Part Three: Six Dietary Control Principles and Precautions for Weight Loss Through Dieting

Obese patients should mainly follow these principles when controlling their diet.

(1) Limit carbohydrate intake: The grains, noodles and other foods we usually eat mainly contain carbohydrates. If we consume too much of these foods, the excess calories will be converted into fat. Therefore, we must limit our intake of these foods.

(2) Limit fat intake: This mainly involves limiting foods high in fat, such as cooking oil and fatty meat. Among the three major nutrients, fat has the highest heat production, and the calories it provides are the easiest to cause weight gain. In a weight-loss diet, the daily fat intake should be limited to about 40 grams.

(3) Ensure adequate protein intake: Fish, eggs, lean meat, and soy products are all rich in protein. Protein not only forms body tissues but also provides energy and regulates physiological functions. Therefore, for obese individuals, reducing calorie intake primarily means reducing carbohydrate and fat intake, rather than reducing protein intake, to avoid harming health. In a weight-loss diet, approximately 100 grams of protein should be consumed daily.

(4) Ensure the supply of inorganic salts and vitamins: Vegetables are rich in inorganic salts and vitamins, which are essential foods for human health. Eat more vegetables, because the fiber in vegetables cannot be digested in the body and can promote gastrointestinal motility. Therefore, it can not only prevent hunger and reduce the body's calorie reserves, but also interfere with the absorption of nutrients and promote defecation.

(5) Control salt intake: Salt is hydrophilic; excessive salt intake can lead to water retention, increased blood volume, and weight. Furthermore, excessive salt intake can cause hypertension, heart disease, and other health problems. Therefore, we should control our salt intake. The daily salt intake for normal adults in my country should be limited to about 9 grams, while for obese individuals it should be limited to about 5 grams.

(6) Prepare a diet suitable for long-term consumption: Controlling diet is one of the important methods for weight loss, but it can also easily cause adverse reactions such as unbearable hunger, general fatigue, and anorexia, leading to excessive eating or long-term insufficient food intake. Therefore, when choosing food varieties and cooking methods, it is necessary to ensure low calories, consistent food volume, and comprehensive nutrition, as well as the combination of color, aroma, and taste, and frequent changes in food varieties, so that patients can persevere and achieve the goal of weight loss.

5. Precautions for dieting to lose weight

When you lose weight through dieting, you need to pay attention to the following points in order to achieve good weight loss results without harming your body.

(1) Eat meals at regular times and in fixed quantities, and avoid snacking at random times: Have at least three fixed meals a day, including breakfast, lunch and dinner. You can eat some fruit or a small snack around 10 am and 4 pm. This way, even though the amount of food consumed is small, it will still help reduce hunger. In particular, you should not eat other snacks after dinner, especially fattening foods such as desserts and chocolate.

(2) The energy distribution of the three meals should be appropriate: it is more appropriate to eat a full breakfast, a good lunch, and a light dinner.

(3) Eat more foods that are low in energy and have a high satiety level: Most weight loss failures are due to the inability to persevere because of unbearable hunger. Choosing low-energy foods such as vegetables and whole grains, which will produce a lot of volume and eliminate hunger, is conducive to weight loss.

(4) Control total energy intake and maintain a balanced diet: The most important principle of diet for weight loss is to limit the total energy intake of all foods every day and ensure an adequate supply of other nutrients.

(5) Diet foods should be delicious and avoid being monotonous and tasteless: a weight loss diet should not be a monotonous and boring meal. Delicious food with low energy content is more conducive to the implementation of the weight loss plan.

(6) The weight loss plan should be adapted to one's own eating habits and be simple and easy to implement: The weight loss diet must conform to the dieter's eating habits and should not differ too much as possible. At the same time, the diet should be simple and easy to prepare, and be common to the general public, so as to avoid interruption of the weight loss.

(7) The key is to persevere and be persistent: Weight loss is not a temporary measure. Even after you reach your ideal weight, you should still stick to a weight loss diet because the "rebound" of obesity will always be with you.

6. Learn to eat a balanced diet and lose weight naturally.

A balanced diet and natural weight loss involves controlling the intake of foods high in sugar and fat, while increasing the intake of foods rich in fiber, minerals, and protein. This promotes the breakdown and metabolism of stored fat in the body without affecting normal physiological functions, thus achieving weight loss. The method involves dividing all foods into three categories and achieving weight loss through a balanced intake of these categories.

There's an old Chinese saying: "You can't get fat in one bite." Conversely, to lose weight, you can't rush it. If you want to maintain your current eating habits while losing weight, then a balanced diet and natural weight loss method is the only effective way without side effects, and it eliminates feelings of hunger. It allows you to lose weight without starving yourself, teaches you about scientific eating, and helps you develop and maintain good eating habits. When you start using the "balanced diet and natural weight loss method," you'll learn a truly scientific approach to eating.

7. Key points of dieting for weight loss

Don't rush into weight loss. Reduce your food intake systematically and appropriately based on your level of obesity. Trying to lose weight to an impossible level is doomed to failure. Therefore, a smarter approach is to start slowly and gradually reduce your weight. A weight loss of 0.5 to 1 kg per week is ideal. Rushing to lose weight often results in water weight loss, not fat, and ultimately, it's counterproductive.