In a healthy meal there is a proper combination of all the macronutrients ( carbohydrates, proteins,fats)and micronutrients ( vitamins, minerals) and it also provides you energy. In general, a healthy meal is a combination of fruits, grains, vegetables, protein and low fat dairy products with low added sugar, low sodium,low saturated fats,low trans fat and low cholesterol. So avoid processed or fried foods in your diet like white bread,soda, fried chicken, potato chips and include whole grains and fresh foods like whole wheat, oats, brown rice, millets, quinoa. Out of the daily total calorie intake there should be around 40% to 65% carbohydrates, 10% to 35% protein and 20% to 35% fats. Tea/ coffee should not be taken empty stomach. Total daily caffeine intake should not exceed 300 mg. There should be gap of about 3 hours between dinner and bedtime. Total daily fibre intake should be 25- 35 gm. It has been found that most of the people consume only around 15 gm fibre daily so include more fruits and vegetables in your diet. Never skip the breakfast. Try to have 5- 6 short meals instead of 3 meals.It will control your portion size because when you eat after a long gap sometimes you are not able to control your portion size which results in higher calorie intake and is one of the main reasons of weight gain or obesity.
Metabolism refers to the whole sum of reactions that occur throughout the body within each cell and that provide the body with energy. Our body needs certain amount of calories for proper functioning like heart rate, breathing, blood circulation, brain functioning and the rate at which our body utilizes it, it’s called Basal metabolic rate or BMR. It’s very important for all of us to know our BMR which can be found out through body composition scale or can be calculated through a formula which is different for males and females. The most important thing is that whenever you start to follow any diet plan, make sure that your daily calorie intake should not be below your BMR . For example,if your BMR is 1500,then your daily calorie intake should not be 1100- 1200- 1300 calories because in this case at least 1500 calories are needed for the proper functioning of body and if daily calorie intake would be below 1500 calories, it won’t be healthy at all. Now the question is how to boost the metabolism? As we all know that certain amount of calories are needed for the proper functioning of body like heart rate, blood circulation, breathing, brain functioning and our metabolism works according to our muscle mass, age and gender and when it comes to boosting metabolism, strength training is very important. So make sure to include strength training in your workout routine because it will improve your muscle mass which will help to boost your metabolism. Next thing is diet. Complement your physical activity with a diet in which there should be a combination of all the macronutrients and micronutrients in proper ratio. It will help to boost your metabolism. Along with an effective workout plan and diet, there is another factor which plays an important role in boosting metabolism and that is sleep cycle. If you have a sound sleep of 7-8 hours,it will also help to boost your metabolism.
If you want a healthy weight loss or weight gain then go for around 500 calories difference between daily calorie intake and daily calorie expenditure. For example, if your daily calorie expenditure is 2500 calories then for healthy weight loss,your daily calorie intake should be around 2000 calories and for weight gain, calorie intake should be around 3000 calories. Now the difference will be 500 calories per day and in 7 days,it will be 3500 ( 500 multiplied by 7) . One pound of body weight equals to 3500 calories. That means by adopting this method you can lose or gain 1 pound of body weight in a week.
