[dropcap]I[/dropcap]t’s a whole crazy world out there when it comes to picking the ‘right’ diet. So how do you pick the ‘right’ one? As with most things in health and fitness…’it depends’.
It depends on your body type
It depends on your activity levels
It depends on your lifestyle
It depends on your goals
And that’s just scratching the surface of the ‘it depends’.
I’ve been there, done that and got the T-shirt. I’ve been guilty of using all types of diets with clients in the past, it’s easy to get sucked into doing the latest ‘trendy’ form of eating.
But what really works?
Well, honestly and in my opinion the ‘best’ diet is one that you can stick to….forever whilst still achieving your goals. Now don’t get me wrong, if you have a tough goal, going through tough periods of dieting here and there will also be part of the process but ultimately you should be able to stick to your regime for the majority of the time.
Old habits will come creeping back in and we don’t want this do we? That’s what made you want to change yourself in the first place!
Lets have a look at what I’ve found in my experience….
The gluten free diet (GFD) – Not really applicable to you unless you ACTUALLY have a gluten intolerance and the % of people who genuinely have this is very low.
However, I have found that MOST clients that go gluten free for a short period of time do feel less bloated, more energy and achieve good weight loss results. The biggest problem with it though, it’s HARD to maintain. I mean, who doesn’t love a pizza or a nice slice of toast, right?
Oh and whilst we’re on the topic of gluten free, just because something is gluten free DOES NOT make it healthy.
So to wrap it up (pun intended), yes the GFD could work to help drop some weight, chances are you won’t stay consistent with it though as it’s hard work unless you have to do it because you are intolerant.
RG tip: limit the amount of gluten you have, no need to cut it out completely. You will see some great benefits of this and be able to keep it consistent. There are plenty of great carb choices that don’t contain gluten.
Dairy Free – I know you’ve heard the saying:
“we’re the only animal that drinks another animals milk”
Yeah odd right?
Anyway, it’s kind of a pointless saying really as we eat the rest of the cow, right?
Anyway, this isn’t something I have really implemented with any of my clients. Unless a client was showing signs of bloating or any other signs of an intolerance I would always keep dairy in. Even then I would only remove it for a short while to see if the signs would reduce, if not dairy would go straight back in.
Honestly, I don’t think most people need to worry about dairy being in their diet.
No one in their right mind would want to cut out cheese, would they? 😉
Low Fat diet – The first point I have to get across here is; eating fats DON’T make you fat. You do have to be mindful of them as they carry double the calories compared to protein and carbohydrates but its NOT because they’re fats.
In fact you should be embracing good fats into your diet. Fats are a vital part of the bodies functioning. It provides an energy source for when carbohydrates are not available. Fats enable the body to absorb important vitamins such as vitamin D which helps us to absorb calcium.
Another huge role fats play is the regulation of your body temperature as well as being responsible for producing our sex hormones.
Didn’t know that did you? Now you know!
So don’t be scared, be mindful. Because any food group over consumed will cause weight gain.
RG tip: here’s some good fats for you:
Avocado
Nuts
Red meat
Wild salmon
Flax seed
Coconut oil
Real butter (yes real butter, you did read that right)
Low carb diet – the big one that you’ve been waiting for. Let’s get this very clear; carbohydrates are NOT the enemy here. The problem we have as a society and in the western world is that we over consume them (meaning a surplus of calories=weight gain). In actual fact, when carbs are used correctly they are a fantastic tool to help create fat loss (no joke!)
Going zero carb for short while or low carb will have good weight loss effects but this is mainly due to creating a deficit in your overall calories, not just because you have taken carbs out.
The biggest problem when going low carb for most of you is that you don’t INCREASE your fats and proteins. Meaning that you are starving all day every day, so you associate low carb with low calorie dieting < very different!
This will lead to low compliancy and poor consistency. That means you won’t achieve your goals ☹
I’m a firm believer that you should EARN your carbs, if you haven’t been very active one day; pull them back. For the days when you’re really active; add them in.
So, now lets clear up the whole brown bread/pasta is better than white bread pasta myth; The main difference here is that there is more dietary fiber in the brown alternatives. You need dietary fiber for weight loss! Fiber is often-overlooked tool for fat loss.
I can hear you thinking…
“but if nothing is the devil, what is the answer?”
Glad you asked!
Well, honestly….A well balanced diet. Full of lean meats, fish and poultry. Plenty of vegetables with an array of different carb and fat sources.
That right there will set you up for life, no faddy diets and stupid meal replacement shakes, just good old fashioned healthy eating < winner!
If you ‘re not sure how to set up your calories and your macros (protein, carbs & fats), I’ll be writing up a simple ‘how to’ soon!
To make sure you don’t miss out on that, sign up to my daily emails here > CLICK ME
You’ll also be gifted with some bad-ass fat loss tips because I’m nice like that 😉
Rich Gunter
