EatingWell Eating for Weight Loss: A Healthy Plan

“I want to lose weight, but I’m not sure if that’s okay.” I hear this often from patients when they call seeking nutrition help from our registered dietitians at Culina Health. Diet culture has been pervasive in our society for generations, but somewhere along the line it became synonymous with weight management, leaving people feeling ashamed for caring about the number on the scale. As a registered dietitian, I believe that losing weight can be a perfectly reasonable goal if it’s pursued in a healthy, realistic way. Proper nutrition tools and strategies can help people break free from weight obsession. But to understand these practical tools, we first need to look at how fad diets skewed our perspective on nutrition and weight. Fad diets are those that become trendy—usually for…

If you do an online search of the words weight management, you’ll get 1,980,000,000—that’s one billion nine hundred eighty million—results, a figure indicating that many people are trying to manage their weight. (The weight loss industry boasts annual revenue of $72.6 million.) With all that information circulating online about how to maintain or lose weight, how can we recognize facts and weed out misinformation? Exploring the science behind how and why your weight changes—the physiological processes behind weight loss and weight gain, and whether innate factors like genetics and biological sex or external considerations such as the environment impact the number on the scale—can be key. The human body is made up of fat-free mass and fat. The former includes water, organs, skeletal muscles and bones; the latter is stored…

There are more than 80,000 supplements on the market today, according to the U.S. Government Accountablity Office. Many claim they’ll improve your health in some way or another, and for some, this includes claims around weight loss. We’ve all heard the ads or seen various weight-loss supplements at the store. But are they really worth your dollar? As a registered dietitian, I’m already wary. The supplement industry isn’t well regulated, so you never really know what you’re going to get. And I’m especially cautious of supplements that boast fast or significant weight loss if you use their product. The reason? Well, there are a few. Here’s why I don’t recommend weight-loss supplements—plus what you can do instead to lose weight in a healthier, more realistic way. THEY AREN’T EFFECTIVE Even…

When it comes to weight and body image, the American public is on the receiving end of a lot of mixed messages. The body positivity movement urges us to accept ourselves as we are and to reject the tired old beauty norms that value thinness and perfection. But at the same time, we’re told it’s important to maintain a healthy weight, given that being overweight or obese is linked to many of the leading causes of death in the U.S., including heart disease and cancer. It’s a confusing landscape, and Rebecca Scritchfield, RDN, author of Body Kindness: Transform Your Health from the Inside Out—and Never Say Diet Again, has traveled through it personally. She spent her teens and 20s restricting calories and berating her thighs. She became a registered dietitian…

My doctor delivered the bad news at the end of a routine physical several years ago. My blood pressure and cholesterol levels were dangerously elevated, even with maximum doses of medication. All signs suggested that, having entered my 60s, I was headed down the path taken by too many men in my family. One of my grandfathers died young from cardiac disease. My father suffered the first of two heart attacks at age 58 and eventually died of a stroke at 70. My brother passed away at 64 from a massive heart attack. With more meds out of the question, I only had one option: to lose weight. At least 40 pounds. I had fattened up gradually. Being a bit (and eventually quite a bit) overweight didn’t bother me. I…

When you eat carbs, your body breaks them down into glucose, which enters the bloodstream to provide energy to your muscles, tissues and organs. That’s a good thing—glucose is your body’s primary source of fuel. But too much glucose in the blood-stream too often can lead to weight gain, insulin resistance and type 2 diabetes, along with a slew of other health conditions. Skip carbs, though, and you miss out on the fiber and nutrients that come along with healthy foods like whole grains, beans, dairy, fruits and vegetables. (Do we need to tell you it’s a smart idea to limit the kind from highly processed foods such as white bread, chips and cookies? Didn’t think so.) Foods with high-quality carbs—including the ones here—give you the best of both worlds:…