Michael Dansinger, MD, is a weight loss and nutrition expert who advised NBC’s inspirational reality show “The Biggest Loser” for 10 years. He shares his insights and opinions about the global obesity epidemic, popular weight loss diets, weight loss and regain in Biggest Loser participants, and how to teach good eating habits to your teens when they can eat anything they want without consequences for their age.
Key Takeaways
- Dr. Michael shares why he believes the American diet is so unhealthy.
- Teenagers are getting a ton of mixed messages on how to eat.
- When it comes to healthy food, there isn’t a simple answer.
- It’s very easy for parents to be too extreme on both the unhealthy and healthy food spectrum.
- It’s okay to eat treats, but it has to be purposeful and not ‘accidental’ or because you have no choice/other options.
- Your home has to be a place that has mostly healthy foods.
- How do you teach your teen in a way that’s helpful?
- Parents need to negotiate with their teens and get buy-in with their teen on this process.
- Dr. Michael understands that parenting is not always so black and white.
- It’s good to have a consistent eating strategy in your household.
- If your teens get addicted to unhealthy food during these development years, it affects them throughout their adulthood.
- You can get your blood tested, which will provide you with a customized nutrition plan based on your type.
Quotes:
“For over 50 years, the American diet has been increasingly unhealthy, and this is because we allow food companies to advertise and promote unhealthy foods.”
“It’s all about navigating the ‘gray’ zone (of healthy and unhealthy), which is hard!”
“When a parent eats unhealthy food, it undermines their ability to do what I say, not what I do.”
