Wondering What Is The Best Diet?
There’s a sweeping statement in the fitness community that 80% of your results will come from nutrition. Not 79%, and not 81%. Just 80%, and that applies to everyone. As a longtime Austin personal trainer I can tell you with certainty, that is silly. It’s obviously going to depend upon a multitude of factors, such as your fitness goals, medical conditions, age, metabolic rate, etc, etc. Some people are looking for a 1 size fits all, compartmentalized answer to their fitness questions. A great example is the question of what is the best diet. Unfortunately, it doesn’t work that way. That’s why my job is called a personal trainer. I’m not a sweeping statement trainer, nor a formulaic trainer. Those should be avoided as there’s only a marginal chance that you will find success. The same holds true for nutrition. If you’re looking for the answer of what is the best diet, you should consider constructing your own, or having an experienced, and qualified person do it for you.
There’s any number of diets being hawked all over the internet as well as on late night infomercials. They even have their own list of celebrity endorsements. That still doesn’t make it worthwhile, obviously. What you need to really ask is, what’s the best diet for me, as opposed to what is the best diet. You can go primitive with the Paleo diet, low carb with the Atkins diet, work on your high blood pressure with the DASH diet, and so on.
There are likely elements in most every diet that you may find beneficial to you personally, but not as a whole. For example, it may behoove you to eat more fruits and vegetables, but the idea of cutting non fibrous carbs is likely a bad idea. Maybe it’s body fat that you’re looking to reduce, as opposed to simply your body weight. Considering you are on average 65% water for a bodily composition, it doesn’t take much tweaking to drop weight off the scale. It does, however, take considerably more effort, and know how, to drop your body fat percentage down and lose weight in a more substantial and healthy way.
When I design nutrition plans for my personal training clients, I as mentioned previously, have to weigh any number of factors before just throwing out generic numbers, etc. It really depends upon who I’m training. If you’re a professional athlete needing more explosiveness, and therefore, more muscle, we will go a little on the higher protein side, but not recklessly high. We may start with 35% protein in the daily macronutrient totals and adjust from there, for example. It depends upon the metabolism of the client, age, size, physical condition, etc.
If you gain or lose weight on any diet, be sure to remember that it’s one thing to do that, but it’s entirely another to maintain that change. Unless you’re trying to drop water weight for a photo shoot, a weight limit, or something of that nature, you’ll want to implement a long term strategy that is both palatable, as well as realistic. In pother words you will not only be able to do it, but you’ll be willing to do it over the long term. I would suggest to those asking what is the best diet, to instead of going on the internet for a commercial diet plan, to start by cleaning up the junk they’re consuming. Things like soda should be tossed in favor of a proper amount of water. Things such as simple carbohydrates should be replaced by complex carbs. Protein should come from good clean sources. If you are drinking some protein shake because it’s simply affordable, look at the label, or have someone who’s knowledgeable look at it to ensure it’s in your best interests to consume it. Start with well balanced meals and snacks, and a proper amount of water per day. You can adjust from there. The biggest part of this approach or any, for that matter, is consistency. You can talk about it, and you can try it, but if you don’t do it on a regular basis, you’ll get nowhere with it.
Ready to Get Started?
Andy
Latest posts by Andy (see all)
- Workout Motivation: How To Get Motivated To Work Out - March 9, 2022
- Body Fat Types: Subcutaneous and Visceral Fats - June 1, 2019
- Why Diets Work If You Stick With Them - April 1, 2019
