Practical Tips For Weight Loss: Lessons From Stanford University

My entire life has been a struggle to lose weight. For as long as I can remember, there have been constant highs and lows in the journey; if I managed to lose weight with a diet plan or exercising, I used to gain it back after a few months. If that has been the case with you as well, then you too have been making the mistakes I made. You are also perhaps looking for tips to lose weight quickly or an easy diet plan to shed weight fast. 

However, this time has been different for me. I successfully lost 30 kgs after pregnancy, and I haven’t felt this fit ever before in my life. And I know that this time the weight loss isn’t temporary. 

This is because of the insights I have gained about health and wellness this time. A large part of it has come from the online course I pursued from Stanford University: Introduction to Food and Health.  The course by Maya Adam (Director of Health Education Outreach at Stanford’s Center for Health Education) has excellent insights from Michael Pollan (author, journalist, and activist). 

The most important lesson I learned about weight loss from this course and my own experiences is this: 

“In order to be healthy, you need to make some serious lifestyle changes, slowly but surely. Short term diets will only lead to temporary weight loss while a lifestyle change will free you from the game of losing and gaining unhealthy weight.”

In this post, I am sharing a gist of the gems I picked up from the course. These are practical tips to lose weight and then maintain it: 

1. Eat Food. Not So Much. Mostly Plants

This mantra by Michael Pollan sounds simple but has a deep philosophy about getting healthy. By “Eat food“, he means you must eat real food, that is vegetables, fruits, whole grains, and, fish and meat. Processed items and junk food, according to him, are “edible food-like substances” which must be avoided completely. He says, “…highly processed edible food-like substances that really are what gets most people into trouble. They tend to have lots of refined sugars, lots of refined fats, and very little fiber, very little of the antioxidants you find in plants. And basically, they were designed for long shelf life, these processed foods. And the way you make the food last longer is by taking out what is nutritionally valuable.

By “Not So Much“, Michael is stressing on the importance of moderation. Watch your calorie intake and exercise moderation in everything you eat.

“Mostly Plants” doesn’t mean you must eat only spinach and broccoli. What he means is that a plant-based diet is the best one. Fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and everything derived from plants are the richest sources of vitamins and minerals as well as fiber.

Here are some very useful tips for everyone but especially those trying to lose weight:

• Don’t eat out of a box. That means to say no to processed food.
• Buy things with minimum (about 5) or no ingredients listed (that is mostly veggies and fruits). Higher the number of ingredients, higher are the chances of it making you unhealthy.
• Don’t eat anything that has a really long shelf life. Higher shelf life means more sugar content.
• Eat meals with people you love, and without TV, phones, etc.

2. Get small plates

I loved this little advice given in the course. It might sound trivial but can make a huge difference in how much you eat. Smaller plates can really help you practice eating in moderation.

3. Say No to Sugar

Some of the harmful effects of sugar other than weight gain are increased risk of diabetes, obesity, early aging, tooth decay, fatigue, headaches, mood swings. We probably know this yet continue to consume so much of it.

On our Youtube channel, we recently spoke about surprising food items that have high sugar. We were ourselves shocked to know the amount of sugar we were unknowingly consuming. This course also talks about this. “Surprisingly, some experts estimate that only one-sixth of our sugar comes from desserts or foods that we think of as sweets. The majority of our sugar comes in the form of highly processed food and sweetened beverages. Many people are becoming aware of the need to reduce their sugar intake in order to maintain healthy body weight. But what many people still aren’t aware of, is the fact that sugar under a variety of different pseudonyms is added to so many foods that we don’t expect to contain sugar. Things like packaged bread, condiments, chips, sauces, and salad dressings.” 

Intrinsic sugars found in whole fruits and vegetables are okay to consume. But you must eliminate syrups, added sugars, and items listed above to be healthy.

4. Understand how to construct a healthy plate

To reduce weight in a healthy way and maintain a healthy lifestyle, we need to stop obsessing about only one type of nutrient. Most diets hold carbohydrates as the culprit and some stress on having more fat and protein. However, if you deprive your body of whole grains, fruits, and vegetables for a long time, you are bound to have health issues. ” Whole grains like brown rice and rolled oats are carbohydrates that provide our bodies with a usable source of energy and bound together in that very same food is a significant amount of fiber, which slows the release of glucose from that food into the bloodstream,” says Adam. Of course, the carbs in white bread, rice, and white pasta are best avoided.

Your diet must be a balanced mix of different nutrient sources. For a long-term health plan, focus on food types instead of nutrients. “We tend to start by thinking about the protein when we’re planning a meal. If we can think of the vegetables as the feature then the entire meal will likely end up being healthier. The plate itself should consist of about one-half plant-based food, ideally with a mix of different colored vegetables. Different colored vegetables contain different micronutrients. So, eating a variety of them maximizes our nutrient coverage. In general, eating a variety of foods is also beneficial because it minimizes the chances of getting sick from potential contaminants in any one food,” advises Adam.

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It’s delicious, nutritious, and it promotes weight loss! Hummus is the perfect alternative to unhealthy sauces and dips. And it’s quick and eat to make. Tastes so good, we can have it everyday! We love having it with carrots and other veggies. . Do you like hummus? What do you like to have it with? . .. . #healthyfood #hummus #tasty #healthy #nutritious #sogood #tahini #fingerlickinggood #yummy #gethealthy

A post shared by Blue Sky Dreamers (@blueskydreamers) on May 9, 2019 at 2:12pm PDT

5. Home cooking is the solution

Now, if you know me you must be aware of how much I have disliked cooking all my life. I have had no interest in cooking. However, that has changed after I decided to take charge of my health. Home cooking instead of takeouts and street food is what will help you maintain a healthy lifestyle.

From being a person who looked for excuses to eat out, I have become someone who carries home-cooked meal for a day-outing! It might sound extreme but this is what I truly enjoy now: taking control of what I eat, and how much oil and salt I consume. I still don’t cook fancy meals, just basic stuff that takes care of my health and happiness.

There are tons of resources for basic recipes that you can easily put together at home. You just have to be willing to change your health and life for the better.

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