How can you choose a diet that is right for you?

Since there are hundreds, maybe thousands of weight-loss diets, it may be very difficult for you to decide which one to follow.

First of all, to be sure that you are choosing the right option, you should ask for professional advice. Your personal doctor or a nutritionist can evaluate correctly and objective your medical condition and indicate what’s best for you. He or she can help you identify the reasons why you have gained weight in the first place, and can teach you the changing you should make to lose the extra pounds and prevent adding new ones. It is very important to discuss with your doctor your weight problems, because, in some cases, it’s even possible to discover that certain medical conditions or medications have caused the unwanted weight gain and if you eliminate them you get closer to your ideal weight.

A weight-loss diet should be adopted only after you have received all the information possible about it. There are a lot of questions that you should ask about a diet, before trying it.  Some of them are:

• How many pounds can you lose using a particular diet and how many pounds do you actually need to get rid off? Find out if the promised weight-loss rate is a healthy one. You might be anxious to lose a lot of pounds in a short time, but most of the time the diets which promise you quick results prove themselves inefficient. Keep in mind that a weight loss of 1 to 2 pounds a week is the typical recommendation.
• What does the diet consist of?  Ask this question to discover if the diet plan can adapt to your situation. Remember if you had previous experiences with similar diets before and if they worked for you. Most probably, you will not want to try again diets which did not do any good for you before. You should also know if the diet requires special meals, supplements, drugs or injections.
• Is the diet based on solid research?  Does the science back up the weight-loss approach?
• Could the weight-loss diet harm your health? What are the risks?
• Except the weight-loss, what other benefits does the weight-loss program promise?  Look for diets that can help you not only lose weight, but also create healthy eating and exercising habits which can help you make the weight-loss permanent. If the diet can help you overcome the symptoms of your other medical conditions, is even better.
• What kind of diet suites bests your current eating habit? Would you feel more comfortable following, for example, a plant based diet, a low-carb diet or a dissociated diet? Always look for a plan which includes a variety of foods from all the major food groups. Remember that a healthy diet includes vegetables and fruits, whole grains, low-fat dairy products, lean protein sources, and nuts and seeds.
• How restrictive the diet is? Try to choose more flexible diets, which allow you to substitute one ingredient with another, if it is necessary.
• Which are the costs of the diet? Does it fit your budget?
• If you have a specific health condition, such as diabetes, heart disease or allergies, does the selected diet suit you?
• Does the diet program promote physical exercise, too? Every weight-loss program should include physical activity. Exercise plus calorie restriction can help you lose more weight.

Choose wisely your diet to make it worth the effort. It is usually hard to stick with a diet long enough to reach your weight goal, so you should be sure that it justifies the sacrifices. Make healthy options, which encourage permanent healthy lifestyle changes, to be sure that the pounds lost so hard do not come back once you stop dieting. Successful weight loss requires permanent changes to your eating habits and physical activity. Instead of a rapid weight-loss diet chose a  diet you can embrace for life.