The liquid diet plan is gaining popularity with each passing day. Many believe it has the power to help overweight and obese people get back to shape.
This meal diet plan is commonly prescribed by health practitioners for patients recovering from a surgical operation, injuries or digestive issues.
Obesity and overweight are two issues causing health bodies a sleepless night. These two issues, especially obesity, have the power to cause severe or life-threatening health issues.
So, the need to maintain a healthy weight is imperative. In this post, we will look at the meaning of liquid diet, how it influences weight loss, liquid meal plan and more.
What does Liquid Diet mean?
Before diving into the liquid diet for weight loss plans and what not, let’s define what this diet plan mean in the real sense. Consuming liquid diet is like eating solid foods.
What this means is instead of eating solid foods, you opt for liquid form, but your body is provided with an adequate amount of nutrients it needs. They are just low-calorie foods served in liquid form. But there are a few questions regarding this.
Will liquid diet supply your entire calories?
The answer is NO. It doesn’t have to supply 100% of your calories. So, in the real sense, you are not going to drink liquid every time.
You can decide to replace maybe one or two of your daily meals with a specially prepared liquid food. But then, you can still choose to go entirely on the liquid diet. It is a matter of choice.
Here is another simple explanation of what liquid diet means
When you follow a liquid diet plan, you will be drinking calories and not eat them. You are taking them in liquid form. That is, you can merely juice veggies, fruits and make your smoothies or take some soups.
But here is the surprising thing about liquid diet weight loss plans they can help you lose some weight. Doctors also approve it to help improve the health of their patients.
The only thing you should concern yourself with is how you execute the plan itself. There could be health issues if you do not implement this diet plan as should.
So, what is the best advice for anyone seeking to embrace the liquid diet plan?
Even if you have heard a couple of negative things about it, know they are not all true. So the advice is, if you are planning to embrace the liquid diet plan, you can inform your physician about your program or check out suggestions on the internet if you want.
The main reason for seeking a physician’s advice is to avert any cause for concern. Visiting a dietician will also ensure that you get just the right amount of vitamins needed to lead a healthier life.
The various types of the liquid diet plans
Let’s face it sticking to your liquid diet plan might not be an easy task for a beginner. It would be tough because you are just recently made the switch to such a diet. But the good thing is you are going to have several choices to make.
You can either choose to go wholly liquid or combine it with a solid diet. However, the different liquid diet types will help you make an informed decision. You may also decide to have a chat with your dietician before trying any of them.
1. The medical liquid diet
If you are looking for the best liquid diet for shedding those extra pounds loss, you shouldn’t be thinking of this right here. A medical doctor prescribes the medical liquid diet.
And, you also need special care and monitoring by the health professional also. Usually, doctors prepare this unique diet plan for their patients after surgery.
Here is why doctors prescribe the medical liquid diet for their patients
Doctors understand that a patient, after surgical operation, may not be able to handle the digestion of solid foods. It does happen most times. So, in order not to cause further complications and to make absorption of foods easy, patients are instructed to be on liquid diets for a period.
What does a medical liquid diet entail?
All through the healing period, doctors instruct their patients remain strictly on the liquid diet. They may not have anything solid during this period. The best they can have is drink water, apple juice, broth, syrup, teas, and even Popsicle.
2. Meal replacement liquid diet
The idea of this meal type is simple; replace some of your solid meals with a juice. It could be one or two meals, either breakfast or lunchtime. But the uniqueness of this plan is that you can eat solid foods while doing it. So, if you don’t like the idea of living solely on liquid foods, this liquid diet type will be ideal for you.
Will I miss out on macros that solid food gives?
The answer is no. You are still going to get the basic macros such as carb, protein, and fat in the right proportion, from the liquid diet option.
The juices and shakes you are going to have in place of lunch or breakfast comes with low calories and contains most of the nutrients your body would need from foods. These include minerals, vitamins, and others.
3. Cleansing liquid diet
As the name implies the detox diets, are targeted at detoxifying the system. This type of food has increased in popularity over the years because of the result it gives. It is good to detoxify at least once a month, or as often as you can.
In fact, even if you decide to proceed with a liquid diet that detoxifies once a week for just one month, you might still record massive improvement in your health.
How is cleansing liquid diet consumed?
You are meant to drink only vegetable or fruit juices together with herbs. Usually, the process is just for one day. You can also continue to drink it weekly, per month.
Which of the various liquid diet types can promote weight loss?
If you are eager to lose weight, cutting down on the amount of food you eat can help you achieve your goals. However, the replacement meal is ideal for weight loss. The reason is that you can take both solid and liquid foods on the same day.
And as a result, you will achieve the benefits that solid foods and liquid foods (juices) bring. Lastly, the medical liquid diet is a special diet not designed for weight loss. As earlier said, the liquid diet plan is drawn by doctors to help their patients recover fast.
Can staying on a liquid diet plan help you to lose weight?
Many dieters are best friends to liquid diets. They do the possibility of everything that can make the body healthy. First, here are some of the things a liquid meal plan can help you to achieve. Take a quick look at them.
- Helps to detoxify the body
- Improves your metabolic rate
- Enhances skin quality
- Lowers stomach ulcer pain
- Promotes a healthy digestive system
- Causes the body to lose weight a bit faster.
The answer to the question asked above is yes. Your liquid diet before and after the result will give you clues as to why this diet is treated with high regard by dieters.
Benefits of liquid diet
Below is how being active and consistent on a liquid diet plan, can help you to shed those extra pounds healthily.
1. Forces the system to make use of stored fat
One thing that makes liquid diets ideal for weight loss is the fact that it is entirely natural. The smoothies, broths and juices you consume are foods that make up the liquid diet.
Also, the liquid diet contains a less amount of calories. That means for days that you will be on this diet plan you will be reducing your calorie intake.
However, when you consume lesser calories, your body will then be forced to start using the stored fat or glycogen in your system to serve as fuel. And this will cause you to shed those extra pounds gradually and get back to shape.
2. Good for your digestive system
The juices, broths or smoothies you take on a liquid diet are natural for the digestive system to handle. They also help to boost excretion, absorption and digestion.
However, these are not the only benefits of liquid meals. Most of the foods or fruits are high in dietary fiber, which can help you curb cravings and reduce food consumption.
In fact, you can stay fuller and satisfied for an extended period. Plus, it also prevents you from having constipation.
3. Prevents you from making nasty food choices
Let’s face it cooking is a time-consuming and tedious activity. And considering how busy our lives in this modern world has become, many people end up eating junks because they lack the time and patience to prepare a meal.
And this, in turn, causes them to bag extra calories which can lead to weight gain over time.
But the good thing is that the liquid diet is very convenient to prepare. The plan is also something you can cope with no matter how busy you are with other chores.
In fact, you don’t need to stress your brain to prepare a nutritious liquid diet. Plus, it doesn’t waste time.
So, an excellent way to avoid unhealthy foods, save time and still provide your body with the nutrient it needs to be healthy, incorporate the liquid meal in your weight loss diet plan.
The Reason that liquid diets might not be ideal for some people
You can achieve your weight loss goal while on a liquid diet. Many have had good results while on this diet. But some conditions should inform you if continuing on this diet is the right choice for you.
Taking meal replacements, for instance, can lower calorie intake because the juices, broths and smoothies, all contains low calories. But while most people would show improvement on such meals, some may have a negative experience altogether.
Not everyone can withstand this style of eating where you get to skip eating solid foods for a few cups of juices or smoothies. So, if your hunger increases when you take a liquid diet instead of a small meal or snack, then it is obvious the liquid diet plan won’t be ideal for you.
Liquid Diet Plan: The Meal Replacement
The meal replacement liquid food is a simple plan you start at any time. Check out the steps to follow below. It begins with the early morning meals for dinner.
1. Early morning meals: What to drink
Your meal should begin at 6:00 a.m. That is if you are someone that wakes up this early in the day. Also, your meals should consist of a cup of water with a juice of just half of a lime.
2. What to have for breakfast
Breakfast is from 7:00 a.m. Drink oatmeal, blueberry, dates, two almonds, as well as milk smoothie.
3. What to have for mid-morning
You should have something for mid-morning which is usually from 10:00 a.m. At this point, you can have a boiled egg and a cup of tea. Green tea is preferable.
4. What to have for launch
Launch, which is from 12:30 p.m., is an excellent time to enjoy some mushroom or the delicious lentil soup.
5. What to have for post-launch
For post-launch (3:30 p.m.), you can have some tea, coconut water, buttermilk and ten in-shell pistachios.
6. What to have for dinner
For dinner (7:00 p.m.), get some vegetable broth combined with grilled fish, chicken, and tofu.
Note: The above diet plan is just for a single day. And is something you can do. The benefits of such a diet should also be your motivation.
Conclusion
Liquid diet does offer some weight loss benefits. But you must strictly follow your plan, to benefit greatly. Also, find out all you need to know about the food to make the right decision. You should also be very sure that you can cope with such a meal. However, the above tips will help you make the right choice.
