The internet is brimming with diets and eating patterns that supposedly help you lose weight quickly. However, with so much information available, it can be pretty challenging to understand what is effective and what is another fad.
When it comes to finding an effective diet, you need something that you like. If you follow a diet for a few weeks until you reach your goal weight and then go back to your previous eating patterns, you will inevitably regain all the weight you worked so hard to lose. Therefore, it is necessary to find something you can actually stick with in the long run.
It is also important to understand that not all diets are healthy. For example, some diets that promise quick weight loss may not be beneficial. In fact, some can be quite harmful to your health. Therefore, sticking to these in the long term can make things worse for you.
Instead, you have to find a diet that isn’t just something you enjoy but also healthy for you. Following are some healthy diets that may check both boxes.
1. Mediterranean Diet
If there is one diet that works almost always and doesn’t have any major side effects, it is the Mediterranean Diet. Inspired by the dietary habits of the Mediterranean (any surprises there?), this diet promotes the consumption of the types of foods readily available in the Mediterranean countries such as vegetables, fruits, fish, chicken, whole grains, legumes, dairy products (cheese, yogurt, whole milk), and extra virgin olive oil.
The primary purpose is to avoid processed foods and fill up your plates with natural and organic ingredients. Moderate amounts of red wine are also allowed in this diet. However, you have to cut out all kinds of processed foods, saturated fat, red meat, and excessive salt from your diet.
Following this diet is guaranteed to help you shed a few pounds – especially if you had very unhealthy eating habits before. Since you cut out almost all unhealthy and fattening ingredients from your grocery list, even if you end up overeating sometimes, it won’t affect your progress.
It allows you to eat a wide variety of food. This means that you won’t get bored with tasteless diet food either. The majority of the foods that are encouraged to consume in this diet are also associated with preventing diabetes, high blood pressure, heart disease, and obesity.
Therefore, making these eating patterns healthy for you. The only minor drawback of this diet is that it may be slightly expensive to maintain for people who don’t live in the Mediterranean countries.
2. Whole 30
Whole 30 is a great option to consider if you want to do a complete 360 in your diet. It is especially beneficial for people who have been consuming an unhealthy diet for a long time and are looking for a way to reset.
The focus of this diet is to consuming whole, unprocessed foods for an entire 30-day window. It encourages you to cut out multiple food groups, including grains, legumes, added sugar, and alcohol and emphasizes eating real food without any processed ingredients.
An excellent way to know that you’re doing this diet right is by adding various colours to your plate. Of course, this would mean that you’re getting a variety of nutrition.
The great thing about this diet is that it is very flexible. It allows you to consume food according to your preference and goals. As long as there aren’t any processed ingredients in your diet, you can eat whatever you want. You can consume vegetables, fruits, meat, fish, eggs, nuts, and fat. It helps optimize health, lowers the risk of disease, and helps you lose weight. In addition to that, it doesn’t require you to keep a count on your calories. Since most of what you’re consuming is healthy, low-calorie food, it is almost impossible to surpass your daily requirement. It also doesn’t require you to restrict whole groups of food, making it much healthier than diets that require you to do so.
3. Paleo Diet
The premise of the Paleo Diet is pretty interesting. It encourages you to mimic the eating habits and patterns of our ancestors – the hunters and gatherers. Simply put, it emphasizes eating whole foods that come directly from nature, mainly fruits, vegetables, and meats.
It follows a belief that modern food has evolved much faster than the human body. Therefore, it is causing most of the health issues, obesity, and illness we are collectively facing today. The diet recommends the consumption of food that the early Paleolithic humans likely consumed to solve this issue.
A strict Paleo Diet requires you to eliminate dairy, grains, wheat, and legumes since these foods are considered to be later additions to the human diet.
Additionally, all processed foods, refined vegetable oil, excessive salt, and sugar are also prohibited on this diet. Instead, it requires you to eat foods such as grass-fed meats, seafood, fresh vegetables and fruits, eggs, seeds, nuts, and healthy oils (such as olive, coconut, avocado, and walnut).
It is a balanced diet that provides you with almost all macronutrients and micronutrients. If followed closely, it can help you effectively lose weight and maintain an overall healthy lifestyle.
By following these three diets, you shed those pounds off and keep them off!