A central factor in maintaining or losing weight is your diet – how much you eat and what you eat matters.
There are many diets out there, and most of them promise fast and permanent results. But the fact is – any diet that helps you take in less calories will work. The most effective diets allow you take in less “bad” foods and take in more “good” foods. A diet is most effective when it trains you to think and feel differently about food. Ideally, one should look for a diet that offers plenty of good tasting and healthy choices, banishes few foods, and doesn’t require an extensive and expensive list of groceries or supplements. People who follow such diets tend to have lower rates of heart disease, diabetes, dementia, and other chronic conditions.
For me personally, there has been one type of diet that has been able to fit this bill, and it is the Mediterranean-type diet. The basic idea of this diet is as follows:
- several servings of fruits and vegetables a day
- whole-grain breads and cereals
- healthy fats from nuts, seeds, and olive oil
- lean protein from poultry, fish, and beans
- limited amounts of red meat
- moderate wine consumption with meals (no more than two glasses a day for men; no more than one a day for women
The main point here is that the best diet is one that is good for all parts of your body- physically, psychologically, financially, socially, and even spiritually. When all of these aspects are taken into account along with your goals of care, your successful diet should be one that you can live with for a long time.
