- Snack diet, so helps a sandwich to lose weight and stay in shape
- What is the exercise in water that burns more calories than riding a bike? Experts respond
- Is it good to drink warm water with lemon on an empty stomach?
We do not say it, but the experts: to lose weight and stay at a healthy weight do not serve the last minute miracle diets, but long-term habit changes. And no matter how settled they are, during the holidays – and in general from June to September – it is very easy to forget about them and skip them to the bullfighter. "In summer we lose the routine and we don't know how to handle the situation. We eat a lot away from home and do not make good choices, "explains Laura Jorge, dietitian-nutritionist and author of the book 'The method eat healthy, live healthy', a practical food guide that demolishes myths and affects the specific nutritional needs of women, how hormonal changes influence our weight and the part of blame that stress and nerves have in the kilos that we accumulate more.
Bad choices that, on average, in these months we gain weight between two and three kilos, according to the data provided by the National Health Survey. "We peck more and worse," says the expert, who says that being clear about some concepts allows us to lose weight without dieting.
But it is not enough to say how to eat well, "you have to do it," says Rafael Birlanga, vice president of the Official College of Dietitians-Nutritionists of the Valencian Community (CODiNuCoVa). "Spain has always gone with the Mediterranean diet as a flag, but right now we are the second country in the European Union with the most cases of obesity; something is not being done well, "adds the expert endorsed by the figures handled by the College: 17.4% of Spaniards are overweight.
Losing those extra pounds is no easy task; In fact, they usually arrive to stay until the next vacation. Because controlling our weight in the society of abundance is not something simple, but quite the opposite. Once again, the data: obesity already accounts for one in three visits to the nutritionist, as explained from the (CODiNuCoVa)
It is clear that gaining weight worries us more and more, but in the same proportion it is evident that the unhealthy temptation every day is greater, boosted in many cases by the lack of time to enter the kitchen and the whims in the form of ultra-processed foods that, in addition, are associated with delicious self-rewards and situations of well-being. "Why don't we ever see ads for carrots, pears or fresh legumes associated with values such as friendship, strength or fun?" says Paula Crespo, president of CODiNuCoVa, insisting on the need to avoid ultra-processed foods in our pantries.
Instead, to make them compatible with the needs of an accelerated pace of life that allows us to improvise a lunch or dinner in just a few minutes we can resort to "quality processing", those products that are not fresh, but "allow us to eat very healthy. For example, a vegetable stew without refined oil, which we find in glass jars or in the frozen area; a can of natural bonito; mozzarella, feta cheese...", explains Laura Jorge. But no biscuits, cereals, sugars, refined oils or industrial pastries.
But since no one is bitter about a sweet, this healthy life does not imply giving up baking. Those with a sweet tooth who want to lose weight also have their option: "Instead of buying it, we have to make our own pastries with new ingredients that replace the sweet that sugar provides. For example, with dates, dark chocolate at 85% or more, cocoa powder, pumpkin, coconut milk and some sweeteners in their fair quantities, "says Mateo Auñón, nutritional advisor of Yummy Sweets.
Starting by developing a healthy shopping list – which takes into account that "we need to take fruits and vegetables on a daily basis, prioritize whole grains, include protein foods, such as eggs, fish, legumes or meat, at lunch and dinner," recalls Rafael Birlanga – is the first step to make that healthy dish that allows us to stay at a healthy weight. The second, let yourself be guided by the Harvard Plate method, the system that allows you to lose weight without dieting and that endocrinologists now recommend in their consultations instead of the strict regimes that once counted calories.
The formula is simple, to organize a healthy meal you have to take a single dish and in it the food must be distributed as follows: 50% must be vegetables, 25% whole grains and the other 25% proteins.
SHUTTERSTOCK
What is the Harvard Plate?
The Harvard Plate is a guide to healthy and balanced eating created by nutrition experts at the Harvard School of Public Health. An alternative to the famous nutritional pyramid, the Harvard dish focuses especially on the quality of the diet. That is, the type of carbohydrates we take will be more important than the amount, because some – such as those that come from vegetables, fruits, whole grains and legumes – are healthier than others.
In this sense, the Harvard Plate encourages taking "healthy calories", for example those that come from oils and good fats, and avoiding those of little nutritional value, such as those that include sugary drinks and soft drinks. Thus,water is the main drink. Other options are coffee and tea, always without sugar. Milk and dairy products should be limited to one or two servings daily, natural juices to a small glass a day and industrial juices, soft drinks and sugary drinks are completely avoided.
How is the Harvard Plate divided?
Most of the plate, half, should be occupied by vegetables, both fresh and cooked. To make it more appetizing, play with color and variety and include seasonings and spices. As cooking methods resort to the griddle, steam, oven and sautéed with little oil. And keep in mind that the Harvard plate does not include potatoes in the vegetable category.
The rest of the Harvard Plate will be divided into 50% between proteins and quality carbohydrates. That is, a quarter of the plate can contain fish, white meat, legumes and eggs, all proteins of high biological value. In this category you have to restrict the consumption of red meat and avoid processed meat foods and sausages. Dairy and nuts are also considered secondary sources, except for healthy nuts.
Finally, the rest of the dish, the final 25%, corresponds to carbohydrates. Harvard University recommends that they be consumed in the form of whole grains and whole grains – whole wheat, barley, quinoa, oats, tubers, brown rice – because they have a more moderate effect on blood sugar intake. And pasta, always whole wheat.
SHUTTERSTOCK
The Harvard Plate at the beach bar
Going back to the beginning, at the base of those kilos that arrive in summer and never leave are laziness, change of routine and bad choices. And this is where the Harvard Plate can definitely help us find balance, because it is "a graphic representation, a visual tool that, with a simple glance, allows us to see what foods it is advisable to take and in what proportion," explains Martina Miserachs, vice president of the Spanish Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics and director of Nutriendo.
It is not about getting bitter, but about choosing well what we put on the table so that taking the typical products of our holiday place does not pose a problem in September. For example, these three combinations of the Harvard Plate are as healthy as they are delicious, and the way to diet, even at the beach bar, without hardly noticing.
10 examples of the Harvard Plate
However, "with the Harvard dish, the examples are endless", explain from the Spanish Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics. And it is also possible to translate it into the two dishes of the typical Spanish menu. "It would be enough to put, for example, a starter that represents vegetables, such as a salad or sautéed vegetables and a second dish that is half protein food and the other half tuber food, such as a poultry fillet with potatoes or sweet potato," they say. That is, a menu that combines equal parts cereals and vegetables and includes twice as much protein.
To make it easier and not complicate our lives, these are 10 of the proposals of Harvard Plate of Nutriendo, which have to be accompanied with water and fresh fruit.
- Fitness
- Nutrition I Donate
- Articles Marisa del Bosque