First things first, a diet is not a bad thing. Our culture and society have demonized that word, but the reality is that it simply refers to your eating pattern and habits. So quite literally everyone is on a diet. We all follow one. Yours might be different from mine, but at the end of the day what you eat is your diet.
When getting into the frequent buzz word diet plans like Vegan, Vegetarian, Keto, Atkins, Whole30, juice cleanses, detoxes and things of that nature, these diet plans have more specific guidelines that are to be followed if you are going to use the plan as it was intended. For example, the ketogenic diet was initially created to improve the lives of children with epilepsy. The purpose of this diet is very specific, and it is not often what you see in our crazy diet culture these days. The reason I bring this up is because I want to help you understand that before you go on a diet plan, you need to do your research and have a clear understanding of what the diet is intended for and what it will require of you.
Before you even pick a diet to follow, the first thing you should do is consider what your goals are. In a recent blog post you can read about goal setting in more detail, but when it comes to your dietary and nutrition goals, you must be specific and think both short term and long term. In the short term, you might want to lose fat, but you can’t be in a calorie deficit losing fat forever, so then in the long term you might want to maintain. Each of these goals require a slightly different strategy and nutrient intake.
For example, one thing to consider is the diet plan that helps you with fat loss might not be the best plan for long term maintenance. It surely can be, but if you choose a plan that promotes rapid fat loss and you lose weight quickly, maintaining that loss might be a little more challenging if your dietary plan doesn’t help teach you healthy habits along the way while fat loss occurs.
The bottom line with your nutrition goals is making sure you consider the longevity of the plan that you will be following. Ask yourself: will this diet be something that will sustain you long term? Is this plan something that you want to follow the rest of your life (or at least for a while after you reach your goal)? Will there be any circumstances that make you feel like you cannot adhere to the protocol? Does the dietary plan promote the healthy lifestyle that you are aiming to achieve?
After considering your nutrition goals, then it is time to really do some research into the plan that you are interested in utilizing. No diet plan is inherently wrong. What is right and works well for you might not be the best for someone else, because remember, all bodies are different. We each have unique digestive systems that respond better to certain foods. This is important to consider when choosing the right plan for you. If you know that you feel bloated and sluggish by eating a higher fat diet, then choosing Keto might not be your best option. That to say, when selecting the plan you want to have a very clear understanding of what the purpose of the diet is, meaning what and who it is beneficial for. If your goal is sustainable fat loss, then chances are a detox or juice cleanse won’t get you the lasting results that you are looking for.
Take your time to research what the diet will help you achieve and what you need to commit to in order to be successful when following it. This means you need to spend time understanding what foods are promoted by that diet plan. What should you be consuming more of according to that diet plan? What should you avoid? What should you buy more of in order to adhere to the diet? What lifestyle changes will you have to make in order to stick to this plan?
Knowing what the diet plan consists of will help you to be better prepared in knowing what to buy at the grocery store and plan ahead. The key to succeeding in following a diet ultimately comes down to your ability to stick to it. If you have a very clear understanding about what a diet includes, you will be more likely to plan ahead. This is especially important when it comes to dining out and social settings. This tends to be an area where people struggle with consistency, which is yet another thing to consider when selecting the plan that is right for you.
When it comes to your diet, it is helpful to focus on what food fuels and sustains you. What do you get excited to eat that you know makes you feel good? There is no right or wrong here, but it really comes down to having an understanding of what your body needs and feels best from consuming. If Keto, low-fat, Whole30 or intermittent fasting truly make you feel your best and help you long term, then great, follow that plan. What we are after here is a healthy sustainable lifestyle that doesn’t lead to cravings or a restriction mindset.
Perhaps the most important thing to remember is that just because someone you know lost a ton of weight following one diet plan, does not mean that you will have the same results as quickly or as easily as they did. Weight loss is not linear. This journey will take you some time to do it in a healthy way, but it is possible. Ultimately, your diet is what you eat, and if you want to make changes to improve it or move in a healthier direction, you have to create changes that genuinely make you feel better, not just change something because it is trendy.