One of the most important things people want to know when they have once again decided that it is time to get rid of the extra weight and decrease some of their caloric intake is exactly which diet is best?
Even though we are all different, we all have the same desires and that is quite simple
, diets that can make us thin in relatively short order. Some sort of miracle diet pill or super-secretive eating plan that makes fat melt away and never ever return. Well, that’s actually the second part of the big dream and that is how to be certain that all the weight lost through dieting stays gone through the years.
The more diets that are published in magazines and on the Internet, the more people are confused about what dieting really means and about the right way of bringing your body back in shape. The significant increase in obesity has turned weight loss into a booming industry like we have never seen and the market is growing more every year. It seems that regardless of your actual qualifications, all you need is a fashionable idea and a creative marketing plan in order to make a ton of money or make you extremely popular by proposing some sort of weird diet.
Yes, there are plenty of diets floating around and here we are going to review a few of the best-known diets.
So let’s start with one of the most well-known fad diets around and that is the Atkins diet. Almost every one has heard of the Atkins diet, primarily because of the flood of internet articles boasting about the amazing results as well as the boat-load of cheering satisfied customers.
The hallmark of the Atkins diet is that it lets you eat high fat dairy products like cheese and butter. However, over the past few years the Atkins diet has fallen from grace a bit because of growing suspicions that this diet increases the risk of heart diseases. Another draw back is that Atkins' followers complain about diarrhea, weakness, muscle cramps and even rashes. The debate over the scientific fundamentals of this diet rages on.
Another popular diet plan is called The Zone. The invention of Barry Sears and The Zone is all about eating the correct combination of foods in order to gain the appropriate hormonal balance.
This state of balance, which is called the “Zone”, allows the body to eat calories and utilize them throughout the day without storing any of the calories as fat. Sadly, this diet discriminates heavily among foods without any scientific data to back up the decision. Starchy vegetables, whole grains and beans are banned, although these foods are not in conflict with the principles of the diet. The American Heart Association says the Zone diet lacks basic nutrients while encouraging followers to eat high-protein foods.
Let's talk about the Jenny Craig diet next.
One of the country's longest running diet plans, Jenny Craig joined the weight loss business in the early 1980s and it’s still going strong today. The basic principle of this plan is a trade off because you don’t have to pick the recipes, do the shopping or even the cooking. However, you are required to buy the prepackaged Jenny Craig food.
The cost can exceed $100 per week. Oh and lest we forget, there's also a membership costs that must be paid and the shopping that you must do for the fruits and vegetables which are not included with the prepackaged food. So if money isn't the issue and you think you can put up with eating food from a box every day, then perhaps Jenny Craig is a good choice for you.
But just remember that there are other similar low-calorie foods which you can buy at the grocery store and the best part is that you don’t even have to talk with the Jenny Craig "expert" who insists that you eat only the Jenny Craig prepackaged food, after all she does get a percentage of the sales price of all the food he convinces users to buy.
From a brilliant cardiologist in sunny Florida comes the relatively new South Beach diet.
This diet has the right idea and but perhaps not exactly the right approach. It is important to remember that a lot of people have lost weight while on South Beach but the real challenge comes in the long run when you are trying to decide if can actually stick with it. During the first phase of South Beach you are taught to eliminate the majority of carbohydrate containing food.
Lucky for users of this diet, the induction phase only lasts two weeks. But the tragedy in the second phase which allows a half-hearted return of whole grains and fruits is that is lasts as long as necessary. If reaching your goal weight takes you one year, then you are stuck with the second phase for just that long. And frankly it's simply too bad if you don't like the foods on the plan, you're just out of luck since there are no exchanges allowed.
Another veteran diet program is Weight Watchers.
It should be no surprise that this is really one of the best diets around because it provides the user with all the tools needed to succeed. If you are determined to lose weight, Weight Watchers gives you all the information and tools you need to do it and the group support you find at a Weight Watchers meeting or the on-line community will be there to help you. If you feed off of group support during tough times and need it to strengthen your willpower, then you will most likely succeed with Weight Watchers. But if you don’t like the idea of constant peer pressure, then this diet is not for you.
As you can see, there are a lot of diets out there, some good and some not so good. The best thing to do when selecting a diet is to research your choices heavily. Figure out what people who have used the diet have had to say about it. Then see what doctors and dietitians have to say about it. If you tried to read between the lines and figure out the sales pitch from the actual truth, then you will probably be able to figure out the best diet for you. Definitely listen to what the doctors are saying about the diet. You should never put your health at risk in order to fit back into those skinny jeans.
