“I am on a diet”

“I am thinking of trying out a new diet which this famous actor is following. It is really cool, I heard”

“Last time I followed this diet but when I left it after 2 months, I gained more weight than before”

This is the story of all the people who desperately want to lose weight and follow any kinds of trendy diet plans and different fad diets in the market without understanding the real Healthy Eating science behind it.

Going on and off varied diets can actually make your relationship with food very unhealthy. People go ahead and indulge in extreme diets. This may hamper their health adversely and can prove fatal too in some cases. Following different fad diets can do more harm than good. It may affect hormonal balance in the body and can also slow your metabolism.

So, what is the best diet for you?

The answer is as complex as the question itself. Let us break it down and try to understand.

First and foremost, when we hear the word ‘dieting’, the common perception is going on a strict regime and sacrificing all the delicious food in the world and strictly stick to foods which are tasteless and may be bland. This itself is a blow to the person’s motivation who would like to ‘go on a diet’. Therefore, a more appropriate word can be ‘eating healthy’ rather than ‘dieting’.

The best way to ‘eat healthy’ is a nutrition plan which includes all the nutrients in the right proportion and as required by your body.

There are a few things which you should take note of while following a healthy eating pattern or a nutrition plan. The right kind of nutrition is the one which not only helps you lose weight but also:

• Helps you eliminate any nutritional deficiencies

This is of prime importance as a good nutrition plan will never make you nutritionally deficient. Fad diets do that. In fact, a balanced nutrition plan will correct deficiencies of any kind.  If a certain diet is asking you to cut down on a particular nutrient completely, it’s a sign of caution. Stay away from such diets for the benefit of your health.

• Keeps your food cravings and hunger controlled

No good nutrition plans should starve you or keep you hungry. If it does so, it needs a re-evaluation. A well panned nutrition plan should allow you to eat well balanced meals as per your body’s requirements. It will also help work on your food cravings.

• Gives you better stamina and energy

Fad diets drain you of your energy. An important thing to check whether you are following good nutrition is to assess your energy levels throughout the day. If you are feeling tired with your new nutrition plan, time to evaluate and change it for the better.

• Makes your skin and hair glow

Well, this change will not happen in a day. But when you start observing all the above changes in your body, a good nutrition plan will start to have a positive impact on your skin and hair. You may get rid of your acnes, reduce hair fall or also improve quality of skin and hair.

• Will let you exercise and practice healthy lifestyle.

Beware of those diet advertisements which promises that you don’t have to do any physical activity or promise that you can eat everything but still lose weight. These are just gimmicks. Nothing comes without any efforts and there are no shortcuts to attain a healthy body.

A well-balanced nutrition plan along with physical activity and proper hydration will gradually help you achieve your health goals over a period of time.

Lastly, remember ‘one size doesn’t fit all’ and every person is unique. Each individual’s nutrition requirement is different. Your nutrition needs are not same as your friend’s nutritional needs. Therefore, a thorough nutrition assessment and a customized nutrition plan as per your requirement by a qualified dietician should be the way. Next time, when you want to try any new kind of diet that is trending on social media, do evaluate it with the pointers above