According to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, healthy weight loss happens when you burn more calories than you consume. You can do this by creating a calorie deficit, which occurs when you cut calories from your meal plan and burn calories through exercise.
There are many diet plans out there that can help you achieve your goals, and one is the Banting Diet. This one claims that fat is not to be completely avoided and that losing weight is actually easy. The diet focuses on healthy whole foods and limits processed foods and junk food. If you’re thinking the Banding Diet might work for you, it’s important to know what you can eat and what you can’t eat while following the plan. This ensures that you get the results you want and that you get to eat foods that you enjoy and that fit with your lifestyle.
Foods That Are Encouraged
You know that eating low-calorie foods is part of a successful weight loss plan. This is no different on the Banting Diet, although the plan does not limit fat as strictly as some other plans. In fact, when you follow the eating plan for the Banting Diet, you are encouraged to eat foods that are high in fat, low in carbohydrates and medium in protein content. The trick is to choose high-fat foods that are nutrient dense because they will help you meet your daily intake goals while also keeping you satisfied until it’s time to have another meal.
The best choices for the Banting Diet include things like avocado, eggs, fatty kinds of fish, such as salmon, and coconut oil. Obviously, you can’t live on these foods alone so you should combine and supplement them with plenty of lentils and chicken, as well as other low-fat protein sources. You can also eat dairy foods, including milk, yogurt and cheese. Combined, these foods cover many of your nutrient needs and the healthy fats they contain help keep you feeling full for longer so that you can resist snacking between meals or overdoing it out of hunger.
Foods You Can’t Eat
Of course, as with any diet, there are foods you can’t eat while on the Banting Diet. Basically, you must avoid sugar of any kind, most kinds of fruit, any kind of grain and most types of alcohol. That means you have to eliminate bread, crackers, cereal, fruit, soda, candy, cake, cookies and just about any kind of fast food. This can make the meal plan hard to follow, especially if you eat a lot of those items currently.
As you can probably see, the Banting Diet is similar to the Atkins or Paleo meal plan, with some small differences. Like Atkins, you are encouraged to eat fats and eliminate carbs, and like the Paleo Diet, you are encouraged to eat fresh, whole foods and skip the processed, junk foods that make up a large part of many people’s diets.
Meal Ideas For The Banting Diet
It’s all well and good to know what you can and can’t eat while following the Banting Diet, but that doesn’t mean it’s easy to put together meals. Part of being successful on the diet is being able to create meals that you enjoy eating and that are practical for your time constraints and ability in the kitchen. With a few ideas under your belt, you can gain some confidence and learn how to mix and match approved foods to make your own Banting worthy meals.
Some ideas for breakfast include bacon and egg cups, coconut French toast and baked eggs with haddock and spinach. When lunchtime rolls around, your options include sage and blue cheese roasted squash, beef goulash soup or scotch eggs. You might enjoy Thai steamed fish, seared salmon with mushrooms and bok choy, roasted leg of lamb, burgers, or chicken curry. Each of these meals contains the proper ratio of fat, carbs and protein and can be found on the official Banting Diet website. Once you become familiar with how to make the meals, you can substitute ingredients to make new and exciting dishes. Having new things to look forward to can boost the success of the plan.
Other Things To Consider Regarding Eating On The Banting Diet
While it’s very important to consider what you can and can’t eat while on the Banting Diet, there are other things you need to think about as well. When you create your meals, remember to focus on the ratio of lots of fats, no carbohydrates and a medium amount of protein. By sticking to that ratio, it should be fairly easy for you to follow the diet and keep from getting too hungry between meals.
The diet strictly limits snacking. That means you will only be eating when you’re having a meal and are not allowed to have snacks between them. This is something to think hard about because it can be very hard to stop snacking if it’s become a big part of your eating routine. Even though your fat intake might seem fairly high while following the Banting Diet, you still keep your calorie intake under control by limiting the snacks you eat between meals. The good news is that the healthy fats in your meals should help satisfy hunger by keeping you feeling full for longer than meals that contain very little fat.
Another important aspect of the Banting Diet is the idea that you should only eat when you are hungry. That means that you can postpone lunch if noon comes and you aren’t feeling hungry yet. The diet also asks you to pay close attention to your satiety. You should stop eating once you are satisfied. This can be a hard thing to do at first, so keep practicing to get it right. By quitting when you are full, even if you still have food on your plate, you save calories and help create the calorie deficit necessary to drop the weight.
Cautions For The Banting Diet
Because the Banting Diet limits certain food groups, i.e. grains and fruit, you run the risk of nutrient deficiencies. Pay close attention to your nutrient intake, and make sure you are getting enough of the vitamins and minerals you need to stay healthy. Of course, as with any diet plan, it’s imperative to talk to your doctor before getting started. This allows you to assess your health goals and work with your physician to ensure that you don’t compromise your health and that you get the most out of the Banting Diet. The diet might not be appropriate for you if you have certain health conditions, are pregnant or nursing, have food allergies, are very overweight or only need to drop a few pounds. Never follow the Banting Diet against your doctor’s orders.
