CONSCIOUS NUTRITION III. WOMEN
Megosztás
All good things must come to an end.
We've known this since "It's a Knockout," but goodbyes are especially painful when we talk about women's mindful eating. So, we've reached the end of covering another major topic.
This post will focus on the healthy and diet meals of women, and women only, meaning women's conscious nutrition. As is always the case when women are involved, and whatever the topic, we cannot speak of logical, consistent, and rational decisions, but this is especially true when food is brought up. I am convinced that books like "I'm unhappy, I'll eat chocolate," "This much indulgence is acceptable today," and "Let me explain why concentrated sugar is actually dietary" were written by women, upon which a whole gender culture was later founded, which we now call the perfect self-deception.
On Discovery Living, I accidentally caught a show that should serve as a lesson to everyone, not just women. The episode was about a 34-year-old British woman who, by her own admission, had been on a diet for years, meticulously sticking to it. In addition, she worked out 3 times a week, and for years, not only had she failed to lose weight, but she had been continuously gaining it, almost non-stop. I love these shows, and I'm glad that documentary filmmaking has moved in this direction, because these stories tell us more than a thousand research results.
Let's call the woman Suzie, who is unable to lose weight despite strictly following her exercise plan and adhering to the dietary rules for weight loss and a healthy lifestyle. The show begins with a medical examination, as there might be physiological reasons for the phenomenon. Hypothyroidism, for example, can cause such a change. But no, we have a healthy, 34-year-old Brighton woman with normal metabolic processes who, for some mysterious reason, cannot lose weight. Her previous diet was examined, and there's nothing wrong with it; everything seems fine. So what could be the problem?
The crew asks Suzie to meticulously record what she eats and what exercises she does for two weeks, following her own diet. Naturally, the crew monitors this period, and an expert also observes the process, but cannot interfere, only check. Days pass, Suzie follows her diet, goes to workouts, seemingly adhering to everything, but after two weeks, she has gained 0.4 kg.
The evaluation of the results follows, and here's the crucial part. This is a process that a significant number of women are prone to, without even realizing how much they are fooling themselves. Suzie did indeed follow her diet. Ah, but when she was prescribed 100 grams of fish with half a serving of rice, Suzie ate 300 grams of fish with one and a half servings of rice. According to the diet, fish and rice are included, yes, that's great, but the problem is that the quantity really matters. How much do you think a calorie-calculated diet is messed up if the proportions are shifted like this at every meal? One and a half servings of rice instead of half a serving already mean an extra 350 kcal, and we haven't even mentioned that Suzie drank 4 dl of apple juice with this lunch.
Almost no one pays attention to drinks during a diet, only to food, but a 1.5-liter Nestea, which is not difficult to drink a bottle of, contains 468 kcal. The average caloric requirement for a woman is 1600 kcal, which means she consumes a third of her daily caloric needs just by drinking a bottle of this sugary crap. So when I wrote that during a diet, you should forget about Hohes-C, Sió, Nestea, and Top Joy-like urine as quickly as possible, that's what I meant. They are sweetened all over the place, have zero nutritional value, even less vitamin content, and as for the fruit content, well, that's a bigger scam than "War of the Worlds" in 1938. You shouldn't push their light versions either; I hope I don't even have to mention Coca-Cola and Pepsi products anymore.
These processes were behind Suzie's mysterious inability to lose weight, but the most terrible thing about it all is that Suzie truly believed she was following all rules and instructions, even though she ate more than allowed at almost every meal. But most of the excess was taken in through mindlessly, indiscriminately consumed soft drinks. And not even the world's most intense workouts can help with these.
Another big mistake, which I’ve already mentioned, are those guilty chocolates and cheat meals. My friend’s sister is the biggest example of this. You know, the one who invented the diet where you don’t eat anything but protein until 5 PM, and then after 5 PM until bedtime, you can eat anything. This is the same girl who, after an hour and a half of Kangoo training, would go to McDonald’s or eat a whole bar of Milka, because, well, then it’s allowed. Honestly, you can’t deal with this with a sane mind.
I've already elaborated on this part, meaning the cheating and indulgent things, which I won't write down again now. The point is that women are 10 times more prone to deceive themselves, just as they deceive us men in everyday life, but in this case, perhaps even they are not aware of how harmful their actions are. But it's also not out of the question that they explain it away to themselves quite a bit. These are what need to be dealt with first and foremost for a diet to be successful and for the achieved physique to be maintained long-term.
I’m talking to a girl, and I’ve been explaining for about 20 minutes how harmful sugar is. She listens, then asks the next question.
“Okay, I understand what you’re saying, but I really like honey, for example. Which kind can I eat?”
Now, everyone imagine my face after that question. Diet and weight loss are a very difficult, cruel process that requires some self-discipline, perseverance, and stable determination. If these are not present, there's nothing to talk about. You should slowly decide whether your happiness and source of joy will be called Milka or a cocoa roll for the next 25 years, or perhaps Peti, Attila, or András.
I was looking through some diets to get a sense of what women are being duped with, and the situation is more than disheartening. Fashionable, catchy names, preferably linked to some geographical location or esotericism, into which they cram meals that make me reach for the butcher's knife.
Lunch: 200g foil-baked chicken breast with dill-yogurt dressing, coriander root, 3 roasted cherry tomatoes with pearl onions
What the hell? Honestly, what is this? Because it’s definitely not a diet. It probably sounds good at a Tag Heuer store opening party, but beyond that, it has little purpose, and I won’t even go into what the word "dressing" is doing among foods meant for a diet. It’s a complete joke, seriously. But I’ve also seen Japanese, banana, cinnamon, Candida, and Jesus diets, as well as Bircher Benner and Tuscany cures. You should forget about these immediately, and every diet you read about in women’s magazines. Such diets have about as much scientific basis as Glamour horoscopes, because a diet isn’t useful just because it has a catchy name and includes a few foods you read about in the latest New York Cosmo, because that’s surely very up-to-date.
Besides, why would a women's magazine want another woman to lose weight and look good? Men, now they genuinely want women to lose weight. I don't understand why there isn't a diet for women in FHM, there's such a huge cross-readership happening here anyway. Well, let's move on then. I'll list some foods that are particularly good for the female body. If the guys happen to read this post too, then I'd like to tell them that these are ideal foods specifically for female metabolism and body, meaning men should ignore this section.
Fruits: currants, blueberries, kiwi, avocado, orange, pineapple, lemon, grapefruit, strawberry, apple, mango, apricot, pineapple. Among these, I would particularly highlight grapefruit, which is as fundamental for a woman as porn is for guys. A woman simply cannot live without grapefruit; you should eat at least one a week.
Bread: exclusively whole-grain baked goods. White bread, seriously, let's forget it for good, not just during a diet. If you're a mother, please get your children used to rye bread.
Meat: quality protein-containing meats. Poultry, chicken, turkey, in their natural form, meaning no breading, flour, and the usual crap.
Nuts and legumes: these are absolutely essential for women to keep hormone fluctuations in check due to the menstrual hormone rollercoaster. Almonds, pistachios, hazelnuts, but the shelled versions, not the salted American junk, as well as beans, lentils, peas, and all kinds of sprouts, preferably in as large quantities as possible. Vegetables: specifically fat-burning, making cabbage the absolute best, everything else comes after it, such as asparagus, cucumber, spinach, celery, radish, kohlrabi, cauliflower, tomato, broccoli, carrot, bell pepper, and obviously lettuce. You really can't mess this part up, or rather you can, if you drown it in all sorts of crappy dressings. Please nooooooo.
Fish: this is a staple food. Salmon, sole, sunfish, and all white-fleshed fish. You really can't go wrong with saltwater fish, but be very careful with freshwater fish, not just because of the bones, but there are some very sneaky bastards that taste like cooking oil, so fish soup is not diet-friendly. In fact, though I don't really know any girl who likes fish soup, perhaps I only think this because I've always hated and deeply despised fish soup.
Sweets: haaaah. During a diet, the following “sweets” are acceptable: whole-grain NATURAL muesli and cereal, 0% yogurt, puffed wheat, fruit smoothies with 1.5% milk. That’s it. Cerbona bars and all the other nonsense you consider diet-friendly are not allowed, and nothing not listed here is allowed.
Dairy, eggs: for scrambled eggs, max one whole egg, the rest should only be egg whites, although I truly don't know why I listed eggs under dairy products, never mind. Cheeses with less than 10% fat and milk with 1.5% fat or less, low-fat cottage cheese, e.g., Bakony.
Drinks: I have bad news. Alcohol has more calories than butter. During a diet, women's parties should skip the obligatory rounds of Flirtin, Fresca, and Long Island; red wine is okay. Mineral water, tea in any quantity, preferably 3 liters a day or 1 liter per 20 kilos. Fruit smoothies up to 5 dl max, because of the milk.
Vitamins: The air in Budapest is so harmful that just living here destroys 350 mg of vitamin C in us daily. Workouts require additional vitamins, and precisely because of the harmful living conditions, it is mandatory to take some kind of vitamin, BUT NOT Supradyn or ridiculous junk available in pharmacies. Promise me you won't take those. Béres Drops are very LOL, but they only replace trace elements, not vitamins. There are very professional vitamins specifically made for women. Don't be afraid of them, they are 100% natural ingredients, no chemical nastiness.
In addition, protein shake, formulated for women's protein needs. Once a day, in the afternoon or evening, two scoops with 4 dl of milk.
In addition, a few small notes that can help your diet. If all else fails and you absolutely want to bake, not steam or boil, then do it with olive oil. Eat small portions, because if you're full, you've definitely eaten more than your body needs. Calorie surplus occurs, so eat only enough not to be hungry. What else, just a moment... Pay attention to sleep, and regular sexual activity wouldn't hurt either. Oh, and most importantly!!! Too many Eskimos have too many dicks. Never forget that.
After these ethnic facts, let's look at some alternative diets, although if you've read the previous two posts in the Mindful Eating saga, you already know everything, and with personalized calorie counting and female workout plans, you can now independently assemble the mosaic pieces of a complete program. After all, that's why this blog was created.
This is a super tough diet; if I were a girl (I'd totally be a whore), I'd definitely do this. You'll have trouble with it in the first week, but that's why it's a diet, because it's hard. Do this if you're not doing any workouts alongside it.
Day 1
Breakfast: 0% yogurt, three puffed wheat cakes
Morning snack: apple
Lunch: 100g chicken breast fillet, pickled cucumber
Afternoon snack: plain yogurt
Dinner: protein shake
- Day
Breakfast: 0% yogurt, a handful of oatmeal, for example
Morning snack: 150g fruit
Lunch: cabbage stew within reasonable limits
Afternoon snack: protein shake
Dinner: 200g turkey ham, radish, carrot, tomato
- Day
Breakfast: half a packet of brown rice with spices
Morning snack: apple
Lunch: chicken soup – without pasta – with cooked vegetables.
Afternoon snack: protein shake
Dinner: 150g fish, a few steamed broccoli florets
- Day
Breakfast: scrambled eggs from two eggs, onion, cucumber
Morning snack: two slices of cheese, say Tolle
Lunch: two slices of grilled turkey breast, garlic, cucumber, lettuce
Afternoon snack: 100g chicken breast fillet
Dinner: protein shake
- Day
Breakfast: four slices of cheese, tomato
Morning snack: apple
Lunch: soup, chicken, salad, rice
Afternoon snack: 100g low-fat cottage cheese with paprika
Dinner: protein shake
Now for a diet alongside exercise. This stuff is ideal for 2 strength and 2 cardio workouts, plus maybe an aerobics class. If you did these workouts + this diet, you'd be unrecognizable women in 3-4 months, you wouldn't believe it.
Day 1
Breakfast: omelette from 4 eggs, fried in a little olive oil, one tomato
Morning snack: fruit salad
Lunch: two bowls of chicken soup
Afternoon snack: protein shake
Dinner: 150g tuna salad with mixed vegetables, flavored with lemon
Day 2
Breakfast: natural muesli with a lighter handful, topped with protein shake
Morning snack: orange
Lunch: vegetable soup
Afternoon snack: protein shake
Dinner: 150g chicken breast stuffed with spinach, steamed vegetables
Day 3
Breakfast: 100g vegetable salad with 50g mozzarella
Morning snack: banana
Lunch: vegetable stew with chicken breast fillet
Afternoon snack: fruit yogurt or protein shake
Dinner: salmon salad
Day 4
Breakfast: omelette from 3 eggs, with ham, onion, radish, 1 slice of rye bread + tomato
Morning snack: puffed wheat with apple
Lunch: broccoli cream soup sprinkled with almonds
Afternoon snack: protein shake
Dinner: 150g fish with lemon, cucumber salad
Day 5
Breakfast: two boiled eggs, vegetable salad
Morning snack: two bananas
Lunch: low-fat kohlrabi stew made with plain yogurt
Afternoon snack: protein shake
Dinner: 150g chicken breast, mixed vegetable salad or puffed wheat with ham
Day 6
Breakfast: three slices of camembert cheese with a few walnuts
Morning snack: sandwich (rye bread, ham, lean cheese)
Lunch: turkey ragout soup, fish, rice
Afternoon snack: protein shake
Dinner: 150g grilled salmon fillet, mixed vegetable salad or protein shake
Day 7
Breakfast: 100g low-fat cottage cheese with tomato, ham
Morning snack: fruit salad
Lunch: fish salad
Afternoon snack: protein shake
Dinner: 150g grilled chicken breast fillet, a mug of mixed green salad
The diet and lifestyle applicable during pregnancy, after childbirth, and during breastfeeding are so complex and require such thoroughness that I wouldn't compress them into an episodic part of a single post. If I write about this, it will be in a separate post. Until then, suffice it to say that healthy lifestyle education should begin at the youngest age. Children imitate their parents; a large part of their upbringing is what they see. If they see their parents haphazardly gorging on all sorts of junk, then they will obviously grow up on pizzas and pork hock and bean soup. We want the best for our children, and I assume everyone does, so let's start their upbringing by setting a good example with our healthy lifestyle. Try to give children the best quality food. But, this is a completely different topic that I don't want to get into right now. The main point is: pay special attention to what you eat during pregnancy, because your child eats what you eat. And during breastfeeding, the quality of breast milk is what matters.
However, there's still something I simply can't figure out. WHY DO WOMEN GAIN WEIGHT, but immediately after getting together with a guy and starting to live IN A RELATIONSHIP. Whhhhhhyyyyyy? Is it some ancient program? A genetic code? Akos had a female acquaintance, let's call her Edina, whom he would hook up with from time to time, and then the girl got together with a guy. Akos then said: "Come over until you start gaining weight." When I heard this, everything fell out of my hands. Of course, half a year passed, and the girl gained 10 kg.
With this little story, we have reached the end of the Mindful Nutrition series. There will still be an additional part, but it will not be strictly linked to the three posts, although there will be some natural connections between them. These 3 articles are very important for a healthy lifestyle, as they are its foundation, everything is built upon them. Now you can independently put together, uniquely, and tailor your nutrition to your body type and individual lifestyle, calculating your own caloric needs, and choosing from appropriate foods. Good, isn't it?
I saved the best for last.
