BEST EVERE /Weight loss meal plans: Tips

 

When it comes to weight loss, there's no shortage of diet plans. Check any magazine rack, and you're bound to see the latest and greatest diet plans. But how do you know if a diet plan fits your needs and lifestyle?

Ask yourself these questions about any diet plan you're considering:

• Does it include various foods from the major food groups: fruits, vegetables, grains, low-fat dairy products, lean protein sources and nuts?
• Does it include foods you like and that you would enjoy eating for a lifetime — not just for several weeks or months?
• Can you easily find these foods in your local grocery store?
• Will you be able to eat your favorite foods or, better yet, all foods (even if some are in small quantities)?
• Does it fit your lifestyle and budget?
• Does it include proper amounts of nutrients and calories to help you lose weight safely and effectively?
• Is regular physical activity part of the plan?
  
  
  

With innumerable weight loss diets available — all promising impressive and quick results — it can be confusing to know which one is best.

Yet, though creators and proponents deem their programs superior to the rest, there’s no single best weight loss diet (19Trusted Source, 20Trusted Source).

For example, low-carb diets like keto may help you lose more weight initially, but studies find no significant differences in weight loss in the long term (21Trusted Source, 22Trusted Source, 23Trusted Source).

What matters most is your ability to stick to a healthy, reduced-calorie eating pattern (24Trusted Source, 25Trusted Source).

However, following a very low calorie diet for long periods is difficult for many people and the reason why most diets fail (26Trusted Source).

To increase your chances of success, only moderately reduce your calorie intake, individualize your diet according to your preferences and health or work with a registered dietitian.

Combine diet with exercise, including both aerobic and resistance training, to maximize fat loss and prevent or minimize muscle loss (27Trusted Source).

By eliminating highly processed foods and incorporating more healthy, whole foods, such as vegetables, fruits, whole grains, healthy fats, and proteins, you can further promote weight loss and your overall health.

SUMMARY:

Adhering to a weight loss diet is difficult for most people. Regardless of your goals, choose a dietary pattern based on your individual preferences and health status.The federal government seems concerned that 42 percent of American adults are obese, but apparently not concerned enough to have formed a competent, coordinated plan of attack.

A new Government Accountability Office (GAO) report publicly released this week found that 21 federal agencies oversee 200 different efforts focused on research, improving crops' nutritional quality, health education and food access initiatives, and regulating grocery stores and restaurants. The GAO admits that, upon study, these nearly two-dozen agencies "have not effectively managed fragmentation of diet-related efforts or the potential for overlap and duplication," which leads to your taxpayer dollars going to waste.

Since "neither the White House nor any federal agency is responsible for leading or coordinating diet-related efforts across the government," GAO experts "recommended that Congress consider identifying and directing a federal agency or other entity to lead a federal strategy on diet-related efforts aimed at reducing Americans' risk of chronic health conditions."