“Two-Treat Rule” For Weight Loss

If you’d love to get in shape, but the thought of giving up ice cream and pizza feels impossible, listen up. There’s a registered dietitian who says you don’t need to and she has a rule to help you lose weight without banning carbs from your diet.

Registered dietitian Amanda Baker Lemein came up with what she calls the “two-treat rule” and it’s pretty simple: to drop pounds, eat a healthy diet overall, but allow yourself to have two portion-controlled servings of your favorite treat every week. She says she created the rule to help show her clients what “moderation” looks like and that it’s more sustainable to allow a treat or two than to try to quit them cold turkey.

“It’s unrealistic to think that you’ll never encounter another cupcake or piece of pizza ever again in your life,” Lemein says. “If you’re told you can never have a food that you love again, it becomes all that more enticing to you.”

So basically, as long as you’re eating proper portions of healthy foods - Lemein suggests a diet high in plant-based proteins, non-starchy veggies, and whole grains - you can indulge in two treats a week without hurting weight loss results. Now that means you have to stick to a single scoop of ice cream or a single slice of pizza to stay on track, but it’s better than no treats at all.

And another tip from Lemein to set you up for weight loss success? Don’t keep your treats at home, go out for them instead. It’s tough to eat a whole pint of Ben and Jerry’s when it’s not in your freezer, right?

Source: Women's Health