages. A clear plus is a guaranteed weight loss, provided that all dietary rules are followed. Further advantages are:
- Diversity in nutrition. It is more difficult to lose weight on mono diets because you will quickly get tired of the same products.
- diet helps get rid of excess water, which means that it helps make the skin more elastic, get rid of cellulite (a special massage is required); With
- you can deal with high levels of physical activity.
- can be used not only to lose weight, but also to build muscle mass.
Cons of the Protein Weight Loss Scheme:
- Small amounts of fiber can lead to constipation.
- Protein foods are expensive.
- Sweet lovers can suffer from depression.
An unbalanced diet is not healthy. To reduce risks, you need to take a multivitamin complex during the week (or month).
Protein Diet Review
Consuming protein products has reduced the percentage of subcutaneous fat without exercising and feeling hungry. With a diet low in fat and carbohydrates, the appearance could be significantly improved without going to the gym. We managed to stick to this diet for just 5 days. That is, protein only for breakfast, dinner and lunch for almost a week, and as a result, the muscles became more expressive and fit.
It is not recommended to sit on such a diet for more than a week. Even 5 days is a lot, it is better to eat protein only for about 3 days and then change your diet as recommended in the Ducan Diet.