Last Updated on October 20, 2016 by Michael Brockbank
Diet plans are plentiful on the Internet. It seems everyone has the perfect idea of how to lose weight. From scrounging for nuts and berries to low-carb/high-protein alternatives, you have quite the list to choose from. So, which one is the best diet plan to help you lose weight? Well, that is completely up to you and your goals. May people will start these plans, but not everyone actually sticks to them.
The Reality of Most Diet Plans
The most important thing to remember about the best diet plan is how you approach it. No diet is going to work if you don’t want it to. It’s all about how you view food and whether or not you’re capable of committing. However, there are several other points of diet plans you need to consider as well.
How to Really Lose Weight
One of the biggest reasons why people have a problem losing weight is because they lack balance. They eat too much without physical activity to burn off the extra junk. Once you find your own balance, you can lose weight rather quickly. For the most part, it requires dedication and motivation from yourself in order to achieve greater health.
Health Issues
Not all plans are conducive for health to everyone in the same way. This means that you could inadvertently hurt yourself by doing a specific weight loss plan. For example, parts of the Paleo diet could be extremely dangerous for someone who is allergic to nuts. Another example is how people complained about gout and other ailments during the Atkins craze.
While some people will have excellent experiences, others may not. This is because everyone’s needs are different. Although we are all human, we all have different physiology.
Consumerism
Nearly everything in life revolves around consumerism. This isn’t necessarily a bad thing, but it definitely makes an impact on trying to become healthy. Some plans have books to buy, others need a monthly “subscription” plan for meals and some include products specific to the diet or losing weight you have to buy. In reality, you don’t need to spend anything extra in order to shrink your mass. I’ll explain this later on.
Personally, I don’t believe in diets that push buying their products on you. I hate the mentality of, “I’ll help you lose weight if you buy my goods.” If people truly wanted to help you, they wouldn’t ask for your money. To me, the best diet plan is one that doesn’t have a gimmick or an extensive marketing budget.
I don’t doubt that some of these organizations do care about their customers, but bare in mind the keyword here is “customers.” Most of them are in it to make money, because let’s face it, everyone needs a paycheck to pay the bills. Consumerism isn’t a bad thing, but marketing will convince you that their product is the best diet plan.
5 of the Most Popular Diet Plans
There are tons of popular diets out there on the Internet. If I were to list them all, I wouldn’t get any work done. However, here are five of the most popular and perhaps well-known plans on the market. Some have specific “helper” products to buy while others don’t offer a great deal of guidance outside of a community.
- Weight Watchers
When it comes to the best diet plan for losing body mass, Weight Watchers is one of the most popular. It bases it’s diet around counting points for certain meals while trying to keep your tally low. In a way, it’s much like what I do except I don’t have to keep track of good or bad points. I simply count calories in MyFitnessPal while including healthier alternatives. This is one of the more highly ranked plans on the Internet among experts. - Biggest Loser
If you haven’t seen this program on TV, the Biggest Loser is less restrictive while including a lot of exercise. What many people don’t like about it is that it makes dieting seem more like a chore than an activity for health. When you look at what’s entailed, you could begin to feel overwhelmed. This will be your downfall. Unfortunately, many people who use the Biggest Loser regimen often gain some of the weight back over the long-term. - Jenny Craig
Here is another one that has been around for a while. It’s another example of what good marketing can do for an organization. One of the biggest faults to this program is that a lot of your home-cooked meals and those from restaurants are a no-no. The company sends you prepackaged meals and recipes that you need to maintain. Although there is great potential for losing weight, not everyone can afford to join this kind of a program. - Paleo Diet
Ranked in last place on US News’ website, the Paleo diet has a simple mentality.[1] If paleolithic humans didn’t eat it, neither should you. This means cutting out processed foods altogether. No grains, dairy products, pastas and anything else that wasn’t available thousands of years ago. Many experts believe this isn’t a healthy way to eat only because you’re missing out on various nutrients the body needs to perform. - Atkins
As one of the least healthy alternatives, I needed to add this one because of one simple fact: it has great potential for short-term weight loss. Remember, there have been plenty of people who had difficulties with this diet in the past. It’s premise is to cut out as many carbs as possible in order for the body to burn fat for energy. The problem with this is that the human body doesn’t store certain kinds of vitamins and minerals within that fat.
What is the Best Diet Plan for Me?
I don’t subscribe to any hardcore diet plan. For me, I simply reduce my intake while focusing more on nutritional value of certain kinds of foods. I don’t eliminate products or cut out foods because they might be carb-rich. Here is how I view dieting:
- Setting calorie goals each day and monitoring my intake through MyFitnessPal
- Sticking to proper portion sizes during each meal as well as snacks
- Increasing physical activity to burn off the excess carbs and calories I eat
- Know that I have to include healthier eating habits if I want to maximize my efforts
- Understand that two cookies is a serving, in most cases
- Use multivitamins to help get the components I’m missing in any given day
As of this post, my record weight loss was 10 pounds by sticking to this idea. It doesn’t cost me anything extra, in fact I often save money at the grocery store. I don’t cut anything out which helps me get the nutrients I need. I add more physical activity throughout the day which has been greatly beneficial for increasing my energy levels as well as physical capabilities.
You don’t have to view certain foods as forbidden as long as you eat in moderation. When you discover a balance between what you eat and how much you’ll use, you can drop pounds relatively quick. Find the best diet plan that works for you and embrace it. But remember, just because it works for one person doesn’t mean it’ll work for you.
Sources:
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