Nutrition questions & answers. All about DIET this time.
Q 1. MEANING OF DIET?
Most people think diet is something you embark on in order to change your body composition (in most cases to lose weight, or to put on weight/ muscle mass too), which isn’t technically correct.
If you look in a monolingual dictionary diet means a healthy eating plan. So while you can alter your diet to lose/ gain weight, it still isn’t sole purpose of diet.
Q 2. WHAT IS THE SOLE PURPOSE OF A DIET?
The sole purpose of a diet is to provide body with energy & 6 main nutrients: protein, fats, carbs & vitamins, minerals, water.
Q 3. WHAT DOES BEING ON A DIET MEAN?
Being in a diet means eating the right foods in the right amounts at the right times.
It does NOT mean:
– eating very little,
– eliminating carbs/ fats etc,
– eating specific foods/ nutrients etc.
Q 4. IS IT HEALTHY TO BE ON A DIET?
Yes, as mentioned before to be on a diet means eating healthily!
Q 5. DOES DIET RESTRICT BODY OF NUTRIENTS?
No, that is not correct.
What we hear/ read tells us that it’s not good to be on a diet as you shouldn’t restrict yourself of anything and have everything in moderation.
However, to be on a diet means eating healthily, not restricting yourself of anything. It also means BUT eating junk, processed, deep fried, salt & sugar loaded snacks and lots of other unhealthy choices that have become very popular these days amongst most of the population.
But yes, if you are looking to lose some body fat – eating a little bit less than what your body needs on a daily basis (just a little less though, otherwise you’ll go into starvation mode & only bring your metabolic rate down which in turn means your body learns to survive on less, so only a short term solution (so called yo yo where you only going to put the weight back on as soon as you go back to eating ‘normal’ again).
Q 6. WILL YOU LOSE WEIGHT WHILST BEING ON A HEALTHY DIET WITHOUT WATCHING CALORIES?
No. Even if you eat ONLY good, healthy foods & never have any bad, processed, sugary/ salty snacks, no junk etc – it still won’t mean you will lose weight. If you eat more than what your body needs on a daily basis, no matter how healthy the meals are – you will put on weight 🙁
Q 7. WHATS THE SECRET OF LOSING WEIGHT?
Basically if you under eat what your body needs – you will lose weight. It’s that simple. Even if u eat only unhealthy meals. Say if you only ate 3 chocolate bars a day (one for each of your meals: breakfast, lunch, dinner) you’re most likely still going to lose weight despite being unhealthy & eating something that no ‘diet’ will suggest you eat. Purely because there are about 200cal per bar & we need more than just 600 cal/ day. So being on a calorie deficit will make you lose weight.
But you will also lose muscle that way alongside body fat as you deprive your body of nutrients that you need to maintain healthy body mass, including your muscles & bones. Also it may not be sustainable, and it definitely isn’t healthy. Everyone knows that & you will pile the weight back on as soon as you start eating more than that again.
Q 8. WHAT’S THE SECRET OF LOSING BODY FAT?
Losing body fat is healthier than just losing weight. You have to do it the right way by eating right foods (healthy options versus just looking at calories) at right times and in the right amounts!
Q 9. IM ON A DIET & TRAIN REGULARLY, BUT STILL BOT LISING WEIGHT. WHY?
Most likely your diet is not up to scratch and you are eating wrong foods and/ or wrong amounts (eating too much). Basically most people just eat too much. Common misconception that when you train you can eat whatever you like IS WRONG. Even if u train every single day, but at the same time eat more than your body requires you will not lose weight. Fact.
Q 10. WHAT ARE GENERAL GUIDELINES?
There are of course general guidelines for what foods and in what amounts we should be consuming. However they would mostly be for ‘general public’ that are average weight/ height/ medium activity jobs/ lifestyle.
But keep in mind that a sedentary desk job person and a builder will require different guide lines. Same applies to age, weight, height, job and life style.
There are professionals (nutritionists, dietitians, personal trainers that can help you with that for a fee. But you can also do it yourself. Go by trial & error till you see your body become fit & lean, i.e. healthy. That way you will know your on the right path. If you need to put on weight increase the good nutrients in your diet, and vice versa, if you are looking to lose some extra body fat – cut down on your portion sizes and make sure you eat small but regular meals. It is that simple!