There seem to be countless diets out there, and they all promise to be the most effective way to lose those unwanted pounds. While these diets may have unique labels and marketing, the ones that really work really take one of three approaches, they are calorie-controlled balanced diets, low-fat diets, or low-carb diets. To make things a bit more complicated, some are a combination of two of the above, but their main underlying philosophy will generally be based on one of the three. As always, be sure to work with your doctor to decide which diet to follow and how to follow it. Which one works? Well, they all do, depending on the individual, their time frame, and their goals. So instead of thinking of it as choosing the “best” diet, you need to choose the one that’s best for you.

Balanced Calorie Controlled Diet

This is by far the healthiest option, assuming you have no medical conditions that indicate otherwise. This diet is a very simple approach, eating protein, fat and carbohydrates in smaller portions and consuming a reduced number of calories per day leads to weight loss. Overall, this is a very effective and healthy way to lose weight, but it doesn’t always work for everyone in every unique situation with the time frame determined by the individual. However, in the long term, this is an ideal diet and, in fact, it is not really a diet but good nutrition. The ability to easily vary your calories should make it easier to keep your body in a calorie deficit, which is the foundation of weight loss. To follow this type of diet, simply calculate how many calories you burn in a day (there are plenty of calorie calculators online, just Google how many calories do I need a day) and reduce that number, the more you reduce it. the greater the weight loss should be, up to a point. Remember that the lowest medically recommended daily caloric intake for men is 1500 and 1200 for women. Many of the popular prepackaged meal plan diets follow this strategy. While they may have slight differences, these diets tend to follow a 1 part fat, 2 parts protein, 3 parts carb strategy (a proven balanced diet) while cutting out bad fats (think trans fats) and sugars bad (think candy bars). This is the way I eat most of the time (with the exception of my cheat times and when I’m looking to lose weight) I can easily maintain my weight following this program but I really can’t lose weight without a very drastic reduction in calories (less than 1000 per day) and that drastic reduction in calories makes it impossible to maintain my workouts, so I don’t use this type of program to lose weight but to maintain it. A feeding day on this type of schedule looks like this, with meals every two to three hours:

• Breakfast: oatmeal with raisins and cinnamon and sausage

• Snack – fruit and a handful of almonds

• Lunch: whole wheat, rye or wheat turkey sandwich with cheese, a handful of baby carrots and a piece of fruit.

• Snack 2 – Yogurt and granola

• Dinner: grilled chicken or fish, sweet potato and mixed green salad

• Snack 3 – Yogurt and fruit

There are many options in this type of plan, the above is just an example based on my own experiences.

low fat diet

A low-fat diet is really a twist on calorie reduction, as one gram of fat has 9 calories, while one gram of protein and one gram of carbohydrates only have 4 calories. Low-fat diets don’t mean fat-free, because some fats are essential for your body to function. It is generally considered that less than 30% of total calories come from fat, so these diets are not as simple as they seem, as you have to keep track of your total calories and how many of those calories come from fat. The most effective low-fat diets also focus on keeping your total daily caloric intake low and eating smaller meals every two to three hours. For me, low-fat diets are too much math, so even though I don’t eat trans fats and avoid other bad fats, I’ve never really followed a low-fat diet. However, someone I know has and here is his typical day of eating while following this type of diet:

• Breakfast: oatmeal and a cup of milk

• Snack 1: 1 cup of 1% fat cottage cheese and half a can of pineapple chunks

• Lunch: turkey, tomato and cheddar cheese on whole grain bread

• Snack 2: low crackers and turkey

• Dinner: grilled fish, mixed green salad and mixed frozen vegetables

Remember that the serving size will contribute to the total calories per meal and fat should be less than 30% of the total daily caloric intake, see how I said too much math. This type of diet has been shown in recent studies to be the most effective for weight loss in around 40% of the population and some believe that reducing fat intake lowers cholesterol, so despite the math it could worth a try.

low carb diet

Low carb diets are some of the most popular diets on the market today because they generally tend to be the most effective, quickest, and easiest to follow. While they will vary in both the amount and types of carbohydrates they allow, their approach to controlling fat intake and their concern for total calories are based on the same principle, reducing calorie intake enough to reduce insulin production and prevent dietary fat from increasing. it is stored as fat in the body and forces the body into a state of ketosis where it has no glucose to use for fuel, so the body has to cannibalize stored fat for energy. While all of that sounds good, low-carb diets also have the potential to cannibalize your hard-earned muscle cells (which creates a reduction in your body’s ability to burn calories overall, since muscle burns far more calories than stored fat) and has the potential to cause damage to your liver. There’s also the possibility that a low-carb diet could reduce your energy to exercise, but studies have suggested this problem may be a negative if the diet contains relatively high amounts of fat (which risks raising your cholesterol, so be careful). There is much controversy regarding the general health benefits of low-carb diets, but studies have shown that they are the most effective type of diet for around 45% of the population, and their ease of execution makes them the basis of such a popular diet. shows like Adkins, The Zone and The South Beach Diet. Low-carb diets are also the diets of many fitness professionals (including your own), as well as many of the fitness competitors and fitness models whose pictures in health magazines make the rest of us feel the need for chocolate. Most of us in the industry will cycle our low carb diet for either a short period of time and then return to a balanced diet before starting another low carb cycle (typically I’ll do three to four weeks of low carb followed by two to three weeks of a balanced diet before another three to four weeks of low carb) or they will cycle their carbs by having low carbs for one, two or three days and then being high carbs for the same number of days and repeating until they reach their goal. weight loss goal. This prevents the muscle loss common to low carb diets and the smarter of the two strategies is to ride a bike every day as it will work better to protect the liver, keep energy levels up and prevent fat loss. muscle mass Another approach is to eat low carb for five days in a row and follow up with a day or two of eating high carb. You can play around with different cycling combinations, I use three weeks on two weeks off because it’s the easiest for me to follow; the main goal is to prevent muscle loss and liver damage by limiting the amount of time you spend on a low-carb diet. Like a low-fat diet, to be effective, a low-carbohydrate diet must also reduce total daily caloric intake and must consist of meals every two to three hours. This is a typical low carb day for me:

• Breakfast: egg white omelette and turkey sausage

• Snack 1: protein shake

• Lunch: turkey wrapped in cheddar cheese, mixed greens salad with oil and vinegar dressing

• Snack 2 – cheese and almonds

• Dinner: Grilled Chicken and Large Mixed Green Salad with Cucumbers and Tomato and Oil and Vinegar Dressing

• Snack 3 – Gelatin without sugar

• Before bed: casein protein shake

Remember that whatever dietary approach you take, get the advice of a trusted medical professional to protect your overall health while shedding those unwanted pounds, and make sure you’re not doing more harm than good by following a low-fat or low-carb diet. . Finally, remember that any solid diet involves general restrictions on daily caloric intake and eating every two to three hours, so if you see a diet that recommends otherwise, move on to the next one.