One Diet Does Not Fit All

With so many diets on the market, and new ones constantly being introduced, how are you supposed to choose the one that’s right for you? Should you follow a low-fat/high-carb, low-carb/high-protein, low-carb/high-fat, or a variant of them all?

At best, our standard for picking a nutrition plan is usually based on the latest fad diet receiving the most press, or worse yet, from the recommendation of a friend to try the so-and-so diet because his or her sister’s uncle’s cousin’s niece lost weight on it when she tried it five years ago. Similarly, if you ask the average doctor or nutritionist which diet you should follow they’ll only give you some version of the C.Y.A answer: choose a diet that doesn’t restrict your calories too much, doesn’t exceed more than 2 lbs. of weight loss per week, and is something you are truly comfortable with. Now really, what use is that?

So presently, we are as effective at choosing a diet as we are at aiming for a bull’s-eye wearing a blindfold, standing backward.

Picking the diet—or method—you are going to use to lose fat should not be taken lightly. The approach you choose can make the difference between losing weight and gaining more of it. Truth be told, regardless of how committed you are to following a nutrition plan, if you are following one that doesn’t work for YOUR body, you’ll never reach your goal.

From the experiences I’ve had working with various clients, I’ve learned that not everyone metabolizes calories the same way. Some people are genetically designed to burn carbohydrates better than fat, and do well on the traditional high-carb/low-fat prescription. Those more efficient at burning fat do better on the high-fat/low-carb diet. And yes, there are those who are a mixture of the two. Therefore, I’ve come to the conclusion that the one-size-fits-all concept of dieting is fundamentally flawed. In other words, everyone is unique and requires a different type of diet. However, one thing remains the same in all of us: we must all eat according to the needs of our body, and we must exercise to boost those needs further.

This article is a revised excerpt from the book
TrainChange: A Unique Step-by-Step Analytical Approach to Fat Loss
By Al Smith, Jr., The Fitness Specialist®