Hi Mia,

That's a great question. Going on a short-term, a very restrictive diet seems like a good way to get "back on track" so to say, but as you mentioned, at the end of the 30 days, will you be able to maintain avoiding so many foods? The benefit of an eating plan like Whole30 is that it emphasizes a lot of unprocessed foods. However; it eliminates whole food groups, which probably isn't a good thing long-term.

I would suggest learning from some of the good things about Whole30; maybe you have found some healthy recipes that you really like or found that you are happy snacking on raw veggies instead of crackers. Keep those habits going.

Then set measurable limits for some of the less-healthy things you want to enjoy in moderation. For example, if you like dessert, decide that you will enjoy a dessert once per week. Once you've had it for that week, you decline any other opportunities that present themselves.

Weight loss does tend to reduce your metabolism (how much energy you use during the day), which seems to be because you lose muscle and fat when you lose weight. Severely over-restricting calories can also decrease your metabolism.

To keep your metabolism as high as possible, be sure to do resistance exercise to help increase or maintain lean body mass (muscles) and eat regular meals. Sometimes people need to actually eat a bit more than they think if they have been really restricting calories for a long time, especially if they exercise a lot.

Great question. A plant-based diet has been shown to have a lot of health benefits.

Some good non-meat proteins include: Lentils, chickpeas, beans (like kidney beans, black beans, etc), low fat dairy (Greek yogurt, cheese, milk), eggs, tofu, edamame, peanuts, nuts, seeds and whole grains (to an extent).

Other fish: Tuna, sardines, whitefish, orange roughy, trout and catfish. You could also try other seafood like shrimp.

Hi Nicole,

Any plan that reduces your overall calories, includes a variety of healthy foods and that you are able to stick with over time is a good plan for you. Don't forget to include regular exercise as part of any weight loss plan.

Some that have proven benefits include the DASH diet, Mediterranean diet and I do think some people have good success with Weight Watchers.

Congratulations on your new baby! It can definitely be frustrating when you feel like the weight is not coming off after you have a baby.

Sometimes its helpful to take 5 minutes in the morning and think about what you have going on that day. Decide then what you will eat, even if it doesn't work out exactly as planned; you will probably be more organized overall.

Keep things simple, keep healthy, easy-to-prepare meals and snacks on hand such as raw veggies and humus, fruit and nuts or low fat cottage cheese, whole grain toast with peanut butter, canned beans or chickpeas on a salad, pre-cooked chicken breast, a microwaved sweet potato or frozen veggies.

One thing to consider if you are breastfeeding; be careful not to over-restrict your calories.

It takes 9 months to gain the weight during pregnancy, so give yourself at least 9 months to lose the weight you've gained.

It depends.

Generally you feel fuller when you eat a larger amount of food at once. Whereas with grazing you may end up eating more overall because you never quite feel full (not hungry).

If you are trying to lose weight, grazing can also make it more likely that you will eat more than you think you are or lose track of how much you're eating.

For most people, I recommend you eat 3 meals per day, and have snacks if and when you are hungry in between. That doesn't mean that people can't do well eating 6 meals per day, but depending on how many calories you need, each meal may end up seeming tiny and not satisfying.

For example, if you are trying to eat 1800 calories per day, divided this into 6 meals would equal 300 calories per meal. That can be hard to stick to.

Fat is an essential part of a healthy diet.

I always recommend that you include healthy fats like avocado, nuts, peanut butter or other nut butters, olive oil/canola oil/peanut oil and/or seeds in your diet, even if you are trying to lose weight.

The tricky part is not eating too large of portions of these foods. They have a lot of calories in a small amount. For example, 1 tablespoon of olive oil has about 150 calories. You may not notice or taste any difference between 1 tablespoon and 2 tablespoons in a meal. This could lead to unintentionally eating more calories than you need.

Basically, eat healthy fats every day but do be careful about limiting how much you have.

The Mediterranean diet: Plant-based diet that includes small amounts of meat and fish, emphasizes fruits, vegetables, legumes (beans, peas and lentils), whole grains and health fats (particularly olive oil and nuts). This diet has a lot of research showing it is beneficial for heart health. I would recommend this over the others.

Whole30 - Low carb except for fruits and some vegetables, very restrictive, does emphasize fresh foods, although is probably difficult to maintain long-term and prohibits some objectively healthy foods like legumes.

Keto - A ketogenic diet, this is extremely low carb. It was traditionally used to treat epilepsy in children. It is so low carb that your body has to break down fat and muscle to make blood glucose, a by-product of this is ketones which can also be burned for energy in the body.

Paleo - Similar to Whole30.

Vegetarian or plant-based diets are generally shown to be good for your health. Even if you aren't a strict vegetarian, there are benefits to eating less meat and more plant-based meals.

There is definitely evidence that processed meats are harmful - this would include hot dogs, sausages, bacon, deli meats, bologna, etc.

There is also some evidence that people who eat the most red meat (beef, lamb, goat) have higher rates of some health problems.

I don't know of any specific studies that look at white meat.

I think you can give it a try, and if it's not for you or you don't stick to it 100%, that's still okay, and you're probably doing something good for your health.

You can refer to my response to Jarees' question for more information.

That will depend on the individual and your personal health history. Weight loss surgery is recommended for anyone with a BMI over 40, or anyone with a BMI over 35 and a comorbidity (for example diabetes, high blood pressure or severe sleep apnea).

You can find out your BMI here.

I do think it is a good option for some people, and if you are interested, you can ask your doctor about it. There is also a support group that NorthShore has that you can attend to ask more questions.