Starting at home in Wuhan, China, and spreading to the world in a short time, it is important to reduce the spread rate of the COVID-19 pandemic and to maintain weight control as well as a healthy and balanced diet.
It is seen that many individuals turn to unhealthy eating habits and increase their tendency to gain weight during their stay. It is possible to reach the ideal weight both by strengthening the immune system and preventing diseases related to excess weight by taking some nutritional precautions during and after the stay at home.
Here are the golden recommendations for not gaining weight and staying healthy.
Eat a Healthy and Balanced Nutrition
The first issue that should be emphasized in terms of maintaining the body form and ensuring weight loss is a healthy and balanced diet. There are three main nutrients in the food consumed. These are protein, fat and carbohydrates. In healthy individuals, 55-60% of the energy taken into the body with nutrients should come from carbohydrates, 12-15% from proteins and 25-30% from fats.
In nutritional programs prepared by the dietician, these nutrients are calculated one by one and adjusted to these values. However, people who do not adhere to the diet and achieve weight control with their own precautions can meet these requirements fully by taking care to consume food from each food group at each meal.
People who want a healthy and balanced diet should have 2-3 servings of milk and dairy products daily, 7-8 servings of vegetables and fruits, 1-2 slices of whole grain bread besides meals, 1-2 portions of non-bread cereals, 2-3 servings of meat per day. They can eat healthy legumes 2-3 days a week with chicken or fish and eat fish 2-3 days a week.
Increase Your Physical Activity Level
In addition to nutrition, sports is another essential for maintaining health and body form. In order to prevent weight gain, the energy spent with metabolism and physical activity should be equal to the energy taken into the body with nutrients, and the energy spent to lose weight should be more.
Therefore, regular exercise should be done to prevent excessive energy from being stored as fat and to prevent weight gain. Fitness exercises, swimming, walking or simple exercises that can be done at home can be preferred for this purpose.
Exercising at least 2-3 days a week and making it a lifestyle is very effective both in terms of protecting health and preventing diseases and maintaining weight control.
Prefer Foods With High Fiber Content
In order for the metabolism to work quickly and to maintain weight control, a regularly functioning digestive system is needed. The key to proper functioning of the digestive system is dietary fiber. Dietary fibers are also called pulp and are the part of the food that is excreted through the feces without being digested.
While increasing the volume of stool, the fibers strengthen the immune system while regulating the digestive system, and help protect against many chronic diseases, especially intestinal cancers. It also prevents the problem of constipation and prevents swelling and flatulence in the abdomen.
The foods with the highest fiber content are fresh fruits and vegetables, and then unpurified cereals and dried nuts. The fact that they are included in the nutrition plan can fully meet the need for pulp.
Meet your Vitamin and Mineral Requirements
In order to strengthen the immune system, it is very important to fully meet the vitamin and mineral requirements. Considering some additional studies, it has been determined that the deficiency of some vitamins and minerals, especially vitamin D, is associated with obesity.
In this context, it is important to consume the unprocessed form of vegetables and fruits as fruits and salads, to consume oilseeds once a day, to consume calcium source milk and dairy products, and to follow the healthy and balanced diet plan mentioned above.
In order to meet the vitamin D need, you should go out to the sun for at least half an hour daily, and regular fish and walnuts should be taken care of in order to get Omega-3 fatty acids that do not end in counting health benefits.
Care for probiotic foods
Probiotic bacteria are living things that have many health benefits, from regulating the digestive system to strengthening the immune system and maintaining weight control. Foods that contain probiotic bacteria, which facilitate weight loss by accelerating metabolism, are the foods obtained as a result of fermentation such as yogurt, buttermilk, kefir, cheese, and pickles.
Regular consumption of these nutrients helps prevent the health problem called dysbiosis, which makes it inevitable for the body to catch chronic diseases and infectious diseases as a result of the disruption of the intestinal microbiota. Therefore, these nutrients should be included in the nutrition plan adequately.
Increase Your Water Consumption
High metabolic rate is very important for reducing the tendency to gain weight. Many people who do not gain weight despite eating too much food seem to have high metabolic rates.
One of the most effective measures to increase the basal metabolic rate is increasing the water consumption. Even individuals with a sedentary (sedentary) lifestyle and working at desk should drink at least 2 liters of water daily. This amount increases in people who exercise regularly, work physically or are very active during the day or on hot summer days.
Therefore, in order to achieve weight control, attention should be paid to consuming at least 2-2.5 liters of water daily, and liquid drinks such as tea and coffee should not be included in this amount.
Prefer Healthy Snacks
One of the most important habits that lead to weight gain is to eat snacks in snacks or to consume large amounts of foods called “junk food” among the people.
These foods, mostly composed of ready-made foods or desserts, are foods with high energy content, low nutritional value, and therefore have no benefit other than providing energy to the body.
One of the biggest obstacles to weight control is the preference of food types such as chocolate, chips, frying, carbonated drinks, biscuits and crackers. Preferring healthy dried fruits such as hazelnuts, almonds, walnuts, fresh and dried fruits, and healthy snacks such as chickpeas made from chickpeas, both contribute to meeting the nutritional requirements and preventing unnecessary energy intake.
Don’t Try To Lose Weight Fast
One of the biggest mistakes made by individuals aiming to lose weight is to lose weight fast. Although losing weight and maintaining the form adorns the dreams of many people, sudden weight losses should be prevented in order not to compromise health while maintaining the ideal weight and to ensure the permanence of the lost weight.
The target of 4 kilos monthly and 1 kilos weekly for weight loss is the healthiest rate of weight loss. Even if the desired weight is achieved as a result of sudden weight losses with higher targets than this, the weight lost after the diet is stopped due to the excessive slowing of the metabolic rate is taken back.
In addition, rapid weight losses usually occur from high density water and muscle mass. This causes sagging in the body. However, in a healthy slimming plan, the weight lost is aimed to be realized through a high rate of fat mass.
In order to prevent such problems, individuals who want to lose weight should be patient and determined, they should set a goal not only to lose weight, but to lose weight in a healthy way.
Body mass index can be used to determine the ideal weight. Body mass index is calculated by dividing the amount of body mass in kilograms by the square in neck meters.
For example, an individual with a height of 1.60 m and a mass of 60 kg is calculated as the body mass index of 60 / 1.60×1.60 and found as 23.4. Body mass index in the range of 19-24 corresponds to the normal weight range.
This index is targeted to be 19 for younger individuals and 24 for older individuals. Therefore, people who want to lose weight can use this method as the ideal weight calculation technique.
Click to calculate your body mass index.
Maintaining your ideal weight by eating a healthy and balanced diet is one of the most effective methods you can take in order to live a healthy life.
In line with the above suggestions, you can protect your health by taking the necessary nutritional habits and arranging your lifestyle in the way it should be, and you can take your precaution against any kind of disease.
