Many people have had the experience of trying many different diets, only to find that they either don't work, or only work for a while and then they gain the weight back. Picking the wrong diet could be the cause of this, or it could be because you did not give it enough time. In any event, you're more likely to have success with a diet if it's consistent with your goals and lifestyle and if its one that's backed by sound nutritional principles.
There is a diet called the TLC diet which stands for Therapeutic Lifestyle Changes, which you may have heard of. The American Heart Association endorses this diet because of its focus on eating heart healthy foods. This is something worth considering, as some diets are only concerned about having you lose weight and don't really consider your overall health. The TLC Diet places a lot of emphasis on avoiding saturated fats and foods that will drive up your cholesterol. This means avoiding red meat, fried food and dairy foods but lots of fruit, veg and whole grain. There's more than one version of the TLC Diet, depending on whether you're only trying to reduce your LDL cholesterol (or bad cholesterol), or whether you're also trying to lose weight. Either way, however, you'll be directed towards eating healthier foods that support heart health. From a recent comparison of diets done in World Report Magazine and U.S. News, the DASH Diet came up top. The DASH Diet is one that doctors often recommend to their patients because it's designed to not only help you lose weight, but also to lower your blood pressure and make you healthier in general. This diet is low in sodium, and focuses on whole grains, fruits and vegetables. Additionally it makes you more aware of certain important nutrients that you need in your diet each day, like magnesium, calcium and potassium.
Seeing your doctor is often a good idea if you plan to go on a diet. For starters, your doctor will be able to tell you the exact amount of weight you need to lose for the best health. He or she can also point to any other issues you should be paying attention to, such as high blood pressure or cholesterol.
Some diets can actually help sort out these issues in addition to helping you lose weight. You can also be advised by your doctor on which diets would be good to choose and which would be bad.
Remember that it's all very good to do your research on diets, however if you get too caught up in it you will not end up going on a diet. You could end up making a career out of studying diets considering there are new ones introduced pretty much each week! Being committed to doing more physical activities and eating healthily are what's most important here. With any diet plan you choose this will help you to make good progress.
Santos Crumrine is an expert blogger known for writing on a varitey of subjects. His high-quality work can be seen at Ambit group and on empower network products