Diet for Beginners

We have all heard that in order to lose weight you MUST CUT OUT carbs, do countless hours of cardio and pretty much just be miserable. 

Then we go and google different DIETS and we get bombarded with all sort of different ones. There is FLEXIBLE DIETING, ATKINS, CLEANSES, KETOGENIC, MEAL PREP TYPE DIET AND BLOOD TYPE, just to name a few. 

Then if you try doing a little bit of all of them, well that is just awful. Certain diets have certain reasons why they work, which is why they can’t be combined  with another one because you will probably  end up gaining weight and feeling frustrated. 

The best tip I can give you is to start off with small baby steps. If you eat a ton of garbage and are always eating  out then start by trying to eat at least 3 home cooked meals a week for a month and then go adding on from there. 

Then I would cut out the word DIET completely and just change your lifestyle and make better choices. You can never go wrong with foods that are NATURAL. What I mean by that is grown on earth. Try to stay away from all the processed crap. 

Once you have covered the basics and can make good decisions on food, you can get a little creative. Like I mentioned before,it's a lifestyle. This in not a one time fix and then go back to eating like you were before. If you do this, it will cause you to gain back everything you lost and more. Meaning you will be back to square one and it all ends up just being a never ending cycle of frustration and misery.  

Now I can introduce MACRO NUTRIENTS, also known as macros. Macros is the amount of fat, carbs, protein and fiber your body needs. I can go into more specifics but that would be for another article. For now you just have to know the importance of hitting your macros. Contrary to prior belief, it is not all about calories. (YES you have to enter a caloric deficit (less calories) in order to lose weight but there is more than that. This is where the Macro Nutrients come in. 

What I am about to say next might freak some of you out, and you might think that I am crazy. With following macros you can eat the foods you enjoy (remember lifestyle not diet). So you can enjoy an oreo, a burger, milkshake, etc.  as long as it is in moderation and you hit your goals for the day. If you DO choose to eat these type of foods all day, everyday; and meet your macros that is great  but what about the nutritional value of these foods? Which is why doing so wouldn't work. Yes, you'd satisfy your cravings but are not doing your body any good. Which in turn will enable you to gain muscle and be healthy. Another bad aspect of doing this is that you'll probably be starving by the afternoon because you would have eaten away all your macros in a meal or two. 

So this is where the term flexible dieting comes in. You CAN enjoy your treats but you should be eating nutrient dense foods for about 85% of your meals. You will feel better, eat MORE food and feel satisfied. The fun part is you can fit in some treats in your day, I for one have ice-cream almost every night. If you tell me, Monika I can’t eat those foods because it will cause me to derail. Thats fine too. Its just an option so if you ever feel deprived or getting a certain urge to eat something you might consider “bad” then you CAN without the guilt. Let’s face it, no one is going to be perfect 100% of the time, which is why I enjoy flexible dieting so much. I do not feel the urge to cheat because I know I can fit whatever I’m craving that day into my meals. 

Now you ask, how do I know where to start? How many macros to eat?

Start by tracking the same food you were eating into programs such as, My fitness pal. It gives you an idea of how much your eating. It separates it into carbs, protein, fats and fibers which is what you need. By doing this you can kind of gage were your at. After you’ve done this for about 1-2 weeks you can use some of the calculators that are online to help you figure out what your macros should be, or click on this link and I will help you set up your macro intake.  Something I would want you to remember is that there is no perfect starting point.