What is the Best Weight Loss Diet for YOU?
I bet you're guessing right now.
Could it be the vegan diet?
Paleo?
Ketogenic?
What about low carb?
High carb low fat?
Raw?
I'm here to tell you that the answer is none of the above.
What matters when you want to lose weight is calories in - calories out. If you are eating less calories than your body is burning, you will lose weight. This is a fact that has stood the test of time. No matter what anyone says, you can't "beat the system" by eating all vegetables or eating no fat or eating no carbs. So save yourself the worry, anxiety, indecisiveness, and effort and stop trying to manipulate every single variable of your diet but the calories themselves (what ACTUALLY matters).
If you are in a caloric deficit, you will lose weight.
Now how you, as an individual, are able to maintain that caloric deficit over a long period of time in order to lose weight and get the body you desire is up to you, and only up to you.
You can lose weight eating Twinkies or McDonalds.
You can lose weight drinking juice.
One is not inherently better than the other in terms of weight loss alone.
Hopping from the next fad diet to the newest fad diet will only get you so far.
Cutting out all carbs, never having any sweets, eating only vegetables - depriving yourself in any way of what you truly want to eat on a mental and emotional level and what your body truly craves and wants on a biological level has the potential to backfire. Trust your body. Trust that no one diet fits all. Trust that you can figure out what works for you. As long as you are eating a low enough amount of calories, then it will work.
Instead of asking yourself, "what diet is best?", I want you to ask, "what diet do I want to eat, that will work"?
The following questions will help you explore yourself and narrow down the ideal diet for YOU:
Don't answer how you think you should answer, or based off a study or an article you have read. Don't let the new data and opinions of others determine what you need to eat. You don't need to label yourself as following a specific diet. You also don't need to feel obligated to "eat healthy" if your goal is simply weight loss. You need to live according to YOUR values. The healthiest choice according to the media, society, or the latest nutrition book, is not always the best choice for you, or even for weight loss for that matter (see my article on Why the Salad Isn't Always the Healthier Choice). In fact, the meaning of "health" is different for everyone.
It is so easy for us to get wrapped up in what the media tells us we should eat and what we shouldn't eat, so much so that we forget the simple truth that it's the calories that matter. We waste our time worrying about if we should eat meat or not (I'll get cancer!), if we should eat that bagel (oh no what about the gluten!), or if we should have a bite of cake (but the sugar!). If we listened to everything we read online we would have a diet of water and vegetables, and even that would feel like walking on eggshells. We could do no right.
You only have one life. You need to be happy. But you also need to be successful. And the only way to be both happy and successful is to learn how to live the life you truly love, while still working towards your goals every day. It is my wish for you that you will be able to feel a sense of peace with food. With diets. To stop labelling yourself as a vegan or a paleo dieter or a low-carber and just be yourself.
Forget the labels. They are restrictive. They will only make you feel like you need to use steadfast determination to stick with a diet that may not be ideal for you. Like pushing against gravity. It's futile. Every individual has different preferences. Every individual has a different biochemical makeup. Different food sensitivities. Maybe you want to go vegan but you can't eat beans or soy and you want to eat some egg whites or low fat meat for protein. Maybe you want to go paleo but you want to include some whole grain bread. Heaven forbid you eat some whole grain bread. It will ruin your whole diet! What a failure you are! See the mindset you can get into? FORGET DIET LABELS. FORGET THEM. Take a look at the different diets if you like, and see what other people have eaten, and see what works for them. Try them, explore, see how your body responds. But don't feel like you need to commit to a specific diet and if you don't you're a failure. Even if it is one of your own making.
Be open to the possibility that your body's needs will change daily, monthly, seasonally, yearly. You are growing. You are learning. And the more and more you learn to listen to your body and what is working for you on your weight loss journey the more and more you will find an ideal way of eating for you that is UNIQUE and SPECIAL to you.
You need no justification or explanation for what your diet is. Even if it changes every minute every day every month. If they ask, just tell people: I eat that. I don't eat that. Simple as that.
Your body. Your food. Your choices. Your life.
Be empowered and don't give in to the ego's desire to label yourself, restrict yourself, deprive yourself, or shun yourself for not living up to society's expectations for how you should live your life. Don't give in to the notion that you need to stay committed to an external label. Don't feel like you need to be strictly committed to something that may or may not work for you. You can change your goals every day. You can change your plan every day. As long as you are always going in the right direction, you will get to your destination, no matter what the method.
Love, Amanda.
Could it be the vegan diet?
Paleo?
Ketogenic?
What about low carb?
High carb low fat?
Raw?
I'm here to tell you that the answer is none of the above.
What matters when you want to lose weight is calories in - calories out. If you are eating less calories than your body is burning, you will lose weight. This is a fact that has stood the test of time. No matter what anyone says, you can't "beat the system" by eating all vegetables or eating no fat or eating no carbs. So save yourself the worry, anxiety, indecisiveness, and effort and stop trying to manipulate every single variable of your diet but the calories themselves (what ACTUALLY matters).
If you are in a caloric deficit, you will lose weight.
Now how you, as an individual, are able to maintain that caloric deficit over a long period of time in order to lose weight and get the body you desire is up to you, and only up to you.
You can lose weight eating Twinkies or McDonalds.
You can lose weight drinking juice.
One is not inherently better than the other in terms of weight loss alone.
Hopping from the next fad diet to the newest fad diet will only get you so far.
Cutting out all carbs, never having any sweets, eating only vegetables - depriving yourself in any way of what you truly want to eat on a mental and emotional level and what your body truly craves and wants on a biological level has the potential to backfire. Trust your body. Trust that no one diet fits all. Trust that you can figure out what works for you. As long as you are eating a low enough amount of calories, then it will work.
Instead of asking yourself, "what diet is best?", I want you to ask, "what diet do I want to eat, that will work"?
The following questions will help you explore yourself and narrow down the ideal diet for YOU:
- What foods do I enjoy eating the most?
- What foods will I be able to stick to eating every day?
- What foods and/or combinations of foods will I be happy with eating?
- What foods are easiest to prepare with my lifestyle?
- What foods could I not live without?
- What foods could I definitely live without?
- Which diets have left me hungry all the time? Which foods, combinations of foods, or meals have caused me to feel hungrier or feel hungry again shortly after eating? What foods have caused me to feel more satisfied with less calories?
- Have I been able to keep my calories lower with more high protein foods? Higher fat foods? Or higher carb foods?
- Are there certain foods or combinations of foods that trigger me to overeat? Are there certain foods or combinations of foods that leave me hungrier than before I started eating or cause me to eat more later in the day?
- Are there certain foods or combinations of foods that leave me feeling stable, steady, and satisfied for hours?
- Do I eat less when I eat smaller meals more often or a few larger meals during the day?
- Do I eat less when I have breakfast or do I do better when I skip it?
- Do I eat less calories overall when I have a snack before bed or when I stop eating a few hours before bed?
- What times of the day am I hungrier, do I do better if I eat less at other meals and save more calories for these particular times of the day?
Don't answer how you think you should answer, or based off a study or an article you have read. Don't let the new data and opinions of others determine what you need to eat. You don't need to label yourself as following a specific diet. You also don't need to feel obligated to "eat healthy" if your goal is simply weight loss. You need to live according to YOUR values. The healthiest choice according to the media, society, or the latest nutrition book, is not always the best choice for you, or even for weight loss for that matter (see my article on Why the Salad Isn't Always the Healthier Choice). In fact, the meaning of "health" is different for everyone.
It is so easy for us to get wrapped up in what the media tells us we should eat and what we shouldn't eat, so much so that we forget the simple truth that it's the calories that matter. We waste our time worrying about if we should eat meat or not (I'll get cancer!), if we should eat that bagel (oh no what about the gluten!), or if we should have a bite of cake (but the sugar!). If we listened to everything we read online we would have a diet of water and vegetables, and even that would feel like walking on eggshells. We could do no right.
You only have one life. You need to be happy. But you also need to be successful. And the only way to be both happy and successful is to learn how to live the life you truly love, while still working towards your goals every day. It is my wish for you that you will be able to feel a sense of peace with food. With diets. To stop labelling yourself as a vegan or a paleo dieter or a low-carber and just be yourself.
Forget the labels. They are restrictive. They will only make you feel like you need to use steadfast determination to stick with a diet that may not be ideal for you. Like pushing against gravity. It's futile. Every individual has different preferences. Every individual has a different biochemical makeup. Different food sensitivities. Maybe you want to go vegan but you can't eat beans or soy and you want to eat some egg whites or low fat meat for protein. Maybe you want to go paleo but you want to include some whole grain bread. Heaven forbid you eat some whole grain bread. It will ruin your whole diet! What a failure you are! See the mindset you can get into? FORGET DIET LABELS. FORGET THEM. Take a look at the different diets if you like, and see what other people have eaten, and see what works for them. Try them, explore, see how your body responds. But don't feel like you need to commit to a specific diet and if you don't you're a failure. Even if it is one of your own making.
Be open to the possibility that your body's needs will change daily, monthly, seasonally, yearly. You are growing. You are learning. And the more and more you learn to listen to your body and what is working for you on your weight loss journey the more and more you will find an ideal way of eating for you that is UNIQUE and SPECIAL to you.
You need no justification or explanation for what your diet is. Even if it changes every minute every day every month. If they ask, just tell people: I eat that. I don't eat that. Simple as that.
Your body. Your food. Your choices. Your life.
Be empowered and don't give in to the ego's desire to label yourself, restrict yourself, deprive yourself, or shun yourself for not living up to society's expectations for how you should live your life. Don't give in to the notion that you need to stay committed to an external label. Don't feel like you need to be strictly committed to something that may or may not work for you. You can change your goals every day. You can change your plan every day. As long as you are always going in the right direction, you will get to your destination, no matter what the method.
Love, Amanda.
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