4 criteria to chosing the right diet

It seems that every day a new diet is born. The market is simply flooded with fad diets. It’s becoming harder and harder to choose which one to use to go for. Do you go for the Atkins diet diet? Jenny Craig? Every Other Day Diet? Making the claim that they can help you lose weight without effort and faster than ever before is easy. But how do you tell who are good for their claims? All these choices are actually bad for us. In “The Paradox of Choice”, Barry Schwartz contends that too many choices hurt us and make us feel more constrained, not free. We are afraid to make the wrong choice. So, when it comes to diets, how do we make the right choice?

These 4 criteria are meant to be realistic and healthy criteria to use when choosing your new eating habits:

Protein:

Protein is an important component of every cell in the body.
- Hair and nails are mostly made of protein
- Your body uses protein to build and repair tissues
- Enzymes, hormones and other body chemicals all need protein
- Mucles, bones, cartilage, skin and blood have this in common: protein is a basic element of all of them
- Food high in protein will also provide you with zinc, iron, and B vitamins.

Protein is an essential building block of your body… and it also plays a very important role in weight loss. As you probably know, protein helps build the muscles, and it should be consumed after a good workout. How much protein you should consume after a workout? Try aiming at 0.15-0.25 grams of protein for every pound of your body weight. The more muscle you have, the faster your metabolism works and the less fat you store

Carbohydrates:

It’s very important that you understand that you can’t have a long term weight loss plan the doesn’t include Carbohydrates. Don’t go for diets low on Carbohydrates – they will not get the job done for the long term. Don’t fall for diets that have you eating too little Carbohydrates a day (anything under 30 grams per day). These diets are unhealthy, and will only help you lose weight in the short run. Needless to say, any diet that only loses weight in the short term is ineffective, because it can’t last long and your will just end up gaining the weight back once you go off the diet.

Where should your Carbohydrate intake come from? “Whole grains”. Whole grains provide you with the energy you need for the day. They also contain B vitamins and fiber. Refined grain products are not as good as whole grain foods.

Dairy:

Why dairy? For one, dairy products are an extra source of protein. 2 more benefit of dairy foods are that they provide your body with Vitamin D and calcium. There were researches done on the effects of dairy products and calcium on weight loss. What was found is that calcium breaks down fat cells on the cellular level. This increases your metabolism and helps you lose weight.

Fats:

Try not eating saturated fats, if you can manage it It has been proven that saturated fats cause high cholesterol counts and heart diseases. There is more reason to avoid saturated fat: it has more calories than monounsaturated fats. Instead of eating saturated fats, try eating monounsaturated fats.

One final tip: Stay motivated, and keep your eye on the prize. Having the motivation is the key to weight loss. Visualize the end result you want to achieve. Think of the reasons you are trying to lose weight. Maybe you’re a parent trying to lose weight and get healthy to live long enough to enjoy life with your kids, and maybe you just want to feel proud of yourself when you look at the mirror. Whatever the case may be, keep your reasons and goals in mind, and stay motivated. It’s important to set realistic long term and short term goals. You need an ultimate vision of how you want to look and feel in the end, as well as milestones in the way. Whenever you will achieve one of those short term goals, you will get the feeling “it was all worth it”. Little by little, you will get to where you want to be.

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