Which Diet Is Best For Me?
We all want to look our best and when we realize one day that we need to get into shape and lose weight we quickly turn to the internet to search for the right diet. We read and read over hundreds of diets to find the one we think will work for us. That’s how the whole diet process really works. Its trial and error until you can find one that your body responds to. Just because a certain diet works for you doesn’t mean that it will work the same way for the next person. We have all been in a situation where our best friend tries a new diet and shows off her results with eagerness. Then when we
try the diet we don’t lose any weight at all and maybe even gained a pound or two. Let’s look at some of the diets that are out there.
Atkins Diet
This one hit the scene and was very popular. You would see tons of advertisement and even endorsements from celebrities for this diet and then everyone had to try it.
The Atkins diet is a low carb high fat intake diet. This goes against everything that we were taught when we were younger because it was drilled in our heads that fat was bad for us. If you are going to attempt the Atkins diet you will have to forget about carbs and start eating foods high in fat and protein. The diet is split into four phases. The first phase in two weeks and you must eat under twenty carbs per day. Meats such as chicken and leafy greens are recommended for this phase of the diet. In the second phase you will increase your carb intake to twenty five carbs per day and introduce new foods. When you are close to your weight loss goal you will enter into phase three and add more carbs into your diet until the weight loss slows down. The final phase of the diet is simply just maintenance. Once the weight loss slows down and you find the right combination of carb intake you can enjoy your new look.
Lectin Diet
You are probably wondering what a lectin even is. A lectin is a carbohydrate binding protein that will stick to the membranes of cells in your small and large intestine. The following foods have lectins in them and should either be avoided on this diet as much as possible or totally eliminated from your diet. However,
lectins are found in most food it’s just that some foods have a lot more than others so you are trying to eat the foods that are the lowest in lectins:
1. Beans, lentils and peanuts
2. Squash
3. Peppers, eggplants, tomatoes and potatoes
4. Fruits
5. Grains
6. Dairy (including eggs)
Just like with any other diet the goal is to lose weight and have overall better health.
The reduce lectins diet will definitely promote a better gut health and ultimately it will help you lose weight but it probably won’t give you fast results like the Atkins diet.
Counting Calories
Weight loss boils down to one thing, no matter what diet you choose to be on, and that is calories burned has to be greater than calorie intake. One pound equals thirty five hundred calories so if you burn three thousand calories in one day and you intake one thousand calories then you have a deficit of two thousand calories. If you kept this up for an entire week you would lose around four pounds. Counting calories is simple and there are plenty of apps available for your smartphone that will help you count calories. All you do is download the app onto your phone and then throughout the day as you eat food you enter it into the app and it will keep track of your calories and your macros.
