What Makes A Diet Work? 4 Principles For Success!
A couple weeks ago I wrote an article called “What is the best diet?”. It talked about how all diets work and that what was most important was choosing one that you personally will be able to stick to for the long term and make part of your lifestyle.
Continuing off that topic I now want to talk about some of the common denominators in these diets and realizing what they are so that you can apply them to your life no matter if you are on a diet or not.
How can it be that we know people lose weight from high fat, low carb diets such as the ketogenic diet, but yet we also know people who lose weight from low fat, high carb diets such as the vegan diet? Both of the diets will work for weight loss but yet they are completely different. So, what gives? How is this possible?
One reason that was already discussed in the previous article is that all diets are a form of calorie restriction, and eating less will cause weight loss. That is one of the biggest components to weight loss, portion control.
Another habit that diets tend to cause us to form is just eating cleaner, better quality foods. They almost all restrict highly processed, high sugar, low nutrient foods. No matter if you declare yourself on a diet or not this is a great habit to have when it comes to nutrition.
Also, while on a diet you are going to cook your own meals much more often, and to do that chances are you are taking some time to sit and plan meals ahead of time and maybe even cook some meals ahead of time so that you are not scrambling to find food when you are hungry. We know that leads to poor choices most of the time. It’s much easier to stay the course when you don’t have to think about the meals in the moment and all you have to do is just take out what you already cooked or cook what you already planned.
These are the small changes you can make do your eating no matter if you declare yourself on a diet or not. They are the real reason behind what makes a diet work.
- Portion control
- Clean eating. Choose good quality foods
- Cook your own meals as much as possible
- Plan meals ahead of time
That is why when we recommend members read Gino’s book, we say that it is not a diet, it is just the way you should be eating as part of your lifestyle. Eat Smart, Eat Often, Eat Small. You can get the book free by clicking here. There is no magic diet, never has been, never will be. Just apply these principles and you will have success!
