A healthy dietary pattern is essential if the goal is to be a healthy human long-term.
There is no “one-size-fits-all” dietary pattern that will result in perfect health. At Heartland Weight Loss, we stay out of the debate of vegan vs carnivore vs everything in-between – we can work with any of them – as long as we are talking about eating a diet primarily comprised of whole foods. All dietary patterns can be incredibly healthy (if they are made up of whole foods) and all of them can be a disaster (if they are made up of primarily ultra-processed foods).
What matters most of all is diet quality.
Along those same lines, we don’t advocate calorie-counting or strict macronutrient partitioning. We have a general framework around food (such as requiring our patients to get a sufficient amount of dietary protein) and we allow our patients to tailor the content within the framework to reflect their own individual and cultural preferences.
Some patients find this freedom liberating and others struggle a bit – wanting to be told exactly what to eat. Many struggle with abandoning the idea of calories. Others struggle to understand what we mean when we refer to ultra-processed foods (UPFs). See the articles below to learn more about the framework we use and the questions and concerns that come up frequently when implementing this framework with our patients.
Is Organic Produce Worth Buying?
There is no way on earth that any one person could know everything there is to know about nutrition. It’s just not that simple. And there’s way too much crap out there to sift through. Even if learning “it all” is hopeless, you can still learn some. Most of the time some is enough. If […]
Weight Loss Myth #2
Hopefully last week’s post got you thinking! Well, there’s plenty more where that came from. I love writing about these things! Myths about weight loss are everywhere – being repeated over and over again without an ounce of proof. Here’s another myth that I hear from patients all the time. I sympathize, as I believed […]
People are afraid of carrots?
I am constantly trying to undo disordered thinking about food. By the time most people come to my clinic, they have tried every weight loss program out there. Sadly, most of the programs in the world are not based in science. Most are based on calorie counting and cheerleading – which is not super helpful […]
Weight Loss Myth #4
Hopefully you are learning more and more each week as we debunk the weight-loss myths that we have all heard over and over again! Here is myth number 4. The 5th and final installment in this series will be published in our monthly newsletter along with our updates, news, and recipe of the month. If […]
Food is Information
I say this all the time. I think some people think of it more as a meme, but it’s really a statement of fact. Food is so much more than calories. Or macronutrients. Food is information. It tells your body what to do. The information food gives us isn’t just immediate. For some foods, there […]
The Minnesota Starvation Experiment
Science doesn’t support the calories-in, calories-out hypothesis. If you are still trapped into believing that model, it’s time to learn more!
Super Bowl Snack Ideas
The Chiefs are playing in the Super Bowl again this year! We couldn’t be more excited! If you are planning on watching the game and want to have something to munch on that won’t send you a few steps backward in your path to a healthier you, check out these recipes that Liza Blanc, our […]
Eating Out
Americans today spend over fifty percent of their annual food budget on food prepared outside the home – and this number keeps increasing year after year. The research is solid. There is a direct correlation between the number of meals prepared or eaten outside of the home with a person’s risk of obesity and metabolic […]
Chicken Zucchini Poppers
It’s spring and that means vegetables out of the garden. This recipe combines protein and vegetables for a complete meal.
Tea, glorious tea
I began fighting the weight battle once I was old enough to look into a mirror and compare myself to the other kids in elementary school. Thankfully, after many years of beating my head against a wall getting nowhere, I had the idea of diving into the science of the process to see if there […]
Apple Cider Vinegar
Patients periodically ask me about apple cider vinegar. I stay away from social media and news, so perhaps the interest waxes and wanes with marketing and propaganda, but regardless, since the topic seems to come in bursts and has reemerged lately, so I thought I would address it. Apple cider vinegar is a type of […]
Receipe: Pumpkin Whipped Cottage Cheese
4 servingsPrep time is 5 min Ingredients:2 cups cottage cheese (I prefer 4%)1 cup unsweetened pumpkin puree (chill for an hour in the refrigerator if you want a cold treat.¾-1 teaspoon pumpkin spice (or cinnamon) – based on your preference Optional topping ideas: whipped full fat coconut cream (unsweetened), pepitas (pumpkin seeds), hemp hearts, shredded […]
Bubbles
Studies are clear that we need to drink plenty of water to stay healthy. We need to stay adequately hydrated for optimal health and weight. The biochemistry of that process is incredibly boring and after learning it in detail once, I have promptly forgotten it and have no interest in relearning it. But the science […]
Read your labels carefully!!
Don’t make the same mistake I did! I ordered my normal EVOO from Instacart and the shopper made a substitution. I didn’t think much about it (when people shop for me, I try to be grateful and not crabby about it) but after a few uses, I looked at the label and realized that this […]
Prevention and Treatment are NOT the same things
Preventing disease is usually fairly straightforward. Prevention is never perfectly guaranteed to work (nothing in medicine is), but most of the time, we can prevent lung cancer by avoiding smoking and air pollution. We can prevent pregnancy by using reliable contraception. We can prevent paralysis from polio by getting a polio vaccine. However, preventing disease […]
Sweet Drinks (Even the Diet Ones) Are Not Good For Us!
I don’t think there is an American alive today that thinks that soda is a health food. Thank heavens! I repeatedly hear from patients that they have “given up soda” but when I dig into that seemingly black and white statement a little deeper, it often becomes more grey. Many people consider diet soda (i.e., […]
Dietary Fats
With all the information out there, I doubt there is anyone that doesn’t know what dietary fats are. Underneath that umbrella, however, there are a few nuances. There are lots of different types of fats and honestly, I struggle to keep them straight. I don’t talk to my patients about polyunsaturated and monounsaturated fats – […]