If you’re looking to lose weight, you probably know that you need to burn more calories than you’re consuming. One simple way to do this is to cut calories from your diet.
Dr Timothy Church is from the Pennington Biomedical Research Center, and in 2012 he did an interview with The New York Times, stating that reducing calories is a more effective way to lose weight than increasing physical activity.
Often when we want to lose weight we head to the gym, and while exercise is an excellent way to remain healthy, it’s much easier to lose weight if you focus on what you’re eating. Exercise often leaves us feeling hungrier, and many people get into the habit of eating more after a workout since “they deserve it”.
Meal replacement shakes usually contain fewer calories than whole meals, so if you’re replacing one or two meals you could be saving yourself 500 calories or more per day which adds up to a pound of weight loss every week.
We know that in order to lose weight we need to create a calorie deficit. Different brands have different amounts of calories in each shake, and if you can consistently banish snacking and focus on eating healthily while replacing your meals you’re almost guaranteed to see results.
Many people worry that meal replacement products are an unhealthy way to lose weight. However by law, these products need to provide the recommended amount of nutrients we need for good health. This means they need to contain 200-400 calories and be at least 25 percent protein, with 23 minerals and vitamins.
Other people believe that by using meal replacements to lose weight, they’ll only see a temporary weight loss. But this isn’t supported by research, and follow-up studies have suggested that using meal replacements can actually help people keep the weight off in the long-term.
Another reason why so many people love meal replacement shakes is because they’re convenient. One of the hardest factors when it comes to losing weight is figuring out what you’ll be eating next and how many calories you have left. This can lead to an unhealthy obsession with food. But because meal replacement products have already done the calorie counting, people are free to move on with their lives and just think about one or two meals per day.
The key to keeping the weight off is to prepare yourself for going back to normal eating once you have lost the weight. This means educating yourself on what foods you can eat and those you should avoid, and being prepared to slowly ease back into normal eating without binging on junk food.
If you like a simple approach when it comes to losing weight and don’t want to have to plan or think about individual meals, meal replacement shakes could be for you.
Sophia
