5 Ways To Maintain A Healthy Weight

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Every time the new year rolls around, weight loss becomes a trending topic of conversation. The diet industry does their best to appeal to the masses—making promises and promoting fad diets all for the sole purpose of selling their products. It’s only been a week, but I would bet you’ve already been targeted with messages like “here’s how to lose 10 pounds in a week” and “burn fat by eating this one food” blah blah blah. As you can imagine, this kind of talk exhausts me. As a society, we fixate on the number on the scale and take extreme measures to lower it, and that gives “weight loss” a bad rap. 

When I talk about weight loss, I’m talking about achieving a happy and healthy weight—a weight that makes you feel your best, and a weight that represents your body functioning optimally. That’s what I want for each and every one of you. I don’t want you to crash diet for the sake of fitting into jeans. I want you to develop a good relationship with food. I want you to make healthy choices with occasional indulgences, and find an exercise routine that you can stick to. But most importantly, I want you to find a weight that lets you live your best, longest life. If that’s what you want too, here are five ways to make it happen. You’ll notice that these are specific, sustainable, reasonable pieces of advice—I’m not here to give you false hope and waste your time. I’m here to help you as much as I can.  

Anyway, here are my top five recommendations. 

1. Plants should play the starring role on your plate. Everything else is a supporting actor. 

We always hear that vegetables should take up the most real estate on our plates, and while I agree with that, I find this metaphor more helpful. Think of the main character from your favorite movie, TV show, or play. They have the most lines, they are central to the plot, and the whole story revolves around them. That’s how I want you to see plants in your diet: your entire meal should revolve around plants. When you’re building a meal, start by planning which vegetables you’re going to eat. Once you do that, then you can think about adding meat, fats, and complex carbohydrates. 

2. Breakfast needs to be packed with protein. 

Starting your day off with a blood-sugar balancing meal makes all the difference when it comes to maintaining a healthy lifestyle and achieving a healthy weight. That’s why I urge all of my clients, friends, everyone to eat a protein-rich breakfast. I’m talking 20 to 40 grams, ladies! Eggs and egg whites with spinach, peppers, and onions, oats with pea protein powder, Greek yogurt with berries and nut butter, a protein shake or smoothie… whatever you prefer, as long as it’s protein-packed and made up of real, whole foods! 

3. Add small portions of healthy unsaturated fats to your meals. 

Fats are an essential part of any healthy person’s diet. The idea that “fat makes you fat” is outdated and incorrect. Eating more calories than we burn is what causes weight gain—no macronutrient group contributes to that more than the others. Fats help satiate us, they allow our bodies to absorb fat-soluble vitamins from vegetables, and they balance our blood sugar. That said, fats are the most calorie-dense macronutrient (each gram of fat has 9 calories, while a gram carbs or protein has 4 calories), which means they can add up quickly, and thus should be eaten in moderation. A little bit of fat in every meal goes a long way. My go-to healthy fats are avocado, nuts (almonds, walnuts, cashews), extra virgin olive oil (for dressings and toppings), and avocado oil (for roasting vegetables). 

4. Steer clear of processed foods and artificial sweeteners. 

I cannot stress this point enough. Processed foods are not your friend—in fact, they are your enemy. Besides being devoid of nutritional value, processed foods are loaded with chemicals and synthetic ingredients that can trigger unwanted symptoms in the body, like inflammation and hormone issues. The same goes for artificial sweeteners, like aspartame and sucralose. If you have to have a little sugar in your diet to stay sane (I don’t blame you), it’s better to have a small amount of regular sugar, and opt for sweets with the most unrefined versions of sugar you can find. Sure, I indulge every now and then—I’m human too—but the majority of the time, I stick to fruit, dates, and my beloved Hu Kitchen Chocolate Bars.

5. Dial back your portion sizes 

In the U.S. we are notorious for outrageous portion sizes… Most restaurants make meals that could feed three to five people, and they serve them to one person. Plus, our metabolisms slow down as we age, meaning we need less food than we did when we were in our 20s. Because of this, a good rule of thumb is to listen to your body and eat less than you think you need. Pay attention to how much your eating and try to stick to these general guidelines: 

  • A serving of meat or poultry is roughly the size of your palm

  • A serving of cheese is the size of a pair of dice (two small cubes)

  • A serving of nut butter is two tablespoons, or the size of a ping pong ball

  • A serving of carbs and starches is ½ a cup, or the size of a tennis ball

  • A serving of nuts, dried fruit, or trail mix is the size of a golf ball or small handful

  • The standard serving of vegetables is a cup, which is roughly the size of your fist. But you should feel free to fill your plate with raw and steamed vegetables—it’s harder to overdo it on these. When oils, fats, and dairy get involved, stick to ½ cup or a tennis ball.  

In the sea of information you’re being fed on weight loss, I hope this blog post helps you cut through the noise. I hope it reminds you that weight loss doesn’t mean you have to completely nix carbs or starve yourself. On the contrary, losing weight and keeping your body healthy is about adding nutrient-dense, whole foods to your diet, prioritizing vegetables, and scaling back your sugar and processed foods intake.

If you haven’t already, I encourage you to join our Pure Joy Wellness Private Facebook Group, where you can comment on my posts with any questions you have. and you can also follow me on Instagram, where I post information like this regularly! 

Until next time,

xo Renata