How to lose weight this year, according to a registered dietitian
By Samantha Cassetty, RD
Losing weight isn’t necessarily a matter of meat vs. plants or carbs vs. fats. Repeatedly, studies suggest you can lose weight with a number of different approaches, including the ketogenic diet, intermittent fasting, and WW
(formerly known as Weight Watchers). Truth be told, losing weight is
much easier than keeping it off. The last decade of research on weight
loss points to the fact that once you lose weight, your body is in a battle with biology. It’s an unfortunate irony, but studies
show that as you drop pounds, your levels of “I’m hungry” hormones
increase, while your “I’m full” hormones decrease. At the same time,
your body physically needs less fuel to operate your smaller size. It’s
not an easy battle, but it isn’t impossible; you can march on. Here’s
what we’ve learned about weight loss, and what you can do to take charge
of your weight this year.
Ditch the ideals
Instead of ditching your
diet and the pursuit of better health, it’s a good idea to ditch your
idea of what healthy looks like. Lately, movements, like body positivity, health at every size and anti-dieting, have sparked a meaningful conversation about healthy bodies, and guess what? They come in all shapes and sizes. The number on the scale is just one indicator of health;
your lab work (cholesterol and blood glucose levels, for instance),
blood pressure levels, and measures of physical fitness are other
factors. So is your emotional health.
That doesn’t mean you need to ditch the scale, though. Studies
continue to point to the fact that monitoring your weight can be an
effective strategy for losing weight and discouraging weight gain
(another healthy pursuit) provided it doesn’t cause any emotional
distress. Just don’t get married to a number on the scale or get caught
up in a set number of pounds you’d like to lose. Instead, settle on how
you’d like to feel. Maybe you’d like to be more energetic or perhaps
you’d like to manage your health without the need for medications. You
can accomplish these goals without losing much weight.
Focus on quality…
You know the drill: Replace refined, overly processed foods with more natural, whole foods. Sure, all foods fit, but they don’t all fit equally. Here’s why: Every time you eat, your metabolism increases as your body works to process your meal. Studies
that compare the metabolic boost of calorie-matched whole foods to
processed ones find that your body can burn up to 50 percent more
calories after a meal made with more real food ingredients compared to a
similar meal made with more processed fare. The fact is, your body has
to work harder to break down whole foods in order to grab the raw
materials it needs so if you exist on a lot of packaged foods and fast
foods (think: chips, donuts and drive-thru fare), it’s going to be tougher to lose weight and keep those pounds from coming back.
A 2018 study
among more than 600 adults who were tracked for a year concluded that
while there are different paths to weight loss, the advice to limit
added sugars and refined grains, add more veggies to your plate, and eat
more whole foods — in other words, focusing on the quality of your diet
— is the way to go. People who followed this advice lost weight without
worrying about calories.
…And fiber
Fiber is found in beans, nuts,
seeds, fruits, veggies, and whole grains and foods rich in fiber tend to
lend themselves to weight loss. At the moment, just 10 percentof
Americans are hitting fiber targets of around 25 grams per day. Studies
that track what people eat over time suggest that there’s a connection
between weight and fiber intake, with higher fiber intakes linked to
lower body weights (the reverse is true, too). One review of 12 studies found that supplementing the diet with more soluble fiber helped people slim down. Another year-long study found that people who followed the simple suggestion to eat 30 grams of fiber each day lost about 5 pounds.
Fiber
works its weight loss magic in multiple ways. It helps you feel fuller,
longer so eating fiber-rich foods is the dieting equivalent of working
smarter, not harder. Plus, fiber takes a long time to digest, so
fiber-rich foods don’t cause spikes in blood sugar that can send your
insulin levels soaring. On the other hand, when you eat the so-called
bad carbs
(the refined or sugary ones that lack fiber), you may wind up with an
insulin response that promotes fat storage. The takeaway: More fiber
equals less fat storage.
There’s also the impact fiber
has on your gut health. By now you’ve likely heard of the microbiome—the
trillions of bacteria that live in your digestive tract. It turns out
that a predominance of certain strains of bacteria may encourage
inflammation and weight gain, and eating fiber-rich foods
can favorably shift this balance. While it’s too soon to say that
changing your microbial makeup will prompt weight loss, it’s likely to
send a “hey, stop gaining weight,” message.
Get enough protein
There’s a reason why protein
takes center stage in many popular diet plans: it helps you feel full
and stokes your metabolism enough to help you avoid the typical one or
two pounds most adults gain each year. Your body burns slightly more
calories after eating protein compared with fats or carbs, and protein
from food also helps keep your muscles from deteriorating as you age.
(Strength-building exercise is another important part of this process.)
In order to get these benefits, you need to include protein at each
meal, and getting adequate amounts of protein at breakfast — about 20 grams — is especially important.
Making a beeline for the bagels or cereal means your body misses a key
opportunity to rebuild muscle tissue, which naturally breaks down as you
sleep. If this is your morning routine,
your muscle mass will start to decline, and that means your metabolism
will slow down. So skip the AM pastries and other carb-rich fare, and
opt for an omelet or smoothie made with Greek yogurt or protein powder, instead.
Be more inclusive
Eating patterns that
restrict certain food groups can certainly help you lose weight, but
many people find it hard to continue to eat that way forever. If you
want to think of your diet like a relationship, you don’t want to be in
an “it’s complicated” or “on-again, off-again” situation. You want to
find your match — a meal plan you can feel content with for the long
haul. That doesn’t mean you have to ditch all of your favorite foods for
eternity. It’s okay to flirt with the foods that make you swoon, but
you don’t want to settle down with them. When your healthy habits are
solid, enjoying your favorite foods sometimes is no big deal.
Make sleep a priority
We’re continuing to learn that shortchanging our sleep — even for just one night — can lead to less healthy food choices the next day. The latest study
took a look at subjects’ MRI scans after a night of sound sleep and
again after a night of sleep deprivation. The MRI scans showed that
sleep deprivation activates an area of the brain that makes you view
food as more desirable. In other words, it prompts cravings. This adds to other evidence showing that insufficient sleep increases hunger while also making us less likely to stay active. Taken all together, it means that a healthier sleep situation can encourage a healthier weight.
If
you’re routinely skimping on the recommended seven to nine hours, or
you have difficulty falling or staying asleep, it’s time to get serious about your bedtime rituals.
Your better-sleep strategy includes: limiting caffeine past the early
afternoon; sticking to alcohol caps of one drink for women, two for men
(since alcohol can interfere with the quality of your sleep); and
staying off the phone and iPad within an hour of bedtime.
Find someone to lean on
We all get by with a little help from our friends, and this is especially true of people who have lost weight and kept it off. In one study
among women who went through a 12-week weight loss program, 74 percent
of them maintained their loss or lost more in the three years after the
program ended.
Those who reported having a support system around eating
well were more likely to keep the weight off. (Support around exercise
didn’t seem to matter.) Another study
found that the type of support you receive matters, too. Your friend
who’s cheering you on isn’t likely to be as helpful as your friend who
will pass on the fries when you’re trying to eat well. When you’re going
out to eat, join friends who will support your healthy eating goals and
go to a museum or movie with those who are less likely to be in it with
you. Your pals who are in the trenches with you are more likely to hold
you accountable, and that’s going to help you in the long run.
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