Should you try keto, flexible or full-on vegetarianism, or some other plan? Dieting isn\u2019t for everyone, but if you want to give one a try, some are easier to maintain, not to mention healthier, than others.<\/p>\n
Is losing weight or eating better on your mind these days? There’s no shortage of weight-loss diets grappling for your attention. And the reality is that most\u00a0diets<\/a>\u00a0\u2014 the good and bad \u2014 will\u00a0help you shed pounds<\/a>\u00a0in the short term. The difference is in whether they’ll help you keep them off, and that requires a doable plan that you can stick with for life. Usually, that means diets that cut out entire food groups (sorry,\u00a0keto<\/a>) or impose strict rules for eating (looking at you,\u00a0Whole30<\/a>) are likely out, unless they’ve been recommended to you for medical reasons by your healthcare team.<\/p>\n Here, a few registered dietitians share details on the healthy, sustainable, and effective weight loss diets they want to see stay \u2014 and those they\u2019d be happy to see take a hike in the new year.<\/p>\n U.S. News & World Report<\/a>\u00a0<\/em>ranked this mostly\u00a0plant-based eating approach<\/a>\u00a0its No. 1 overall diet in 2022, and registered dietitians such as Amy Gorin, RDN, the owner of\u00a0Amy Gorin Nutrition<\/a>\u00a0in Stamford, Connecticut, stand by that choice.<\/p>\n Gorin applauds the\u00a0Mediterranean diet<\/a>\u00a0\u2014 which is rich in whole vegetables, fresh\u00a0fruit<\/a>, whole grains, fatty fish,\u00a0olive oil<\/a>, nuts, legumes, and some\u00a0red wine<\/a>\u00a0and dairy \u2014 because it\u2019s a balanced way of eating. The\u00a0Mediterranean diet<\/a>\u2019s focus on whole,\u00a0plant-based foods<\/a>\u00a0over highly processed junk foods or fast foods may make you more likely to stick with it.<\/p>\n \u201cBy default, if you\u2019re eating healthier foods that are higher in\u00a0fiber<\/a>\u00a0and\u00a0protein<\/a>\u00a0and are eating less\u00a0saturated fat<\/a>\u00a0and sugar, you will likely eat fewer calories and lose weight,\u201d says\u00a0Amy Goodson, RD<\/a>, who is based in Dallas-Fort Worth.<\/p>\n Beyond weight loss, there are the health benefits associated with eating like Italians, Greeks, and other people who live on the Mediterranean Sea (the diet\u2019s namesake). This approach, Gorin says, also supports heart and brain health. For example, a previous\u00a0review published in the journal\u00a0Metabolic Syndrome and Related Disorders<\/em><\/a>\u00a0suggested that a\u00a0Mediterranean diet<\/a>, especially when combined with\u00a0exercise<\/a>\u00a0and followed for longer than six months, was associated with reduced weight gain. The review involved 16 randomized controlled trials, which represented 1,848 people who followed a Mediterranean diet and 1,588 people who acted as the controls.<\/p>\n Weight loss\u00a0and<\/em>\u00a0a healthier body? Win-win!<\/p>\n You know this popular weight loss plan by its previous name,\u00a0Weight Watchers<\/a>. In 2018, the company rebranded to make the program more about\u00a0wellness<\/a>, per\u00a0an explainer on the WW website<\/a>.<\/p>\n \u201cThis program is one of the most effective weight loss programs out there, promoting long-lasting, sustainable changes with many studies to back this up,\u201d says Gorin, who previously wrote a nutrition blog for WW called The Eat List.<\/p>\n The newest version of WW, Gorin says, offers a customized program that the company touts as a holistic approach to weight loss.<\/p>\n One word of caution, says Goodson, concerns the\u00a0ZeroPoint foods<\/a>. The number and type of foods that count as zero points differ depending on your color level (Green, Blue, or Purple) in the system. For everyone, fruit and nonstarchy veggies are zero points, which is great, as it encourages consumption of these fiber-rich foods that can make you feel fuller at meals and snacks (and are tasty, too). But if you are on Purple, the ZeroPoint foods include\u00a0bananas<\/a>,\u00a0eggs<\/a>, beans, legumes, and whole-wheat pasta (and more) \u2014 a detail that gives Goodson pause. \u201cBananas have 100 calories, and eggs have 70. I love both foods, but it can add up. Someone shouldn\u2019t have the belief that they haven\u2019t eaten anything by consuming these foods.\u00a0Portion control<\/a>\u00a0is still necessary,\u201d she says.<\/p>\n There are so many reasons for\u00a0going vegetarian<\/a>, including\u00a0environmental<\/a>\u00a0and ethical considerations.<\/p>\n Weight loss, though, is another potential benefit of opting to eat plants instead of meat, according to a\u00a0previous review<\/a>\u00a0of 12 randomized controlled trials representing about 1,150 people. Indeed, the\u00a0Mayo Clinic notes<\/a>\u00a0that when you pay attention to portion size and food quality, a\u00a0vegetarian diet<\/a>\u00a0can help with weight loss because the foods you’ll eat (including whole ones like fruit, veggies, whole grains, and plant-based protein) contain fewer calories and fat but are more filling than foods found in a standard American diet, or SAD. The SAD is high in processed and packaged food that tends to be loaded with\u00a0salt<\/a>,\u00a0sugar<\/a>, and\u00a0saturated fat<\/a>.<\/p>\n Boosting your health may be another reason to adopt a\u00a0vegetarian diet<\/a>, and there\u2019s science behind this choice. When carefully planned, \u201ca vegetarian diet is a wonderful diet,\u201d as it is high in nutrient-rich\u00a0plant foods<\/a>\u00a0and low in\u00a0saturated fat<\/a>, says Jeanne Tiberio, a registered dietitian based in Salem, Massachusetts. In a\u00a0meta-analysis published in November 2017 in the journal\u00a0Critical Reviews in Food Science and Nutrition<\/em><\/a>, a vegetarian diet was associated with a 25 percent lower\u00a0risk of heart disease<\/a>\u00a0and 8 percent reduced odds of\u00a0cancer<\/a>.<\/p>\n A word of caution: If you have a personal history of\u00a0eating<\/a>\u00a0disorders<\/a>, you may want to sidestep this approach (and any other restrictive plan, for that matter). A previous\u00a0study published in the\u00a0Journal of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics<\/em><\/a>\u00a0noted that some people use a vegetarian diet to legitimize food restriction to aid weight loss. There can be many perks to going veg \u2014 but play it safe and ask yourself where your motivations lie before you make this choice.<\/p>\n Whereas vegetarians eschew meat, a\u00a0flexitarian diet<\/a>\u00a0allows you to add small amounts of animal products, like meat, poultry, or fish, for additional protein and satisfaction. And U.S. News & World Report\u00a0<\/em>ranks this sustainable approach No. 1 on\u00a0its list of weight loss diets<\/a>. If you\u2019re looking to burn calories in a balanced way, this flexible approach may be a good match for you. \u201cI like to think about following a plant-focused diet. Only 1 in 10 people are eating the recommended amount of fruit and vegetables in the U.S. By focusing on eating more plant-based foods along with high-fiber whole grains and\u00a0lean proteins<\/a>\u00a0and dairy, you can reach the number of fruits and veggies you need,\u201d says Goodson.<\/p>\n Reducing but not necessarily eliminating how much meat you eat is generally positive. For instance, a\u00a0review of 25 studies published in January 2017 in\u00a0Frontiers in Nutrition<\/em><\/a>\u00a0found that semi-vegetarian diets<\/a>\u00a0were associated not only with weight loss but also with health benefits such as\u00a0lower blood pressure<\/a>\u00a0and a reduced risk of\u00a0type 2 diabetes<\/a>. The authors concluded that although it\u2019s a popular eating approach with women, men, too, may benefit \u2014 especially because guys generally consume more meat.<\/p>\n1. Mediterranean Diet<\/strong><\/h3>\n
2. WW (Formerly Weight Watchers)<\/strong><\/h3>\n
3. Vegetarian Diet<\/strong><\/h3>\n
4. Flexitarian or Semi-Vegetarian Diet<\/strong><\/h3>\n