How to choose a Balanced healthy diet ?

Balanced Healthy Eating

As stated previously, there is no reason to eliminate or limit your consumption of any one macronutrient like protein, carbs, or fat. These kinds of restrictive diets will always fail . I don’t feel there’s any magical dietary composition that promotes the best results for body fat loss. Some scientists and medical experts recommend a 40/40/20 diet (40% carbs, 40% protein, 20% fat), while others recommend a 40/30/30 composition 

, and still others recommend a higher carbohydrate content along the lines of 60/15/25 .

Iit’s not necessary to be meticulous about exact percentages of macronutrients in your diet.I think that starting with your protein requirements makes sense. As a thumb rule try to consume 1 gram of protein per pound. For example, if you’re 170 lbs, you could try to consume approximately 170 grams of protein/day split relatively evenly between 5-6 meals/day. 

If you had calculated that your maintenance caloric intake is 3000 calories/day (for that 190-lb male example), then you’d need to consume approximately 2500 calories/day to lose approximately 1 lb/week (500 calorie deficit/day = 3500 calorie deficit/week = approx. 1 lb of weight loss). Therefore, the 190 grams of protein (190 g x 4 kcal/g = 760 calories) represents about 30% (760/2500) of your daily caloric intake. The rest of your calories should come from unrefined carbohydrates (focusing mostly on lower GI carbs) and a healthy  fats. 

Everyone is different and will function most efficiently at different ratios of macronutrients than other people. There is no magic ratio that will work for everyone. Just focus on your total caloric intake and eating healthy foods as described below. Remember to calculate your approximate caloric range for weight maintenance and weight loss. 

Here are the foods that should comprise the majority of your diet in order to promote a lean healthy body: vegetables, fruits, lean white and red meats, fish, low-fat or fat-free dairy, eggs and egg whites, whole unrefined grains, legumes (peas, beans, peanuts), whole grain bread, high fiber cereals (avoid low fiber cereals, even if they are unsweetened; they are acceptable only as a post-workout meal), nuts, seeds, and non-hydrogenated minimally processed oils (such as extra virgin olive oil, flax seed oil, and virgin coconut oil).

Try to avoid drinking fruit juices. We were meant to eat the whole fruit, which includes the fiber and other beneficial nutrients, instead of just drinking the juice. Fruit juices simply add extra calories to your diet without really satisfying your hunger, so stick to whole fruits instead of juice.

Does Consuming fat makes you fat ?

EATING FAT DOES NOT MAKE YOU FAT!

As long as you eat the right kinds of fat without overdoing the quantity you can never become fat . Yes, fat (at 9 calories/gram) is more calorie dense than protein or carbohydrates (at 4 calories/gram), but eating adequate quantities of healthy fats will actually help you lose body fat .There is a mixed reaction to consuming fat these days everywhere , even in the medical industry .

Some so called “experts” still stick to the assertion that a low-fat/high-carb diet is the best way to lose weight . On the other end of the spectrum, people argue that a high-fat, high-protein, low-carb diet is the magic secret to losing weight .The answer is cosuming fats some where in the midrange.

Instead, it is the processing of foods that is the key factor in acquiring a lean healthy body. For example, it is known that heart disease, type II diabetes, and obesity are unheard of in historical Eskimo populations despite consuming an extremely high fat diet comprised of mostly whale blubber, seal fat, cold water fish, and organ meat. 

So the key here is to consume 20 - 40% of your calories as fat .Let us examine which fats are good and which are bad in the oncoming posts.