Which Diet Plan is Best?

There is no secret formula for weight loss through dieting. It is a combination of eating less, moving more and maintaining a healthy balance of the nutrients you need to perform. Period. Now that we have that out of the way, we can chat.

Too many people succumb to analysis paralysis in trying to decide which diet plan will lead to the best results. I can think of over 50 of them off the top of my head, and every single one of them have a few things in common:

• They all claim to be backed by “breakthrough” research that sheds new light on losing weight
• They all have testimonials from satisfied (and lighter) customers
• They usually have multiple people with an impressive suffix after their name to back their claims (usually wearing a white coat in a photo)
• They all usually claim some sort of conspiracy by an inanimate entity against your weight loss (food companies, fast food providers, the sugar industry, etc.)
• They all claim that if you follow THEIR plan, you will finally be successful (for a fee)

They all also have one other good thing in common: they promote careful planning and tracking of your diet and require you to make choices and sacrifices. There are many pros and cons to all of them, so I suggest you take a look at this comparison tool from Health.com. It is an excellent guide to try and find a plan that fits into your lifestyle instead of trying to find a way around your possibly unhealthy lifestyle.

However, you need to keep this simple math problem in mind. A pound of fat is made up of 3500 calories. If you want to lose 20 pounds, you need to burn off 70,000 calories through diet and exercise. There is no way around it.

I run into people every day who are scared to death of carbs. Or fat. Or eating late. Or…well, you get the picture. They can’t see the forest for the trees. It is like a race car driver desperate to win a race, but they never leave the garage because they keep worrying about what is the BEST oil to use in their car.

Get moving. Drive fast. Finish first. That is how you win. The rest are details that you can figure out with experience.

Do something.