Why Meal Replacements Are A Good Choice For Weight Loss

For years we have heard, “Eat less, exercise more, and you will lose weight”. Sounds simple, right? If it worked… why are we still so overweight? A new report outlining how obesity threatens America's future, reveals that obesity rates climbed over the past year in 16 states, and not a single state reported a decline in the proportion of excessively overweight residents.

The report, released in July, also found that more than 30 percent of the people in 12 states are obese. Four years ago, only one state could make that claim.

If it was as simple as “Eat less, exercise more”, the obesity epidemic would not still be on the rise. Yet it is on the rise because simply cutting back calories does not work for most of us. It works for some, but those are the ones who are more genetically inclined to be fit and trim anyway (look at their parents). We all know a few of them. They are the ones telling us to, “Eat less and exercise more”.
The majority of us knows eating less and exercising more does not work for us yet we continue to believe them and punish ourselves over and over again. Most of the time, this results in yo-yo dieting which is bad on our body, our metabolism, our psyche and results in a closet filled with multiple-sized clothes.

There are three main reasons we fail: The most common reason for failing is cravings. We can eat but still crave something we love (chocolate, ice cream, cereal, etc.). Have you ever just stood at your open refrigerator or pantry to see what you “might me in the mood for”? There are so very many foods that actually promote cravings such as sugar and other simple carbohydrates. Even many so-called “diet foods” contain ingredients that promote hunger and cravings.

The second reason for failure is hunger. We cut back our calories and we are hungry. There is no getting around this. Our body likes to maintain equilibrium. If we eat more than it needs, it stores the excess as fat and tells us to move around a bit in order to burn more. If we eat just a little it tells us, “Stop moving, lay on the couch, watch a movie, burn less, eat more, i.e. “feed me”. Hunger is our body telling us it needs energy (food). In order to avoid hunger we cut back our calories only a “little bit” but it is not enough to actually lose significant weight. We may lose a pound or two and in frustration give up. We failed again and continue the yo-yo.

Here is the third reason we fail and it is very closely related to the second (hunger). In trying to fool our body’s natural response to eating less (hunger) we cut back on calories only a little. This is what all the experts tell us to do. Lose weight slowly, don’t go too fast, have a deficit of only 500 calories. Well, a 500 calorie deficit will still leave us hungry but a 500 calorie deficit will only allow us to lose about 1 pound each week and 1 pound a week is not enough incentive to make ourselves stay hungry for that long a period. It’s a double-edged sword. We've starved ourselves for a month and lost 5 pounds. Go out for lunch once and gained 4 back! That's enough to make anyone depressed.

Here's the solution. We have to cut back calories enough to make our body continually use our stored fat for fuel. In order to do this we have to eliminate the hunger and cravings. The most effective way I have found to eliminate hunger and cravings is by using a meal replacement. There are many meal replacements available but the most effective meal replacement I have used is a cookie diet. You have to do a little homework. In order to fight hunger and cravings you have to have a meal replacement that is low in total carbs (10 grams or less) and low in sugar content (1 gram or less). Compare products and find one that fits your budget and taste.

If you choose a cookie diet as a meal replacement, the cookies are eaten during the day followed by a low-calorie, yet balanced dinner. They contribute about 400 calories daily and the meal can be anywhere from 400 to 600 calories and should contain nothing that will promote hunger. They were engineered to eliminate hunger and cravings so that you are able to stay on your diet. This addresses reasons number 1 and 2: hunger and cravings. If you can eliminate hunger and cravings you can reduce the number of calories you eat without experiencing the hunger and cravings that made you quit in the past.

Meal replacements such as cookie diets allow you to stay on a low calorie (or even a very low calorie) diet and therefore you should lose weight quickly. This addresses the number 3 reason mentioned above. Losing weight quickly gives you more motivation to stick to your diet, especially if you are comfortably not experiencing hunger and cravings.

The fact that a cookie diet will handle and eliminate all three of the top three reasons we fail at dieting makes it a very logical choice and solution to our dieting woes.

This is a very low calorie diet (VLCD) so you have to be otherwise healthy to consider it. You may want to consult your doctor first. Explain to her that you won’t be on this plan forever… just a month or two (or three) to jump start your weight loss and take advantage of the fast weight loss you will experience at the beginning. Also mention that people have been successfully cookie dieting since the 70’s with no adverse effects.