Dietary Guidelines for Weight Management

The essence of weight management is never to go on a short-term diet to starve yourself, but to create a reasonable calorie gap of 300-500 calories on the premise of meeting daily nutritional needs without excessive hunger. And you can stick to this eating pattern for three years, five years or even a lifetime, which is a truly effective plan.

It sounds simple. I have seen too many people go astray at the beginning. They are either so hungry that it affects their work, or they push themselves to the point of overeating and rebounding, but they lose more and more weight. Two years ago, a friend wanted to lose weight quickly for a wedding photo shoot. He cut out carbohydrates for three consecutive months and ate only boiled vegetables and chicken breasts every day. He did lose 20 pounds. However, he gained 30 pounds back in the first month after taking the photos. He also lost hair and delayed his aunt for half a year. It was not worth the loss.

Nowadays, there is a fierce debate on various diet methods on the Internet. Some people say that low-carb water is the king, some say that the Mediterranean diet is the first choice for health, and some say that light fasting is the easiest. In fact, each method has suitable people, and there is no distinction between superior and inferior. For example, low-carbohydrates (including ketogenic) do cause weight loss in the early stages. A friend of mine with insulin resistance ate this way and lost 10 pounds in the first month and his blood sugar stabilized. However, if office workers who have to catch up on projects every day and whose minds are constantly racing follow the trend and completely cut out carbohydrates, they will most likely suffer from dizziness and lack of concentration. Girls may also have endocrine effects. Another example is the Mediterranean diet, which is recommended by the WHO. Eat more whole grains, deep-sea fish, high-quality fats, and fruits and vegetables. If you eat it for a long time, your weight will be stable and you will have fewer cardiovascular problems. However, many people find it slow to lose weight in the first two months and give up after two weeks. Instead, they go to eat weight loss enzymes from Weishang. There is also the recently popular 16+8 light fast, which compresses eating time into 8 hours without counting calories. It is suitable for people with regular schedules and who do not like to eat late night snacks. I have a friend who works in design eats from 1 to 9 pm every day. He has lost 15 pounds in half a year without special dietary restrictions. However, if people with stomach problems and hypoglycemia insist on not eating for 16 hours, they are prone to eating problems.

In fact, you don’t have to worry about which one to choose. I have been doing diet guidance for so long, and I never ask people to count calories and remember the weight of food. First, if you change three small habits that are not painful at all, most people can lose weight quietly without regaining weight. The first one is to replace all sugary drinks and milk tea with sugar-free or plain water. Don’t underestimate this. I used to have a male colleague who had at least two glasses of iced cola every day. He changed this point and lost 12 pounds without exercising for three months. Even his uric acid dropped. The second is to change the order of eating each meal. Eat a bowl of green leafy vegetables first, then eat protein such as fish, eggs, and meat, and finally eat the staple food. Not to mention the slow rise in blood sugar, by the time you eat the staple food, you will be 70% full, and you will not eat too much at all. The third thing is to never completely ban the food you love. For example, if you love eating fried chicken or drinking full-sugar milk tea, save one meal a week for eating as much as you want. Don’t hold back. I once had a client who quit milk tea for a month. Later, he had an emotional breakdown and drank two cups a day for three days. Instead, he gained 4 pounds. The gain was not worth the loss.

Some people must ask, can we eat staple food? Can I eat fat? These two points have been quarreling online for almost ten years, and there are many different opinions. In fact, it is not so absolute. If you eat polished rice and noodles until you are full, you will definitely be fat. But if you replace half of the polished rice and white noodles with sweet potatoes, corn, and mixed beans, and eat a fistful of yourself at each meal, you will not only not gain weight, but also supply energy to the body and preserve muscles. You must know that if you lose muscle, your basal metabolism will decrease. You will be more likely to gain weight than others if you eat the same thing in the future. This is a real loss. As for fat, most of the snacks that say "zero fat" have a bunch of white sugar and additives added to them. On the contrary, it is better to eat a handful of plain nuts and half a spoon of olive oil every day. It will make you feel fuller, and you will not always want to eat.

Don’t feel guilty when you encounter special circumstances. For example, if you work overtime until 9 o’clock and feel hungry, don’t hold on. Eat a hard-boiled egg or a handful of nuts. It’s much better than when you get home and can’t help but cook a bucket of instant noodles with intestines and eggs. When having a dinner with friends, you don’t have to tell me that I won’t eat anything to lose weight. First, I’ll eat two pieces of meat and vegetables to make myself half full. It doesn’t matter if I want to eat some cake or two bites of hot pot later. If I eat too much in one meal and eat hundreds of calories, I’ll be back to eating normally the next day, but I won’t overeat due to suppressing my appetite.

Really, I have seen too many people turn weight management into asceticism. They are so hungry that they are still counting how many kilometers they have to run if they eat an extra mouthful of rice today. It is completely unnecessary. Just remember that any weight loss program that makes you feel extremely painful about eating and wants to end it quickly is ineffective because you won't be able to stick to it for long. You can try different methods. If you feel that you are too hungry to sleep at 16+8, don’t force it. You can also eat less 1/3 of the staple food in each meal. If you don’t like boiled vegetables, add less oil to stir-fry them. Whatever makes you feel comfortable, a habit that you can stick to is the ultimate answer to weight management.