What kind of diet is best for you??

With all different kinds of diets out there why we choose to go low-fat or no-fat, do we go low carb or high carb, low calorie, a combination? What makes one diet successful for one person and not work so well for another person?

    First thing you want to do is consider your lifestyle, consider when you eat and how you eat, and how eating actually competes with other aspects of your life. In other words if you come up with a diet that integrates well with your lifestyle you will have a much better chance at success. What you want to consider is a long-term, lifestyle change if you consider a diet just as a temporary thing to lose weight, chances are you will be much less successful. You also have to consider what got you to this point, are you a late-night snacker, perhaps you have a sweet tooth, maybe you're like myself and you like to drink a few beers (or maybe more than a few). These are all things that we have to consider when we look at the diet, and the lifestyle changes we plan to make.

All diets work pretty much by eliminating one or more types of food let's take a look at three really popular types of diets.

Low-fat diet

     Overall the point of this diet is to reduce your fat intake, reduce it from anywhere from 10 to 30%, you have to limit foods like meat and dairy and emphasize on naturally low-fat foods like vegetables, fruits and grains. A popular example of the low-fat diet is the Dr. Dean Ornish diet which severely reduces fat intake. This is pretty much a vegetarian diet as the recommendation is to entirely eliminate all red meat, chicken,  & fish. Dairy is also limited as well the only dairy allowed in this diet is fat free yogurt, milk fat-free cheeses and egg white. Pretty much at this point all that's left is fruits and vegetables and whole grains. Weight watchers is another very popular low-fat diet plan. The Weight Watchers method allows you to count calories by giving certain types of foods “point's”. And, this points system allows you to watch what unique and reduce your fat intake.

Low calorie diet

     The low calorie diet gives you a much more variety of types of food to a which are supposed to just eat less of it therefore "counting calories". Usually, an overall number is given such as 400 cal per meal or 1200 cal per day and the calories are reduced therefore helping you lose weight. Nutrisystem is a very popular example of the low calorie diet. The Nutrisystem client has pre-prepared meals that have already counted calories for you.

The low carbohydrate diet

      Another very popular diet category is the low carb diet this diet recommends eating more protein and fat and fewer carbohydrates, and in the process you end up reducing calorie intake as well. Some low-carb diets allow you can eat whatever you want that as long as it doesn't have carbs and even foods that are high in fat, such as a hamburgers (without the bun), or bacon. The low-carb diet limits eating most fruits, vegetables, breads, and cereals, which makes the low carbohydrate diet pretty much a high-protein diet. A popular example of the low-carb diet is the Atkins diet.