When to Use Meal Replacements

Meal replacements can be very beneficial when you are trying to lose weight.  Now I want to clarify, you shouldn’t use these as a crutch.  You absolutely still need to learn how to eat a healthy diet.  However, when chosen carefully and used correctly, studies show that they increase nutrition and can be as effective as medication in helping with weight loss.  There are 3 situations I recommend meal replacements for:

1.  Initially resetting your sugar balance.

This is such an important key to bringing your body back into balance, cutting your cravings and reducing your appetite.  The best way to do this is to eat a diet that is completely low glycemic for a period of up to 5 days.  The easiest way to do this is to use meal replacements that are certified low glycemic.

2.  Breakfast

Breakfast is the most important meal of the day.  What you eat for breakfast will determine your appetite for the rest of the day.  A study of 11 year old boys showed that when these boys were fed a high glycemic breakfast, they ate 50% more calories throughout the remainder of the day as compared to when they were a low glycemic breakfast.  Breakfast is also the most difficult meal to eat low-glycemic.  All our traditional breakfast foods, cereal, toast, pancakes, bagels, etc. are very high glycemic.  A low-glycemic breakfast smoothie, is convenient, quick to make, and, if certified low glycemic, will not spike your blood sugar.

3.  Fast food alternative

This is what I like to refer to as fast food that doesn’t kill you.  We all have times when we don’t have time to stop for a proper meal or snack.  Healthy meal replacements fill the spot when you would otherwise have an unhealthy snack.