Diet Plan for Perfect Fit
Why is it so hard to lose weight? You may be choosing a diet that doesn’t fit the realities of your life. You can lose weight on practically any diet that cuts down on your calorie intake. In 2009, a study from the Harvard Schools of Public Health and Louisiana State University found that it didn’t much matter whether participants used a low-carb or a low-fat plan: what counted were the calories they consumed.
But even if you’ve chosen a safe, sane, low-cal diet, if it doesn’t fit in with your way of life, let’s face it – within a week at most, you’ll probably revert to your old eating habits. The real trick to weight-loss success is finding a plan you can stick with. The lifestyles listed below with a corresponding diet plan that works well with it – all to boost your chances of success.
Manic New Mom
Frantically busy bouncing babies, chasing toddlers, and trying to regain your pre-pregnancy figure? Can’t understand why running around so much doesn’t naturally keep you slim?
Diet to Try Sugar Busters! You have no time for complex calculations, calorie counting, or fancy foods. This diet is about eating fewer refined carbs like cupcakes (you have an unfortunate habit of polishing off whatever your 2-year-old doesn’t finish …) and ramping up on lean protein, healthy fats, and whole grains and certain vegetables. Its emphasis on healthy carbs and fiber-filled foods (like oatmeal and whole-wheat pasta) fills you up on low-cal foods. And by keeping your blood sugar levels stable, you won’t suffer from a late-afternoon energy crash. (Translation: You’re less likely to blow your diet on a candy bar). What’s more, this plan can help you instill healthy eating habits in your children early, before they become addicted to sweetened cereals and sugary snacks.
Watch Out For Some of the diet’s more extravagant health claims (like its ability to help treat diabetes). And while it’s great to encourage moms to eat more whole grains rather than refined carbs, once in a while, you need to allow room for an occasional indulgence – just don’t overdo it. So you can sneak a cupcake at one of those birthday parties – but aim for no more than one or two a month.
Food Limitations As you’d expect, this diet urges you to steer clear of refined sugar, honey, molasses, white bread, white rice, potatoes – but also turnips and beets, which both have surprisingly high-glycemic indexes.
Cell phone programs can not only help you monitor your exercise each day, but turn burning calories into a game.
