Pur starting with the best intentions, very often the trying to follow a diet and get back into shape ends up shipwrecked. Eating patterns too much rigid, dishes always the same but also the difficulty reconciling one’s needs with those of the whole family, in fact, they constitute an obstacle that is not so simple to get around.
The solution? Try to create your own balance, without deprivation or excessso as to be able to maintain good and healthy eating habits in the long term.
To explain how to do it is Paola Pensolone, nutritionist very well known on social media (Instagram: @dietista.paolastavolone), now the author of the book“A life without diet. How to find balance and feel good at the table without giving up”, published by DeAgostini. Assuming that there are no “good” or other foods “bad”the dietician offers ideas and practical advice to improve your diet, without aiming for drastic deprivations but rather on tasty recipes, healthy pairings and tactical substitutions.
Getting back into shape: eating little is not the solution
«The common thought is usually “The less I eat, the better” – explains the author of the book. – In reality this is not always true: by eating little, in fact, let’s slow down the metabolism while our body needs the right amount of calories to function properly. Excesses or deprivations hinder the functioning of the metabolism which it needs instead equilibrium. And balance can only be achieved eating the right amount of food throughout the day. It is no coincidence that, following the nutritional indications, you even get to consume much larger portions than you usually consume. To the full advantage of the sense of satiety.”
The cover of the book “A life without diet. How to find balance and feel good at the table without giving up” – DeAgostini
Balance at the table begins with spending
First rule: learn how to go shopping. Purchasing the right foods, in fact, is the fundamental premise for maintaining a correct approach to nutrition.
«The mistake that is usually made is the lack of organization – explains the nutritionist. – It is, however, very important arriving at the supermarket with a shopping list developed around a weekly menu idea, so as to be able to buy the right foods, without placing unnecessary products in the cart. Another a typical mistake is letting yourself be fooled by labelstoday based on increasingly misleading claims. Even the arrangement of products in the supermarket can deceive us: generally products with a higher price and from well-known brands are positioned at eye level, while lower or higher there may be products that cost less, from less well-known brands but which perhaps from a nutritional point of view they are even better».
Pay attention to labels
Among the claims by which we are most easily deceived is the elusive writing “with no added sugar” which leads one to think that it may be a less caloric product because it is sugar-free.
«The claim ‘no added sugars’ it does not mean that the product has no sugarbecause in that case the correct writing would be “unsweetened” – explains Dr. Pensolone. – It rather means that the product does not contain sugar added to the basic ingredients of the product itself. We will therefore not find fructose, glucose, syrup, etc. in the list of ingredients. This However, it does not exclude that the product in question does not already contain natural sugars. For example, if we talk about a jam, without added sugar, it means that No other sugars are added to fruit sugars. In short, we must always have good awareness of the product in question.”
To get back into shape you don’t need to give up
But if knowing how to go shopping, knowing foods and the correct composition of meals, it is the fundamental premise for learning to eat with balance, equally important is to never lose sight of pleasure and gratification. This is why the dietician also speaks in the book of the rule, devised by her, 80:20.
«It’s what I call the balance rulethe one that allows you to follow a flexible and non-restrictive diet – explains Paola Pensolone. – Means that 80% of the foods we consume during the week must be healthy, clean. But also that the remaining 20% of the food should be composed of the delicious foods we love most”.
Make room for the foods you like most
«To give an example – continues the expert – within a week, within a balanced and controlled regime, that 20% can mean consuming a small piece of dark chocolate every day after lunch with coffee. Or it can mean enjoying the aperitif on Friday evening and the brioche on Sunday morning. Or even there Saturday night pizza with friends. This approach helps a lot be satisfied with your diet that you follow and therefore not to look for other food. It is the basis of right nutritional education: it’s not that much to distinguish between right and wrong foods But say learn to manage them with balance throughout the week.”
Substitutions: the method to get back into shape
And managing nutrition with the right balance also means banish boredom, learning how the foods to be consumed can be replaced in a healthy and delicious way.
«The substitution method allows you to live your diet with greater balancebecause it offers the possibility of being able to vary foods but also to experiment with new recipes and new dishes, thus giving a bit of liveliness and color to what we eat – explains the dietician. – Based on this method for each food that belongs to a macro category (carbohydrates, fats and proteins) certain substitutes are suggested».
Getting back into shape: the secret is variety
So, although it may sound strange, the canonical 80 grams of pasta they can be replaced with 200 grams of potato gnocchi or even with 80 grams of phyllo dough or 125 grams of tortellini. The classic spoon of EVO oil it can be replaced with 20 grams of pesto. Even when they prepare homemade desserts you can focus on tactical substitutions, like the one you plan to use mashed banana or Greek yogurt instead of butter (in the gallery, some food substitutions to try).
«Ultimately, knowing that 80 grams of pasta can be replaced with gnocchi or even with phyllo dough gives the possibility to experiment as well as avoid monotony, both on the menu and on the shopping list. Monotony which is often the basis of the failure of diets – concludes Dr. Paola Pensolone. – With this method you never get bored and you can satisfy the whole family by bringing it to the table always different dishes and giving to all members of the family a real nutritional education».
Any examples? In the gallery above, some food substitutions suggested by Dr. Paola Pensolone for a varied but always healthy menu.
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