Best Diets

Studies have found that the best diets have at least one important thing in common. The best diets tend to work better than others because they make sense to those who use them, and this provides one of the best insights into successful dieting for weight loss that can be obtained. It confirms and reinforces the fact that the key to weight loss is awareness. That awareness takes a number of forms, including acquired knowledge, confirmation and motivation.

The best diets for weight loss start with the mind. They clearly explain what they are, how they work, why they work, when they are appropriate and who they are appropriate for. They go beyond the facts of the diet itself and place themselves within the context of the real lives which they purport to improve. This is the very opposite of incomprehensible diet formulas and 'trust me' solutions.

The major components of the best diets on offer are:

Knowledge;
Motivation;
Exercise;
Feedback;
Reward.

It is becoming increasingly accepted that the best diets form part of a program in which regular exercise is as important as a reduction in calorie intake. Diet and exercise are two sides of the same coin, so trying to achieve long-term weight loss through one of those means alone is to significantly limit your chances of success. What is more, regular exercise is as important to good health as a proper diet, and good health should always be the ultimate goal of weight loss.

A characteristic of the best diets is that they encourage changes to our eating habits, habits which are largely responsible for the problem in the first place. For this reason the best diets are based on real foods rather than shakes, bars or special food formulas which you would otherwise not give a second thought to. For this same reason, the best diets incorporate education on nutrition and the energy value of foods, and by doing this they arm us with the knowledge which we need for life-long change.

Best Diet Tips

Dieting for weight loss can be made much easier by following a number of common sense tips:

Learn about nutrition, not just dieting. This will open your mind to the many health benefits of following a proper diet, and not simply the benefits of weight loss;
Learn about the immutable law of the conservation of energy. This will provide the connection between the energy value of food and the energy requirements of living and exercising;
Think about and consciously develop a correct set of motivations. Health and lifelong habit formation should be central to those. Don't restrict your motivation to the single goal of weight loss, otherwise you will likely fail;
Feedback is essential. This means regular weigh-ins (daily or weekly), and measuring the energy expended in a formal exercise regime, such as using a pedometer when walking;
A specific exercise regime is essential, not just for weight loss but for lifelong health. Don't place the entire burden of weight loss on restricting your energy intake. Burn that energy as well;
Diets which are largely based on limiting a broad food component such as carbohydrates or proteins are much less likely to result in long-term success. These programs do not emulate the balanced diet which is essential for life-long health;
Unless you are acting on medical advice, avoid fast weight loss programs altogether. These can do more harm than good, and they do not help you to formulate a dietary program for life;
The best diets for weight loss result in a gradual reduction in weight over an extended period of time. This demonstrates that a long-term change has occurred in the habits and pattern of living which resulted in your weight gain in the first place. This will dramatically increase your chances of keeping the weight off long-term, which is the greatest risk in any weight loss program;
Go for a weight loss program which makes sense to you. Don't buy into a regime which is based on trust or recommendation if you do not understand how it works;
Don't look for a weight loss program so much as a health-for-life program. There is a complete world of difference between these two approaches, and an equal difference between their relative chances of success.

At the end of the day, the best diets are the ones which people stick to.