How to Choose a Diet Plan

2018-03-26 Laurie Leave a comment

How to Choose a Diet Plan

(So Many Diets, Just One YOU!)

Many of us want to get into a healthy lifestyle that will help us slim down. If you need to lose weight, then introducing some changes in your diet is going to be mandatory.

Unfortunately, this is where we tend to make mistakes because it becomes difficult to modify nutrition without a proper plan.

The diet plan you choose can make or break your weight loss efforts. To help you lose weight and improve your health, this guide explains how to choose a perfect diet plan without stressing yourself out.

The Plan You Choose Affects More Than Your Weight

According to the report published in the New England Journal of Medicine, more than two billion adults and children around the globe are overweight or obese and they suffer health problems due to their weight.

In other words, two-thirds of the world population carries excess weight due to urbanization, sedentary lifestyle, and unhealthy diets.

The same report showed that the US has the greatest prevalence of obese children and young adults at 13%.

The US also has the greatest number of obese adults with 79.4 million people or 35% of the population.

An unhealthy diet is one of the biggest culprits for weight gain, but it has many other effects too.

Dangers associated with poor food choices include:

Tooth decay
Eating disorders
Depression
Heart disease and stroke
Type 2 diabetes
Hypertension (high blood pressure)
High cholesterol
Osteoporosis
Some cancers
Nutrient deficiencies

It is also important to mention that being overweight or obese also increases the risk of health problems such as type 2 diabetes, cardiovascular diseases, and many others. Now it’s easy to understand why successful and healthy weight loss depends on your diet plan choice.

What You Need Your Diet Plan to Do:

Boost energy levels to keep you active throughout the day.

Supply the body with much-needed nutrients essential for growth, repair, good health

Aid weight management

Suppress the appetite and keep you full for longer

Correct nutritional deficiencies

Prevent or manage chronic diseases and other health problems

Lower your cholesterol levels

Increase your productivity

Improve your mood

Speed up metabolism

Strengthen the immune system

The Process of Choosing The Right Diet Plan

The proper diet plan allows you to achieve your body goal and target weight without harming your health, but what is the ideal plan. Below is a process that helps you find the best diet plan for your needs and preferences.

Take An Individual Approach

Your friend, co-worker or family member slimmed down following a specific diet regimen and you want to do it, too. After all, if it worked for them, it will also work you. Not necessarily! You see, every person is different and we have a different body.

This also means that same eating patterns won’t work for all of us. When it comes to health (in general) and the nutrition, there is no one size fits all approach. Instead, you should take more time to think and find something that will truly work for you.

Interestingly, science also supports the role of personalization in healthy nutrition. An Israeli study published in the journal Cell found that healthy foods differ by individual. For the purpose of the study, scientists tracked blood sugar levels of 800 people.

They collected data through questionnaires, body measurements, glucose monitoring, blood tests, stool samples, and mobile app that participants used to report food intake and lifestyle.

Results of the research showed that blood glucose levels were strongly related to BMI and age, as expected. Interestingly, different people showed notably different responses to the same food, despite the fact their individual responses didn’t change from one day to another.

Why does this happen? Gut microbiota plays a big role in your weight management, diabetes, and other aspects of health. The composition of gut microbiota, balance of good and bad bacteria, is considered unique to every individual.

The above-mentioned study only confirms the importance of an individual approach to a diet plan, rather than following a program just because someone else does. Of course, this doesn’t mean you should follow just about every diet plan out there and see what works for you.

Too much dieting and following different patterns can wreak havoc on your health and metabolism and make it more difficult to lose weight.

What to do then? The first and most important step to choosing diet plan is to define your weight loss goals. Your goal should be specific and clarify how much weight you want to lose and a time frame you want to lose it.

Of course, your goal should be reasonable and achievable. Identifying the weight loss goal gives you a clearer idea of what you want the diet plan to look like. Get educated about different (and healthy) diet plans and opt for the one that will meet your criteria, weight goal, and other factors that will be discussed in other steps below.

Remember that what works best for me or your best friend, may not match your own goals and preferences. I found the program and products offered through HCG Triumph really helped me conquer my ferocious appetite. I particularly relied on the HCG Triumph 26.

Always use your own goals and preferences as your guideposts.

Think About Your Diet as a Way of Living

The modern society is obsessed with diets and it only intensified with social media. New diet programs emerge on social media platforms all the time and they take the internet by storm. The truth is that most of us misinterpret the word diet and firmly believe it refers to the “restricted eating for the purpose of successful weight loss”.

The reality is much different. What’s more, wrong interpretation of the term diet is one of the main reasons why people choose the wrong eating plan and don’t succeed in their weight loss endeavor.

The word diet comes from the Greek words dialtia and dialtan meaning a way of living. Basically, the word diet refers to the attitude of taking food or your typical nutrition pattern. It does NOT refer to some specific eating program as it is commonly believed.

If you go by the typical modern understanding of the word diet, chances are high you will look for some restrictive program that you follow for a certain period of time. Naturally, it is expected to achieve weight loss* during the course of the diet.

In many cases, these diet programs are way too limiting and deprive your body of certain foods and nutrients they carry. After the diet program is over, a person usually experiences yo-yo effect meaning he/she gains, even more, weight, unless you adopt some healthy changes in your nutrition pattern that will prevent that.

On the other hand, if you go by the real meaning of the word diet, you will look for well-balanced eating programs that promote intake of different food groups and aim to improve your overall health while aiding weight loss.

In these instances, it is not necessary to follow a program for a certain period of time and there are no structured meal recommendations. The point is to make a healthy diet a part of your lifestyle and go from there.

As you can see, the understanding of a simple word diet plays a significant role in the type of diet plan you will go for. What you can do here is to take a few moments to think what does the term diet mean to you? Use the answer to select the diet plan that fits perfectly into your own vision of nutrition.

Consider Your Personal Lifestyle and Preferences

When you’re choosing the best diet plan to slim down, it is crucial to consider your lifestyle. If a diet plan doesn’t match your lifestyle, then what’s the point? The reason is simple, that particular diet regimen becomes difficult to maintain and whenever you step on that scale it doesn’t show the number you expect.

As a result, your confidence suffers and it’s easy to believe that you’re the problem. Nope, you are not the problem here, but poor choice of a diet plan.

For instance, if you opt for a diet plan that recommends intake of two big meals and several small meals during the day and you don’t usually eat more than three times, then it will be difficult to keep up with this program, regardless of how healthy it is. That’s because the nutrition pattern doesn’t match the meal frequency you usually follow.

Ask yourself:

Can I stick to the timing and/or recommended number of meals or snacks?
Does this new plan require special preparation and cooking?
Do I have to increase consumption of foods I don’t really like?
Does the new diet plan have a family-friendly approach that I can easily introduce to my household?
Do I have enough time to prepare/cook meals this diet recommends?
Does my budget allow me to consume all foods suggested by this eating pattern?
Can this diet accommodate my travel and dining-out plans?
Is this diet suitable for my health condition?
Will this diet boost my energy levels and improve my athletic performance?

Remember, always go for the diet plan that you can easily incorporate into your lifestyle because it increases your chances of following it for long-term. Don’t forget your nutrition should support regular physical activity i.e. enhance your energy levels and help you train.

It’s not uncommon to come across eating plans that claim you’ll lose weight without exercise, but remember that combination of regular physical activity and healthy nutrition works best, according to the study from Obesity.

For example, it’s not a good idea to follow a diet plan that causes loss of muscle mass, not just fat. Exercise encourages muscle building which accelerates metabolism and burns more calories even when you’re done with the workout.

When considering any diet plan, you should ask yourself “Is this diet something I would be willing to do every day for the rest of my life?”

It’s simple; you shouldn’t consider some diet plan a temporary solution, but an inseparable part of your lifestyle. That way, you won’t feel like it’s some sort of obligation, but a normal part of life.

At the end of the day, weight loss isn’t a temporary solution either, once you lose weight you have to keep it off. This is why the diet choice is important, it should be an eating plan you are willing to follow for many years to come, which only intensifies the need for a well-balanced program.

Acknowledge and Address Your Bad Habits

The ideal diet plan for weight loss is the one that makes you feel like you’re not on a diet at all. For many people, diet plan symbolizes limitations and they heighten desire or cravings for foods they are not supposed to eat. Bad eating habits only intensify in these instances.

All of us have bad eating habits, but they differ from one person to another. The most common bad habits include:

Using Plates Or Bowls That Are Too Big – This bad habit makes you overeat unknowingly.

Late-Night Snacks – Eating late at night is never a good idea if you want to lose weight. Late-night snacks, usually involve unhealthy options such as ordering a pizza.

Endless Snacking – Some people have a habit to snack all the time and they usually opt for high-calorie foods full of empty carbs.

Skipping Meals – A common mistake that people constantly repeat is to skip meals in order to lose weight. When you start skipping meals your metabolism starts slowing and the body doesn’t get enough energy.

Emotional Eating – Food serves as a coping mechanism to some persons. Both positive and negative emotions can cause people to eat more than they should.

Eating Too Fast – When you’re eating too quickly, your brain doesn’t have enough time to catch up with the stomach. The brain doesn’t signal that you’re full until 15-20 minutes after you started eating. So, when wolfing down your food, it’s easy to eat way more than the body really needs.

Eating Too Much Junk Food – People eat junk food because it’s convenient for them and they believe healthy meals require more money and time. Regardless of the reason, junk food doesn’t provide much-needed nutrients and it is leading dietary mistake that causes weight gain.

Take a few moments to identify your bad eating habit(s). Sometimes we aren’t even aware of these bad habits. Look for a diet plan that helps you identify common mistakes in eating and helps you overcome them successfully.

Don’t look at these bad habits as something you’re giving up, but as obstacles that are preventing you from reaching target weight goal. Regardless of the plan you choose, focus on progress instead of perfection and strive to slowly improve* eating behaviors.

Structure or Flexibility

Different people need a different approach to a diet plan, we’ve already established that. This isn’t just about the selection of foods but also intensifies the need for select a nutrition program that suits you best.

Some people prefer structured plans which vary in length and usually come with lists of meals to eat every day, portion sizes, and snacks. These plans help them stay on the right track, particularly if the person can’t control his/her bad habits.

On the other hand, some individuals prefer flexible diet plans which allow them to make their own choices through the implementation of food groups recommended by that nutrition pattern.

For example, a vegan diet isn’t a structured, but a flexible plan and a person has the liberty to adjust their diet by implementing fruits and vegetables of their choice.

Whether you should go for a structured or a flexible diet plan depends on you and your needs. That being said, you should make sure the diet plan of your choice allows you to consume enough food and calories to combat hunger and keep you full for hours to avoid undermining your weight loss effort.

Your Appetite

Whichever diet plan you follow, appetite control is essential to long term weight loss. Meals should not be skipped, but they do need to be controlled, and that’s easier said than done.

Skipping meals actually forces your body to go into a starvation mode. It slows down the metabolic rate to preserve itself and makes the fat burning process more difficult. However, you will need to reduce calories.

I am a big believer in “success breeds success,” and I think it’s important to get your weight loss journey off on the right foot by losing weight without hunger, right from the start. That initial easy weight loss is like a shot in the arm, lifting your mood and motivating you to get to your goals without second-guessing yourself (which often leads to “falling off the wagon”).

There are many weight loss supplements available, but make sure you read reviews to see how well it’s actually worked for others. And of course, you need to make sure it has superior, effective ingredients, and it’s guaranteed.

If You Know You Need an Edge

If you need something to kill your appetite so you can get the pounds off, and are willing to dedicate yourself to changing your eating habits, I recommend The HGC Triumph Program. HCG Triumph is the official HCG diet company, and their diet and FDA-approved supplements are designed for rapid weight loss. I lost weight (almost too well) on this diet, and for me, it was well worth the effort.

By following the HCG Triumph program and using their supplements, you will have success with your weight loss, and thus be motivated toward continued success (which is so important) I believe this is program that can make this weight loss attempt your “best and final.”

Do Some Research

In order to slim down successfully and keep it off, you should get informed about different diet plans instead of focusing on one program only. We usually find some plan interesting and only learn a few things about it while completely overlooking all the others.

It’s better to get informed about different eating patterns and then opt for the one that best fits you and your goals, needs and preferences .

What’s Next?

For a rundown of the most common diet plans used for weight loss, read my post, “An Overview of Popular Diets – Which is Right For YOU“?