Balanced nutrition: what it is, how to balance the menu, principles of proper and rational eating, foods and diet for weight loss

What a person consumes daily undoubtedly affects his health and appearance. Moreover, this factor can have both a positive and negative effect. There are certain principles of a balanced diet, following which you can maintain youth, improve your health and significantly improve your appearance.

What is a proper and healthy diet?

Indicators of proper and healthy nutrition are normal weight and good health. A healthy and proper diet is always:

correspondence of calories consumed to energy consumed;
providing the body with all necessary macro- and microelements.

A balanced diet does not require large material costs. You can always choose products typical for a given time of year and region at affordable prices.

Important! The amount of fat for any person should not exceed 30% of the daily amount of food.

Be sure to watch: Gallery image with caption: Rules and recipes for a menu with proper nutrition Gallery image with caption: Rules for drawing up and an approximate menu for a week as part of proper nutrition Gallery image with caption: The meaning and rules for creating a regimen with proper nutrition for a healthy person Gallery image with caption: We create a menu for older people correctly: we take into account the characteristics of the body at 60 and 80 years old

Ideal breakfast for weight loss

A balanced breakfast made from Herbalife products is the best thing you can think of for morning recharge. I’m speaking firsthand, I’ve had breakfast this way every day since 2000, and I know what I’m talking about. I'm 36 and in great shape! To lose weight, you need a special program, which I can provide to those who want to lose weight. But in any case, to lose weight you need to start with breakfast, and gradually accustom yourself to everything that is called proper nutrition. If you want to lose weight, then start with a proper breakfast. And if you “go all out”, then immediately order a complete weight loss program, “take by the throat” all your bad eating habits, listen to your consultant like a soldier, and you will be happy - a beautiful figure, good health, a young and always fresh look , energy, sparkle in the eyes and other things that can make you happy!!!

Basic theory

A balanced diet involves a full intake of a variety of foods. This is breakfast, lunch, afternoon snack with dinner and 2-3 more snacks. In general, this is 5-6 meals per day.

In this case, it is necessary to maintain the harmony of the three golden components - proteins, fats and carbohydrates. It is necessary to choose the right products, take care of fortified nutrition, and count calories. And you should take into account your age, active load, gender, energy consumption, chronic illnesses.

You may also be interested in: Food Pyramid of Proper Nutrition

Basic principles

Our well-being and performance depend on what we eat. This means that the diet should contain fresh and high-quality products that make up for the deficiency of valuable substances. This can only be achieved by regularly receiving balanced nutrition. Breakfast, lunch and dinner must include a variety of foods. The morning meal should provide the body with enough energy to last until the next meal.

Experts recommend eating whole grain cereals for breakfast, rich in complex and slowly digestible carbohydrates. Such food saturates the body for a long time and contains a lot of fiber, which helps eliminate waste and toxins. Yachka, millet, pearl barley, buckwheat, oatmeal and unpolished rice are best suited for a morning meal. All of them have a rich vitamin and mineral composition and go well with dried fruits, nuts, berries and honey.

Cottage cheese eaten for breakfast will bring no less benefits. It is considered one of the best sources of calcium and protein. It can be consumed not only in its pure form, but also made into casseroles, cheesecakes and other delicacies.

Eggs are also included in the list of allowed breakfast foods. They are rich in protein and keep you feeling full for a long time. They make excellent omelettes that go well with vegetables, herbs and seafood.

You can also eat natural yogurt that does not contain chemical additives in the morning. It helps normalize the gastrointestinal tract and stabilize metabolism. It is often combined with berries, pieces of fruit or oatmeal.

Having dealt with the main products recommended for the morning meal, you can begin to consider the most popular recipes.

What are the main principles of creating a rational menu?

There are many starting points for rational nutrition. Basic principles:

eat small meals, which will speed up your metabolism and get rid of strong feelings of hunger;
15-20 minutes before meals, drink a glass of plain clean water, maybe with lemon juice to improve digestion;
do not wash down your food, you can drink water after a meal only an hour later;
chew each piece slowly and thoroughly so that the brain has time to receive a signal of satiety, thus the amount eaten will be less;
diversify the menu so that the body does not rebel and demand more and more food;
It’s worth making up your correct menu every evening for the coming day;
completely avoid sausages, soda, mayonnaise, pickled and smoked foods, fried and fatty foods;
introduce restrictions on salt and sugar;
replace alcohol with fresh homemade juices and compotes, lemonade and water;
eat fruits and vegetables in season, at least two kilos per season;
prohibited foods in the form of sweets can be eaten strictly until 12 noon, then not;
follow a meal schedule;
do not starve or adhere to mono-diet;
do not overeat or eat on the run;
write down everything you eat during the day;
when you want to eat, you need to drink water, perhaps the body asks for water;
Every day you need to do at least simple gymnastics and walk for at least 30 minutes.

It is better to replace sweets in the form of cakes and candies with dried fruits, giving preference to dried apricots, raisins, and dates.

Important! A balanced diet is not a temporary diet, but a way of life. It promotes the normal functioning of all body systems.

Contrary to popular belief that such food is expensive, not tasty and time-consuming, it does not require additional costs or time for preparation. And it's also very tasty.

Different types of foods contain different substances, microelements and vitamins, which is why a varied menu is important for a person.

Balanced diet menu for a week for weight loss

The first thing a person who plans to eat rationally needs to do is decide on the caloric intake.

If a woman wants to lose weight, then she is recommended to create a menu for 1200 calories per day; if she also plays sports, then this norm can be increased to 1600.

If a man is losing weight, then it is enough for him to consume up to 1800 calories per day. The athlete is allowed to increase this norm to 2300.

There are several rules on how to eat right in order to lose excess weight:

Water must be consumed wisely . The first glass of clean liquid should be drunk immediately after waking up; it will start the body working. You should also drink it 15 minutes before each meal. It will fill the stomach and the person will eat less. It is not recommended to drink water afterwards, so as not to stretch it.
You should not drink tea with sweets and pastries ; it is better to replace them with dried fruits.
Famous low-calorie weight loss bars also contain unwanted sugar.
It is not recommended to eat the whole egg ; it is better to eat only the white, it is lower in calories and full of nutrients.
If you still want to eat something tasty , but forbidden, then it is better to do it in the first half of the day and in a minimal quantity.
Each product can be consumed strictly at a certain time . From these you can create a complete daily diet for every day.

What to consider to balance your food

All food for the day should be divided into 4 parts. In percentage terms, the volume distribution looks like this:

Eat 25% for breakfast;
10-15% – for second breakfast;
40-45% – by lunch;
25% and no less for dinner.

The proportional ratio of proteins, fats and carbohydrates in the standard form looks like 1:1:4.

To maintain health

When you are at your ideal weight and feel good, the goal of a balanced diet is to maintain health. The ideal menu for this would be:

in the morning - porridge with fruits, berries, honey, nuts, the total calorie content can reach 400 kcal;
for lunch - meat with a side dish of vegetables or cereals, durum wheat pasta;
have dinner with light foods – vegetables and protein foods.

A snack can be a handful of nuts, a piece of cheese, yogurt, a cup of fresh vegetable salad, or fruit.

Interesting! The principles of a balanced diet were described in his works by academician I.P. Pavlov . According to his works, food maintains a uniform and constant molecular balance in the body. If a failure occurs, you need to restore harmony with a balanced diet.

For weight loss

Losing extra pounds is not easy; you need to take into account many individual characteristics: body type, age, gender, physical activity. On average, it is believed that a woman should consume no more than 1200-1300 kcal per day, and for men – 1500-1800 kcal.

To prevent hunger from interfering with focusing on achieving your goal, you should:

have breakfast with carbohydrate foods (pasta, potatoes as a side dish) or eat porridge;
give up smoked and salted foods;
do not completely give up sweets, but eat until 12 noon;
eat a varied diet;
drink up to 2 liters of water per day;
eat protein for dinner.

You can't starve, it will lead to stress and breakdown. You need to eat, but don’t forget about calories: 1200-1300 kcal and no more. And don't eat 4 hours before bedtime. One day a week should be a fasting day. This means that you can eat fruits and vegetables, drink unsweetened water, tea and coffee. You can also eat only apples or cucumbers. Those who like watermelon are also an option. At the same time, for effective and painless weight loss, the weekly menu for men and women should be based precisely on the accepted calorie intake.

For sports

Those who actively engage in sports need more energy. This means that calorie consumption per day can reach 2000-2200 for women and 2500 for men. To maintain and grow muscle mass, you need approximately equal amounts of protein and carbohydrates. Breakfasts should always consist of proteins and carbohydrates, and fat should not exceed 20%. Athletes need it less than ordinary people. You need to choose the right fats - red fish, nuts, avocados, seeds. Do not forget about water balance, drink at least 1.5-2 liters of water.

Important! It is recommended to consume drinking water per day in the amount of 4% of body weight, another 5 g of sea salt and no more than 50 g of sugar.

Pros and cons of breakfast cereals

Cons: Breakfast cereals typically contain too much sugar and saturated fat, which can contribute to weight gain. Some types of breakfast, especially those with the addition of chocolate, caramel and other fillers, preservatives and flavors, can cause allergic reactions. Be careful when choosing breakfast cereals. To obtain instantly brewed flakes, technologies are used that kill almost everything useful; they often use fully processed and empty grains, rather than whole grains. Many nutrients are artificial and simply added to cereals.

Pros: Breakfast cereals provide the body with the necessary morning supply of carbohydrates, especially the children's body. Cereals drenched in milk are an excellent alternative when you don’t have time to cook porridge. Breakfast cereals contain many vitamins and minerals, especially if they are additionally fortified with them.

Please note that the beneficial substances in muesli are usually dissolved in milk or yogurt - be sure to drink the milk too.

Breakfast cereals contain a lot of B vitamins and iron. Corn flakes contain a lot of vitamin E and vitamin A, rice flakes contain potassium and amino acids, and oat flakes contain iron, magnesium, and phosphorus.

You should not switch only to breakfast cereals, but as a change, it is quite acceptable to eat or feed your child delicious breakfast cereals with milk two or three times a week.

Let's summarize everything that has been said. Breakfast is one of the most important meals. In the morning, the body starts working after many hours of fasting. It needs many important and varied substances: carbohydrates, proteins, fats, fiber, vitamins and minerals. During this period, assimilation and absorption occurs most intensively. At the same time, it is advisable to drink any supplements you may be taking. A proper and nutritious breakfast for health charges the body with energy, triggers brain activity and other physical processes.

Nowadays, when there is an abundance of food products on store shelves, it turns out that choosing the right ones is not so easy. Store-bought industrial foods are high in sugar and lack many beneficial ingredients. Try to diversify your breakfasts and your children's breakfasts as much as possible.

Examples of the correct selection of dishes for every day

Nutritionists agree that during the week any person should consume meat, fish, dairy, vegetables and fruits in all variations, and nuts. One example of how to properly balance your diet is the food pyramid. Its obvious advantage is the ability to use any types of products from each group in daily menu recipes, focusing on your own taste preferences.

Product pyramid

Muesli with fruit and yogurt

This recipe is sure to be in the treasury of lovers of quickly prepared dishes. To play it you will need:

100 g muesli;
250 g natural yogurt;
100 ml orange juice;
any nuts and fruits.

According to reviews, you will have to spend very little time preparing such a balanced breakfast. Therefore, you don’t have to get up at five in the morning to feed your family delicious and healthy food:

Peeled and washed fruits are cut into small pieces and combined with any processed nuts.
All this is poured with a mixture of yogurt and citrus juice, and then complemented with muesli and served almost immediately.

Tips on how to eat rationally

Proper nutrition is important for a healthy lifestyle and normal weight.

There is a formula for determining your body mass index, which you can use to calculate your ideal weight. It is simple: you need to divide your weight by the square of your height in meters. An indicator from 19 to 25 is considered ideal.

If your weight is not ideal, you need to adjust your diet. But while reducing calories, you cannot break the ratio of proteins, fats and carbohydrates. Otherwise, the lack of macroelements will result in negative consequences, which include fatigue, irritability and the return of kilograms in the event of a breakdown. That is why it is important that our food is not only healthy and nutritious, but also balanced.

A tale about a wise gardener and our blooming body

Every gardener knows that excess moisture and fertilizers are just as harmful as too little. When taking care of plants, we look into smart books and calculate which flower needs what. Don't we ourselves deserve the same careful, competent care?

It will look something like this (I’m taking the figures for an average statistical person with a sedentary lifestyle, who normally consumes about 2500 kcal per day):

for working and active men - an average of 95-100 g of protein (60% animal origin);
90 g (30% - vegetable);
250 g.

In total it should be about 2200 kcal instead of 2500.

For women, all values are reduced by 10%. The fair sex, unfortunately, accumulates fat more easily and uses it up more slowly. This has to be taken into account.

Both of them need at least 2 liters of liquid (not taking into account soups and other semi-liquid foods), salt - about 8 g. Stimulating the appetite, spicy dishes are completely excluded. How much water to drink to lose weight and why, I wrote.

The amount of dietary fiber should increase significantly. This topic has already been covered in this one.

Opinions and recommendations of the pros

Nutritionist Viktor Matvienko

The doctor is against strict diets. He sees a return to ideal shape in a balanced diet with sufficient minerals and vitamins. You need to reduce calories and increase activity. And the menu should be dominated by protein and plant foods .

Pierre Dukan. Photo from 24smi.org

Pierre Dukan, famous nutritionist

He believes that in order not to harm your health, you need to lose weight by 4 kilograms per month and no more. And satisfaction in life and in food - two components of health - alone cannot bring success. Pierre Dukan often visits Russia; he is called a “meat nutritionist” because he advises focusing on protein foods. He himself does not eat meat, prefers fish. And he recommends that those who don’t like meat eat fish – it’s also protein.

Lidia Ionova, nutritionist and sports doctor, medical psychologist

Recommends that you create your correct individual diet only in consultation with your doctor. As she says, just because one system helped a friend or colleague does not mean it will help you. The individual characteristics of the body greatly influence the perception of a particular nutritional system. You can’t choose the perfect option for the whole family, look for the best for everyone.

A few ideas on what you can cook healthy, quick and tasty for breakfast

Muesli, poured with hot milk and slightly boiled.
Oatmeal with finely chopped apple or other available fruits and berries.
Pancakes with sour cream or jam.
Scrambled eggs and omelettes with fillings: ham, vegetables, cheese, tomatoes. You can make an omelet with tomatoes, bell peppers, onions and cheese.
Potato, zucchini, beet, cabbage, carrot or apple pancakes.
Potato pancakes with onions and tomatoes.
Various cereals.
English breakfast - rice with fish and egg.
Cheesecakes, dumplings, cottage cheese casseroles.
Cottage cheese with sour cream and dried fruits.
Scrambled eggs.

Eat right, have a healthy breakfast and don't get sick!

Results

As you can see, the right menu can be not only healthy and varied, but also very tasty. Every woman can use already proven recipes or come up with new ones. It is not necessary to follow the prepared menu all week; you can change dishes as you wish. If you save our example of a proper menu with recipes in your culinary archive, soon you will not have to make much effort, you will simply take out old notes and go to the store for already familiar products to prepare your favorite dishes for the whole family.

No doubt, you may have doubts about how to maintain a balanced diet at work. We will answer you: very easy! You can take lunch and snacks with you in containers or order proper food from the cafeteria, such as buckwheat side dish, coleslaw and a cereal bar for dessert.

Maintaining a balanced diet is very easy if you follow the above tips every day. Bon appetit!

Products entering the human body are intended to replenish energy costs - for the performance of physical work and the functioning of all life support systems. In order for the body to function smoothly, it is necessary to monitor the correct ratio of nutrients contained in foods. A balanced diet, presented in the weekly menu below, should be based on the following principles:

the correct ratio of carbohydrates, proteins and fats;
low calorie foods;
variety in diet;
diet.

Precautionary measures

For women 40 years of age and older, an adequate supply of calcium and magnesium is needed. Take into account concomitant diseases, which, as a rule, already exist.

Only people who have less than 1200 kcal - by weight, height and age - can lower their diet to 1200 (but I have not met such people). For women, 1500 kcal is the limit.

If a woman at 35 years old allows herself to go on starvation diets, by the age of 40 she will have several concomitant diseases, and it’s good if she doesn’t upset the balance of her metabolism so much that she gains extra pounds “out of thin air.”

The main principle is do no harm! We must remember that the less you eat, the faster the body begins to rebuild and slow down metabolic processes in order to accumulate reserves. Therefore, if you don’t eat enough, the savings will be used up more and more slowly, or, on the contrary, they will begin to be fabricated by the body “just in case.”

How to build a diet yourself and not make mistakes

The weekly food menu can be varied, but a beginner can get confused in the vicissitudes of counting calories, nutrients and organic compounds. Therefore, the following tips will help you understand which foods to eat and when. So:

One of the tenets of a balanced diet is not skipping meals. Hunger is not a friend of weight loss; on the contrary, a constant feeling of hunger provokes breakdowns, forces the body to accumulate the energy it receives in the form of food and process it into fat “in reserve.”
Having a weekly menu makes life much easier. Firstly, because some products can be prepared for future use, and secondly, this makes you visit the supermarket less often. A simple rule, again, will help you not to break out and buy a “diet” cake, which means you will save money and nerves.
If there is meat on the menu, it means that you must also plan to eat vegetables at the same meal. Otherwise, most of it will not be absorbed.
Breakfast is a must, it gives energy for the next day.
At lunchtime you should consume the largest amount of carbohydrates.
It is worth including protein products in the dinner menu; carbohydrates are already a minimum. Of course, this rule can be ignored, but if you want beautiful muscles, healthy skin and a toned body, do not ignore this rule.
You can't give up fat! This rule especially applies to women. Of course, this only concerns the healthy category of fats, which can be obtained from fish, olive or flaxseed oil, and fish oil.
On the menu for the week, all fruits (as well as berries) should be left only for consumption in the first half of the day. After lunch, it is better to have a snack with something less sweet.

Most importantly, you will have to learn new ways of preparing food. Baking, stewing, boiling - this is exactly what you need. Unfortunately for you and fortunately for your body, foods fried in oil are strictly prohibited and it is better to throw them in the trash rather than in your stomach.

Rules for a balanced diet

The ratio of carbohydrates, proteins and fats is 4:1:1. The rule for filling the plate is this: carbohydrates should occupy half of it, between the remaining two organic substances.

You will also have to adhere to basic nutritional rules, which are general. This includes avoiding any fast food products, fatty, heavy foods, baked goods and pickled vegetables. You will have to give up your usual drinks. If previously packaged juices, lemonades and coffee were present in the diet, now you should give them up, giving preference to healthier drinks, green tea and plain water.

Previously, there was an opinion that all the evil lies in carbohydrates and that you need to significantly reduce them or eliminate them altogether in order to lose weight. This assumption is partly true and applies only to easily digestible organic substances, which the body almost always processes into fat. These are chocolate, baked goods, sweets and other similar products. But without healthy carbohydrates, the intestines will simply stop working normally, which is why you need to eat fiber. You can get it from vegetables. You don’t need to ignore porridge and durum pasta either, because they will give you energy.

You should eat in small portions. There is still debate about whether this method of eating speeds up metabolism or not, so you should not rely on an unproven fact. But the fractional principle will allow you not to remain hungry, which means that the risk of breaking down and eating a piece of cake or other harmful thing is very negligible.

Recipes for dieting

A balanced diet does not exclude tasty dishes. The main thing is to choose the right products and prepare them correctly. Here are a couple of interesting, healthy and tasty recipes:

Salad with shrimp

Ingredients: peeled shrimp, lettuce, tomatoes.

Preparation: boil the shrimp, tear the salad with your hands, cut the tomatoes into slices, mix all ingredients, season with lemon juice.

Vegetable pilaf

Ingredients: a glass of rice, 2 onions, 2 carrots, herbs, vegetable oil, a mixture of seasonings.

Preparation: heat a small amount of oil in a frying pan, fry chopped onions and carrots, mix the resulting frying with steamed rice, add herbs and seasoning.