Weight Management
Calorie Deficit Explained
Energy balance in plain English: estimate your energy needs, plan a gradual deficit you can live with and track your week.
C$24.99Buy
Weight management courses for steady, realistic change
Six self-paced courses on energy balance, meal planning, cravings, emotional eating, midlife changes and keeping new habits going, built on Canada's Food Guide rather than a fad diet.
- 6 courses
- Tools in every course
- Certificate included
Weight is one of the most marketed health topics in Canada, and the Competition Bureau has made it clear that weight loss claims must be true and backed by adequate testing done before the claim is made. We take that seriously. None of our courses promises a number of kilograms or a deadline. They explain how weight management works and help you plan changes you can keep living with.
The starting point is the same Canada's Food Guide plate everyone uses, with vegetables and fruits filling half of it and whole grains and protein foods sharing the rest. Drinks matter too. Health Canada's dietary guidelines say sugary drinks, including 100% fruit juice, should not be consumed regularly, and Canada's 2023 alcohol guidance counts up to 2 standard drinks a week as low risk. The courses show how those pieces fit around work, family and appetite.
These courses are for adults and were created by Dr Aqsa Mukhtiar, PhD in Nutrition. They are not designed for anyone who is pregnant or breastfeeding, under 18, below the healthy weight range or with a history of an eating disorder. If you live with diabetes, high blood pressure or another condition, or take medicine that affects appetite or weight, ask your family doctor, nurse practitioner or pharmacist before changing how you eat. A registered dietitian can give personal advice.
All weight management courses
Weight Management
Meal Planning for Weight Loss
A steady way to plan filling meals, with a calorie-aware 7-day planner, a portion plate, a grocery list and snack swaps.
C$27.99Buy
Weight Management
Emotional Eating and Weight Loss
Notice what drives eating when you are not hungry, ride out urges and try other ways to cope, with a trigger journal and urge-surfing card.
C$27.99Buy
Weight Management
Understanding Food Cravings
Why cravings happen and calm ways to handle them, with a craving log, a craving type checker, delay cards and satisfying swaps.
C$16.99Buy
Weight Management
Healthy Midlife Weight Management
For men and women in midlife: food, muscle, movement, sleep and alcohol, with a waist tracker, protein tracker and 7-day meal plan.
C$27.99Buy
Weight Management
Preventing Weight Regain
Life after weight loss: work out maintenance energy, check in weekly, plan for high-risk situations and get back on track after a slip.
C$24.99Buy
Where to start
- Understand the basics: Calorie Deficit Explained covers estimating your energy needs, what a sensible deficit means, why the scale moves from day to day and how to track a trend rather than a single weigh-in.
- Plan the week: Meal Planning for Weight Loss pairs a calorie-aware 7-day planner with a portion plate template, a grocery list and a batch-cooking plan.
- Handle cravings: Understanding Food Cravings helps you log cravings, tell physical hunger from habit and try a 10-minute delay before deciding.
- Eating for comfort: Emotional Eating and Weight Loss looks at the link between feelings and food, with a trigger journal, an urge-surfing card and a list of alternative actions.
- In your 40s or 50s: Healthy Midlife Weight Management brings together waist tracking, protein at each meal, strength activity, sleep and stress.
- After a change: Preventing Weight Regain focuses on maintenance energy, weekly check-ins and a plan for getting back on track after a hard week.
What the weight management tools do
- Energy needs and maintenance calculators: a general estimate from age, height, weight and activity. Results are a planning starting point, not a prescription, and the calculators do not run for anyone pregnant, under 18 or with an eating disorder history.
- Deficit and meal planners: show where small changes to meals, snacks and drinks add up across a week.
- Weekly progress and waist trackers: record once a week and chart the trend, which says more than any one day.
- Craving log, trigger journal and urge-surfing card: notice patterns and practise a pause before eating.
- Relapse recovery and high-risk situations planners: prepare for holidays, long weekends and stressful weeks in advance.
When to get support
Pause the course and speak with your health care provider if:
- you are losing weight without trying
- you are skipping meals, making yourself sick, using laxatives or exercising to make up for eating
- thoughts about food, weight or your body take up most of your day
- you feel dizzy, shaky or faint when you eat less, especially if you take medicine for diabetes
NEDIC, the National Eating Disorder Information Centre, offers a toll-free helpline at 1-866-633-4220 (416-340-4156 in Toronto) during set hours. It is not a 24-hour line: if you are in crisis, the 9-8-8 line answers calls and texts day and night, and 911 is for any situation where a life is at risk.
Weight management courses: your questions
Is this a diet plan?
No. There are no set menus, banned foods or meal replacements. The courses explain how weight management works and give you planners to build your own routine from everyday groceries.
Why don't the courses promise a set amount of weight loss?
Bodies respond differently, and under the Competition Act weight loss claims must be true and supported by proper testing. The courses teach steady habits and help you watch your own trend over time.
Who should not take a weight management course?
Anyone under 18, anyone pregnant or breastfeeding, people below the healthy weight range and anyone who has had an eating disorder. If you are unsure, ask your family doctor or nurse practitioner first.
Can I take a course while using a prescribed weight medicine?
General education can sit alongside your care, but the courses do not advise on starting, dosing, stopping or switching any medicine. Those questions belong with your prescriber or pharmacist.
Do I have to count Calories?
No. Canadian labels list energy as Calories, and counting is one option among several. Many people prefer the plate approach from Canada's Food Guide, and the courses show both.
Does alcohol make a difference?
It adds energy without much nutrition. Canada's Guidance on Alcohol and Health says less is better. One standard drink is 341 mL of 5% beer, 142 mL of 12% wine or 43 mL of 40% spirits, and the trackers count them for you.
Official sources
- Competition Bureau: Weight loss claims must be true and supported by testing
- Canada's Food Guide: Make healthy meals with the eat well plate
- Canada's Dietary Guidelines: Foods and beverages that undermine healthy eating
- Canadian Centre on Substance Use and Addiction: Canada's Guidance on Alcohol and Health
- Health Canada: Alcohol and standard drinks
- NEDIC: National Eating Disorder Information Centre
Trade the quick fix for a plan
Start with Calorie Deficit Explained and use the weekly tracker to watch your trend, not a single number.