So you’re extremely excited and ready to start your brand new diet. That’s great news because after all “a calorie is a calorie,” right? Eat too many... gain weight. Eat fewer... lose weight. Not so complicated, right?
Well unfortunately achieving a “healthy weight" is more than just a calorie equation.
Everywhere you turn so-called new and improved popular diets abound as well as “magic in a bottle” to obtain optimum health. The truth is that many of these pills, potions and plans come fully equipped with anecdotal information and all too often are accompanied with little scientific data. In countless instances the science behind the normal mechanisms of weight control is absent. The obvious truth is that a successful program must incorporate user-friendly changes to achieve long-term healthy behaviors, eating practices and daily physical activity. Statistically, our health is getting substantially worse as we become more complacent.
Sixty-one percent of the population is overweight with a Body Mass Index (BMI) greater than 25. The obesity epidemic has doubled from 15 percent of the population in 1980 to 30 percent in 2007. Being obese vastly contributes to increased LDL cholesterol and blood pressure, which can in turn lead to metabolic syndromes including heart disease.
Consider these facts: 50 percent of women and 25 percent of men are on some type of diet all the time. Americans spend more than $50 billion annually on weight loss foods, products and services, according to the American Dietetic Association. With that amount of spending, it’s no surprise there are an overwhelming number of “fad” diets and other weight-loss products on the market.
When considering a plan or better yet “a way of life,” start with this proven formula and be wary of programs that offer rapid weight loss, quick fixes, unsubstantiated claims, or which demand extremely few calories, eliminate major food groups such as carbohydrates or fats, and lack long-term studies that randomly assign subjects into the diet and non-diet group proving the program’s safety. In an effort to determine where to begin, the following review of several diets examines each author’s credentials, claims, the diet’s caloric intake, sustainability, weight loss expectations and research supporting its claims. Remember it’s crucial to decipher the knowledge and critically review the program when choosing the best plan for success, both in the short-term and the long run.
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