Is the chain well oiled? Is there enough air in the tire? Just as you check your bike before a tour, you should also do a nutritional check before you start eating, says ecotrophologist Monika Bischoff.
The expert from the Center for Nutritional Medicine and Prevention at the Barmherzige Brüder Hospital in Munich recommends a nutritional protocol. Write down everything you have eaten, including drinks, every day for a week. Self-knowledge often follows from this. And then comes the optimization.
Three meals a day, each time consisting of the three components of the classic plate diagram: half a plate full of vegetables, and as colorful and varied as possible, another quarter of the plate consists of carbohydrate-rich food such as lentils, wholemeal pasta or potatoes, and a little more Quarters of the plate are reserved for fish, eggs or cheese, which bring protein to the body.
The small rest can then be filled with fruit. But not too much: two handfuls of fruit a day are enough, says Bischoff, otherwise the blood sugar level rises unnecessarily. Vegetables, on the other hand, provide important dietary fiber that fills you up – if you skillfully combine them with proteins and fats.
Ecotrophologist Monika Bischoff advises keeping a nutritional log.
(Photo: Claudia Rehm/Barmherzige Brüder)
Drink at least two liters of liquid, preferably water. Sweets? “Away with it,” says Bischoff. You don’t need them at all if you put the plate together in a balanced way – and can discipline yourself to do without. Alcohol? “Not recommended.”
And another tip from the expert: consciously prepare and eat less. “Take a plate to eat and stand on the egg timer for 20 minutes. Only then can you ask for help.” Because only then does the feeling of satiety set in. If you want to lose weight, the portions should simply be smaller. “We always eat too much anyway.”