We asked three Experts of the Bay of Beauty how to deal with the crucial moment of stabilizing the diet so as not to squander the effort and sacrifices put into the diet. Dietitian.pl Marta Tomaszewska will tell you which products to buy to please yourself and strengthen your body; Personal Trainer Michał Kołakowski will indicate regenerative forms of movement, while Masseuse and Physiotherapist Marta Rzewuska will suggest ways to relax.
First of all: the venomous “with the head”
What cannot be missing from the menu of a person after a long-term diet who has a problem with dry skin, brittle nails and hair loss?
Long-term use of a diet may be associated with an insufficient supply of vitamins, minerals and other compounds important for the body. The first signs of deficiency are usually: tiredness, deterioration of the skin condition, especially dry skin, as well as brittle nails and hair loss. To prevent this, we should ensure that fresh vegetables and fruits appear in the diet. They are a source of not only vitamins and minerals, but also antioxidants that delay the aging process, ensuring a young and fresh look of the skin – says dietitian Marta Tomaszewska.
Dry skin and brittle and brittle hair also indicate insufficient hydration of the body. The mere use of moisturizing cosmetics will not work if we do not take care of hydration from the inside. It is recommended to drink about 2,5 liters of fluid a day. Most of this need should be covered with still mineral water, but it is also worth drinking sugar-free teas (especially green, which contains antioxidants and herbal herbs), as well as juices (the most beneficial effect will be juices prepared from fresh vegetables and fruits). Adequate fluid intake will also positively affect the functioning of the kidneys and intestines, helping to remove toxins from the body. Thanks to this, we will prevent the appearance of pimples on the face.
It also has a beneficial effect on the condition of the skin and hair adequate supply of unsaturated fatty acids (EFA). Therefore, the diet should include sea fish (such as salmon, mackerel, tuna) as well as nuts, seeds (e.g. sunflower) and vegetable oils. When it comes to minerals, it is worth paying more attention to zinc, copper and iron. A deficiency of these elements can make your hair and nails very weak. Lack of zinc may result in increased hair loss and the appearance of white spots on the nails. Foods rich in this element are: fish, eggs, cereal grains, and milk. In turn, copper deficiency is associated with fading hair color and dullness, and iron deficiency causes baldness. Products rich in copper are: beef, groats, nuts, legumes, while iron is found mainly in red meat, eggs and green leafy vegetables.
What products can you confidently reach for in order to please yourself without squandering the hardships of weight loss?
Applying a slimming diet usually involves sacrifices, giving up your favorite products and dishes, and controlling the size of the portions eaten. While at the beginning of a slimming treatment we are usually enthusiastic and stick to the diet, in the next stages we often want to give up and return to previous eating habits. We often reach for unhealthy products (industrial sweets, fatty and salty snacks, alcohol), thus wasting the previous effects. Therefore, it is worth preparing such a list of products allowed in times of crisis – they will please us without destroying the effort already put into slimming. Thus, they will also help to persevere until the end of the diet, says Tomaszewska.
The list of allowed products may include: – a piece of homemade cake, – dark chocolate, – homemade jelly or pudding, – dried fruits, – fruit chips (e.g. apple). These products are recommended mainly to those who used to eat a large amount of sweets before starting the diet and who now find it difficult to completely give up the sweet taste. The above-mentioned sweets, if eaten once in a while, in reasonable amounts, will not disturb the weight loss process. And thanks to them, we can feel that the diet is not so scary that it can combine business with pleasure. On the other hand, people who prefer a salty taste and who like meat will like the following list: – homemade pizza (wholemeal dough, with lots of vegetables and lean meat) or home-made burger (made from whole grain rolls, lean meat and fresh vegetables), – nuts and seeds, – vegetable chips, e.g. beetroot (but potato chips are not allowed), – a glass of wine.
Of course, you should also use moderation and common sense with these products, introducing them once in a while (e.g. 1 product from the list once a week), assuming that the rest of the meals are eaten according to the diet.
Second: NON-EXHAUSTIVE, REGENERATIVE FORMS OF MOVEMENT What kind of training / form of exercise will help you to stay on a “healthy path” after a long and exhausting diet?
Michał Kołakowski: Training after weight loss should help maintain the results and allow the body to regenerate. You should reduce the volume and frequency of training and adopt a sensible reverse diet. What does it mean? When we reduce body fat, we complete this macrocycle and begin to gradually increase the number of calories consumed. Adding calories should be done slowly so that we can control our appearance, well-being and weight. It is ideal when we start to feel and look better and our weight increases slightly – at the expense of muscle mass.
I also recommend that you perform the exact test results to check whether the diet we used was not only good for reducing body fat but also for our health. To regenerate and relax the body, I recommend massages, a sauna, cold baths and a visit to the sensory depravation chamber – the so-called Floating.
Third: RELAXATION AND POSITIVE ENERGY STORAGE
What massage / form of relaxation would you recommend to people after a long-term diet?
Marta Rzewuska: As you know, the weight loss process is tedious and time-consuming. First, achieving and then maintaining a satisfactory effect is quite a challenge. Doubts, frustration and anger arise during the weight loss process. As a physiotherapist, I recommend finding a form of active relaxation that is right for you. Everyone has different needs and views the concept of relaxation differently. Some will choose cycling, swimming or fitness, while others need some relaxation and choose massage, yoga or relaxation techniques, such as autogenous training or visualization.
Personally, I recommend a massage that will have a double effect. On the one hand, it will perfectly calm our psyche, but also calm down the body’s reactions through touch. Relaxing massage is based on slow, sliding movements. There are very few compression or kneading techniques. Additionally, cosmetics with aromatherapeutic properties are used. Another type of massage that will also have a calming effect is hot stone massage. Here, additionally, the relaxing stimulus is the warmth flowing from the basalt stones.
Summing up, I advise my patients to find a form of activity in which they feel happy and can discharge negative emotions after the end of the strict weight loss process.
Source of photos – fotolia.com
The author of the text is Małgorzata Trejtowicz, Zatoka Piękna
Specialists: Marta Tomaszewska – Dietician.pl Michał Kołakowski – Personal Trainer Marta Rzewuska – Masseuse, Physiotherapist