Ask the Doctor: How Do I Maintain A Long-term Balanced Diet?

"Dr. Kim, I am currently trying to slim down and tone up, but I also know that exercise won’t do me as much good if I’m not eating the right foods. How do I maintain a balanced diet? Do your weight loss programs include a customized meal plan to help your clients not only lose weight but eat healthy for the long term?" – Niki, Gardena, Calif.

Dear Niki:


The question you ask addresses a fundamental principal of weight loss, maintaining a healthy diet.  Let's start by addressing your point about exercise first.It is an absolute truth that you can lose weight by dieting alone, but you can't lose weight by exercising alone.  The reason is that greater changes in your body's caloric balance can be achieved by making changes in your diet than by making changes in your exercise level. But exercise is good for a number of reasons.  First, it helps keep your eating in check.  Most people who exercise regularly try to limit what they eat so they don't sabotage their efforts. Why put all that effort into exercising if you're going to jeopardize it by eating unhealthy.  Second, it burns calories.  But not as much as you think.  People who start a weight loss program believe that exercise is going to help melt away the pounds.  Unfortunately, our bodies don't work that way.  Our bodies are highly efficient.  Under conditions of exertion and limited caloric intake, our bodies react in such a way that it metabolizes less fat.  That being said, exercising does burn calories.  It also does one very  important thing; it sensitizes our bodies to insulin.  Insulin is a hormone that is important for maintaining even sugar levels in our bodies.  You are probably aware that insulin is what's missing in people with Type 1 Diabetes.  Exercise helps keep insulin levels down.  This is important because insulin is also partially responsible for the accumulation of fat in our bodies.  So exercise is important for weight loss in a direct and indirect way.

The guidelines put forth by the American Weight Loss Centers  individualize our recommendations taking into consideration all of the current science out there about nutrition and metabolism.  Our focus in creating our dietary recommendations came from helping people maintain their weight loss.  There are a million and one different ways to lose weight.  All the ads and late night commercials take advantage of this.  They advertise a new and different way to lose weight almost every week.  You'll be surpised to know that despite all the different ways someone can lose weight, there's only one way to maintain that way loss.  There's no secret here.  That way needs to be an individualized approach that looks at what your needs, diet preferrences and circumstances are.