Nowadays there is so much information, research and opinions about what is the best diet or method of eating to lose weight, gain muscle or stay in shape. Paleo, Atkins, Keto, Weight Watchers, Intermittent Fasting……. I’m sure many of you will have heard about or at least tried one of these popular methods of eating. Chances are if you tried one of them then you would have lost weight, but did you maintain the weight loss?
The reality is that pretty much all these diets will work, initially. However, the true measure of a successful diet or training plan will be if the results are sustained longer than a 4, 6 or 8 week plan.
The reason these diets, or any weight loss plan works is due to the fact you will enter a negative energy balance. This basically means you will burn off more calories than you consume. No matter what diet you are following if you are not in a negative energy balance then you will not lose weight.
Many of these diets work because that is exactly what happens when you stick to the guideleines. A low carbohydrate diet works, not because you are cutting out carbohydrates but because by removing carbohydrates you are putting your body in a negative energy balance. It is all about calories in against calories out. This is where people believe that carbs are the enemy but in reality by eliminating carbs you are just cutting a big chunk of calories. This can be applied to any of the macronutrients or when you eliminate any food from your diet. Its not the said ‘food’ its the resulting calorie deficit that is a result of your changed eating habits.
So what is the best diet?
The reality is that the best diet is the one that you can stick to whilst obtaining the results you are after.
Adherence is the key for any long term progress. If you lost weight on a low carb diet over 6 weeks and put it all back on during a week long carb binge on week 7 then this diet did not work. Overly restrictive diets or depriving yourself from a certain food(s) do not tend to be sustainable and people adopting this strategy tend to fall off the wagon and spend years either being on a diet or off a diet, creating the yo-yo effect.
A good approach is to adopt a 90-10 rule, where 90% of your calories come from nutrient dense foods such as meat, veg, fruit, potatoes, etc. A good way of thinking of this is ‘single ingredient foods’ or ‘foods that your grandparents would recognise’. The remaining 10% should be made up from foods you enjoy, that may not necessarily have any nutrirional value butyou enjoy the taste of them. By adopting this approach you will feel like you have more control and be more inclined not to ‘binge’ on foods that you weere once told you were not allowed to have. If this does not work then you may just have to reduce your calories a bit to put you in a negative calorie balance.
If you are currently following a diet that you hate and you know you won’t stick to it then you need to change your approach, food is meant to be enjoyed and this can be done whilst getting the physique you want.
Coach Milligan 