Dr. Lydia Ionova, the author of the popular diet, has published a new book, this time with recipes. We will certainly introduce you to them, but first we suggest that you learn to calculate what and how much to eat to lose weight or maintain a weight that suits you. So, what habits do we need to eat properly and lose weight?
about the author
L. Ionova – nutritionist. Founder of the Clinic of Doctor Ionova. She graduated from the medical faculty of the Moscow Medical Dental Institute with a degree in Clinical Cardiology.
At first I worked as a cardiologist. After that, he became a sports doctor. Lydia also has experience working as a nutritionist in fitness centers in the capital.
The opening of her own clinic in 2002 was an important event for Ionova. Her establishment, according to the author, combines the services of both medical and psychological assistance.
6 years later, in 2008, a training program was created. Ionova suggests fighting excess weight in a comprehensive manner. Eating without strict limits, take certain foods at the appointed time.
The nutritionist maintains his own blog where you can get answers to your questions.
A year later, Lydia Ionova and her clinic colleagues completed an internship in Cambridge, at the School of Obesity Treatment. According to the Russian edition of Forbes magazine, Ionova is one of the most famous nutritionists in Moscow.
Balanced diet
In addition to the presence of the main five food groups in the diet, a certain ratio between proteins, fats and carbohydrates is necessary. Even if you get a minimal amount of calories, but most of them come from fats and in addition there is a deficiency of essential substances, then such a diet, of course, can lead to weight loss, but, unfortunately, it will result in loss of health.
In order to determine not only the quality, but also the quantity of food, I suggest you “build” your own food pyramid. In other words, you need to determine in what quantities foods from each group should be present in your diet. For convenience, we will measure the amount of food in dietary portions.
Step #1: Calculate your daily calorie intake
Find the formula in the table below that corresponds to your age and gender, make the necessary calculations, then multiply the resulting number by the physical activity coefficient. This will be the number of calories you need every day.
Recommended calorie intake
Physical activity rate:
Sedentary lifestyle - X x 1.1.
Moderate physical activity - X x 1.3.
Heavy physical work - X x 1.5.
For example, let’s calculate the normal calorie intake for a 35-year-old woman who leads a sedentary lifestyle and weighs 70 kg:
(0.0342×70 +3.5377) x 240 = 5.9317×240 = 1423.6
1423.6 × 1.1 = 1566 kcal.
Step #2: Do the calculations only if you want to lose weight. If you are of normal weight, feel free to skip this step!
So, the calorie intake required for weight loss is calculated as follows: subtract 20% from the result obtained in the first step. But in order not to lose your health along with the extra pounds, remember: a woman should consume at least 1000-1200 kcal per day, and a man - at least 1200-1500.
Let's continue the calculations for a 35-year-old woman weighing 70 kg, for whom the normal caloric intake is 1566 kcal per day:
20% of 1566 is 313 kcal.
Thus, the caloric content of the diet for weight loss:
1566 - 313 = 1253 kcal.
Step No. 3. How to “build” a food pyramid?
Determine the required number of servings by food group for your daily diet and build your food pyramid.
Food pyramid for weight loss
That is, for our “exemplary” lady with a calorie diet for weight loss of 1253 kcal, it makes sense to stick to the number of servings for 1200 kcal - in the middle column. If your caloric intake for weight loss is, for example, 1100 kcal, take an average number of servings between 1000 and 1200 kcal.
Food pyramid for weight maintenance
You can combine products from all groups and eat them at any time. The only group where there are restrictions, and then only if you are losing weight, are starchy foods. During weight loss, I recommend eating them before dinner, that is, for breakfast and lunch. And if you maintain the results and maintain a normal weight, you can eat them at any meal.
Books
In the book “Healthy Recipes of Dr. Ionova. How to eat to lose weight and stay slim forever,” the nutritionist has developed more than 100 recipes for healthy, healthy dishes. The author provides step-by-step detailed descriptions of the recipes. The menu is balanced, varied and tasty. Thanks to this, you can create your own diet and enjoy the right food.
The book will help lovers of a healthy lifestyle get their ideal weight. Readers will learn to be healthy, energetic, full of vitality, eat healthy and varied, and improve their body shape.
Book by Lydia Ionova “Healthy Habits. Doctor Ionova’s Diet” was published in 2012. In it, the author talks about how to accustom your body to the right habits and say goodbye to extra pounds in just 12 weeks.
The main principle of the complex is a smooth change in diet, daily routine, and proper distribution of loads. The author has developed a special diary of self-monitoring, nutrition, and exercise. In the book, the doctor shares the psychological secrets of losing weight.
Drinking regime
A person weighing, say, 80 kg needs 2.8 liters of fluid. When forming this habit, the main task is to gradually, over the course of several weeks, increase the amount of water consumed per day to the norm - 35 ml per kilogram of weight.
This recommendation is for people with healthy kidneys. If you have any problems with the urinary system, be sure to consult your doctor! If you find it difficult to drink the required amount of water, start drinking clean water before meals and between meals. In addition, you should give up sugary drinks and juices (including freshly squeezed ones), replacing the latter with whole fruits, since their glycemic index is much lower.
The essence of the diet and effectiveness
The weight loss system developed by Ionova involves gradual weight loss. It is based on proper nutrition.
The diet involves eating foods that have a low rate of breakdown. The nutritionist compiled a “food pyramid”. The pyramid specifically lists the hours for taking each product. Food is allowed to be taken in any form, except fried. Salt can be consumed in limited quantities.
Lydia Ionova's diet is considered nourishing. It does not involve severe dietary restrictions, malnutrition, or hunger strikes.
According to statistics, this technique is very effective. Patients who are very overweight lose 5-7 kilograms per month. This happens until the weight returns to normal.
Advantages:
- balance;
- easy tolerability;
- improvement of the body;
- prevention of many diseases;
- effectiveness at any stage of obesity.
The disadvantage of the Ionova system is the control of the amount of food in the diet.
Advantages and disadvantages
The Ionova diet has many advantages:
- The balance of beneficial macro- and microelements is maintained, which avoids the problem of a lack of certain vitamins and minerals (this problem is relevant for many diets that are compiled by non-professionals).
- The diet is very well accepted on a psychological level, and its use will not lead to stress.
- There are no contraindications or side effects. This diet can be used for diabetes, gastrointestinal diseases, and so on.
- The diet is completely healthy, so it improves your well-being and results in a comprehensive recovery of the body.
- The diet is effective against any degree of obesity. Research shows that it can be used to cope with both advanced obesity and mild obesity of the first degree.
The only drawback of the Ionova diet is that it allows you to lose about 4-7 kg per month (while some other diets allow you to achieve more impressive success).
It should be noted that Ionova’s diet differs from other diets in that it allows you to stably fix your weight, which not all diets can boast of.
What to eat?
Dishes are selected according to the glycemic index (GI). GI is an indicator of the rate of breakdown of a product, each of which turns into an energy source, that is, into glucose. And the faster the transformation occurs, the higher the GI. Lydia Ionova’s method involves eating foods with a GI ≤50.
And this:
- vegetables fruits;
- milk products;
- bread with bran or whole grain;
- nuts;
- buckwheat;
- uncooked rice
Ionova's food pyramid
Various medical studies show that the digestibility of foods directly depends on the time of day. Lidia Ionova takes this fact into account, so all her products are grouped into several groups. This distribution of products is called the Ionian pyramid.
The dietary pyramid looks like this:
- 1st stage. This includes all cereal products (wheat, buckwheat, oats, and so on). These foods are best absorbed early in the morning, so you should eat them no later than 10 a.m.
- 2nd stage. Meat and fish fall into this group. It is recommended to eat these foods from 10 to 14 hours of the day, since during this period they are absorbed best.
- 3rd stage. Here you can find dairy and fermented milk products. They should be eaten between 12 and 16 hours.
- 4th group. There are berries and fruits here. The optimal time to consume them is from 16 to 20 pm.
- 5 group. This includes all vegetables that should be eaten from 18 to 22 pm.
- 6 group. This group includes various oils (both plant and animal origin). For fats, the optimal time is morning (from 8 to 12 o'clock) and evening (from 19 to 22 o'clock).
- 7 group. Only water is included in this isolated group. You need to drink at least 2 liters a day.
If you weigh more than 100 kg, the daily water intake should be calculated as follows: weigh yourself and multiply your weight by 30 - this will be the optimal amount of water per day (units of measurement - milliliters). You need to drink water in small portions evenly throughout the day.
You need to consume foods from the food pyramid according to the recommended time. At the same time, these products are allowed to be boiled, stewed or baked over low heat in an oven (however, you should refrain from frying, since frying produces a large number of harmful components, which are extremely difficult to get rid of) . Every day you must eat foods with a low and medium glycemic index, namely:
- Fruits or berries;
- Vegetables;
- Dairy and fermented milk products;
- Various cereals and breads;
- Lean meat.
See the same topic: Allowed and prohibited foods on a diet
Some products must be avoided:
- White bread;
- Bakery;
- Canned fruit and jam;
- Sugar and honey in large quantities;
- Fast food and various junk foods;
- Alcohol and tobacco.
Sample menu for the week
Monday:
- in the morning: pearl barley porridge, oil, water;
- in the afternoon: fermented baked milk;
- afternoon snack: citrus;
- evening: stewed bell peppers with tomatoes and onions.
Tuesday:
- morning: salted wheat porridge, water;
- during the day: kefir;
- afternoon snack: apples;
- evening: boiled cauliflower.
Wednesday:
- in the morning: oatmeal with butter;
- afternoon: cottage cheese with sour cream;
- afternoon snack: pineapple;
- evening: salad of parsley leaves, tomato, cucumber.
Thursday:
- in the morning: rice porridge with oil, water;
- afternoon: yogurt;
- afternoon snack: persimmon;
- evening: carrot and cabbage salad with olive oil.
Friday:
- morning: boiled lentils;
- in the afternoon: fermented baked milk;
- afternoon snack: peaches;
- evening: grated beets.
Saturday:
- morning: beans with butter;
- afternoon: milk;
- afternoon snack: plums;
- evening: radish salad, greens.
Sunday:
- morning: buckwheat porridge;
- afternoon: cheese, yogurt;
- afternoon snack: pears;
- evening: salad of carrots, cauliflower, beets.
For second breakfast you can eat boiled or baked beef, fish, shrimp, squid, and white chicken meat.
Diet principles of Dr. Lidia Ionova
Obesity has long ceased to be just an aesthetic problem. The disease significantly reduces the quality of life and shortens its duration. Therefore, scientists and nutritionists around the world are actively developing new methods to combat this condition.
The main difference between nutrition systems developed by doctors and short-term programs is the long-term result. Strict diets help you lose weight very quickly. But after completing them and switching to the usual menu, all the kilograms instantly return, increasing the degree of obesity.
The diet proposed by Dr. Ionova involves a gradual goodbye to excess weight, without stressful dietary restrictions and “spikes” of insulin in the blood. This provides a “medicinal” effect, in which normal, high-quality and healthy food is used as medicine.
We recommend reading about Elena Malysheva’s diet. You will learn about the principles of Malysheva’s diet, prohibited and permitted foods, diet menus, recipes, and weight loss results. And here is more information about Michel Montignac’s diet.
Diet features
Together with specialists from our clinic, we identified the main principles of the diet, which are discussed in Lydia Ionova’s book “Healthy Habits”:
- Comprehensive weight loss. Treatment without harm to the body.
- Weight loss is stable. Weight loss occurs smoothly, without disrupting metabolism.
- The diet does not have complex restrictions. It eliminates malnutrition and starvation, and there is the opportunity to freely choose foods.
- Healthy eating as a habit. A properly selected diet helps you get rid of the desire to eat “bad” food.
- The results obtained are long lasting. A special menu helps you maintain your ideal weight and prevents extra pounds from ruining your figure.
- No contraindications. The technique of nutritionist Lydia Ionova can be used by people suffering from hypertension and hypoglycemia.
Patients who have experienced the Ionova system are convinced that it works wonders.
Varied and healthy food
Why is diet diversity an important eating habit? It is variety, and not the absence of tasty things, that is one of the main principles of healthy eating. A varied menu not only provides you with vitamins, minerals, amino acids and other essential nutritional factors, but also serves as a guarantee of your commitment to a healthy diet in the future and the prevention of breakdowns. After all, only a variety of food does not become boring, does not cause boredom and the desire to pamper yourself with something tasty, which was usual before the program (depending on gastronomic preferences, sweets, baked goods, fast food, sausage, etc. can act as tasty food).
Reviews and results of losing weight
Daria, 26 years old
I need to recover after childbirth and to lose weight I chose the “Pyramid” system. There are two reasons for this choice. Firstly, this technique was developed by a specialist, not an amateur, so it should not cause harm. And secondly, judging by the rules described and the proposed menu, it will not be difficult to follow the diet. I hope that the results will be as promised by the authors.
Margarita, 38 years old
I have been faithfully following the Ionova diet for a month, but I see almost no results. Is this the result - 3 kilograms in 4 weeks? Despite the fact that for me it didn’t seem particularly easy: porridge for breakfast, a piece of meat for lunch, an afternoon snack - a glass of kefir, and only vegetables for dinner. And then - counting calories for the day... We live at such a pace that we have absolutely no time or desire to bother our heads with this arithmetic. In short, I don't like this diet.
Vera Petrovna Denisyuk, 40 years old
My weight began to increasingly exceed the norm and I decided to get serious about losing weight. I spent a very long time choosing the right option. The main obstacles were not too young age and the presence of health problems. I read an article where experts speak of Ionova’s diet as one of the most effective and safe. I’ve been using it for three months now and am very pleased with the result - during this time my weight has decreased by 8.8 kilos. I’m not going to stop the diet, I’m still overweight, but the diet is easy to tolerate and sometimes I even allow myself to drink a cup of coffee.
