What’s The Best Diet Plan For Me? Your 7 Step Checklist
You’re not alone. You and I have both entered the words ‘what’s the best diet plan for me?’ into Google at one time of another. Because it’s really hard to know what’s the best way to lose weight, right?
The internet is awash with millions of opinions. Keto, Intermittent Fasting, Paleo, Vegan, Morning Banana Diet, and many more diet plans are thrust in your fact multiple times per day. And it feels impossible to know who’s right and who’s just trying to sell you something. It’s a pain in the ass to say the least.
So in this article you’ll discover some simple steps to finding the best diet plan for you. By the end of the article, when you ask yourself the question “what’s the best diet plan for me?” you’ll already know the answer.
Here’s what you’re going to find out.
- What diet plans definitely aren’t for you.
- The 2 basic principles of a good diet plan.
- Your diet plan options.
- The 5 laws the best diet plan should follow.
- Answer the question, “What’s The Best Diet Plan For Me?” with a 7 step checklist.
Ready? Let’s do this.
What’s The Best Diet Plan For Me? The Diet Plans To Avoid
You won’t take long to find a sexy sounding diet that seems perfect for you. Pictures of perfectly sculpted bodies and sales copy that speaks to your soul.
It seems like they “get you”. So this has to be THE diet and what you’ve been missing all this time. But hold up my friend. Because glossy pictures and a nicely written sales page are one thing, but sometimes it’s a cover for fitness industry bullshit and nonsense.
For example, body type diets are all the rage. But the reality is your body type isn’t going to influence your nutrition, diet, or training in any way. Of course, it sounds logical, plausible, and seems like it should be a thing. But it just isn’t.
Your genetics clearly play a part in body composition and weight loss. But that doesn’t mean they will influence your diet plan and nutrition. So, it’s a no from me on that one.
After that you’ve got all the shakes, juices, and cleanses. Marketed by desperate Insta-famous “influencer” struggling to scrape a few pennies together. So they sell their souls and last remanence of credibility for a 10% kickback on waist trainers and horse shit supplements.
A few photoshopped before and after pictures later and you’ve got yourself a product to prey on the innocent public.
Bottom line is this. If the diet plan you’re being sold is anything to do with having shakes all day long, skinny teas, and juice cleanses, then it’s guaranteed to be 100% Grade A Nutrition Fuckery.
What’s The Best Diet Plan For Me? The 2 Core Principles
Weight loss is a simple concept that’s hard to put into practice.
You might disagree with that. After all, you’ve been struggling to wrap your head around this for years. So it doesn’t exactly seem straight-forward. But here’s the thing… Whatever diet plan you follow, they all work because of one principle. Energy balance.
Whether your goal is weight and fat loss or to build muscle, energy balance remains of primary importance. And by energy balance, I mean the amount of calories you eat and drink versus how many you burn.
It’s a concept that’s been around for years. People keep trying to come up with wonder diets, magic pills, and who knows what. But managing energy balance is the only principle proven to work.
And here’s the basic concept.
The food and drink you have each day contains calories (with a few exceptions). These calories provide you with energy. Basically, what you need to move around, stay alive, and get it on of an evening.
If you have less calories than your body burns you’ll lose weight. This is a calorie deficit.
Conversely, if you have more than your body burns then you’ll gain weight. And that is a calorie surplus.
Matching calories in and out is what we call maintenance. And for most people this is the end goal. Because let’s face it…no one wants to be on a diet plan forever, right?
The Nutrition Pyramid
When it comes to your diet plan, think of energy balance as the lead actor in a play. Taking centre stage for the performance. But for the play to even take place you need a stage. And that’s where the second principle of ‘Adherence’ comes in.
Below is the Iron Paradise Fitness Nutrition Pyramid, which is taken from The Lean Lean University. A training and nutrition education platform for all online coaching clients. A library of videos covering key topics and questions on all aspects of nutrition and resistance training.
The Nutrition Pyramid highlights that adherence underpins both goals of fat loss and building muscle.
Simply put, if you can’t adhere to your diet plan then it’s a waste of time. To use our play analogy, a lack of adherence is like having no stage or a series of trap doors waiting to trip the lead actor up at any moment.
In short, when you’re deciding on the best diet plan for you, make sure you do so with adherence at the forefront of your mind. Because if you can’t see yourself sticking to it for the long-term, don’t even start.
What’s The Best Diet Plan For Me? Your Options
No doubt you’ve tried a diet plan or two in the past. Hell, if you’re anything like me, you’ve tried them all. Rarely have I come across a diet plan virgin. Someone fresh into the process, never previously tainted by a failed attempt at losing weight.
So who’ve heard of Keto, Paleo, Intermittent Fasting, and diets like that before, right? Each one has an almost cult following. People who would seemingly die in defence of their chosen way of eating. Typically, because it worked for them, so it must be the solution to everyone’s problems.
If only life (and dieting) were that simple.
Although, don’t get me wrong. These diets work!
But not because they’re something magical. They’re simply a method of creating a calorie deficit, the all important component we covered earlier.
But Does Keto Work?
Going Keto can work as it cuts out a whole group of foods (carbs). And for a lot of people, this can mean removing a lot of calorie dense foods and replacing them with low calorie alternatives. But the important thing to understand is it’s the calorie deficit, driving the weight loss, not the absence of carbs.
Carbs are not weight loss evil.
What About Intermittent Fasting?
Likewise, Intermittent Fasting works when it helps you create a calorie deficit. Skipping a meal and eating within a certain period of time isn’t weight loss voodoo. But you can still overeat in that window if you’re watching those calories.
In reality, determining the best diet plan for you hinges on which one fits your lifestyle the most.
Because if you love bread, past, and rice, then going Keto is going to be like hell on Earth. And it’s simply not going to last. Essentially, all roads lead back to adherence to your calorie deficit. Get that right and the rest will fall into place.
And to prove it, let me introduce you to Hannah. For years, Hannah had been struggling to lose weight and followed every diet plan you could think of. From cutting out sugar, to low fat, to Slimming World. You name it, she’d tried it. So when it came to working together through online coaching we focused on getting things right for her. And judging by the pictures we did a damn good job.
“But What About If I Don’t Want To Count Calories?”
Calorie counting using an app like MyFitnessPal is a great way to make progress with your weight loss goal. But it’s not the only way. In fact, there’s a bunch of different methods you can use to create a calorie deficit without counting calories.
And to prove it to you, I’m giving you exclusive access to this 20 minute module from the Lean Life University. The video breaks down 5 Alternatives To Calorie Counting. So take a look and if you find one that works for you, then don’t be frightened to use it if it suits you.
(note, the video refers to a downloadable guide…sadly this is only available to online coaching clients).
What’s The Best Diet Plan For Me? The Laws Of Weight Loss
By now you should be coming to the realisation the perfect diet plan doesn’t really exist. The perfect diet plan is one you enjoy and creates a calorie deficit. Unfortunately, there’s no magic solution or silver bullet.
And with that said, I want to go over 5 Laws Of Weight Loss you should live by. These laws build on the 2 core principles of a calorie deficit and weight loss, helping you create the best diet plan for you.
- The Diet Plan Must Create A Calorie Deficit
- Your Diet Plan Must Fit Your Lifestyle And Your Food Preferences
- Excessive Restriction Of Certain Foods Should Be Avoided
- Foods Should Not Be Demonised And Considered Good Or Bad
- A Good Diet Plan Provides Guidelines And Some Form Of Structure
Find a diet plan that hits all 5 of these laws and you’ll be well on the way to fat loss success.
What’s The Best Diet Plan For Me? The 7 Step Checklist
So you’re at the point now where you might be on the verge of considering a particular diet plan. Or, you may have abandoned the idea of diets altogether and simply chosen to eat what you enjoy, but just keep calories in check.
Either way, this 7 step checklist is a useful way for you to make sure you’re not getting led down the wrong path again. Because neither you or I want you to trip up and fail again. This time all we’re interested in is massive success.
And without further ado, here’s your 7 Step Checklist To Find The Best Diet Plan For You. Simply answer these questions honestly. And if you answer mostly ‘YES’ then I suggest you have a rethink on that diet plan before you fuck up again.
- Is the diet plan unlikely to create a calorie deficit?
- Will you abandon this way of eating after the diet?
- Does the diet plan restrict a lot of foods you love?
- Will the diet negatively affect your training programme?
- Are you forcing yourself to adopt a way of eating that doesn’t suit your lifestyle?
- Does the diet involve drinking several shakes, taking tons of supplements, detoxes, and cleanses?
- Is the diet promoted by an Insta-Guru who has zero clue about nutrition?
It really is as simple as that. Answer those questions with a firm NO and you’re on to a winner.
What’s The Best Diet Plan For Me? The Bottom Line
The best diet plan for you is one you can stick to for the long-term and creates a calorie deficit.
Keto, IF, Paleo, and all the other diet plans available can work for the right person. So just make sure you’re the right person for the diet pan you choose to follow. Because remember, just because Jack and Jill in the office got results, doesn’t mean it’s right for you.
You are your own person, on your own journey. So do what works for you.
Want More Great Fat Loss Articles And A Free Training Programme?
If you want to be first in line for more great articles to help you make breakthroughs with your nutrition, then get yourself on my mailing list. And as a thank you for doing that, I’ll send you my Lean Life Kickstarter Pack. In it you’ll find a free 4 week training programme, a guide on calculating your calories, plus so much more.
If you want it, grab it here.
But for now, all I’ll say is… Keep living the Lean Life and I’ll see you soon.