Say Goodbye To Fad Diets For Good This Year–Here Are Weight Loss Diets That Actually Work

LifeStyleMarch 19, 2020

Fad diets have been around for a long time. But that doesn’t deter some people from trying them out for themselves in attempts to shift the extra pounds. They may work at first. Still, they are not sustainable in the long-term. To finally put a stop to the cycle of fad dieting, here are some tried and tested ways of eating that can give people results.

The Mediterranean Diet

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The diet is rich in foods with healthy fats like avocados, olive oil, and nuts

The great thing about this diet is that it’s seen to work in large populations in countries like Portugal, Spain, Italy, and Greece. The Mediterranean diet can lead to weight loss when people put a 1,500 calorie limit to their daily food intake.

Making low-carb substitutions have also been proven to lead to a 5% to 10% loss in body weight in just a year. The diet mainly consists of food items like fish, whole grains, leafy greens, and lots of beans. What more, it also comes with other health benefits aside from weight loss like promoting heart health and decreasing the risk of cognitive decline. And as dietician, Amanda Beaver, RD put it, it’s quite easy to maintain because the foods in it are delicious.

The Vegan Diet

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There are now plenty of vegan options of staple foods available in stores and restaurants.

The main difference between the vegetarian and vegan diets is that the latter goes the extra step of refraining from eating all kinds of animal products aside from meat. According to Beaver, going vegan can lead to weight loss if an individual chooses high-quality food from plant-based proteins to leafy greens.

There are also studies that say that people who eat a plant-based diet tend to have a lower average body mass index (BMI) compared to those who eat animal products. Aside from the desire to slim down, there are people who make the vegan switch for ethical and environmental reasons.

The Flexitarian Diet

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The diet allows people the ability to eat the occasional hot dogs or burgers while still eating healthy most of the time

For those who aren’t completely ready to give up staples like cheese or milk, starting with the Flexitarian Diet may be a better choice. In essence, the diet also promotes eating plant-based items but offers some flexibility as well. While it imposes no calorie restrictions, nutritionist and writer Dawn Jackson Blatner, RD recommends people to consume 1,500 calories in a day in her five-week plan.

Intermittent Fasting

Unlike the others mentioned above, intermittent fasting isn’t much concerned with what people eat but with when they do eat. Plans can vary from an individual’s preference or schedule. The most common ones are the 16:8 (16-hour fast with an 8-hour eating window), 20:4 (20-hour fast with a 4-hour eating window), and 5:2 fasts. The last entails people to do two days of fasting a week.