How to eat properly for a man to lose weight: diet for weight loss

Major power mistakes

Everyone is different, but there is a list of typical eating habits that turn most naturally muscular men into bloated fatties over the years. A men's diet for losing weight in the belly and other areas where fat accumulates will not bring results if these incorrect attitudes that have long determined food choices are not eliminated. Most representatives of the stronger sex eat much more than the body needs for normal functioning. The reasons for this lie in the fact that boys from childhood are taught to equate the ability to absorb the first, second, third and compote with physical strength.

In addition, most men are firmly convinced that vegetables and lean fish are for women, and they need “real” food like dumplings, generously flavored with mayonnaise, or fatty meat. Husbands, fathers, sons and simply life partners often eat only high-calorie and quickly satiating dishes. Due to physiological characteristics, men do require more calories than women, but heavy foods are far from the only source of healthy calories.

For most people, the normal diet is three meals a day with light cereal, dairy or fruit snacks. But for many (and not only men), the desire to snack on something often turns into a full meal. There can be many such snacks throughout the day, especially since they most often occur in front of the TV or while doing another activity, that is, when the channels of perception are not occupied with the awareness of how much and what has entered the body.

Men often drink alcohol, which provides “liquid” calories. Particularly dangerous in this sense is beer, which in itself is quite high in calories, but also dulls the feeling of fullness and fuels hunger. An innocent bottle of whiskey with friends after work is also rarely left alone. Here you also need to add uncontrolled kilocalories in the form of sweet tea and coffee, carbonated drinks, juice, which remove fluid from the body, thereby disrupting normal metabolism.

In addition, representatives of the stronger sex are almost universally confident that working out in the gym will solve all their problems with excess weight, and a male diet in the full sense of the word is not so necessary. Meanwhile, research conducted by Brett White from Portland State University Health proves that exercise alone without changing your diet does not produce any results. The decisive factor for a figure is still nutrition.

Why doesn't it always work for everyone else?

Firstly, calories are different: you can swallow a piece of cake and get 600 kcal, or you can eat a very large portion of vegetables and get the same figure. Moreover, calorie tables vary. For example, in one table there will be an apple grown in one region with a certain set of KBJU (calories, proteins, fats and carbohydrates), and in another table there will be a completely different apple grown in another region, and its KBJU will be different.

Calorie tables are an unreliable source of information and stressful for a person who has never done these calculations.

Keeping a food diary may be justified when a person says: “I don’t understand why I’m gaining weight, and it seems to me that I’m not eating anything harmful.” Then this method can help identify random cookies-nuts-sweets-chocolates-fruits-coffee with syrup that appeared between meals. Snacks may not be perceived as a full meal, since there is no “ritual” (physically sitting down at the table, paying attention to the process), but they play a cruel joke on us in matters of losing weight.

If we still talk about a certain average norm, it is important to note that calorie content is selected based on a set of parameters: gender, age, level of physical activity, weight, height and metabolic rate.

The minimum caloric content of a man's diet should be approximately 1800 kcal if the goal is to lose weight, but at the same time it is not too excessive.

Of these 1800 kcal, there should be at least 15-20% protein if a person is more or less physically active.

If there is no physical activity, then 10-12% protein, so as not to overload the kidneys and intestines.

The amount of fat in the diet primarily depends on genetic characteristics. Minimum - 20%. A lower number is fraught with potential health problems. On average, the amount of fat should vary between 30-45% (and even up to 50-60% on some nutritional protocols, such as LCHF “Low Carb High Fat”).

The rest comes from carbohydrates.

Many people mistakenly believe that these are simple carbohydrates and partly complex, starchy carbohydrates. However, this amount also includes non-starchy carbohydrates, including: that is, all vegetables, cereals, bread and simple carbohydrates (fruits and sweets). The latter should account for no more than 10%, ideally even less, from 3 to 5% - this is glucose, fructose, sucrose, lactose.

Accumulation of fat in the abdominal area

One of the reasons to think about a men's diet for weight loss is the belly, which in appearance resembles the belly of a pregnant woman. The occurrence of such a problem is usually caused by three main reasons. A sedentary lifestyle and a large amount of time spent driving a car are the best ways to weaken the oblique abdominal muscles. In addition, there are changes in hormonal balance caused by age-related changes and stress.

As a result, a female-type figure develops and fat deposits in the abdomen and thighs increase. Of course, overeating does not go away without a trace, as does the consumption of alcoholic beverages and sweet soda.

The accumulation of fat deposits in the abdominal area becomes one of the health risk factors. If, with a height of 170 cm, the volume of the place where the waist should approximately be is more than 94 cm, then this can become a provoking factor for the development of diabetes, acute heart failure, and high blood pressure. If your waist circumference is more than 101 cm, then the risk becomes high.

A men's diet for weight loss will help in the fight against excess weight (the menu will be presented below), but the best results can be achieved by combining a change in diet with physical activity.

Fat Burning Diet

The men's diet is not a diet in the full sense of the word. Representatives of the stronger sex will not starve themselves, sit on strict mono-diets and count calories. During the first month, you should at least learn to “read” the body’s signals that it is full of food. In general, for men you need to set a slightly different goal, and not dietary nutrition, which they consider to be an exclusively “female” matter. You should gradually transition your normal daily diet into a healthy diet for burning fat.

You need to accustom yourself to the fact that breakfast and lunch are the main meals. The reason for weight gain, especially on the stomach and sides, is the habit of skipping breakfast but eating a very heavy dinner. It is advisable to wake up a little earlier and eat early in the day, although this will be very difficult in the first days. You need to limit carbohydrates for dinner; it cannot consist of, for example, fried potatoes and sweet tea with a piece of cake. It is better to replace this food with a piece of lean fish with vegetables, a salad dressed with olive oil, and a glass of kefir.

Sweets and baked goods disrupt proper metabolism and make the body constantly feel hungry. Men, fortunately, find it much easier to give up sweets in their diet than women. Another enemy of a toned body is the all-inclusive food principle and the buffet. It’s worth starting to get used to the standard portion size, giving up the supplement and leaving the table with a slight feeling of hunger - satiety occurs only 20 minutes after eating. And in order to burn belly fat and restore muscle definition, you need to do strength training. By the way, they will also increase the level of male hormones.

Protein diet for 10 days

This men's diet will allow you to lose about 2 kg of excess weight in ten days. The bottom line is to eat protein foods, while keeping the amount of carbohydrates and fats in the diet to a minimum. It is not recommended to adhere to this diet for a longer period of time, since not only fat is burned, but also muscle mass. This men's diet also requires prior consultation with a doctor, since consuming large amounts of protein foods can provoke an exacerbation of chronic diseases and affect blood sugar and cholesterol levels.

The diet menu is quite varied, suitable for those who cannot imagine life without meat, but can relatively easily give up sweets and flour products. It is preferable to steam dishes. You can eat your last meal 4 hours before bedtime. You also need to drink up to 2 liters of clean water per day. You should not drink tap water; it is better to use filtered or mineral water without gas. Here is a sample menu for a men's diet for losing weight on the stomach and sides:

1. Breakfast: two hard-boiled eggs without salt and two pieces of bread. Lunch: 200 g of low-fat fish with natural yoghurt sauce, two bread rolls. Snack two hours before dinner: low-fat cottage cheese with herbs. Dinner: seafood salad.
2. Breakfast: some low-fat cottage cheese with herbs. Lunch: tomato and eggplant baked in foil, boiled mushrooms and cauliflower (200 g and 100 g respectively). Afternoon snack: baked zucchini with grated hard cheese (30 g of cheese per 250 g of zucchini), bread. Dinner: the same as on the first day.
3. Breakfast: half a chicken fillet (do not add salt) with herbs and bread. Lunch: stew from leftover chicken fillet and 200 g of beans. Snack: vegetable salad with yogurt or olive oil. Dinner: curd mass (250 g of cottage cheese and 50 g of sour cream) with herbs and bread.
4. Breakfast: low-fat cottage cheese (150 g). Lunch: zucchini with spices and lemon juice, baked in foil, and two boiled eggs. Afternoon snack: cauliflower puree. Dinner: 200 g turkey with natural yogurt sauce and herbs.
5. Breakfast: the same as on the first day. Lunch: 200 g of steamed beef. Afternoon snack: vegetable salad with yogurt. Dinner: baked fish.
6. Breakfast: bread and a glass of drinking yogurt (preferably natural). Lunch: half a chicken fillet and 100 g of cauliflower. Snack during the day: a little cottage cheese. For dinner: vegetables in foil or steamed.
7. Breakfast: the same as on the first and fifth days. Lunch: stew of half a chicken fillet and 100 g of beans or cauliflower. Snack: a glass of yogurt. Dinner: beef (200 g).
8. Breakfast: a glass of drinking yogurt. Lunch: half a boiled chicken fillet. Snack during the day: some low-fat yogurt. Dinner: seafood salad.
9. Breakfast: two eggs and bread. Lunch: 200 g of lean meat with yogurt sauce. Afternoon snack: a glass of yogurt. Dinner: vegetable salad dressed with yogurt.
10. Breakfast: two eggs and bread or a glass of yogurt. Lunch: vegetables baked with lemon juice, you can grate cheese on top. Snack: a little cottage cheese with herbs or sour cream. Dinner: fish baked in foil, vegetable salad.

Carbohydrates

Here the approach is strictly individual. If the goal is to lose weight, then you need to reduce calories precisely at the expense of carbohydrates, leaving proteins and fats in the quantities in which we indicated.

If your goal is to reduce body weight, but your work is office-based and sedentary, your carbohydrate intake per day should be no more than 150 g.

If there is no goal to lose weight, and there is no special physical activity, the norm for carbohydrate consumption is up to 200 g of carbohydrates per day.

With significant physical activity, this figure increases. But at the same time, there remains a taboo on simple carbohydrates: everything sweet and starchy, and this is bread, pasta, polished rice, desserts. By the way, fast carbohydrates lead to premature aging: another incentive to give them up.

Any dish or product already contains proteins, fats, and carbohydrates, so separate nutrition systems do not make any functional sense. Most often, in such diets, a person loses weight by reducing the amount of carbohydrates.

Traffic light diet for men

A men's diet for losing 10 kg does not include giving up everything except buckwheat, apples and kefir. More often than not, women are addicted to such radical regimes that exhaust the body. A man's belly fat diet should be long-lasting, varied and high-energy. This is exactly what “Traffic Light” is (and also simple and original). According to this men's diet for losing belly fat and more, all products are divided into three color categories:

1. “Greens”: leafy greens, seafood, cucumbers, apples, carrots, buckwheat porridge, low-fat dairy products, citrus fruits. These foods can be eaten in any quantity and at any time.
2. “Yellow”: porridge with water and pasta, boiled sausage, dietary meat, dried fruits, pickles, ketchup, dry wine, coffee, cottage cheese, fruits and vegetables, sausages, chocolate and candies, spices. All this can be consumed from morning until 6 pm, but do not overeat.
3. “Reds”: lard and fatty meats, beer, champagne, fast food, cream cakes, ice cream, sweet soda, bread, mayonnaise and milk. These products are completely prohibited.

This men's diet for a month will allow you to lose about 5 kg. If you additionally exercise and lead an active lifestyle in general, you can lose more. The image below will help you understand food and diet principles.

By the way, “Traffic Light” is probably the best men’s diet. This diet is recommended by WHO for constant use without harm to health, not only for men, but also for women.

The famous "ABS Diet"

This men's diet for losing weight on the stomach and sides is very common in Europe and America. The name comes from the abbreviated names of the types of products: A - peanuts, almonds and other nuts, B - beans, legumes, S - spinach and any other greens. It is recommended to supplement a diet based on these products with protein powder, and visit the gym at least twice a week.

Reviews from those losing weight indicate that it is much better to replace protein powder with dietary protein foods. This diet differs from “Traffic Light” only in the preferred foods.

Treasured “cubes” from the press

In order for an overweight person to achieve a strong and sculpted torso, it is necessary first of all to organize a regular, balanced diet for weight loss. For men, the press is pumped, most often by lifting the torso from a lying position. Such movements help burn the most common type of fat among men – abdominal fat.

With 20 such actions you can burn about 7 calories. Trainers recommend loading the abdominal muscles no more than three times a week, giving them rest every other day. After 15-20 repetitions become easy for you, the set of exercises needs to be complicated by adding weights (dumbbells or expander).

"The Race Driver's Diet"

This men's diet (remove the belly and sides) is aimed at those who have an active lifestyle. Here are the foods and dishes you can choose according to the “Tour De France Rider’s Diet”:

1. Breakfast: pancakes with maple syrup; cereal with milk and fruit; toast with jam and peanut butter.
2. Lunch: steamed broccoli with tomatoes and cheese; grilled chicken fillet with rice and sauce.
3. Snacks: granola bars; cookies with grains and dried fruits; sandwich with chicken fillet and a piece of cheese.
4. Dinners: two servings of yogurt; spaghetti without sauce; some toast with a slice of bacon.

Fiber, maximum vitamins and minerals

Plant fibers, which normalize digestion processes in the body, must be included in the diet of a man losing excess weight. They are calorie-free, but provide a long-lasting feeling of satiety and stimulate the body’s cleansing processes. According to WHO recommendations, diet for men for weight loss should include 38-40 g of fiber daily. It is rich in unprocessed grains (buckwheat, brown rice and wheat), legumes (peas, chickpeas, lentils and beans), vegetables and fruits (the skin of which consists of dietary fiber), seeds (flax, pumpkin, sunflower) and nuts. The leaders in plant fiber content per 100 g of product are: bran (rye, oat and wheat) – 44 g; legumes – from 7 to 15 g; whole grain bread – from 7 to 9 g, as well as cereals – from 8 to 10 g. Emphasis on non-starchy “gifts of nature”: spinach, cabbage, broccoli, cucumbers, green apples, as well as citrus fruits, watermelons, plums and other sources of vitamins and minerals will help saturate the body with these essential components, give strength and strengthen the immune system.

7 day plant based diet

The men's weekly diet is based on plant foods. You can eat almost any of them and in any quantities, but the main thing is to follow the rules. Here is a sample menu for a week on a men's weight loss diet:

1. Only vegetables without salt and meat. At least a third should be consumed raw, the rest should be steamed or boiled.
2. Exclusively fruits, but it is better to choose ones that are not very sweet.
3. Only berries.
4. One and a half liters of kefir and a portion of low-fat cottage cheese.
5. Exclusively vegetables (as on the first day).
6. Only berries, but of the same variety. In the evening you are allowed to drink a glass of kefir.
7. Only freshly squeezed juices, mostly fruit.

The entire amount of food per day should be divided into five to six meals. Additionally, you should drink two liters of purified water.

Very strict men's diet

There is another ABS diet, but much more strict, designed for 50 days of extreme nutrition with a low calorie content and periods of fasting. This regime was developed in the USA in the 70s for “weight loss camps”. Before choosing this diet, you need to weigh all the risks, given that on certain days the body will receive only 150 kcal, which is ten times less than the norm recommended by WHO.

Side effects such as severe sensitivity to cold, depression, osteoporosis, fainting and dizziness due to low blood sugar, and a predisposition to anorexia may occur. Before you decide to go on a diet for 50 days, you must consult a doctor and undergo at least a basic medical examination, and if side effects occur, you must immediately stop following this regimen.

It is recommended to divide food into five meals (three main meals and two snacks), choose complex carbohydrates and protein foods, and avoid flour, sweets and baked goods. If you missed dinner for some reason, you can replace it with one unsweetened fruit or a glass of yogurt from 18 to 22 pm. A diet for losing weight is made up by itself, based on the number of calories allowed. The calorie plan for this diet for 50 days is shown in the figure below.

You need to be extremely careful when leaving the diet, since after almost two months the body has simply become unaccustomed to receiving food. In the first month after ABS nutrition for 50 days, the caloric content of the diet per day should not exceed 800-1000 kilocalories, and in the first five to seven days it is recommended to consume no more than 500 kcal.

A very strict diet for 50 days allows you to get rid of a record 25 kg in almost two months. But the many risks associated with such a diet make us seriously think about the advisability of testing an extreme diet on our own health.

Running while losing weight

Reducing the calorie intake as much as you like and adjusting nutrition for men to lose weight, without sports it is difficult to solve the problem of excess weight. It is an integrated approach to the process of reducing body volume with an emphasis on optimal physical activity that is the most effective way to lose extra pounds. When you exercise, your muscles tighten, which causes you to burn more calories and burn more fat.

If you have a high BMI or a body weight of more than 90 kg, as well as a person over 45-50 years of age, walking on a treadmill or walking in the fresh air is recommended, and running is prohibited, as it can cause damage to joints and knees. A rational, healthy diet for weight loss for men, running with a gradually increasing load: from a slow jog to medium and intense speed will teach the body to receive and spend calories, successfully burning fat. Regular exercise will have a beneficial effect on body parameters, the condition of muscles and the body as a whole.

Diet of Kim Protasov

It is unknown who is hiding behind this pseudonym, but a diet with this name is perfect for the summer. The diet plan is designed for five weeks. For the first two weeks, you need to eat only vegetables in any quantity and fermented milk and dairy products with a fat content percentage of no more than 5. It is better to eat tomatoes, cucumbers, white cabbage, and carrots raw. Eggplants, cauliflower, and zucchini should be cooked in a double boiler, stewed or baked in the oven in foil. You can season with yogurt, kefir, cottage cheese, add garlic and grated cheese. You can also eat one boiled egg and three unsweetened apples per day.

For the next three weeks, you need to continue to eat the same amount of vegetables, and fermented milk products are replaced with 200-300 g of lean meat or fish. It is also advisable to steam protein foods, bake them in foil, and boil them. In the first two weeks, the functioning of the digestive tract is normalized, and the remaining time is necessary to streamline the diet and switch to a balanced diet. This diet (men's, women's - it doesn't matter, because representatives of both sexes can follow a similar diet) will not only help you lose extra pounds, but also improve your health.