It's no secret that America has a weight problem. According to the CDC, nearly three-quarters of us are overweight or obese. Yet, more than 160 million Americans are on a diet at any given time, and we spend more than $70 billion each year on commercial weight loss plans, supplements, and other weight loss measures. This suggests that losing weight isn't easy; however, it's entirely possible if done correctly. There are two keys to successful weight loss. The first is finding a method that works specifically for you, makes you feel good, and motivates you. The second is taking your time—sustainable weight loss happens slowly but steadily.Before you begin your efforts, be sure of exactly what you're trying to accomplish. Ask yourself, "How much weight do I need to lose to be healthy?" Then, set personalized goals, achieve attainable gains, and introduce lifestyle changes to lose weight gradually and keep it off. Be prepared to adapt your lifestyle as needed to maximize your chances of success.
What's the best diet for weight loss?
It's a question most people ask themselves once they've decided they need to shed a few pounds: what is the best diet for weight loss? While this isn't an unreasonable question, it often refers to a suboptimal approach, which involves planning to eat radically restricted foods for a while until the weight is lost and then returning to eating normally. Rather than adopting a "fad diet," people who lose weight (and keep it off) often make permanent changes toward healthier eating habits. Simply replacing unhealthy foods with healthy foods (not for a few weeks, but forever) will help you lose weight and provide many other benefits. So, a good set of questions might be, "What is a healthy diet? What does a healthy diet look like?"
A healthy diet favors natural, unprocessed foods over packaged foods and snacks. It is balanced, meaning it provides all the nutrients and minerals your body needs to function optimally. It emphasizes plant-based foods, especially fruits and vegetables, over animal-based foods. It contains a lot of protein. It is low in sugar and salt. It includes "healthy fats" such as fish, olive oil, and other plant-based oils.
Here are some examples of healthy foods for weight loss. For breakfast, a bowl of bran flakes with strawberries and chopped nuts with skim milk. For lunch, a turkey sandwich on wheat with vegetables and an olive oil and vinegar dressing. For dinner, a salmon fillet on a bed of spinach.
You don't have to cut out snacks to eat a healthy diet. Healthy foods for weight loss include almonds or pistachios, an apple with string cheese, Greek yogurt, or a banana with peanut butter.
Before you begin your weight loss journey, give some thought to the types of healthy foods you enjoy so you can have plenty of options when planning your meals and snacks. Remember that the best diet is the one you follow, so don't rush into buying a bunch of "healthy foods" that you know you'll never eat.
What's the healthiest diet?
There is no single diet that nutritionists consider “healthiest.” However, there are several eating styles that experts have designed for optimal health or have observed to be healthy when traditionally consumed by different people around the world. These eating styles have a few things in common: they tend toward a plant-based diet, emphasize healthy fats, simple carbohydrates, and low sodium, and prefer natural foods to the highly processed foods of most Western foods.
For example, the Mediterranean-style diet gets its name from the foods available to the various cultures around the Mediterranean Sea. It heavily emphasizes fruits, vegetables, legumes, nuts, and minimally processed whole grains. It contains moderate amounts of curds, cheese, poultry, and fish. Olive oil is the main cooking fat. Red meat and foods with added sugars are consumed only in moderation. In addition to being an effective method for losing weight, eating a Mediterranean-style diet has been linked to an increased risk of heart disease, diabetes, depression, and some types of cancer.
Experts have developed the DASH (Dietary Approach to Stop Hypertension) diet as a particularly heart-healthy strategy. A combination of foods in the diet appears to work together particularly effectively to lower blood pressure and reduce the risk of heart failure. Key features of DASH are low cholesterol and saturated fat, plenty of magnesium, calcium, fiber, and potassium, and little to no red meat or sugar. Surprisingly, it has the same foods as the Mediterranean diet: whole grains, vegetables, fruits, fish, poultry, nuts, and olive oil.
As the name suggests, the Mind Diet (DASH-Mediterranean Diet for Neurodegenerative Delay Intervention) was designed by doctors to take elements from the Mediterranean and DASH diets that benefit brain health and prevent dementia and cognitive decline. In practice, it is similar to the Mediterranean diet and the DASH diet, but with a greater emphasis on green leafy vegetables and berries and less on fruits and dairy.
In recent years, the Nordic diet has emerged as a weight-loss and health-maintenance diet. Based on Scandinavian dietary patterns, the Nordic diet is based on fish, whole grains such as apples, pears, rye, and oats, and cold-weather vegetables such as cabbage, carrots, and cauliflower. Studies have supported its use for both stroke prevention and weight loss.
What do all of these diets have in common? They are all good for your heart, they all consist of natural, unprocessed foods, and they are high in plant-based foods. Eating for your health, especially your heart health, is a smart way to lose weight by consuming ingredients from these foods.
What is intermittent fasting?
You've probably heard some inspiring success stories about intermittent fasting. But is fasting healthy? Does intermittent fasting work?
Fasting (abstaining from food for some time) is an ancient practice that is safe when not taken to extremes. Traditionally, the benefits of fasting have been both spiritual and physical. Those who fast for religious reasons often focus heavily on spiritual matters during fasting. Physically, a simple fast lowers blood sugar, reduces inflammation, improves metabolism, removes toxins from damaged cells reduces the risk of cancer, reduces arthritis pain, and improves brain function.
Intermittent fasting means splitting time between the "eating window" and regular periods of abstinence. A typical intermittent fasting schedule might restrict eating from 7 a.m. to 3 p.m., and devote the remaining 16 hours of the day to fasting. But there is no set, fixed schedule. Some people have more or less liberal eating windows, setting rules whereby they don't eat after 8:00 p.m. or, on the considerably less liberal side, only allow themselves to eat every other day.
The science behind intermittent fasting is based on changes in the body's metabolism. When you don't eat, insulin levels drop to the point where the body starts burning fat for fuel. Also, as the thinking goes, by slowing down the body's metabolism, you can reduce your appetite and thus consume fewer calories when you start eating again.
Numerous studies have shown the benefits of intermittent fasting for weight loss. However, it's not clear that this is any more effective than simply restricting calories and following a simple eating schedule. One possible reason for the success of intermittent fasting is that most of its practitioners have abandoned the habit of eating late and at night. Restricting eating early in the day better aligns with our body's circadian rhythm and makes us less likely to store food in fat cells. Since many people find intermittent fasting difficult to follow, a smart alternative may be to adopt a low-calorie Mediterranean diet and stop eating in the late afternoon.
Certain people should not try intermittent fasting without first consulting their doctor, such as those with diabetes or heart disease.
Intermittent fasting is a very “lifestyle-intensive” dietary pattern, meaning it is difficult to maintain in the face of normal social interactions. If the rest of your family is eating while you are fasting, you may be tempted to indulge or abandon the family feasting ritual. If your job requires you to eat with clients or colleagues, you may find it difficult to maintain an intermittent fasting schedule. Remember that the best healthy eating plan is one you stick to.
What's a high-fat weight loss diet?
It sounds counterintuitive, but many people find weight loss successful, especially in the beginning, by eating more fat, not less. This approach, called the ketogenic or keto diet, turns the main source of calories into fat: 75% to 90% of what you eat, with only 10% to 20% of calories coming from protein and 5% from carbohydrates. The theory is very sound. By limiting your intake of fat and carbohydrates, you enter an altered metabolic state where your body begins to rely on fat for energy, burning its fat stores instead of sugar for fuel.
Research shows that the ketogenic diet is an effective way to lose weight and improve blood sugar levels. However, it is difficult to maintain, and to date, we lack long-term studies showing that this is a sustainable eating pattern for weight loss.
What does a Healthy Eating Plate look like?
Since both weight loss and overall health are tied to certain basic eating patterns, we created the Harvard Healthy Eating Plate as a model for meal planning and an overall balanced diet. Imagine a circular plate with a line running vertically down the center, dividing it into two equal parts. Half of the plate should be made up of equal portions of whole grains (not refined grains like white bread and white rice) and healthy proteins (like fish, nuts, beans, and poultry—not red meat or processed meats). Two-thirds of the other half should be filled with vegetables, and the rest with fruits. Try to add plenty of variety to this half of your plate (or half of your diet)—eat lots of fruits of different colors and all kinds of vegetables (but don't count potatoes or chips as vegetables).
On one side of the plate, imagine a glass of water, as this is the best drink for weight loss and overall health (you can substitute coffee or tea for some meals with little or no sugar). Don't drink more than one or two servings of milk a day.
On the other side of the plate, imagine a bowl containing healthy oils such as canola or olive oil. Use this for cooking or at the table instead of butter.
Keep the healthy eating plate in mind when deciding what to eat at a particular meal, when shopping, or when strategizing how to lose weight and keep it off. Sticking to its guidelines will optimize your chances of staying healthy and maintaining desirable body weight.
