I wrote a blog post for HealthQuarters! Read an excerpt from the article below:
The idea behind meal plans seems very straightforward: a dietitian or nutritionist tells you what and how much to eat, and you eat exactly that—nothing more, nothing less. Diet plans and weight loss meal planning services start by calculating your calorie and macronutrient needs and often assign a calorie goal or “points” based on a formula that factors in your current weight, height, and activity level, as well as your future weight goals.
Diet plans are so prevalent that you can generally find one to fit any of your needs at little or no cost. Just scroll through any health and fitness site and you’ll find “A 1,500 calorie, 7-day diet meal plan to lose weight.”
Yet for all this time and strictness, for all this hard work—these plans might do more harm than good. This is because they teach you to rely on external cues, such as finishing everything portioned out on a plate, or restricting food intake once a certain calorie or macronutrient limit has been reached.