From time to time I???m asked why it is that I use meal replacements (MRs) in all their forms ??? shakes, soups, food bars etc ??? in working with people to lose weight when I am repeatedly saying the ultimate goal is not weight loss but developing a new relationship with food and a healthy eating lifestyle. The short answer is that when it comes to weight loss there is a hierarchy of the totality of interventions that can be used ??? starting at the bottom. These are outlined in the pyramid on the right.

A couple of key points to note. The most effective form of weight loss and the inevitable one if all those below it fail, is premature death! As you can also see from the pyramid, working on an understanding of the psychological issues that lead to sabotage sits over every intervention.

In the first instance, of course, as any good dietitian will tell you, we should try to manage our weight by eating in a healthy way. But the question is what to do when this fails? This is when we start to move up the hierarchy. Everything we can do sits in this pyramid ??? there ain???t no more! (You will notice that, despite the hopes of many people when they walk into my consulting rooms, magic wand waiving did not make it onto this list.)

For many years now the medical profession has been using MRs when the morbidly obese need to lose weight more quickly, for example, when they are under the more immediate threat of obesity related complications like hypertension and heart failure. In recent years, I have noticed more and more research studies are using MRs as a way to bring about weight loss initially.

The reason for this is that to achieve weight loss we must compete with the convenience of fast food and the even greater ???convenience??? of skipping meals altogether. This is why, as I need to watch my weight, I still have a MR for lunch when I???m in my rooms. It???s even quicker and more convenient than sending out for a toasted sandwich, not to mention cheaper! And then I know I???m having something that has fewer calories and is not badly nutritionally balanced. I can bang it down in under a minute! As you might guess my lunch break is a misnomer ??? it???s not about lunch, it???s 50 minutes in the day that I don???t have back to back patients and is about returning emails, phone calls and dealing wit

From time to time I???m asked why it is that I use meal replacements (MRs) in all their forms ??? shakes, soups, food bars etc ??? in working with people to lose weight when I am repeatedly saying the ultimate goal is not weight loss but developing a new relationship with food and a healthy eating lifestyle. The short answer is that when it comes to weight loss there is a hierarchy of the totality of interventions that can be used ??? starting at the bottom. These are outlined in the pyramid on the right.

A couple of key points to note. The most effective form of weight loss and the inevitable one if all those below it fail, is premature death! As you can also see from the pyramid, working on an understanding of the psychological issues that lead to sabotage sits over every intervention.

In the first instance, of course, as any good dietitian will tell you, we should try to manage our weight by eating in a healthy way.  But the question is what to do when this fails? This is when we start to move up the hierarchy. Everything we can do sits in this pyramid ??? there ain???t no more! (You will notice that, despite the hopes of many people when they walk into my consulting rooms, magic wand waiving did not make it onto this list.)

For many years now the medical profession has been using MRs when the morbidly obese need to lose weight more quickly, for example, when they are under the more immediate threat of obesity related complications like hypertension and heart failure. In recent years, I have noticed more and more research studies are using MRs as a way to bring about weight loss initially.

The reason for this is that to achieve weight loss we must compete with the convenience of fast food and the even greater ???convenience??? of skipping meals altogether. This is why, as I need to watch my weight, I still have a MR for lunch when I???m in my rooms. It???s even quicker and more convenient than sending out for a toasted sandwich, not to mention cheaper! And then I know I???m having something that has fewer calories and is not badly nutritionally balanced. I can bang it down in under a minute! As you might guess my lunch break is a misnomer ??? it???s not about lunch, it???s 50 minutes in the day that I don???t have back to back patients and is about returning emails, phone calls and dealing with other problems my secretaries have carefully and diligently accumulated throughout the morning .

The art is now in the transitioning of people from MRs onto to a healthy eating lifestyle and a new relationship with food. How best to do this has been a key area of interest to me for some time now.  As an aside, you will note the line referring to ???devices???. In a later blog I will let you know of  an intriguing development of a new device that does not require surgery that has been shown to be effective in weight loss.

h other problems my secretaries have carefully and diligently accumulated throughout the morning .

The art is now in the transitioning of people from MRs onto to a healthy eating lifestyle and a new relationship with food. How best to do this has been a key area of interest to me for some time now. As an aside, you will note the line referring to ???devices???. In a later blog I will let you know of an intriguing development of a new device that does not require surgery that has been shown to be effective in weight loss.