Although we are already in the de-escalation process, it is important to continue paying special attention to food because it will help us better face the return to normality. To do this, we encourage you to incorporate certain changes and follow the guidelines of the Mediterranean diet, perfect to cover the need for vitamins, minerals and other nutrients and, at the same time, keep the weight at bay.
One of the certified nutritionists warns us that “it is not about not enjoying eating, but rather about conscious eating, being clear about what foods cannot be missing to maintain our health, adjusting the amounts to our needs, and leaving non-essential foods for special occasions. “
We talk about all this in this article so that you eat healthily and without complications.
5 Keys Steps To Take Proper Diet During Confinement
Due to confinement, physical activity has decreased and, consequently, so has energy expenditure, which can promote weight gain. In this regard, Práxedes explains to us that “to avoid gaining weight during confinement, we must subtract the calories that we used to move to carry out our life on the street and at work.”
This is easy to achieve with small changes in diet, following these 5 tips.
1. Improve Recipies
If you have several menus that you alternate during the week, try to modify some of their ingredients to make them lighter “for example, temporarily eliminating the fattiest ingredients from pasta and rice dishes , such as sausage, blood sausage, chorizo … you can decrease the calories on the plate, “as our nutritionist explains.
Following this example, a plate of 770 kilocalories, made up of 80 grams of pasta, 50 grams of sausage, onion, tomato and 15 grams of cheese, can go on to contain 220 kilocalories less. The change is to substitute the sausage for 50 grams of tuna, and prepare the same amount of rice, but with vegetables.
2. Fewer Snacks
The ideal is to eat five meals a day to avoid unnecessary pecking. But, due to the current situation, many people have changed their schedules, and for others, it is easier to bring forward the lunch or dinner time. With this small change, you can do without the afternoon or morning snack.
Also Read: Have You Gained Weight During Quarantine? The Solution To Eliminating Those Extra Kilos
3. Less Quantity In Main Dishes
Our specialist invites us to weigh the ration we ate for lunch and dinner before confinement, and then reduce this amount. To understand it better, he helps us with an example: ” If you used to make paella with 90 grams of rice per person before, now use a serving of 70 grams, and if your fillet weighed 200 grams, reduce it to 150 grams.”
4. More Fruits And Vegetables
They are essential for all the benefits they provide, so they must be included in the shopping list. There are plenty of reasons for this, as our specialist highlights: “Their low energy value, their contribution of vitamins and minerals, and their satiating effect make them ideal when there is hunger or the habit of filling the plate.”
If you have doubts about this, take a look at how much these vegetables and fruits weigh and their kilocalories:
- 125 grams of mushrooms is 15 kilocalories
- 150 grams of zucchini is 50 kilocalories
- 200 grams of orange is 81 kilocalories
- 30 grams of lettuce, which would be a dish, is less than 5 kilocalories.
5. Be Careful With The Shopping Basket
With the excuse of entertaining the quarantine, or the moments of boredom, we fill the shopping cart with superfluous foods. The recommendation of our specialist is that we limit them or, better, not buy them, since, as he warns, “they are a downfall, three cookies with chocolate provide 250 kilocalories (17 grams per unit)”.
And this does not stop there, half a bag of potato chips, which is the food we turn to while watching movies or series, provides 436 kilocalories, and its total content is around 170g.
But what can be done about this temptation? Our expert’s advice is that ” if you like sweets and snacks, choose only one product for the weekly purchase, and save it for that movie with your family, Skype coffee, or birthday party this year at home.”
The Importance Of Taking Proper Diet
It is important to adapt the food to the situation of confinement since, despite the advance of de-escalation, meals continue to be made at home in a very majority way. The objective of this is that there are no excesses and no shortage of nutrients, for which it is highly recommended to follow the guidelines of the taking proper diet.
To this must be added the importance of controlling excesses. If we avoid the consumption of saturated fats or precooked products, we help the cholesterol to remain at an adequate level; The same happens with blood glucose if we dispense with the consumption of quick sugars, soft drinks with sugar or industrial pastries.
How To Avoid Nutritional Deficiencies
This has been a major concern since the beginning of the quarantine, especially in relation to the possible lack of Vitamin D or Omega 3, which are vital for the body. About this, Fontán points out that ” if we follow our Mediterranean diet model, with the intake of fruits and vegetables, we provide vitamins, minerals, antioxidants, as well as water and fibre, we should not have a deficit of nutrients in general”.
In addition, we can introduce some specific measures :
Avoid Vitamin D Deficiency
Without a doubt, it is the vitamin that has worried us the most since confinement has made it impossible to expose ourselves to the sun, which is the main way to synthesize it. To counteract this deficiency, our nutritionist recommends:
- Increase food intake with this vitamin, for example, bluefish, eggs…
- Go for a walk, to the balcony or to the window to get more sun exposure.
- Is vitamin D supplementation necessary? The nutritionist advises us to go to a consultation where analysis is carried out that allows us to assess if necessary.
Sufficient Supply Of Omega 3
As the Mediterranean diet indicates, it is important to monitor the contribution of certain fats because they favour the prevention of some diseases. This is the case of Omega 3, an essential fatty acid, which is present in flax seeds, walnuts, bluefish and olive oil. Among its benefits are:
- Prevent cardiovascular pathologies
- Encourage cognitive development during childhood
- Effects on mucosa and skin
- Beneficial for pregnancy and fetus development
For all these reasons, our nutritionist encourages us to include it in our diet, especially for the duration of the quarantine. Unfortunately, it is common to find a low supply of Omega 3 in diets, and this means that it is often necessary to include a supplement that in any case must be prescribed by a specialist.
In-Take Of Water Is Essential
The importance of staying hydrated is also reflected in the Mediterranean diet. The nutritionist tells us that “it is curious, when changing routines, sometimes we lose the reflex of drinking water and hydrating ourselves continuously throughout the day, and we only do it when we feel thirsty.” But be careful! Because this is an indication that we have started to dehydrate.
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