Latest Dietary Guidelines for Weight Management

The biggest consensus reached by current academic circles and front-line practitioners in the industry is - There is no universal "perfect fat-reducing meal". The core of a weight management diet is "individually adapted small caloric gap + full nutrient coverage + long-term eating habits." Any plan that requires you to completely quit certain types of food and lose weight in a short term is anti-human in nature, and will most likely rebound.

Some people may see this and say, isn’t this just the same old story? Don't worry, last year when I helped more than 30 students adjust their diet plans, I found that 90% of them fell into the trap of "pursuing standard answers" - either they followed the ketogenic diet without following the aunt, or they overeated after eating boiled vegetables, which made them farther and farther away from their goals.

Controversy about dietary schools has never stopped: the low-carb group advocates reducing daily carbohydrate intake to less than 100g or even 50g and relying on fat for energy. It is indeed suitable for a large base of people with insulin resistance. It will fall off the scale quickly in the short term, but people with ordinary physiques will easily suffer from hair loss, emotional irritability, and aunt disorder. I have seen several girls cut off carbon for 3 months and lost 15 kilograms. When they regained it, they gained 20 kilograms and even developed bulimia. The balanced dietary pattern mainly promoted by the Chinese Nutrition Society requires that the proportion of carbohydrates, proteins, and fats be approximately 5:3:2. You do not need to quit any food, as long as the total amount is controlled. The disadvantage is that the weight will fall slowly in the short term, and there may be no change in weight in the first half month, but it is sustainable. As long as you develop a habit, you will basically not rebound.

Take the junior girl who came to me last month as an example. She followed the trend of cutting out carbon dioxide and ate only boiled vegetables and chicken breasts every day. She lost 18 pounds in two months. However, she was so stressed during the final week that she ate two boxes of cream cakes every night for a week, and she gained 21 pounds. When I adjusted her, I first asked her to add back her staple food, eat less than half a bowl of multigrain rice every meal, and allow her to drink a cup of full-sugar bubble milk tea every Wednesday and Saturday, provided that the staple food on that day was reduced by one-third. At first, she was worried that she would gain weight, but she lost 6 pounds in the first month. Now, for more than three months, her weight has been maintained at 92 pounds, and she has never had overeating again.

The industry has been arguing for many years about whether to count calories. Precision nutritionists will ask you to weigh each food to the gram and consume 300-500 calories a day. The results are indeed stable, but most ordinary people I have met get tired of it after not being able to stick to it for two weeks. Eating is like doing KPIs, and it is easy to have a rebellious mentality. Intuitive eating advocates "eat when you are hungry, stop when you are full, and eat what you want." It is very friendly to people who have a regular diet and strong self-control. However, if you see that you can't walk with milk tea and fried chicken, then you will probably eat more and gain weight purely based on your intuition. My general advice to novices is to jot down whatever you want on the diet app in the first two weeks. You don’t have to be too precise. You only need to know that a bowl of rice has more than 200 calories and a piece of finger-licking original chicken has about 300 calories. After that, you can completely rely on the "fist rule". Estimate: Eat one punch of staple food, one punch of high-protein food (eggs, milk, meat, and soy products are all acceptable), two punches of green leafy vegetables, less oil and less salt, and eat snacks in between meals. Don’t show off a whole bag of potato chips after the meal. You will basically not go wrong.

To be honest, many people find it difficult to lose weight because they complicate simple things. If you are in a hurry in the morning, you don’t need to bother making a fat-reducing meal. It’s good to buy a tea egg + sugar-free soy milk + a stick of corn from the convenience store downstairs. If you really want to eat meat buns, removing half of the skin is better than eating like crazy all morning and noon. There is another point that many people overlook: drinking water is really important. I have seen many people who are thirsty when they are thirsty. Drink half a cup of warm water first. If you still want to eat, you can eat less, which can save you a lot of unnecessary calories. Oh, by the way, don’t believe in “negative calorie foods”. Celery and broccoli are indeed low in calories, but you will still gain weight if you eat too much of them. They are just lower in calories than rice at the same weight. Don’t eat three pounds of broccoli in one meal. If your stomach is enlarged, you will be more hungry later.

When you have a dinner party, you don’t have to deliberately say that you are losing weight and don’t eat anything. It’s too disappointing. Drink half a cup of warm water first, pick up vegetables with two chopsticks, and then eat some meat. Finally, just eat two bites of the staple food. Even if you eat two pieces of cake, it’s okay. Just reduce the amount of staple food a little the next day. Don’t break the pot just because you eat too much in one meal, and overeat for several days in a row. That will really be a waste of all your efforts.

To put it bluntly, the latest weight management diet essentially teaches you how to get along well with food instead of treating food as your enemy. What you have to manage is your weight, not your normal life. In order to lose a few pounds, there is no need to dare not go to dinner parties with friends, or even touch a bite of your favorite food. Even if you lose weight, you won't be happy, right? Being able to eat happily, slowly lose weight to the weight you want, and maintain it is the most successful weight management.