Low-calorie diet: pros and cons
A low-calorie diet has a medical rationale. It is recommended for people who suffer from obesity, or from serious metabolic disorders in the body. This method of losing weight is now practiced not only by doctors, since all its secrets have become known to a wide range of people. In an effort to lose weight as quickly as possible, many do not stop even before the fear of hunger. The hypocaloric diet is based on the diet of table number 8.
The eighth table or Pevzner table (8A / 8O) can be considered a classic version of a hypocaloric diet. The diet is built on a decrease in calories depending on the body weight of a particular person. This table is designed by experts in the field of dietetics, as it is intended for people who are obese and lead a sedentary lifestyle. The low-calorie diet has a balanced menu, which makes it a priority over other types of diets. The menu is structured in such a way that it contains products from most of the main groups.
The process of losing weight on a low-calorie diet is triggered by the fact that a person cuts down his daily calorie intake. He receives a limited amount of calories from food, which is hardly enough for him to ensure normal life. The body will have nothing to save in reserve. To compensate for the lack of calories, the body begins to burn its own fat deposits. Fat is transformed into energy and a person loses weight.
The main distinguishing feature of this diet is that it will have to calculate the kilocalories of each product. You can also use ready-made menu options, but often you still have to adjust them for yourself.
Eating on a low-calorie diet assumes adherence to the principle of fractionality. During the day, a person must come to the table at least 5 times. In this case, three meals will be main, and two additional. As a snack, you can use fresh vegetables and fruits, as well as dairy drinks.
The duration of the diet should be determined by the doctor. It is based on the state of health of a person, it also matters what the initial weight of the person losing weight is. However, the diet should not be practiced for more than 2-3 weeks. A person should lose no more than 2-3 kg per month, so as not to harm their health.
Content:
- Principles of a hypocaloric diet
- Varieties of low-calorie diets
- Diet
- Menu for the week of the hypocaloric diet
- Permitted and prohibited foods
- Pros and cons of a low-calorie diet
- Contraindications
- Reviews and results
- Conclusion
Principles of a hypocaloric diet
A low-calorie diet is based on the following principles:
- Before starting your diet, you should prepare. To do this, you need to arrange fasting days for yourself, during which only vegetables or kefir are eaten. This will allow the body to not so painfully perceive the transition to a menu cut in half.
- The number of kilocalories should be reduced gradually, starting from 500 kcal per day.
- Protein products on the menu are not cut, you should only reduce the consumption of carbohydrates by three times and the amount of fat by half.
- The diet is limited to sugar, salt and caffeine. You should also reduce the amount of water you drink. While most dietary programs, on the other hand, recommend drinking as much fluid as possible, then a hypocaloric diet requires you to "dry out" the body by expelling excess water from it. However, this does not mean that you should not drink at all during the diet.
- The menu is based on eating foods that are rich in fiber, protein and vitamins.
- You need to eat often, but in small portions.
- You should not adhere to the proposed diet longer than 3 weeks.
The hypocaloric weight loss system allows you to speed up metabolic processes in the body, normalize blood glucose levels, and improve the digestive system as a whole. The body is cleansed of toxins, toxins are released from it, fats are broken down. Against the background of general recovery, blood pressure stabilizes.
During the diet, you can play sports, but the load should be minimal. If this is not possible, then you can simply go for walks, or do gymnastic exercises at home.
Varieties of low-calorie diets
There are 4 types of Pevzner's diet, which depend on what kind of excess weight a person has:
- Diet 1800 kcal - this diet is suitable for those people who are overweight, but they have not developed obesity.
- Diet 1500 kcal - this diet is suitable for people with the first stage of obesity.
- Diet 1200 kcal - this diet is prescribed for people with a second degree of obesity.
- Diet 800 kcal - such a diet can be prescribed only by a doctor and only to those people who suffer from 3-4 degrees of obesity. During its observance, a person must adhere to bed rest.
There are also foreign options for a hypocaloric diet, which range from 500 to 1800 kcal. The Western diet also differs from the Pevzner diet in that the amount of fat is reduced in it: 20 g per day on a foreign diet versus 40-60 g of fat on the Russian diet.
However, regardless of which diet option was chosen for losing weight, you need to enter it correctly. It is forbidden to sharply reduce the number of calories without a preparatory stage. Every day you need to reduce your daily calorie content by 500 kcal until its values reach 1300 kcal. Only after that you can switch to the low-calorie diet menu in the full sense of the word.
Diet
When compiling a menu, you must take into account the following recommendations regarding the selection of products:
- The amount of proteins of animal origin should be at the level of 60-70%. These are meat, eggs, fish, seafood. About 30% of proteins should be of vegetable origin - these are cereals, beans, soybeans, peas and mushrooms. A person should consume no more than 1-1.5 g / kg of protein per day. It should be taken into account that proteins of animal origin contain fats, therefore their caloric content is higher than proteins of plant origin.
- Fatsthe menu can be represented by fats of animal origin, of which no more than 30% of the total amount of fats should enter the body. These are products such as: butter, fatty meats, lard, waterfowl, dairy products. Vegetable fats occupy the bulk of the fat in the diet of a person adhering to a low-calorie diet. Their share is 70%. At the same time, a person should eat vegetable oils, nuts, seeds, olives. While animal fats are a source of saturated fatty acids and cholesterol, vegetable fats supply unsaturated fatty acids to the body and help lower cholesterol. Eating fats in food increases the appetite, as they give the food a pleasant taste. Therefore, there is a parallel between how much fat a person eats and how quickly they gain weight. In this regard, it is so important to observe the above proportion of 70 to 30. Also, when compiling the menu, it should be borne in mind that fat is contained in a latent form in sausage, cheese, smoked products, confectionery, offal, ice cream and more. This must be taken into account when drawing up the menu.
- Carbohydrates can be slowly and quickly absorbed, as well as indigestible - this is fiber. The latter include cereals, vegetables, herbs, wholemeal flour, berries and fruits. After entering the intestine, they are not broken down, not absorbed, and therefore do not have any effect on a person's weight. Carbohydrates, which are absorbed by the body quickly, are represented by such products as: sugar, jam, juice, honey, sweets, chocolate, sweets, drinks containing sugar, dairy products. After they enter the body, they are rapidly absorbed into the bloodstream, and therefore lead to weight gain. Slow carbohydrates include pectin and starch. They are not so rapidly assimilated by the body, since it takes time to break down them. Foods that are sources of slow carbohydrates: corn, pasta, bread, cereals, flour.
Priority in the menu should be given to carbohydrates that are not absorbed at all, or are absorbed slowly. You also need to take into account that fast carbohydrates are found in many foods in a hidden form. The daily "limit" of carbohydrates on a low-calorie diet is 150 g, but no more.
In order for the diet to be as effective as possible, you need to periodically arrange fasting days for yourself, when the daily calorie content of the diet is 500-750 kcal. Unloading should not be performed more often 2 times in 10 days. During such periods, metabolic processes accelerate, fat stores are burned faster. The products that are taken as a basis on a fasting day can be: fermented milk drinks, fish, meat, cottage cheese, vegetables and fruits.
Menu for the week of the hypocaloric diet
| Breakfast | Snack | Dinner | Snack | Dinner | Snack | |
| Oatmeal with milk, egg, apple juice | Casserole with cottage cheese and dried fruits | Cauliflower soup, baked fish, vegetable salad with sour cream, coffee | A glass of milk | Veal meatballs, salad with carrots, apples and celery. | A glass of kefir | |
| Boiled chicken eggs, banana and tea | Pudding with cottage cheese, fruit jelly | Ukha, casserole with vegetables topped with cheese, coffee | Salad with cabbage and chicken fillet | Omelet, cauliflower in garlic sauce, tea | A glass of fermented baked milk | |
| Wholemeal bread, cheese, tomatoes, tea | Banana and a glass of fermented baked milk | Boiled chicken breast, stewed cabbage, coffee | Cottage cheese and dried fruits | Boiled fish, zucchini stew | A glass of yogurt | |
| Fruit, nuts and yogurt | Banana | Bean and tomato soup, chicken fillet, broccoli, tea | Berry juice and nuts | Beans with tomatoes, juice | A glass of milk | |
| five | Vegetables, feta cheese, tea | Fruit kissel | Chicken fillet meatballs, coffee | Toast and juice | Buckwheat and chicken breast | A glass of kefir |
| Eggplant, fish, bell peppers - all products are grilled | Egg and coffee | Ukha, vegetable ratatouille | Steamed broccoli | Chicken breast and tomatoes, tea | A glass of fermented baked milk | |
| Braised beans, coffee | Vegetables and feta cheese | Zucchini soup, steamed rabbit cutlet, carrot and pea ragout | Toast with cheese and tomatoes, coffee | Cucumber, herbs with sour cream | A glass of yogurt |
Permitted and prohibited foods
Foods that can be eaten during the diet:
- Animal and poultry meat: veal, beef, turkey, chicken, rabbit.
- Egg.
- Fish: herring, hake, tuna, pike, salmon. Seafood: mussels, squid, oysters, shrimps, crabs.
- Legumes: beans, peas, lentils, chickpeas.
- Mushrooms and seaweed.
- Groats: buckwheat, wheat groats, oatmeal.
- Vegetable oil: olive, sunflower, corn, linseed.
- Fermented milk products and milk with a low percentage of fat.
- Breads and breads based on whole grain flour, bran.
- Vegetables: carrots, onions, zucchini, celery, tomatoes, cucumbers, eggplants, green beans, etc. Lettuce, greens.
- Nuts, olives, flaxseeds.
Foods that should not be eaten during the diet:
- Fatty meats of animals and poultry.
- Smoked meats, sausages, lard, bacon, fast food, semi-finished products.
- Dough, wheat flour based bread, all baked goods, waffles, cakes, pastries, pancakes, dumplings and dumplings.
- Sugar and foods that contain it. Including honey, halva, dried fruits, condensed milk, ice cream.
- Fermented milk drinks containing sugar and other additives.
- Semolina.
- Potatoes, bananas and grapes.
- Beverages containing alcohol and caffeine, spicy sauces, condiments.
Pros and cons of a low-calorie diet
The pluses of the diet include:
- The metabolism improves.
- Weight is lost due to the fact that fats are broken down, not muscle.
- The intestines are cleansed.
- Muscles are strengthened.
The disadvantages of the diet include:
- The diet can only be followed if the person is at home all the time. At work, it is difficult to follow the principle of fractional nutrition. Moreover, it is not always possible to bring food with you.
- The diet should not be combined with physical activity, especially intense.
- The weight won't go away quickly. In a short period of time, it will not be possible to lose a large number of kilograms.
Contraindications
Contraindications to dieting:
- Renal failure of a chronic course.
- Significant physical activity.
- Diabetic retinopathy.
- Angina pectoris.
- Age under 18.
- Diseases of the digestive system.
- Carrying a baby and breastfeeding.
- Endocrine system diseases.
- Constipation tendency.
- Mental disorders.
- Coronary heart disease.
- Arrhythmias.
- Osteoporosis.
- Atherosclerosis.
- Senile age.
- Infectious diseases in the acute stage.
- Gout.
Reviews and results
Evangeline: “I have suffered from overweight all my life. I tried different diets. All of them gave only temporary results. Literally after 3-4 months, the weight returned, and sometimes even with a margin. When I gained more than 15 kg, I decided to see a doctor. The doctor told me to stick to table # 8. I was on a diet for 8 months, during which time all the extra pounds were gone. Now I strictly monitor my weight and if I see even an insignificant gain in mass, then I go on a low-calorie diet. Better to deal with the problem at the root."
Julia: “This diet is absolutely not suitable for me. I can't stand it for more than a week, as I feel very bad without sweets. During the diet, the head starts to hurt, the state of health worsens, and the nervousness increases. A week is enough to lose 2-3 kg, but the weight quickly returns. I think I should try another diet."
Karina: “With a low-calorie diet, you can lose weight. I practice it in the spring to prepare my body for summer. I feel great while dieting, only a little lacking in sweets. I want to eat from time to time, but not much. I approach the menu carefully, using an online calculator to calculate the calorie content, as well as the amount of proteins, fats and carbohydrates. Therefore, a hypoallergenic diet, or rather, its menu, does not present any difficulties for me."
Conclusion
The low-calorie diet is distinguished by a balanced composition, with protein products being given priority in the menu. When compiling a diet, it is important to use a wide variety of products, you also need to monitor the calorie content of dishes. To lose weight faster, you need to do gymnastics. If obesity does not allow you to engage in active sports, then you can simply go for walks. The main thing is that the number of calories does not exceed the permissible norm.
The author of the article: Kuzmina Vera Valerievna | Endocrinologist, nutritionist
Education: Diploma of the Russian State Medical University named after NI Pirogov with a degree in General Medicine (2004). Residency at Moscow State University of Medicine and Dentistry, diploma in Endocrinology (2006).
