Before you embark on that next New Year’s diet craze take a moment to ask yourself if the diet is:
- Difficult to decipher?
The problem with many diet books is that you have to refer to the whole book — and are then expected to carry it around for reference at every meal and snack. There are often many rules and regulations and an eating plan may not be clearly laid out.
- Lacking quantities?
Many of the meal plans offered in fad diets lack serving sizes. This makes it difficult to ensure that you’re getting the right balance of nutrients and really following the diet to the letter. It also makes it possible to consume more kilojoules than desirable for weight loss as there’s no restriction on portion sizes.
- Figure focused?
Maintaining a healthy weight is about health — before beauty. Any diet that focuses purely on your physical appearance makes you run the risk of losing weight at all costs. There’s no point in following a diet that makes you lose weight, but also increases your risk of other conditions like high cholesterol and heart disease.
- Australian friendly?
Many popular diets originate overseas and can be difficult to follow. Most contain imperial pounds and ounces rather than metric measurements in recipes. Some also contain products or ingredients that are unavailable in Australia.
- Unpalatable?
Have a look at the variety of foods in the diet and watch out for diets that promote avoiding an entire food group or eating mainly one type of food e.g. cabbage soup. Restricting common foods from your diet can make things boring very quickly and limit your enjoyment in social situations. Eating a wide variety of healthy foods also ensures you get essential vitamins, minerals and health protecting phytochemicals — without needing to pop a supplement pill.
- Promoting very rapid weight loss?
Safe, sustainable weight loss is best kept to approximately 1-2kg per week. If you have a lot of weight to lose, your rate of loss initially may be slightly greater than this.
- Sustainable?
Make sure that the plan you follow has eating guidelines for healthy weight maintenance. And make sure you have a virtual tour before you buy — look at a sample day and assess whether the foods fit your family and your lifestyle.
See the January issue of AWW for four diets that work for celebs like Libbi Gorr, Hugh Jackman, Ajay Rochester and Megan Gale.
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