What's The Best Diet?

[Dale K.]

Here are the things I look at when evaluating diet plans.

• Nutritional Quality
• Calorie Level
• Balanced Meals
• Meal Frequency & Timing
• Nutrition Education
• Accountability
• Support
• Maintenance Plan

When I am asked to recommend a plan for a specific person I then have to add:

• How well will this plan fit with this particular person's lifestyle, personal tastes, metabolic type, personality, health issues, and personal preferences?
• What is it that this person needs in terms of lifestyle and habit counseling? Does the plan even offer these things?

And most importantly:

How likely is it that this person will be able to maintain the weight loss achieved on the diet?

In other words, there is no best diet for everyone.

My answer to, "What's the best diet?", is always, "There isn't one."

A friend of mine always says, "The best diet is the one you can stick with."

My primary concern is that people are getting the proper nutrients in adequate amounts. It really starts there. If you are not getting enough of these things, the diet will be hard to stick with. If you can't stick with it long enough to get results, you're going to end up feeling discouraged, at best. This often leads to weight regain - sometimes above where you started.

Long term low calorie, nutrient void diets affect hormonal changes. This is a signal to your brain saying, "Something is wrong here - please help!" This change can begin to take place after 3-4 days. Depending on your body fat levels and how low the calories are, it could take longer.

Your brain's response will be to initiate a hormonal chain of events which willl require you to eat.

You can not willpower away your basic instinct to survive no more than you can willpower away your need to breath.

So, what's the best diet?

I'd like to hear from you! What's worked for you? What's sorta worked for you? What hasn't?

Maybe you could describe the perfect diet for you?

Here's mine: I get to eat whatever I want whenever I feel like it, still feel good, have energy, it cures cellulite, and I can still look half decent naked!

[JJG]

I did sorta Atkins low carb many years ago and lost 20 lbs. Kept it off for almost 4 years.
I have a freind that did Medifast 4 years ago. Lost 90 lbs and has gained 10-15 back over 2 years, but still looks great. Of course she changed her habits, too.
A cousin of mine did gastric bypass. Scary but worked for her. She lost nearly 150 lbs. My sister did gastric banding -twice-...not good results!