Diet Plans For Weight Loss: 6 Excellent Ways To Lose Weight

Although there are many diet plans for weight loss., Some plans limit calorie, carbs, or fat intake. While some focus on reducing hunger. But the fact is that no diet plan is best for everyone.

So the best diet plan for you depends on your fitness goals and lifestyle.
This article reviews the 6 most common diet plans for weight loss.

The vegan diet:

A vegan diet is a diet that restricts all animal products in the meal. This includes meat, eggs, and all dairy products.

Foods included in vegan diet:

• Fruits and vegetables
•  Seeds and Nuts
• Legumes like   pulses, beans, peas, and lentils
• Alternatives to dairy products like soya milk, almond milk, and coconut milk.
• Vegetable oils.
• Rice, bread and pasta

    Foods prohibited in vegan diet:

• Milk and its products like cheese, curd,ice-cream etc.

•         Butter and cream .

•          Honey.

•          Poultry products like eggs, chicken, duck etc.

•          Meat, Beef, pork, lamb etc.

Benefits of vegan diet:

A vegan diet is a very effective plan among the commonly used plans for weight loss for losing weight. Therefore you can lose weight without counting calories.

This is due to the fact that the high dietary fiber included in the vegetarian diet naturally motivates you to eat fewer calories. So this makes you feel fuller for a longer time.

Other health benefits of vegan diet:

1. The vegan diet improves heart health by reducing cholesterol levels.
2. This diet also reduces the risk of type 2 diabetes.
3. It also reduces the risk of cancer by up to 15 percent.
4. A vegan diet also reduces the risk of arthritis.
5. It also improves kidney function.

Shortcomings:

Since the vegan diet completely restricts animal foods. So they may be low in some nutrients like vitamin B12, iron calcium, iodine, and omega 3 fatty acids.

2. Plant-based diet:

A plant based diet is also known as whole foods plant based diet.

Thus this diet focuses on avoiding animal products & taking less processed foods.

Besides this, it also focuses on increased intake of whole grains, fruits, vegetables, legumes, seeds, and nuts.

Although it is sometimes confused with a vegan diet, it is different from it. Whereas in vegan diet animal products are strictly avoided. But plant-based diet is more flexible.

Although people following this diet plan usually eat plants. But animal products can also be taken up to some extent. (Read Study)

Benefits of a plant-based diet

1. This diet Reduces obesity.
2. It also improves heart health.
3. This diet also reduces the risk of certain types of cancer.
4. This diet also prevents the Alzheimer disease in aged persons

Shortcomings:

1. They don’t fulfill all your vitamin requirements. So you may need supplements.
2. Reduced Iron intake.
3. Low protein Intake.

3.Low carb diet:

Low carb diets aim in reducing carbohydrate intake in the diet. So you should increase the amounts of fats and protein intake and reduce carbohydrate intake.

This forces your body to use more fats for energy instead of carbohydrates. Generally the amount of carbohydrate intake in low carbohydrate diet is in between 50-150 gms.

 Foods included in the low carb diet.

1. Green leafy vegetables.
2. Vegetables like broccoli, cauliflower, etc.
3. Seeds, nuts, nut butter, etc.
4. Fruits like apples, strawberries, blackberries, etc.
5. Oils like olive oil, coconut oil, canola oil, etc.  

Foods prohibited in low carb diet :

1. Juice
2. Beer
3. Fruits like banana, mango, dates, and raisins.
4. Pasta and noodles.

Benefits of low carb diet:

1. A low carb diet reduces appetite. This leads to automatic Calorie reduction.
2. Low carb diets lead to twice the weight loss than a calorie-restricted diet.
3. Risks of many diseases can be avoided by following a low carb diet. This includes reducing blood sugar, reduced cholesterol levels reduced try glyceride.

4.Keto diet :

The keto diet is the most popular among the diet plans for weight loss. This diet is very much similar to a low carb diet.  The only difference is that the quantity of carbohydrates in the keto diet is less than 50 gms. (Read Study)

Foods included in keto diet:

1. Vegetables like broccoli, cauliflower cabbage etc.
2. Poultry products and meat.
3. Seafood like fish selfish etc.
4. Cheese,cottage cheese etc.
5. Nuts like cashew ,almonds, walnut, etc.
6. Avocados.
7. Tea , coffee, etc.

Foods prohibited in keto diet.

1. Sugary beverages and juices.
2. Starchy foods like potatoes, cooked rice etc.
3. Chocolates and candies
4. Fruits like mango and banana etc.
5. Pasta and noodles etc.
6. Bread, donut, etc.
7. Beer.

Benefits of keto diet:

1.         The very low carbohydrate content of keto diet reduces your appetite.

2.        You can loose more abdominal fat by following this diet.

3.         More weight loss in comparison to a low-calorie diet.

4.         The use of keto diets leads to a drastic reduction in triglycerides level in the blood. (Triglycerides are the fat molecules that circulate in the blood )

Shortcomings:

1. You can follow a keto diet for the short term only. The maximum period allowed is between 30-90 days.
2. The keto diet also causes muscle loss. This makes it harder to lose weight in the long term.
3. This diet also leads to increased fatigue.
4. It may also cause diarrhea.
5. There are more chances of regaining the lost weight after stopping the keto diet.

5.No carb diet.

A no-carb diet is the most extreme form of low carb diet. This is due to the fact that all carbohydrates are excluded from this diet plan.

This includes all types of whole grains, most of the vegetables and fruits.

Foods included in no carb diet

1. Zero-calorie drinks like water, plain tea black coffee, etc.
2. Poultry products and meat.
3. Nuts like almonds, walnut, cashews, pistachios, etc.
4. Seeds like pumpkin seeds, sunflower seeds, etc.
5. High-fat fruits like coconut and avocado.
6. Vegetables like broccoli, cauliflower, leafy vegetables, etc.

Foods prohibited in no carb diet

1.Grains : wheat,rice,barley,pasta etc.

2. Sweets and bakery products:candies,cookies,cakes pastry etc.

3.Fruits:Banana,mango,orange,apple,kiwi etc.

4.legumes : peas ,chickpeas, lentils ,kidney beans etc

5. starchy vegetables : potatoes,corn etc

6 .Alcohalic drinks

7.Sugary beverages.

Benefits of No-Carb diets :

1. It improves heart health by increasing the level of HDL (good cholesterol) Besides this it also reduces the level of triglycerides.
2. This diet also leads to better control of blood sugar.
3. It also reduces belly fat.
4. It also lowers blood pressure.

Shortcomings:

1. A no-carb diet will lack in minerals and vitamins. This is due to the fact that fruits and vegetables are avoided in a no-carb diet.
2. No carb diet may also cause a deficiency in sodium and potassium over a period of time.
3. It may also cause sleeplessness and poor mental function in the short term.
4. A no-carb diet may also lead to constipation. This is due to the fact that a no-carb diet is low in fiber.

6.Intermittent fasting     

           

                                         

Intermittent fasting is currently one of the most popular diet plan all over the world. Rather than focusing on what to eat, this plan focuses on when to eat.

Most commonly followed intermittent fasting method is 16/8 method. The daily eating period in this method is restricted to 8 hrs. So you can take all your meals for 8 hrs. Between 1-9 pm.you can fast for 16 hours in between.

Benefits of intermittent fasting:

1. No need to count calories in this diet plan.
2. Intermittent fasting can automatically reduce calorie intake.This is due to taking fewer meals.
3. It also regulates the hormone levels to achieve weight loss.
4. It also improves heart health.
5. This diet plan also helps in preventing cancer.

Short Comings :

1. You cannot follow this plan for the long term.
2. Not suitable for people sensitive to drop in blood sugar levels.          
3. It does not focus on nutritious eating.
4. May also promote overeating in some cases

Also read : 1. How to create calorie deficit for weight loss

                  2. How to loose weight faster by boosting metabolism