[Skip bellow for the guide itself]
My biggest passion has always been food. When I was little, our family would gather at the dinning table every morning to talk about plans for the upcoming day and every evening to discuss latest events, celebrate successes and kiss away failures. Every special even or anniversary was celebrated with a proper sit down dinner in restaurant followed by huge mouth-watering homemade cake.
As long as I was a kind I did just fine. I played sports on prety high level and put in enough excercise to burn all the yumminess. The trouble started when I moved abroad for college to arguably the liest healthy country in the world, US. Took me exactly 3 months to gain 12kgs / 25lbs.
It took me 6 years to get annoyed by my hippo-look anough to start doing something about it. I knew I needed someone to track me, to help me get started and so I conatcted Naturhouse - a worldwide diet-consulting franchise of spanish orgin.
I did lose some weigh with their help, some without, but the concept that works for me is the one I learnt there. I am definitely NOT saying it works for everyone or that it is the best and fastest way. It did work for me and that's why I wanna share it.
In the beginning it was very hard. But trust me, if you push through it is very much worth it. You can do it, believe in yourself!
To set yourself up for success I recommend you get your entire family on board, tell your friends and collegues, get rid of temptations (do not buy unhealthy stuff). What makes it easier is that you can see the results very quickly.
Concept:
- eat five times a day (every 2.5-3 hours)
- drink app. 2 liters of water / unsweetened tea
- include plenty of fruits and vegetables
- no "empty calories" (fried stuff, sweets, chips, ... )
- NO starving
- very few restrictions
- Naturhouse originally also adds different herbal products to boost the process, but IMO they aren't necessary
Benefits:
- teaches you to drink enough (my biggest problem)
- teaches you te eat regularly
- teaches you to include fruit and vegetables
- doesnt require excercise (although with it it's even better)
My biggest learnings
- find foods you like and do not be affraid to try new things
- watching portion size is the most important
- drinking enough and eating regularly stopped cravings and feeling hungry
- yoghurt after lunch/dinner satisfied cravings for dessert
- I recommend sticking to it 100% at least for a month, than you can eventually add something
- to not wanna eat unhealthy foods -> DO NOT BUY ITto avoid yo-yo effect you need to change lifestyle of the whole family -> GET YOUR SPOUSE ON BOARD
My daily eating routine :)
7:00 Breakfast
- glass of water right after waking up
- green/fruit tea
- slice of 100% rye bread
- 100g fresh farmers cheese ('tvaroh')
10:00 Morning snack
- piece of fruit (avoid super sugery fruits like bananas/grapes), 1 handful = 1 portion
- big glass of water
13:00 Lunch
- lean meat (fish, poultry, sea food, game, beef)
- 250-300g vegetables (fresh, cooked, steamed, baked)
- white plain yoghurt with tbsp of granulated fiber
- big glass of water
16:00 Afternoon snack
- piece of fruit (avoid super sugery fruits like bananas/grapes), 1 handful = 1 portion
- big glass of water
19:00 Dinner
- meatless protein (egg whites, soya meet, tofu, tempeh) or seafood (ok you can even have some lean poultry :)
- 250-300g vegetables (fresh, cooked, steamed, baked)
- white plain yoghurt with tbsp of granulated fiber
- big glass of water
After dinner
- if I start craving food, I get myself a cup of tea or maybe some vegetables
Additional notes
- the diet is appropriate for someone relatively fit with max 30-50 lbs to lose
(I am no dietician, for bigger people it's too little food!) - if you want to have precise overview, I recommend using MyFitnessPal app :)
- prefer vegetables with low carbs/sugars/fat/calorie content
- eg. cauliflower, salads, spinach, brocolli, cucumbers, tomatos, peppers, mushrooms, zuchini, eggplan, cabage
- include rooty vegetables (carrot, beetroot, leak, ..) once or twice a week
- try avoiding corn, peas, avocado
- if I really crave sweets and glass of water and cup of tea doesn't help, I eat a square of dark chocolate :)
- after first couple weeks feel free to add side-dish to lunch (and later to dinner too)
- e.g. quinoa, potatoes, brown rice, whole-wheat cous-cous, ...
- again, portion size is crutial (small handful)
For some of you it all may sound like basics you have heard so many times, good for you :) But let's call it a first step for every beginner to easily, effortlessely get healthier without complicated calorie counting.
Would you like me to write more posts? On what topics? :)