Simple and effective
Counting calories, keeping carbohydrates off your plate, knowing everything about proteins… If you don’t want to get too complicated when losing weight, the meal replacement can be an excellent tool.
There are many ways to lose weight, temporarily or permanently. One way is very laborious, the other rather complicated. But sometimes you just want to lose a few kilos quickly, for example to be able to wear that beautiful dress again to a party. Then meal replacements are a great solution. You use these low-calorie products instead of a regular meal. They come in sweet and savory varieties and come in different forms: shakes, soups, bars, snacks and meals.
A little slower is better
The big advantage of meal replacements is that the portions contain an exact number of calories. This way you know exactly how much energy you are taking in. Moreover, they are enriched with vitamins, minerals and trace elements, so that you do not get a shortage of these nutrients. You can replace one or two meals a day for a week or more. You can also choose to do a ‘meal replacement cure’: you eat only meal replacements for a week. You will then consume about 500 to 800 kcal per day. The latter has the disadvantage of all crash diets: if you start eating normally again, the lost weight will quickly come back. It is wiser to work towards your slim line a little more slowly: replace one meal a day until you are at the right weight.
No temptations
The great thing about meal replacements is that the portions are measured and you can prepare them quickly. Moreover, they give a clear structure to your eating pattern. It turns out that people who take meal replacements generally stick to their New Year’s resolutions and don’t ‘smuggle’. That is much more difficult when eating regular meals: you quickly take a spoonful of rice or a sandwich more than you had intended. After all, the delicacies are right in front of you, and that is not the case with meal replacements. Meal replacements are also useful when you’re too busy to cook. You don’t have to eat a high-calorie snack or a takeaway meal to fill your stomach.
And now: keep weight
A disadvantage is that with meal replacements you do not change your eating or lifestyle, which caused you to become overweight. Therefore: if you have lost a few kilos thanks to low-calorie bars and shakes, take a closer look at your lifestyle. Should you start exercising more or snacking less to maintain your new weight?
The effectiveness of a diet depends on many factors. Losing a lot of weight quickly is never a good idea, so avoid the so-called crash diets. Whoever falls back into his or her old diet, will quickly regain the lost kilos. People who are seriously overweight (BMI > 30) are better off consulting a dietician for a tailor-made diet than following a diet on their own.
