Weight loss is one way you can combat different health problems such as high cholesterol and diabetes. But despite the overwhelming number of weight-restriction plans you can find online, people still find it difficult to lose weight the healthy way.
The truth is that finding an effective dietary plan can be challenging if you don’t consider the long-term changes you have to make to your lifestyle. When finding the best diet plan for weight loss, you must spend ample time researching the proper regimen that fits your needs and physical capabilities. Find a plan that will inspire you to create realistic health goals. To help you develop healthier eating habits, we’ve listed some of the best food programs and diets that can help you shed those extra pounds in a healthy and consistent manner.
1. Mediterranean Diet
Studies show that a Mediterranean diet is great if you’re trying to lose weight since it mainly consists of fish, fruits, and vegetables. You’re free to add poultry to your diet, provided that you only limit it to chicken, duck, and turkey.
The key to this diet is minimizing your intake of red meat, white bread, soda, and processed goods. Avoid any food or drink containing high amounts of sugar, trans fat, and refined oil.
2. DASH Diet
The Dietary Approach to Stopping Hypertension — or the DASH diet — is a highly recommended diet. Just like the Mediterranean diet, DASH focuses on grains, fruits, vegetables, and poultry. This includes limiting your intake of sodium, fat, sweet drinks, and red meat.
As its name suggests, the DASH diet helps prevent high blood pressure and is a supplement to hypertension medication. To reap the full benefits of a DASH diet, ensure you also get regular exercise. A simple 15-minute walk will work wonders for your health and weight.
3. Plant-based Diet
True to its name, a plant-based diet involves consuming food that comes directly from plants like fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, legumes, grains, and beans. Sticking to this diet provides the necessary proteins, vitamins, and minerals for optimal health. Undergoing a plant-based diet minimizes the risk of diabetes, high blood pressure, and coronary heart disease.
The most popular type of plant-based diet is veganism. Those who follow a strict vegan diet can only eat foods that comprise plants and avoid all animal products such as meat, dairy, and eggs.
4. Low-carb Diet
If strictly eating plants isn’t your thing, you can instead start your weight-loss journey with a low-carb diet.
As the name implies, a low-carb diet involves limiting your carbohydrate intake and focusing on consuming high-protein food. This diet includes the keto, Atkins, and low-carb, high-fat (LCHF) diets.
Here’s how it works: your body uses carbs as its primary energy source. You produce insulin to help glucose enter your body and convert it into energy. Some extra glucose is stored in the liver or converted into body fat. Following a low-carb diet helps your body burn more of the stored fat and use it as energy.
Low-carb diets even offer benefits beyond weight loss. For example, it can reduce your risk of Type 2 diabetes and metabolic syndrome.
5. TLC Diet
The Therapeutic Lifestyle Change (TLC) diet is part of the National Institute of Health’s National Cholesterol Education Program to curb cholesterol. A TLC diet comprises fruits, bread, cereal, pasta, vegetables, and lean meat.
As one of the best diets for healthy eating, it’s an excellent option for those trying to lower the bad cholesterol in their bodies. A TLC diet is more about reducing one’s cholesterol. The weight loss is simply a welcome bonus.
Those who follow a TLC diet restrict meat consumption to no more than five ounces a day. If you’re craving meat, the better option would be to eat fish, turkey, or skinless chicken instead.
6. MIND Diet
The MIND Diet is a hybrid between the DASH and Mediterranean diets. Experts created this diet to help prevent dementia and the loss of brain function with old age.
Followers of the MIND diet consume vegetables, nuts, whole grains, fish, beans, olive oil, and wine. Sticking to the MIND diet can help you shed a few pounds while putting yourself at a lower risk for neurodegenerative disease.
7. WW Diet
The weight watcher (WW) diet is one of the best methods for weight loss. It focuses on making healthy choices and eating whole, unprocessed foods like fruits, vegetables, and lean proteins.
This diet uses a calorie-counting system based on a person’s age, weight, height, and sex. Because it relies on a point system, it gives people the freedom to choose whatever food they want. However, they’ll need to ensure they stay under their SmartPoints allotment and get quality food at the same time. The effects of the WW diet are long-term and can be continued properly without any complications, even if one has already achieved their goal weight.
What’s the Healthiest Diet for You?
All of the diets we’ve listed can help you get one step closer to your weight loss and fitness goals. Choosing the right one will depend on what you’re most comfortable with.
Make sure you don’t overwhelm yourself with restrictions or transition to a solely plant-based diet in an instant. Start your dieting journey slowly as you gradually build healthier eating habits and a consistent exercise regimen.
Curious to learn more? Head over to the LifeClinic blog for more health and nutrition tips.
