Nutrition Plan To Lose Weight

The bottom line is that the way to lose weight is to eat fewer calories, the Harvard School of Public Health explains. A 2009 release from the school cited a study showing that regardless of whether dieters got their calories from carbohydrates, protein or fat, if they cut down on how many calories they took in, they lost weight. A simple approach to the very American challenge of eating less is to just stop eating so much. Consult your doctor before beginning any new diet.

Weight-Loss Basics

Perhaps the most significant feature of the dieting study Harvard reported on in 2009 was that its subjects were tracked over a two-year period; as is commonly recognized, many fad diets produce only temporary results. The reason behind this is that as omnivores, humans need a little bit of a lot of different foods. Cutting out a whole segment of the foods available by following a no-carb diet, for example, might work for a while, but eventually your body will crave what it's missing. Without the strict guidelines, it could be easy for you to revert to your pre-diet ways --- and weight.

Daily Diet

Now that you know you've got to take in fewer calories, you want to know how to do it while still taking in the right amounts of carbs, protein, vitamins and minerals. The key? Moderation. The Harvard School of Public Health explains that watching your daily diet and choosing small portions, which you eat slowly, can help you control weight. Being more mindful of eating while you're actually doing it can make a big difference, too: not watching TV during dinner makes you aware of whether you're eating healthily and in the right portions, Harvard adds. And for your key to nutrition, follow the exquisitely simple advice of food expert Michael Pollan, who counsels you to stress less on nutrients and focus instead on eating small portions of unprocessed food, and particularly leafy vegetables.

Eating Better

Calorie restriction is known to prevent disease as well as extend the human life span, Dr. Marc Hellerstein, a nutritionist at the University of California-Berkeley, told "Time" magazine in 2010. Pollan, meanwhile, provides advice on how to do this without feeling grouchy and deprived by pointing out that eating less is more palatable if you increase the quality of the food you are eating. A flavorful meal with fewer calories but a rich assortment of full-bodied tastes can leave you feeling just as satisfied --- or maybe even more satisfied --- than you might have been after taking in a mindless meal of food you're unenthusiastic about.

Eating Organically

Pollan notes that paying more for high-quality organic foods, and eating less of them, is a trade that will pay off. The higher price tag may help you think about eating less, and eating so many fruits and vegetables and simple foods will help you get more micronutrients; writing in the "New York Times" in 2007, Pollan noted that, over time, Western society has developed a diet where macronutrients like carbohydrates and protein are oversupplied and micrountrients like vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants are undersupplied. You can reverse this trend by filling up on fresh, local food; another incentive for eating all these veggies is that fiber-rich greens help you feel full faster while taking in food that is less energy-dense than grain-based breads and pastas.

Meat as a Flavoring

Eating a more plant-based diet will help you consume fewer calories and less fat than you would if you were eating the typical Western diet, which, according to Pollan, is "lots of meat and processed foods, lots of added fat and sugar, lots of everything --- except fruits, vegetables and whole grains." If you're someone who loves the taste of meat, take Thomas Jefferson's advice to treat meat more as a flavoring than a food.