Getting into a diet is easy, but maintaining one isn’t.

Struggling to keep up with a diet routine gets harder and harder as the days go by due to a lot of cravings and a thought of not being able to eat them makes it worse.

A lot of blogs you see will recommend certain kinds of diets which make promises to help you to cut down weight or get you lean. But the important point here is how to work with your diet routine and not feel your soul depressed.

We end up switching into different kind of diets but nothing lasts for more than a few weeks and one can end up binge eating during weekends due to all the stress/ quit the diet.

It’s because of the strict and unrealistic diet routine we all try to inculcate in our daily lives.  We have been feeding upon a lot of processed foods and to follow a strict diet all of a sudden can be a problem with your body system.

Every body is different and our system tries to maintain the same weight that you have been for years and when you get into a certain diet and start losing, it tends to make you intake more calories in order to maintain the former weight.

This can take a while until you have a new weight that you have been maintaining for a while now.

So that’s why losing weight is a long term goal and all the myths about losing it all at once are nothing but a nuisance.

Even though you did, it would be pretty hard to maintain the weight category unless you start eating lesser calories than your body requires which further can make you feel tired and reduce your metabolic rate.

There are a lot of people getting into a diet where they would eat <1000kcal or starve themselves all the way from having around 1800kcal to 2200kcal or more , in that case one might not get all the nutrition including micronutrients required by the body.

Due to sudden decrease in calories , muscle breakdown takes place where muscle protein is used up to fuel your daily routines.

On the other hand, you also build up on your carvings and tend to eat more calories than you did before to satisfy your cravings due to controlling from eating all your favourites for a long time and end up feeling guilty about all the binge eating.

Rather than changing diets , changing your mindset is more important on how to get into a realistic diet which can continue for a very long time.

Changing your lifestyle is one of them where you can include the majority of your diet plan around 80% with nutritional food containing good carbs , vegetables , lean protein and grains and dairy products.

Include some of your favorites around 20% which are going to be the smaller part of your diet.

We include them in order to make a sustainable diet where you do not build up on your cravings and end up quitting your diet within weeks.

Note: Including processed food does not mean you eat only more of them and concentrate less on nutritional food.

Do not think counting your macros and eating only processed food can help you in weight loss because you think your calories would be equal to your Total daily energy expenditure(TDEE) but then you would be missing out on all your essential nutrients like essential amino acids , good carbs & fats , fibers, vitamins and minerals.

• Keep track of your calories. Know your Total daily energy expenditure (TDEE)

           There are various ways to know them. One of the equation to calculate is here

            Resting Metabolic rate (RMR) equations

            Men         : RMR=(9.99xweight) + (6.25xheight) – (4.92xage) +5

           Women  : RMR= (9.99xweight) + (6.25xheight) – (4.92xage) -161

             Multiply RMR value by appropriate activity correction factor.

• Sedentary ( little. No exercise) – 1.2
•  Lightly active ( light exercise/ sports 1-3 days/ week ) – 1.375
•  Moderately active (Moderate exercise / sports 3-5 days/week ) – 1.550
•  Very active (Hard exercise / sports 6-7 days/week ) -1.725
•   Extra active (Hard exercise / sports/ physical job ) – 1.9

                Reduce the calories based on your weight goal.

• Eat in moderation

Anything in excess can be bad. Eating in  moderation helps you maintain your calorie intake.

• Plan and Prepare your own food

Planning and preparing your food can avoid unwanted calories through processed food which you grab on in your vicinity because you did not plan your meals.

Preparing your own food also creates a sense of discipline.

• Stay Stress Free

It is very normal to binge eat at once , but that does not need to make you feel guilty or make you quit eating nutritious food.

Guilt can cause stress releasing hormones which can make you eat more adding on to your weight gain.

There is no need to quit eating healthy food.  

Stay Tuned for more!