We all seem to be always on the lookout for those elusive magical beasts that are rarer than a herd of unicorns – Diets That Work.

We dream of eating programs that are easy to use, simple to follow and contain ingredients that we can find at the corner store. We fantasise about eating what we like, having a treat when we want and still watching the pounds melt away…

But is this possible? Or are we living in a wistful la-la land, and the harsh truth is that to drop the weight we have to ditch everything we like and live on spinach? It isn’t Christmas; It’s Monday!

Tubby investigates some of the types of diet that are Out There:-

Low Fat, Low Calorie Diets

Used to be incredibly popular in the Callanetics era of the 70s & 80s, when you were encouraged to give up everything you liked and exist on 1000 calories a day. Weight loss was extreme and so was your misery, because the moment you reached your target weight and started eating properly again, you promptly put all the weight back on. And more. Read more about why Low Calorie Diets Don’t Work.

High Protein Diets

We’re talking Atkins here; you eat as much protein (meat, cheese and anything fatty) that you fancy, but very few carbs (as in bread, pasta, veg) and the pounds just fall off you.
Well, they do, but it’s not good for you. And you feel ill and lethargic, since your body needs carbs for fuel and doesn’t function well on pure protein – like running a petrol engine on diesel. And it can damage your kidneys.
And the weight goes straight back on again when you get out of hospital!

Meal Replacement Diets

These encourage you to replace some or all of your meals with a shake or a bar for a specified period; the replacements are carefully nutritionally balanced to give you all you need. LighterLife is an example.
If you have a lot of weight to lose, these can be a good kick-starter – but they’re not cheap and you can become very bored very quickly. You’ll most certainly lose weight, but the danger comes when you start introducing “real” food again, as the temptation is to go crazy! You must be in good health to even think of these types of diet.

Reduced Calorie/Increased Exercise diet

Most other sensible diet plans fall into this category, and these are the ones that will work long-term. Results may be slower than the other diets at first; you are encouraged to aim for 1lb weight loss per week and increase your exercise to around 30-40 minutes a day. No foods are forbidden, but you regard high fat, high calorie items as occasional treats and try to eat healthy, lower fat food such as lean meat, foods cooked without excessive extra fat and wholegrain carbs, combined with lots of fruit and vegetables on a daily basis.
Good examples are The South Beach Diet, Weightwatchers, Slimming World and the Zone Diet, to name just a few.

In future articles, the dedicated researchers here at Tubby will review these diets and more, so that you can decide which one would best suit YOU.

All the best,

Carol J Bartram
(Personal Trainer)

Article

Diets That Work