A delicious and nutritious protein diet for weight loss is one of the most popular ways to lose weight. It works quickly and efficiently, and in combination with regular physical activity allows you to shed three to five kilograms of excess fat and tighten muscles in just one week.
Lose excess weight with a protein diet for weight loss
The goal is to drastically limit carbohydrate intake for a time, reduce fat intake, and make protein foods the basis of the daily diet. The high protein content is the secret to the long absence of hunger on this diet.
Why does a protein diet work? The answer is simple. In the daily diet carbohydrates predominate and our body extracts energy from them. When carbohydrates in the diet are practically lost, it is the proteins that become the source of energy. The lack of carbohydrates forces the body to break down subcutaneous fat. Protein actively drives water, so the weight is also significantly reduced.
Protein foods consume much more energy than light carbohydrate foods. The increase in energy consumption for digestion is once again a plus in the piggy bank of the effectiveness of the protein diet.
Diet opponents argue that high amounts of protein can be detrimental to health. Fans are sure: if you follow all the rules and do not exceed the allowed period for using the protein scheme, nothing bad will happen to the body, but the weight will actually decrease.
Protein diet for weight loss, the main rules
In order for protein weight loss to be as effective as possible and not cause harm, you must strictly adhere to the basic rules:
- do not use canned food, pickles, marinades, semi-finished products;
- completely abandon all carbohydrate products: flour products, confectionery products, pasta, cereals, vegetables and fruits with starch and very sweet (potatoes, corn, bananas, grapes, figs), fatty dairy andsour dairy products (sour cream, cream);
- exclude alcohol and soft drinks;
- to reduce the load on the kidneys, which are forced to remove from the body a large number of breakdown products of protein foods, you must strictly observe the drinking regime: drink at least one and a half, and preferably twoliters of pure non-mineral water without gas every day;
four meals a day are much more effective for weight loss than three meals a day. Therefore, it is worth applying the principles of fractional nutrition during a diet; - servings should not exceed 250-300 grams;
- At least two hours before going to bed, you should stop eating. In this case, it is better to drink as much water as possible before six in the afternoon;
- To lose weight, it is very important not to exceed the amount of protein by 180 grams, and also to adhere to an individual calorie runner. For some, it is enough to reduce the caloric content by one hundred kcal, while others are losing weight perfectly, while observing the usual energy "weight" of the daily diet. 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 levels and cause serious illness. The yolk is especially dangerous, while the amount of egg whites 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 points
What can you eat? Any food with a predominant protein content: meat (give preference to low-fat options: beef, veal, rabbit), any fish, eggs, poultry (chicken, turkey, duck), skim milk and kefir, plain yogurt. Along with them, the body should receive fiber from raw and stewed vegetables. Lettuce, any cabbage, radishes, tomatoes, zucchini, cucumbers are ideal for a protein diet.
To cook meat and vegetables, we recommend boiling and baking without meat (for example, in a slow cooker or aluminum foil). Frying should be avoided: this increases the caloric content and reduces the quality of proteins. It would be good to limit the amount of salt (an additional burden on the kidneys is useless), season food with spices and lemon juice.
No matter how happy the results are (and the weight loss will be very fast), under no circumstances should you eat like this for more than a month! You can repeat the diet only after four months so that the body can recover from a protein attack. An unbalanced diet for a long time is very dangerous, so you cannot violate the allowed period.
A protein diet is ideal for healthy young adults. It is strictly prohibited to use the protein scheme for people with diseases of the kidneys, intestines, liver, blood vessels, as well as for pregnant and lactating women, adolescents and people over 60 years of age.
Protein diet menus for the week
Diet to lose weight for a week. The suggested menu is approximate. You can vary the diet as you see fit, keeping track of its calorie content. Despite the four daily meals, you can introduce a snack before dinner in the form of lettuce leaves, a glass of kefir, a slice of cheese or drink a little kefir two hours before going to bed.
Monday
- Breakfast: one hundred grams of cottage cheese with a fat content of not more than 2% (do not add sugar), green tea.
- Second breakfast: 30 grams of cheese, egg (soaked or boiled).
- Lunch: 200 gram slice of boiled beef (you can cook veal or other lean meat) with a light salad of finely chopped raw cabbage with a tablespoon of canned peas and vegetable oil (150 grams).
- Dinner: a slice of steamed fish with tomato slices (200 grams of each product).
Tuesday
- Breakfast: boiled egg, green vegetable salad with a tablespoon of oil (150 grams).
- Second breakfast: a cup of low-fat cottage cheese with a tablespoon of plain yogurt.
- Lunch: boiled or baked fish with broccoli (the total weight of the plate is 250 grams).
- Dinner: a piece of boiled chicken of two hundred grams (preferably a diet breast), two tomatoes, a slice of cheese.
Wednesday
- Breakfast: spring salad of half a tomato and a cucumber with sour cream, a boiled egg.
- Second breakfast: thirty grams of walnuts with coffee.
- Lunch: two hundred grams of chicken, lettuce.
- Dinner: two hundred grams of beef stew garnished with lentils (one hundred grams of cooked cereal).
Thursday
- Breakfast: a two-egg omelette, a glass of kefir.
- Second breakfast: one hundred grams of stewed zucchini, 150 grams of stewed or boiled chicken.
- Lunch: beef (200 grams), a tomato.
- Dinner: a cup of low-fat cottage cheese.
Friday
- Breakfast: three tablespoons of steamed oatmeal (do not add oil).
- Second breakfast: boiled egg, a slice of cheese.
- Lunch: boiled chicken breast (150 grams) dressed with its beans (one hundred grams).
- Dinner: a portion of lean pork (no more than 200 grams) and a side of stewed cabbage.
Saturday
- Breakfast: a portion of boiled turkey with a garnish of green beans (total weight no more than 250 grams).
- Second breakfast: a cup of low-fat cottage cheese with a tablespoon of honey.
- Lunch: boiled lean meat, light vegetable salad, seasoned with butter or yogurt.
- Dinner: a portion of fish and a garnish of baked zucchini (total weight no more than 250 grams).
Sunday
- Breakfast: scrambled eggs in two-egg water with a juicy tomato.
- Second breakfast: fifty grams of mixed nuts with coffee.
- Lunch: meat or vegetable broth with minced chicken balls and minced herbs.
- Dinner: a portion of rabbit meat cooked in a sour cream sauce and herbs.
How to get off the diet
If you have the desire and the strength, you can continue to lose weight on a protein diet for another three weeks. In this case, once a week (Saturday or Sunday), you can indulge yourself with something forbidden: waffles, candies, cake. This will help prevent breakdown and the carbohydrate "load" will shake the body.
It takes the same amount of time to stop the protein diet as the restriction. In the first days it is necessary to gradually introduce "correct" carbohydrates into the diet: cereals, whole wheat bread, fruits, a small amount of nuts. Make sure to observe fractional meals and drink a liter and a half of water.
Advantages and disadvantages
The protein diet has its advantages and disadvantages. A definite advantage is guaranteed weight loss, provided that all dietary rules are followed. Other benefits include:
- variety in the diet. On mono diets, it is more difficult to lose weight, as you quickly get tired of the same products; The
- diet helps to eliminate excess water, which means that it helps the skin to be more elastic, to eliminate cellulite (a special massage is needed);
- allows you to cope with high physical activity;
- can be used not only to lose weight but also to gain muscle mass.
Disadvantages of the protein weight loss scheme:
- Low amounts of fiber can cause constipation.
- Protein foods are expensive.
- Sweet lovers can suffer from depression.
An unbalanced diet is not healthy. To reduce the risks, you should take a multivitamin during the week (or the month).
Protein Diet Review
The consumption of protein products has reduced the percentage of subcutaneous fat, without training and without feeling hungry. With a diet low in fat and carbohydrates, it was possible to significantly improve appearance without going to the gym. We managed to stick to this diet for only 5 days. That is, for almost a week, exclusively protein for breakfast, dinner and lunch, and as a result, the muscles became more expressive and toned.
It is not recommended to follow this diet for more than a week. Even 5 days is a long time, it is better to eat exclusively protein for about 3 days, then change the diet as suggested in the Ducan diet.