National Dietary Guidelines for Weight Management

Eating enough basal metabolism, eating the right proportion of nutrients, and eating the calories of three meals evenly. The 2023 National Nutrition Survey data shows that 72% of overweight people can achieve a healthy weight loss of 5%-15% within 6 months without regaining it in the long term just by adjusting their daily diet.

A while ago, I was working in a community nutrition clinic, and the most common question I encountered was "Why am I still fat when I already eat very little?" The one that impressed me the most was 52-year-old Aunt Zhang. In order to lose weight, she ate boiled cabbage. She lost 10 pounds in two months. In the third month, she not only regained 15 pounds, but also fainted once due to iron deficiency anemia. In fact, many people have a deep misunderstanding of "eat less". Eating less is to control the surplus calories, not to compress the nutrients needed for basal metabolism. If you eat a big bag of puffed food, it will only look like a small bag. The calories are even higher than three meals with vegetables and meat. If you are so hungry that you feel dizzy and the weight is slow, it is really a loss.

Having said this, someone must ask, are those diets that are popular on the Internet useful? I have to say objectively, there is no absolute good or bad, only whether it is suitable or not. For example, low-carb or even ketogenic diets have been popular in recent years. Studies in the field of sports nutrition have indeed shown that the weight loss rate in the short term is 2-3 pounds higher than that of a balanced diet, but most of the weight loss is water and muscle. 30% of people who adhere to it for a long time will suffer from dyslipidemia, hair loss, and female menstrual disorders. It is more suitable for special groups such as athletes preparing for competition who need to lose weight quickly in the short term. Ordinary people really do not need to take this risk. There is also the much-hyped Mediterranean diet, which has a proven protective effect on cardiovascular and cerebrovascular diseases. However, olive oil and deep-sea fish are not only expensive, but also do not conform to the eating habits of most Chinese people. I have seen many people who have been eating hot pot for a week and are so hungry that they simply break the pot. On the contrary, it is not as easy to stick to our localized balanced dietary pattern.

Oh, by the way, there is really no need to buy a food scale that is accurate to grams. How can ordinary people have the time to weigh and calculate calories for each meal? The officially recommended "hand rule" is sufficient: eat a fist-sized portion of staple food for each meal, and replace one-third with grains. You don't have to give up white rice and white noodles completely. ； A palm-sized amount of protein, whether it’s lean pork, fish, shrimp, eggs or tofu ； Use an ordinary porcelain spoon at home for two handfuls of green leafy vegetables and oil. No more than 3 spoons a day will meet the standard. Last time, a 996 office worker told me that he couldn’t make a fat-reducing meal if he was pressed for time in the morning. Isn’t this simple? Buying a tea egg, a stick of corn and a small portion of cold salad from the convenience store downstairs just meets the standard and is much more filling than eating a nutritious piece of bread.

Regarding the controversial issue of "whether high-sugar and high-fat foods can be eaten?", different nutritionists have different opinions. Some colleagues feel that they should not be touched at all, otherwise they will easily trigger binge eating. ； But in the cases I have followed up on, people who are allowed to eat their favorite high-sugar and high-fat foods 1-2 times a week stick to weight control for more than three times as long as those who are completely taboo. Last week, a young girl born in the 2000s came for a follow-up consultation. She said that she had given up milk tea completely before, and once she broke the habit, she would drink three cups at a time. Now she drinks a medium cup every Friday afternoon, and she no longer feels guilty. Her weight has been stable for more than three months and has not rebounded. To be honest, weight management is a long-term matter. You can’t stop eating hot pot and drinking milk tea for the rest of your life, right? When gathering with friends, you don’t have to have the mentality of “If you break the habit today, you will fast tomorrow.” Drink half a cup of warm tea first, eat vegetables first, then meat, and finally take two bites of staple food. The calories will naturally be under control, and there is no need to lose the fun of socializing for a few pounds.

In the past two years, I stayed up for half a month to study for a project. I ate high-fat takeout and gained almost 8 pounds without doing anything extreme. I changed the fried dough sticks and soy milk to corn and eggs in the morning, cut out one-third of the takeout rice at noon and ate two more bites of greens. I went home to cook a bowl of Yangchun noodles with an egg and sprinkled a handful of greens. Occasionally, I went to eat hot pot with friends on the weekends. Within a month, I returned to my normal weight, I was not hungry, and my physical examination indicators were all normal.

Oh yes, I would also like to mention something different for different groups of people: Don’t just look at calories when controlling weight for diabetics, pay more attention to the glycemic index, and eat less highly gelatinized foods such as porridge.； It is important to ensure the intake of protein and calcium during pregnancy. Do not diet casually, otherwise it will affect the development of the fetus. ； The elderly do not need to pursue "losing weight as they age". Maintaining a BMI between 20 and 25 will result in lower all-cause mortality, and there is no need to go hungry to lose weight.

To be honest, this guide has never been a shackle for everyone. Weight is just one of the indicators of health. If you usually walk without panting, climb the third floor without difficulty, and the blood lipids, blood sugar, and blood pressure in the physical examination are all normal, even if you are two or three pounds heavier than the so-called standard weight, there is really no problem at all. Eating comfortably and being healthy are more important than anything else.