Dieting is what you do when you want to lose weight. People have a negative connotation of dieting because they associate it with hunger, stomach cramps, and reduced enjoyment of eating. But a diet is essentially whatever you eat—whether they’re nutritious foods or not.
Weight loss does not need to mean misery. It is also not always healthy. Some people achieve balanced health and wellness by turning fat into muscle. Their weight may go up as muscle is heavy. The food intake may even increase because muscles burn more calories. People achieve this by eating a variety of food that tastes good.
Cheat meals are factored into every diet. Some diets focus on increasing the intake of particular food groups. These diets may require you to eat more of the foods you enjoy, such as pizza, potato, or yogurt. These days you can customize your food at a good pizza restaurant so you can enjoy your meal without the ingredients you prefer to avoid. Even if your diet prohibits certain snacks, there are now healthy versions of everything. Dairy-free dieters can enjoy lactose-free ice cream. Meat-free dieters can enjoy soy protein-based faux meats. The important thing is to find a way of having a diet that works for your lifestyle and eating preferences.
Atkins Diet
This is one of the best-known diets. It can be customized based on individual preferences and is effective for weight loss. This makes it very popular with many people. However, it is a restrictive diet and is best followed by people who can be consistent in practicing discipline.
The Atkins diet requires users to track their carbs. You start by severely restricting your carb consumption and increasing the intake of nutrient-rich food. Because of the carb restriction, it can be difficult to follow long term.
Paleo Diet
This diet gained popularity very fast. However, it has some detractors because it assumes that it is based on a caveman-like diet. The idea is that you eat foods that would have been available during the paleolithic era. Thus, it focuses on good cavemen who would have been able to collect with hunting and gathering.
The paleo diet focuses on lean meats, fresh fish, nuts, seeds, fruits, and vegetables. You must give up dairy, sugar, processed foods, legumes, and grains. This can affect the levels of calcium, fiber, and some necessary vitamins for your body, so you will have to take supplements. This diet remains popular as it is effective for weight loss, lowering blood pressure, and appetite control.
Dukan Diet
This is an extreme version of the keto diet. It is very structured and has a lot of rules. Thus, it is best followed by someone with experience being highly disciplined in their diet. This is a very quick weight loss diet and must not be practiced long-term as it can be damaging.
The diet allows you to eat portion sizes you want but requires you to increase your protein intake a great deal while lowering your carb intake. This is a restrictive diet despite the lack of calorie tracking, but it will require supplement usage to ensure you get all the nutrients you need.
Carb Cycling
Most people enjoy carbs and do not want to give them up. Most carbs are staple foods in many cultures, and they contribute a great deal to the feeling of fullness after a meal. Unlike refined grains, which are considered empty calories, this diet emphasizes whole grains, fruits, and vegetables. This is much healthier, as refined grains can be a factor in increasing the possibility of diabetes.
Thus, carb cycling allows you to keep eating carbs but requires adjusting the way you eat them. Fewer carbs for low activity days and more carbs for physically active days. The idea is that your body will burn up the carbs for fuel. But it works best for people with fairly intense exercise regimens. If your activity day is a 30-minute jog, this diet may not show you much change in physicality.
DASH Diet
DASH stands for dietary approaches to stop hypertension. It was specifically designed to prevent high blood pressure, but it emphasizes healthy eating choices, and this can help anyone improve their health.
DASH requires you to develop healthy choices for all food groups. This means that you can eat carbs as long as they are whole grains. Sweet food is allowed, but it must be natural sugars. Some foods, such as beef and bacon, are not allowed as they are considered too high risk. As this is a diet that consistently works for many people, it is a sacrifice worth making for your improved health and wellness.
Follow a Diet with Others
Many people find it easier to follow a diet when they are doing it with others. Talk to your friends about forming a club around eating better and doing exercise as a group. This will help everyone to improve their health together and grow closer. You could even use your desire to change to a healthier lifestyle as a way to make new friends. There are many communities of people who are happy to welcome others and help them follow different diets.
A quick search on social media is sure to find you a group you can join for everything, from paleo diet enthusiasts to new vegan help groups. There are even organizations such as Weight Watchers that are focused on giving people community support with meal plans and exercise. Finding your community can help you stick with a diet long term, teach you to enjoy becoming active, and help you stay accountable to your weight loss goals.
