3 Key Criteria for a Successful Diet Plan
April 21, 2008 by Tom
There are many effective and ineffective diet plans around. As I have covered previously on this blog fad diets do not work and I believe the best way to lose weight is to exercise regularly and eat more healthily. I do not think you need to follow a pre-determined diet plan as long as you stick to relatively healthy foods most of the time. However, I understand that some people do not have the self discipline to eat healthy all the time and for these people a structured diet plan can be the answer. In this article I discuss three criteria your chosen diet plan MUST contain if you want it to succeed.
1) NO FORBIDDEN FOODS:- Many diet plans do not allow you to eat your favourite foods. However, by creating ‘forbidden foods’ these diet plans simply makes you want them even more. Ultimately, you are likely to give in to these ‘forbidden foods’ which can lead to over eating and make you gain weight.
The best diet plans will restrict your food intake, reduce the number of calories you consume and make you eat more healthily BUT it will not ban any foods outright. To lose weight you will have to change your eating habits in the long term but you should still be able to enjoy your favourite foods from time to time.
2) NO CALORIE COUNTING:- Whilst it is important to have a general understanding of your daily caloric intake, any diet plan which requires you to count the exact calories in every piece of food you consume is likely to end in disaster. Having to count the calories in every individual meal, snack and drink you consume is frustrating and very inconvenient. For example, every time you go out for a restaurant meal you will have to calculate the calories in whatever you order. Usually, all this calorie counting will lead to you becoming discouraged with your diet plan and giving up.
A good diet plan will recommend that you eat healthy foods most of the time and give you a good understanding of the general amount of calories in the various types of food. In doing this it should educate you and allow you to reduce your daily caloric intake in the long term. However, it should not be so rigid and inflexible that you have to count the calories for every single thing you eat in order to stick to an exact number of daily calories.
3) IT IS AFFORDABLE:- It is all well and good if you find a diet plan which does not ban your favourite foods and which does not require you to count calories religiously. However, if you cannot afford the diet plan all these benefits are lost.
With the huge variety of diet plans now available affordability should not be an issue. If you are really struggling to find a diet plan within your price range do some research online, ask friends or colleagues who have used diet plans in the past, take advantage of a dietitian’s services or even consult your doctor. Remember, a good diet plan should burn calories, not your wallet.
The best diet plan should be flexible and affordable. It should not impose direct restrictions on the foods you eat and the calories you take in. Instead, it should teach you how to eat healthily so that you can improve your overall diet in the long term. As I stated at the beginning of this article I do not think that you need to follow a diet plan to lose weight but if you decide to do so make sure it fulfills the three criteria outlined in this article.
Initially, for someone trying to lose weight for the first time, counting calories is important. It might be the only way for them to become more aware of how much calories they are eating.
It is like personal finance. When you are not sure where your money is going, the common advice is to start writing down everything you buy in order to find out where is the money leak.
With eating, logging your calories, at least for the first two weeks, will give you a better understanding on where you are blowing your calorie intake.
I find that once I start to have eating amnesia again, returning to calorie counting will usually snap me out of it after 2-3 days.
I agree with you Asithi. Calorie counting is a valuable way for beginners to learn how many calories they are consuming. My point is that a diet plan which is so rigid that it says you must eat 200 calories for this meal, then 300 calories for this meal and 400 for this meal will quickly become frustrating because it is so impractical.
For example, I probably get through 1000-1200 calories whilst at work. I usually bring in the food I will be eating at work from home. However, sometimes I forget to take my packed lunch from the fridge on the way out and have to instead improvise by popping into the supermarket near my work. If I was counting the calories for every meal at work, then everytime I forgot my lunch it would be extremely frustrating to find some substitute meals with the exact same calories.
Using your finance example, counting calories is good to find the ‘calorie leak’ and identify where all those extra calories are coming in at the beginning. However, once you have found and addressed the leak you start to develop an understanding of the general amount of calories in foods and the general amounts you should be eating with each meal. Once you get to this stage counting calories is no longer necessary.
My opinion is that any diet plan which enforces strict calorie counting throughout will not be successful in the long term. Apart from what I have said above, placing too much emphasis on counting calories also means that no distinction is made between healthy calories and unhealthy calories. Whilst I am not completely against calorie counting I don’t think it should be used constantly throughout a diet plan.
Great article Tom. I agree with Asithi to some extent, knowing how much calories you eat per day helps know how to go about your weight does but that does not mean one should go through some tedious eating habits all in the name of calorie counting
Yeah I agree onlineweightlossexpert.com. That’s the point I was trying to make. Whilst it is probably neccessary in the beginning to get an understanding of where you are eating too many calories I don’t think it should be a major part of any diet plan. I think yes, in the beginning you need that understanding. However, counting calories for every meal is virtually impossible.
hey Tom, I have to disagree on the calorie counting too. For me, it has been the ONLY way to CONSISTENTLY lose weight. Before logging my calorie intake I was only guessing. And guessing isn’t accurate enough for someone like me. I’m petite……ok, I’m very short!
So my calorie intake needs to be pretty low in comparison to most. And the calorie in/out thing is an EXACT science. ie you have to be eating less than 500 cals than you need per day in order to lose 1lb per week, so you really have to be exact about it! 150 calories over, like a handful of grapes and almonds (very healthy but too many calories for snacking during weight loss) can mean the difference between losing a pound or not! Sometimes its the difference between having butternut squash with yr chicken dinner or just sticking to the steamed green veg! Calorie counting makes you constantly aware of your food choices which, like I say, you usually just guess at. My advice to anyone that thinks they are eating healthily and NOT losing weight, is to check their calories! You will be surprised at just how many calories an apple or dozen nuts can add up to!
On a positive note, I certainly wouldnt be restricting calories per meal. If you have to eat something adhoc then you just count it in somewhere. Also, its actually not such a bind when you register with someone like fitday.com as your food history is there and you can just click around. Takes 5 minutes per day just to check your calories and portions.
Losing weight is a serious business. I played with it for a long time. And wondered why I didnt lose much weight! Now I HAVE to watch my calorie intake and calorie expenditure, on the treadmill etc.
But hey, this is MY problem, being petite with an average appetite and all………others may not have to be so strict!
ATB
Tusc
Hey Tusc. With a topic as complex as weight loss there is never going to be one simple solution. For some people counting calories may be a very good way to help them lose weight. In fact I agree it is probably a necessary process for people who are just starting to learn about weight loss and need to develop an understanding of the calories in foods. However, I just don’t think many people could last on a weight loss program where they have to meticulously count all the calories they are consuming. Once you have gained this understanding of the calories in foods I don’t think you need to carry on counting. There’s two sides to every argument but this is my own opinion on the matter.
Like I said, it was something that worked for me, after many years of NOT counting and NOT being successful! I fought a long time at not counting because I thought I was very good at guessing and I really didnt want to get bogged down wiht the whole diet thing! It was only till someone ( fellow blogger in fact) convinced me to try that I saw the difference. It actually keeps you motivated and aware of your goals. You dont have to see it as a negative task. But, as you say, you are entitled to your opinion and different things work for different people.
I hope you dont mind me disagreeing
All the best
Tusc
I have to agree, that when you are making a ‘change’ to your eating plan, the best way to do that is to count and measure. It really opens your eyes on what you eat as well as how much. But once you have ‘reprogrammed’ your image of a true serving, the counting calories and measuring is more of an eyeball measurement and the counting becomes a natural ticker.
V.
Vtumilson – That’s exactly the point I was trying to make in this article. I think counting calories is a useful exercise in the beginning as it allows you to truly understand what and how much you are eating. However, any diet plan which relies on constant calorie counting is likely to lead to you becoming discouraged. It’s simply not practical to count the calories in everything you eat for the rest of your life. Once you have counted the calories in your meals for a few weeks you should have (to quote your phrase) ‘reprogrammed’ yourself and be able to understand the general level of calories in all the foods you eat. Thanks for stopping by.
This is great post,I’m surely bookmark this page and keep reading every post you made, thx!
Thanks Freda – Glad you are enjoying the blog.