A nutritious and tasty protein diet for weight loss is one of the most popular ways to lose weight. It works quickly and efficiently, and combined with regular physical activity allows you to get rid of three to five pounds of excess fat and tighten your muscles in just a week.
Lose extra pounds with the help of a protein diet for weight loss
The essence is to sharply limit carbohydrate intake for a while, reduce fat intake and make protein foods the basis of the daily diet. The high protein content 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 the daily diet, and our body takes energy from them. When carbohydrates from the diet are practically lost, it is protein that becomes the source of energy. Lack of carbohydrates forces the body to break down subcutaneous fat. Proteins actively move water, due to which the weight is significantly reduced.
Protein foods consume much more energy than light carbohydrate foods. Increasing the consumption of energy for digestion is again a plus in piggy banks in the efficiency of the protein diet.
Opponents of the diet claim that large amounts of protein foods can be harmful to health. Fans are sure: if you follow all the rules and do not exceed the allowed period of using the protein scheme, nothing bad will happen to the body, but the weight will actually be reduced.
Protein diet for weight loss, main rules
In order to lose weight on protein as effectively as possible and not cause harm, you should strictly adhere to the basic rules:
- do not use canned food, pickles, marinades, semi-finished products;
- completely abandon all carbohydrate products: flour products, confectionery, pasta, cereals, starchy and very sweet vegetables and fruits (potatoes, corn, bananas, grapes, figs), fatty dairy and sour milk products (sour cream, cream);
- excludes alcohol and sugary fizzy drinks;
- To reduce the burden on the kidneys, which are forced to remove from the body a large amount of protein breakdown products, you must strictly follow 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 is much more effective for weight loss than three meals a day. It is therefore worth applying the principles of fractional nutrition throughout the diet; - servings should not exceed 250-300 grams;
- At least two hours before bedtime, food intake should be stopped. In this case, the principal is better to drink before six in the evening;
- For weight loss, it is very important not to exceed the amount of protein in 180 grams, and adhere to an individual calorie intake. For some, it is enough to reduce the calorie content by one hundred kcal, while others lose weight perfectly, observing the usual energy "weight" of everyday food. In any case, the calorie content of the daily diet should not exceed 1, 5 thousand kilocalories.
You should not eat more than two eggs a day, otherwise you can raise your cholesterol level and cause serious illness. 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 feature should not be neglected: in this way you can significantly facilitate the work of the body during the diet.
Important Notes
What can you eat? Any food with a predominant protein content: meat (prefer lean options: beef, veal, rabbit), any fish, eggs, poultry (chicken, turkey, duck), skim milk and kefir, natural yogurt. Along with them, the body should get fiber from raw and stewed vegetables. Lettuce, any cabbage, radish, tomato, zucchini, cucumber are ideal for a protein diet.
For cooking meat and vegetables, it is recommended to cook and roast without meat (for example, in a slow stove or foil). Frying should be avoided: this increases the calorie content and reduces the quality of the protein. It would be nice to limit the amount of salt (extra burden on the kidneys is useless), season the food with spices and lemon juice.
No matter how happy the results are (and losing weight will go very fast), you should never eat like this for more than a month! You can repeat the diet only after four months so that the body can recover from the protein attack. An unbalanced diet is very dangerous for a long time, so you cannot violate the allowed period.
Protein diet is ideal for healthy young adults. It is strictly forbidden to use the protein scheme for people with diseases of the kidneys, intestines, liver, blood vessels, as well as for pregnant and breastfeeding women, adolescents and people older than 60 years.
Protein diet menus for the week
Diet for weight loss for a week. The suggested menu is approximate. You can change your diet however you want, taking into account its calorie content. Despite four meals a day, you can enter the pre-dinner snack in the form of lettuce leaves, a glass of kefir, a slice of cheese or drink a little kefir two hours before bed.
Monday
- Breakfast: one hundred grams of fresh 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: a slice of two hundred grams of cooked beef (you can cook veal or other lean meat) with a light salad of raw finely chopped cabbage with a tablespoon of canned peas and vegetable oil (150 grams).
- Dinner: a slice of steamed fish with slices of tomato (200 grams of each product).
Tuesday
- Breakfast: boiled egg, salad of any green vegetables with a tablespoon of oil (150 grams).
- Second breakfast: a cup of low-fat cottage cheese with a spoonful of natural yogurt.
- Lunch: boiled or baked fish with broccoli (total weight of the dish is 250 grams).
- Dinner: a slice of boiled chicken two hundred grams (preferably diet breast), two tomatoes, a slice of cheese.
Wednesday
- Breakfast: spring salad of half a tomato and cucumber with sour cream, boiled egg.
- Second breakfast: thirty grams of nuts with coffee.
- Lunch: two hundred grams of chicken, lettuce.
- Dinner: two hundred grams of beef stew with lentil decoration (one hundred grams of cooked cereals).
Thursday
- Breakfast: omelet of two eggs, a glass of kefir.
- Second breakfast: one hundred grams of stewed zucchini, 150 grams of stewed or boiled chicken.
- Lunch: beef (200 grams), one tomato.
- Dinner: a cup of low-fat cottage cheese.
Friday
- Breakfast: three tablespoons of steamed oatmeal (do not add oil).
- Second breakfast: boiled egg, slice of cheese.
- Lunch: boiled chicken breast (150 grams) decorated with their beans (one hundred grams).
- Dinner: portion of lean pork (not more than 200 grams) and a side dish of braised cabbage.
Saturday
- Breakfast: a portion of boiled turkey with a side dish of beans (total weight not 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: portion of fish and side dish of roasted zucchini (total weight not more than 250 grams).
Sunday
- Breakfast: scrambled eggs on water from two eggs with juicy tomatoes.
- Second breakfast: fifty grams of walnut mixture with coffee.
- Lunch: meat or vegetable soup with minced chicken balls and chopped herbs.
- Dinner: a portion of rabbit meat cooked in a sauce of sour cream and herbs.
How to get out of the diet
If you have the desire and strength, you can continue to lose weight on a protein diet for another three weeks. In that case, once a week (on Saturday or Sunday), you can pamper yourself with something forbidden: waffles, candies, cake. This will help you avoid breakdown, and a “load” of carbs will shake your body.
It takes as long to quit a protein diet as the restriction lasted. In the first days, it is necessary to gradually introduce "correct" carbohydrates into the diet: cereals, wholemeal bread, fruit, a small amount of dried fruit. Be sure to respect broken meals and drink one and a half liters of water.
Advantages and disadvantages
Protein diet has its advantages and disadvantages. A definite plus is the guaranteed weight loss, provided that all dietary rules are followed. Other amenities include:
- diversity in diet. It is harder to lose weight on mono-diets, because you get tired of the same products quickly;
- diet helps get rid of excess water, which means it helps make the skin more elastic, get rid of cellulite (requires a special massage);
- allows you to deal with a lot of physical activity;
- can be used not only for weight loss but also for gaining muscle mass.
Disadvantages of the protein weight loss scheme:
- Low 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 the risks, you must take a multivitamin complex throughout the week (or month).
Review of protein diet
Consuming protein products has managed to reduce the percentage of subcutaneous fat, without training and feeling hungry. By using a low-fat, low-carb diet, it was possible to significantly improve your appearance without going to the gym. We were able to adhere to this diet for only 5 days. That is, for almost a week exclusively proteins for breakfast, dinner and lunch, and as a result the muscles became more expressive and tense.
It is not recommended to sit on such a diet for more than a week. Even 5 days is already a lot, it is better to eat only protein for about 3 days and then change the diet as suggested in the Ducan diet.