One important question I hear all the time belongs with the eating tools: What about meal replacements? Good or bad?
Meal replacements can be a great help, since they make automatic portion control much easier. There's no guesswork in tallying your daily calories (studies continue to show that we all underestimate how many calories we eat). Meal replacements can be a great way to jump-start a reduced-calorie eating plan. This can be as easy as a complete bar or shake (along with a fruit), a large skim milk latte for breakfast, or a frozen calorie-controlled meal. You also might want to try a few weeks of a complete meal replacement plan, like Jenny Craig or Nutrsystems; some people find this the most helpful of all.
Just one or two meal replacements a day can make the difference between weight maintenance and weight loss. It's a good way to enter the world of structured eating: a must-do for long-term weight loss success.
Whether you purchase a meal replacement, or create your own, these provide the security of easy food choices to both boost your confidence and help turn your attention to the flip side of eating less – being more physical active.
Thanks for the great post, Dr. Fernstrom. Do you have any suggestions or thoughts on clean eating, and how to eat less preservatives, less processed foods and less GMOs, while still maintaining portion size and reasonable caloric intake?
ReplyDeleteYour best step for "clean eating" - cutting out processed foods - is to look for foods in the supermarket as nature intended - avoid cans, boxes, and and packaged foods containing multiple, long lists of ingredients. That will get you most of the way there. Fruits and vegetables are a mainstay of healhty eating - and choose fresh produce (in season), and select frozen fruit (without sugary syrups) for out of season products, and costly items like berries. Start to think of vegetable proteins - like black, white, or red beans and tofu - in combination with vegetables. For portion control, get a set of measuring cups, and eat from a salad plate to monitor portions. Good luck! And let me know how you are doing!
ReplyDeleteWeight loss surgery is dangerous and ineffective treatment for obesity. It does not cater to the root cause of obesity, and it causes patients suffer from severe nutritional deficiencies. Any type of surgery comes with a certain degree of risk, and weight loss surgery is no different. Before making the decision to have any type of medical weight loss, know all of the facts and options. It is very important to know the facts about medical weight loss procedures so you can make informed decisions.
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You point out the importance of effective medical and behavioral screening before weight loss surgery. All surgery does pose a risk, including obesity surgery. For the right person, obesity surgery can be the power tool needed to adhere to a healthy lifestyle. It is essential for every obesity surgery candidate to understand the risks and benefits of weight loss surgery, including the underlying reasons for weight gain (and regain). The decision to consider obesity surgery is a major one. This can be a life-changing positive event for the appropriate candidate - and at UPMC, we have a whole team to help individuals through this journey, both medically and psychologically, for life. Thank you for your comment.
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