THE BEST DIET FOR WEIGHT LOSS

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If you hopped on this article hoping for a miracle diet that will give you the body of your dreams in a matter of weeks, I'm sorry to disappoint, but this is not the place for that.

I am also sorry to say that there is a no one size fits all diet for weight loss. I know that's not what you wanted to hear, but I just wanted to get that out there before we get into it.

I just want to start off by defining a couple of things:

• To lose weight you need to be in a calorie deficit (eating less calories than you burn each day). It's that simple.

• Diet is simply defined as the kinds of foods that a person eats. It doesn't specifically mean caloric deficit diet. Please bear that in mind when reading this!

Soooo, now we got all that boring stuff out the way, let's get started!

If any personal trainer, online coach, influencer or brand is trying to convince you that any one particular diet will solve all your weight loss problems and make you drop the lbs like that *clicks fingers*, run. for. your. life. That's all I'm saying.

Like everything in the fitness world, finding the right diet for you is all about trial and error. But the one thing that you should always bear in mind is sustainability.

Your weight loss diet should be pretty damn similar to the diet you are going to eat long term. Any diet that you cannot sustain for longer than a few months is probably a good idea to steer clear of. I think you know what I'm getting at here. Fad diets that offer super quick fixes.

Yes yes, you will lose a whoolllleeee loada' weight cutting out every single carb in sight, but what happens when you go back to eating normally when your diet has finished? All those extra calories from the carbs you're now eating again will likely mean that the weight will pile back on quicker than you can say Keto.

Use your weight loss journey to discover new ways of eating that you enjoy and that you feel like you could easily keep up for the rest of your life.

That's going to look different for everybody. Some people may prefer eating a diet leaning more towards higher fat. Others may relish in a diet that places a huge emphasis on carbs. Some people thrive off of intermittent fasting. Although, I don't know how those intermittent fasters do it, that would be my worst nightmare lol.

Everyone is going to have individual differences and nuances in their own 'perfect' diet, but a common theme for the majority of people is BALANCE and MODERATION. For most of us, it's not sustainable to restrict unhealthier treat foods like chocolate and crisps to twice a year. If I attempted that I would fail miserably and my life would consist of a massive binge every weekend. I've been there. Not fun.

It's much more realistic to include all of the foods you love to eat in moderation so you don't feel restricted. We're like 3 year olds in that sense. If we can't have it we want it more.

A good rule of thumb that works well for a lot of people is the 80/20 rule. Actually, I hate that it's called a 'rule' because that implies restriction and restriction is what we don't want. So, let's call it the 80/20 sustainable way of eating. Not as catchy, I know.

The 80/20 sustainable way of eating means that 80% of your diet consists of healthier more nutritious foods, and the other 20% consists of your favourite treat foods. But please remember this is meant as a guide!! I don't want you meticulously trying to calculate 80% of your diet to be healthy and the other 20% not. That completely negates the point of it. The point of it should be to allow more freedom in your diet.

I feel like this post has been a bit of a ramble, but I hope it has given you a bit more insight into the best weight loss diet specifically for you.

Being on a weight loss diet is always going to be restrictive whatever you eat because you are restricting calories. But if you eat in a way that you love, when the time comes to end your weight loss diet, all you need to do is simply up the calories of what you are already eating and you can keep all the foods the same!