The One Diet You Will Follow

There are many diets to choose from when you want to lose weight. What is the best way to choose a diet that is right for you? How do you pick a diet that will help you lose weight and keep it off? How do you know which diets won't kill you or give you a heart attack, or worse yet, make you gain weight? How much is a new diet going to cost?

These are all factors in choosing a diet for weight loss, and there are many more considerations. It can be impossible to determine which diet is the best for which person.

There are books, television shows, web sites, programs and clubs, all designed to manipulate the consumer. The bottom line for all of these venues is not whether Jane Homemaker loses weight or not. The bottom line is money. How much money can we make when we promote our newest weight loss gimmick? The health and well being of the consumer rarely factors in.

Most of the weight loss programs you see on the internet or television are not healthy for a long period of time. Most of them are not cheap. And many of them are not easy. They bill themselves as being quick, easy and inexpensive. But when you begin purchasing specially made meals or replacing real food with their "scientifically formulated" shake, then you are heading down a slippery slope.

The best way to choose a diet that is right for you, is to choose a diet you will follow. First, how much money are you willing to invest? This will help you determine what type of program to start with. If you don't want to spend any money, a diet in which you have to purchase food, or pay a membership fee is a bad idea. You might look for informative books, free community groups, or free internet support groups.

Keep in mind that weight loss programs featuring prepared meals are not cheap. It may be easy if you are a single working person, with no children. You can pop your ready-made meal into the microwave and have dinner ready within minutes.

The cost, however, can be daunting. For four weeks of prepared meals, Nutrisystems charges $335. Another popular program, Jenny Craig, costs $766 per month.

This might not be a problem, if you have a good job and no other responsibilities. But these costs don't factor in every meal you eat for a month, and there will be some nights when you just feel like eating out, or some mornings when you grab a coffee and a bagel.

Before you invest a lot of money into any of these types of weight loss plans, do some research online. Look for people you know, who have actually experienced the plan, and find out if it even works.

And then, take a look at you budget and decide if spending money on processed food, designed to help you lose weight, is really your best option.

There are many diets with recipe books to guide you. They set out a plan and give you the recipes to follow. These work well if you already cook dinner at home, but can be problematic if everyone in the family doesn't want to eat your diet food. Some examples are Forks Over Knives, Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead, The Blue Zone, The Atkins Diet, and the South Beach Diet.

A second factor is to decide how much support and interaction you desire from the outside. Can you encourage yourself? Is your spouse encouraging? Do you have friends who are willing to support you making healthy food choices? Do you need group encouragement and accountability? Aside from money, this is the most important factor. You need to stay motivated and inspired, in order for a diet to work.

If you are a motivated self-starter, you might need little or no outside motivation. Perhaps you can get by after watching a video, such as "Forks over Knives" or "Fat, Sick, and Nearly Dead."

These movies might inspire you to take steps to improve your health, without any other external motivation.

On the other hand, you might need the support and guidance of a good friend, mentor, or even your spouse. If that is the case, enlist their support and ask them to help hold you accountable.

If you aren't comfortable asking someone in your life to help you lose weight, there are a variety of support groups available online, where they can not only help you track your diet and exercise, but they will also offer support, encouragement and advice.

Third, are you truly committed to change? You have to change your mind before you can change any other aspect of your life. Once you have decided to have your life be different, you will make the changes necessary to bring about your new reality.

A diet that requires the exclusion of entire food groups may be too drastic a change. A diet that requires cutting out food entirely, or drinking only shakes, made with formulated powders, might be unrealistic.

Sometimes, changes manifest in the small things first. Like drinking more water, or cutting back on processed foods; simple changes can make drastic results. You can begin today, to make a difference in your own diet and your own well being, without buying meal replacements, without following a strict program, and without shaking your very foundation.

Begin by deciding that you want your life to be different. You want you to be different. Now, in each moment today, you have a choice. You can choose a healthier alternative to what you are about to eat and drink.

Consider the principle of "Be, Do, Have." This is a philosophy that suggests you first decide what you want to have in your life, whether it is health, wealth, love, happiness, whatever. Then you think about how your life would "be" different if you had this particular thing.

If you want to be thin, then think about how you would "be" if you were thin. What would you eat? What would you drink? What would you do throughout the day, if you were a healthy person?

The next step is to begin doing those things. "Do." Begin making healthy choices at lunch. Choose in each moment, to see yourself as what you want to "BE." As you begin doing those things that you would do, if you had the life you wanted, a miracle will occur.

You will have exactly what you have requested. "Have." You will have what you seek once you decide what you want to be, then do the things required to be that person.

It may sound complicated or far fetched, but it works, if you believe in your innate ability to make a new choice in each moment.

The best diet is to choose something you can do and will do.

It doesn't matter how many videos you watch, how many books you read, or how many clubs you join. If you aren't willing to do what is necessary, then none of those gadgets will help you achieve your goals.

The only diet that works is the one you consistently practice. Excess weight won't disappear overnight, but you can change your mind, and your daily behavior. And that is the best diet of all.