Healthy Eating is Not All About Diet Programs, Experts Say

By Eliza PARTIKA

Diet programs like Noom® and WeightWatchers and pills like Ozempic® have become popular ways to diet and lose weight. While diet programs are acceptable with the guidance of a dietician, experts say there is much more for people to consider if they want to maintain overall health and nutrition.

Remy Peters, a dietician at Providence Health, said new diet medications and fads specifically target weight loss or are meant for people with specific co-morbidities like diabetes or high blood pressure.

“When I talk to my clients, it’s ‘What are your goals? Where do you see yourself?’ and even evaluating how [they] got here and maybe what [they’ve] tried in the past, and how can we make [this plan] sustainable and healthy where it becomes an entire change of lifestyle. That way other aspects of [their] life are positively affected, not just focusing on ‘what I need to drop weight really fast,’” she said.

Side effects and financial burdens are some things Peters said to look for when choosing a diet program. She also said considering a diet program should involve researching who funds, promotes and builds these programs. Ozempic®, for example, was not originally used for weight loss but to help patients with complications from diabetes. Weight loss, said Peters, was such a popular side effect that many doctors began prescribing it for weight loss, too. In addition, she said many weight loss programs will focus on calories only, which is often a one size fits all attitude.

“When it comes to needing a specific amount of calories or if there’s a diet out there that says you have to stay between this many and that many calories, it can be talking to somebody who’s 6’4” or somebody who’s 4’11” and super active or super sedentary,” Peters said.

A proper program, in Peters’ eyes, is one that will consider what changes can be made for each individual to sustain healthful eating and healthy living.

“[Doctors] should not just be ‘Here’s the prescription, bye – hope it works for you.’ It’s more what can we do as far as behaviorial changes to [a person’s] relationship with food – so it goes a lot deeper than just taking a pill and hoping that it works out well,” she said.

Many people like diet programs like Noom® or WeightWatchers for the accountability and empowerment built into the program. One way to preserve the positive reinforcement without the doubts and challenges, according to Peters and other experts, is to continue using a diet program alongside regular consultations with a dietician.

Dietician and nutritionist Brendal Plonka wrote in a Sept. 13 blog post that maintaining healthy eating habits while on Ozempic® or on a weight loss program is essential to preserve and improve health while on these medications.

“The decreased appetite that comes with Ozempic® often leads people to eat mostly carbohydrates when they do eat. While carbohydrates are still essential for someone who is on Ozempic®, this can come at the expense of other nutrients. A dietitian can help you understand which nutrients you need so that your diet is balanced,” Plonka said.

Mindfulness in eating, according to Peters, is eating with “attention and intention” – diets focusing less on calories, sugars, fats or proteins but on how eating makes a person feel. Mindful sensory eating, when people are conscious of how much they are eating and the feeling of getting full, is directly in contrast to mindless eating, when people are eating when distracted, socializing or stressed, or snacking when hunger isn’t even a factor. The best way to “diet” is to take a mental note of hunger cues – feelings of hunger, feelings of fullness ­– and recognizing when or if there are habits or cravings, or if emotions are the reasons for eating or overeating.

“Awareness is an important element of decision-making. It’s eating with the intention of nourishing and taking care of oneself,” Peters said.

Having mindfulness about what is eaten is vital to maintaining a healthy weight and lifestyle. According to Peters, mindfulness eating can include how people perform background research on diet companies and assess their own health conditions that could affect how they diet. It can be something as simple as looking at the contents on food labels – the nutritional contents and ingredients – when shopping at grocery stores.

“It won’t necessarily give you a clearer picture of what you should be eating but it can definitely answer quick questions like how much of something is in [the item]. If you were recommended a certain amount of protein, and this product has this much protein or this product has not enough, or this product has too much added sugars and not enough of other ingredients,” she said.

Peters’ biggest piece of advice is to see a dietician who is certified and has continued expertise in whole body nutrition.

“I think discussing [dieting and dietary changes] with a dietitian is extremely important,” said Peters. “That way she can or he can guide the individual to what to look out for, follow up with them and see how things are working and maybe even lead them back out [of the program] when they’re finishing up. It’s all about that continuum of care.”

Other tips are to see how food affects emotions, energy levels and sleep levels, learn to enjoy the taste of healthy food by cooking in a way that’s pleasing, or learning which food fuels workouts, said Peters.