Why Ideal Diets Don’t Exist?

Important notice: there are no perfect diets! You must feel relieved now. No wonder, because you have often followed diets that did not bring the expected results or were so time-consuming that before you started your adventure well, you had enough of them before the adventure even began. Small steps that gradually bring you closer to your goal should be the basis of every change you want to introduce. Another week of the #SmallSteps#BigChange challenge is over but we’re keeping up the pace and now it’s time for the next task! In the following days we’re going to focus on lunch and dinner. Make sure they are wholesome meals while keeping in mind all the previous habits you have already developed 🙂

 

Eating habits – the key to success

Each diet has its advantages and disadvantages. The one that will bring the most benefits and satisfaction, and thus will not affect your health in a negative way, will be the best for you. The style of nutrition should be adapted to your needs, to the goal you want to achieve and the time you have at your disposal, but above all, it should give you pleasure and motivate you to implement further permanent changes into your eating habits. Remember that reducing unhealthy habits and making changes gradually is better than strict short-term diets. With time, formed habits become commonplace, you don’t think about what ingredients you should avoid, you just do it! That is why your own commitment and persistence in the goals you set is so important. An effective diet is one that is based on simple, tasty recipes. You are more likely to choose meals consisting of your favorite ingredients, so a diet based on them may turn out to be a pleasant experience, or even an adventure that will help you develop new culinary skills and learn new flavors.

 

A balanced diet is closest to the ideal

There are no perfect diets – does that mean you shouldn’t follow any? A proper diet is one that provides the optimal amount of energy from food, which helps to maintain energy balance between the calories consumed and the calories burned during an activity. However, the most important thing is to provide the body with all the nutrients it needs. Proteins, fats, carbohydrates, minerals, vitamins – all these are essential for proper functioning. Balanced selection of products does not lead to a deficiency or excess of supplied ingredients. A properly balanced diet is suitable for everyone, because eating a variety of foods in the correct proportions and hydrating the body are key to maintaining well-being and health.

 

Where to start?

In order to properly balance the diet, it is recommended to determine the basal metabolic rate (BMR) and the total metabolic rate, or TMR. You can read how to do it HERE. Once you’ve done it, the rest is a piece of cake! The percentage of individual macronutrients, i.e. proteins, fats and carbohydrates, should be determined. In a properly balanced diet, carbohydrates should amount to 45% to 75% of energy (55% on average), fats around 20-35%, and proteins 10-20%. If you are not sure whether you have correctly estimated your daily energy requirements, download the Diet & Training by Ann application (you can find it HERE), which will help you determine your TMR, the percentage of macronutrients and the distribution of calories over 5 meals a day. The ingredients in the diets created for you are based on seasonal products. In addition, you can change the dishes I suggest to those tailored to your preferences  at any time. All these features have been created to make your diet properly balanced and tasty!

 

 

A balanced diet and physical activity always go together 

Physical activity combined with a well-balanced diet create an inseparable whole. By doing sports, you strengthen your muscles, circulatory system and aerobic capacity. Your body becomes stronger. Thanks to a well-balanced diet, you intensify these effects by properly nourishing every cell of the body. Nourished cells work more efficiently, metabolism speeds up, you lose excess weight and build muscle mass. For this reason you can choose a set of exercises of varying intensity and level of advancement for each diet in the Diet & Training by Ann app (HERE) ?

 

Remember the basic rules

It is worth introducing the basic principles of healthy eating into everyday life, which I wrote about earlier on HERE. They appear very often on my blog and they will certainly help you to persevere in your efforts to achieve a healthy body. 

You must also be aware that the products you choose to consume and their caloric content significantly affect your current state of health. Pregnant women have increased energy requirements and other macro- and micronutrient requirements. They must also avoid certain foods because of their harmful effects on the development of the fetus. On my blog you can find a large dose of knowledge about nutrition (HERE) and  supplementation during pregnancy. People suffering from diabetes should eat meals with a low glycemic index. In the case of diagnosed food intolerance, it is necessary to exclude the ingredients you are allergic to, e.g. gluten, lactose. Each diet should be adapted to individual needs: not only in terms of energy, but also health and the type of your physical activity. People who practice endurance sports will have more products rich in carbohydrates, and those who practice strength training, will have lots of high-protein products. Thus, remember that the examples above show that many factors influence what kind of diet is right for you and they all should be taken into account ?

 

It’s so easy! 

Have I convinced you enough that diets aren’t as terrible as they seem? For those who still have doubts and claim that diets require a complicated approach, I will say one more thing. Just think if you wonder what you will eat today, what delicious meals you will cook  for your family, what products you will buy in the grocery store or the local market? Do you happen to browse the Internet, call a friend, or mom, to ask for secret recipes? These routine activities are nothing more than planning your menu. With a little effort, good organization, learning a few basic principles of healthy eating, you get what is commonly called a diet, but I prefer the term conscious eating. The habits you introduce are not meant to be a temporary modification, but a permanent change in the pursuit of health. Don’t forget that regular action and consistency are the key to success!

 

Bibliography:

1. Reguła J. Charakterystyka i ocena wybranych diet alternatywnych. Forum Zaburzeń Metabolicznych. 2013;4(3):115-121.
2. Ridder D., Kroese F., Evers C., Adriaanse M., Gillebaart M. Healthy diet: Health impact, prevalence, correlates, and interventions, Psychology & Health. 2017;32(8):907-941.
3. Siwiński W., Rasińska R. Aktywność fizyczna jako zasadniczy cel stylu życia i zdrowia człowieka. Piel Pol. 2015;2(56):181-188.