What are the dietary principles for weight management?

On the premise of meeting the body's daily basic nutritional needs, a reasonable calorie gap of 300 to 500 calories should be stably created. All the remaining specific requirements are essentially derived from adapting to the eating habits of different people and making this gap last longer.

Maybe you have come across various dietary methodologies. Ketogenic, Mediterranean, and 5:2 light fasting each have their own supporters, and many people even argue with each other. Some people say that cutting off carbon is the fastest way to lose weight, while others say that controlling glycemic index is the core. In fact, there is no absolute "optimal principle", only the difference between whether it is suitable for you or not. Take my friend who loves weightlifting as an example. Two years ago, he tried 21 days of ketosis in order to quickly lose body fat. He did lose 6 pounds in the first two weeks. However, when he started practicing deadlifts in the third week, he was originally able to pull 140 kilograms steadily, but even 120 kilograms was difficult to move. He felt dizzy and weak without moving. When he checked, he found out that it was due to insufficient carbohydrate intake and insufficient protein supplement. After returning to a normal diet, he quickly regained 8 pounds. Now he doesn't go to extremes anymore. He eats less processed foods that are heavy in oil and salt. His body fat has been stable for almost a year and has not fluctuated.

If you usually work from 9 to 5 and don’t have much time to study recipes, there is no need to eat boiled vegetables every time. Just remember the logic of each meal: a palm-sized portion of high-protein food (fish, shrimp, eggs, soy products, lean beef and chicken breasts are all acceptable), a fistful of whole grains or mixed beans and grains instead of part of the refined rice and white flour, two fists of green leafy vegetables, and half a fistful of low-sugar fruits. Basically, you can’t step on the big thunder. Last year, I helped my out-of-control cousin adjust her diet. I didn’t let her quit milk tea or hotpot. I replaced the full-sugar pearl milk tea three times a week with three-point sugar with no added ingredients. When she got hungry in the afternoon, she wanted to eat potato chips instead of about 10 plain nuts. I set aside one meal a week for whatever she wanted. She lost 4 pounds without exercising in the first month. It’s been almost half a year now and she hasn’t regained it. She has never yelled at me once that she was hungry or panicked when she wanted to eat.

As for what many people are arguing about now, "calories are not important, GI control is the core." In fact, it depends on the situation. If you are insulin resistant and you will get hungry easily after drinking sweet foods, then giving priority to low-glycemic foods can indeed reduce hunger and make it easier to fall off the scale.； But if you have a normal metabolism, but you tend to overeat during gatherings, then it will be easier to persist if you put total calorie control first. You don’t have to blacklist everything you want to eat, but you will easily feel deprived and overeat as soon as you break the habit.

Oh, by the way, don’t create a large caloric deficit in order to lose weight quickly. If the daily caloric deficit exceeds 700 calories, it is easy to lose muscle, and the basal metabolism will drop, which will lead to a body prone to obesity. The gain outweighs the loss. I have managed my own weight for more than two years. I eat what I want once a week. Last week, I went to eat crayfish with iced Coke with my friends. As long as I don’t go on a revenge diet the next day and eat light and normal meals to balance the calories, my weight will not fluctuate significantly. In the end, eating principles that can be adhered to for a lifetime are really useful principles, right?