Home > Weight Loss > Current Evidence for Meal Replacement
Hey there,
Dr. C here.
I was finishing my morning run earlier today and was feeling optimistic. There have been a few new projections that look much more encouraging than the previous ones. As I was running and listening to a report with the newest projections I saw this picture on the sidewalk.
It was along with several other sidewalk chalk drawings. My guess is a little girl in her first few years of elementary school spent some time outside yesterday.
If she can stay strong then so can we! I do believe we will have less social isolation by summer or early fall. Nice to have some good news.
It is important to also remain vigilant.
If you’ve been keeping up with the blog you know I’ve realized that we are likely to get infected and the best thing we can do now is lower our risks for complications. The main thing to do now is safely to lose weight and get fit. All the risk factors relate. Obesity itself may be the largest. Others include high blood sugar, high blood pressure, lung function, and kidney function. All can improve with weight loss.
One thing I don’t want you to do is to live your life on a restrictive diet. We have pretty strong evidence that the more food categories you restrict, the more likely you are to regain the weight.
Oddly, the risk of regaining does not relate to how much less food you eat as much as it relates to how many food categories you cut out. It seems that willpower is depleted when you have to think through complicated rules more so than from just eating less.
A few years ago I went through all the literature I could find on what made for lasting weight loss. Something that I think has gotten far too little attention is the idea of meal replacement. The idea is to have a premade item for two of your meals and a regular meal for the third.
It cuts the number of decisions you have to make by 67% – freeing up all of that willpower to apply toward continuity. Most studies on meal replacement use liquid meals because they are the easiest ways to combine protein, fibers, and many food categories without elaborate cooking.
If you’d like some free shake recipes, we’ll have a bunch in the upcoming metabolism challenge. Get them here.
Stay strong!
Dr. C
Today’s recipe: Sauteed Brussel Sprouts
Recent Recipes
Puttanesca
Carrot Fries
Egg White Fried Rice
Sauteed Spinach with Tomatoes and Garlic
Shredded Chicken for a Week’s Worth of Meals
Egg (White) Drop Soup
Fast and Easy Chili
Easy Recipe Soba Tea
Lamb and Carrot Stew
Better Than “Cream of Mushroom” Chicken & Rice
Peas and Meat – Irish Comfort Food
P.S. Whenever you are ready, here is how I can help you now:
Dr. Alan Glen Christianson (Dr. C) is a Naturopathic Endocrinologist and the author of The NY Times bestselling Hormone Healing Cookbook, The Metabolism Reset Diet, and The Thyroid Reset Diet.
Dr. C’s gift for figuring out what works has helped hundreds of thousands reverse thyroid disease, heal their adrenals, and lose weight naturally. Learn more about the surprising story that started his quest.
