Don't get me wrong, on the right diet, for the right person, great results can be achieved. The problem lies in finding that perfect match and much like our love lives, or at least mine, that can be the biggest hurdle!
When most people think of diets they immediately think restriction. The first thoughts that come to mind are of all the foods they love but can't have. Is that even living??? And what happens when you're told you can't have something you want??? You tend to want it more, making the diet even harder to stick to.
Let's consider for a moment you actually finished that diet and had great success. What comes next? Well if you didn't learn anything, if you didn't change some of your previous habits that caused the weight gain in the first place you can expect it to come right back. So basically you suffered through the diet for nothing.
Diets can and do work I'm not disputing that. However, let's take a look at why/how they work.
The Whole 360 basically eliminates every food we consume on a regular basis. When you cut your food intake to essentially nothing you're sure to lose weight.
Vegan/Vegetarian diets cut out meat which in turn cuts out your unhealthy fat consumption.
Ketogenic (keto) cuts out carbs for a quick jump start in weight loss but did you know that initial weight loss is due to water loss that was being store by the carbs you cut? Not fat. It's not sustainable in the long run either.
Intermittent Fasting cuts your calories by restricting the times you are able to eat to a very short window.
So by now you may be asking what is the best diet or method for weight loss. The answer is simple. The one that works for you. If you can use one of the options listed above or another method, more power to you! That's great, but the reality is most people cannot conform to such rigid restrictions.
Below are some basic guidelines for healthier eating. For long term success it really is the culmination of several small changes that create lasting life-long results.
eat more home cooked meals
try to stick to packaged food with 5 ingredients or less
take your lunch
plan meals and then meal prep 2/3 of your daily meals
enjoy that treat, maybe not the whole thing but enjoy it
if you fall off, forgive your self
eat more veggies
make substitutions (juice and seltzer for sodas)
drink plenty of water and beware of liquid calories
get plenty of rest, because when we're tired we crave bad food
Let me know what you think about diets. Have you found one you like, why do you like it?