The Secret To Every Diet You Have Tried and How They Work

3001Fitness • Feb 11, 2019

Recently I was scrolling through Facebook and came across a post from a coach that I think was absolutely brilliant.

This post was by a coach named Jade Teta, and in his post, he broke down how pretty much any and all diets work. In the end, diets work because you are in a caloric deficit which pretty much means you eat fewer calories than you burn. That way your body will need to turn to some stored calories for energy.

At the end of the day, the weight loss equation is pretty simple, it is not necessarily easy but it is simple. Eating a smaller amount of calories on a daily basis consistently can be challenging for many reasons. Things come up such as stress from work, balancing what your kids want to eat vs what you know you should eat, and going out to social events it can be hard sometimes.

In the post he broke down 6 different strategies people use in order to create a caloric deficit. Today I want to share those 6 strategies with you and how each of them work.

  • Eat whatever you like, just eat less of it

You may not be ready to give up certain foods or to try new ones and you are completely comfortable with the food that you eat. That is perfectly cool because you do not necessarily need to do that. You can continue to eat all the foods you love just eat less of it. The challenge with that is you leave a lot up to chance. Simply saying “eat less” may not give you enough structure. What might help is tracking how much you eat either by simply writing it down, using your hand to measure or, weighing and measuring your food. Have you ever read an ariticle in a magazine about how someone ate Mcdonalds or cookies for a month straight and lost weight? It is absolutely possible they were simply eating less calories than they were burning.

  • Eat larger amounts of very satiating low calorie foods

The exact opposite of the first example is to eat larger volume of lower calorie foods that fills you up. You may be thinking to yourself that if you continued to eat the food you do but eat less you will be absolutely starving (probably not a good idea for long term success). To prevent that you can fill yourself of on larger volume of low calorie food. Generally things such as vegetables and lean proteins will be most helpful for this strategy.

  • Eat small frequent meals spread over the course of the day

Everywhere you turn it seems like we keep seeing someone say the best thing to do to lose weight is to eat smaller meals more often. Instead of eating 3 biggers meals during the day maybe you eat 6 or so smaller meals spread out. The idea here is that you will have less time between meals to become “starving” and you will feel more full and satisfied throughout the day. Now this strategy absolutely does work for some people but it may not work for everyone. For some people their schedule does not allow them to eat 6 times a day, or they have to worry about other peoples feeding schedule like their family which makes it harder.

  • Eat fewer larger meals over the course of the day

Contrary to the strategy above some people say eating larger meals less often during the day will help you lose weight. Again they are not wrong but it does not work for everyone. If you feel more full and satisfied eating larger meals and less of them during the day by all means go for you!

  • Cut our a major macronutrient like fat or carbohydrates

Low carb diets and the Keto Diet seem to be the new trend that everyone is talking about. Once again these strategies do absolutely work, but there is nothing special or magical about them. They simply put you in a caloric deficit which causes you to lose weight. For some people having such a strict rule such as eating absolutely no carbs or no fat may help them stay on track and eat less. Some people feel that they can’t control themselves when it comes to carbohydrates so it is easier to cut them out completely. For others it can have the reverse effect, they may be able to cut out carbs for a little but then feel deprived and they go to have some and end up eating a whole box of pasta, bread followed by some cookies for dessert. I think you know that this will not help you lose weight. 

  • Spend a large portion of your day or week avoiding food (Fasting)

Intermittent fasting has also been one of the hot diets to try lately. There are different ways to do intermittent fasting but simply putting it you only allow yourself to eat during certain hours of the day, for example, you may only eat from 8am-8pm and fast from 8pm-8am. Now while some people claim that fasting boosts your metabolism and turns you into a fat burning machine at the end of the day you are simply eating fewer calories. For some people, this may work because having that strict time frame of when you can eat will help you avoid any excess calories late at night. If you find yourself eating a whole pint of Ben and Jerry’s ice cream at 7:59 and think it’s fine for you because it’s not after 8pm you may want to rethink your strategy.

I hope this helped you understand how there is truth behind all of the “diets” and strategies we read and see in fitness magazines and on the news. However, the end goal for all of them is to eat fewer calories and that is it.

Now you might be waiting for me to tell you what strategy I think is best and what you should do but unfortunately, I do not believe one strategy is better than the others. I believe the best thing you can do is the one that works for you, the one that allows you to be happy, satisfied, reach your goal, and sustain it for a long time.

Another thing Jade pointed out that I think is super valuable is to note that if these strategies work because they put you in a caloric deficit the inverse must also be true. If you find yourself not losing weight you are not in a caloric deficit plain and simple.

-Coach Pat

Share This Post!

More posts ...

By Christina Jodoin 18 Aug, 2023
Several weeks ago I asked you to send questions you have about nutrition, eating skills or body image and I got a bunch of great questions! Thank you!!! In this week’s video, we are covering a question that comes up a lot: What can I eat for lunch that:requires little to no prep, will keep me satisfied, and is not highly processed? Do you struggle with that midday break to eat lunch like me?? Many of my clients have come to me really at a loss for lunch specifically, because they haven’t made a plan, and they either grab handfuls of random things together, go through a drive thru, or skip it all together! Does that sound like you? Well, check out this week’s video to see my recommendations for how to make sure those lunches don’t thwart your progress to reaching your health goals. As always, we will start where you are!
By Christina Jodoin 14 Aug, 2023
Eating at home more than going out to eat is one way to make progress on your health and nutrition because it puts you in full control. The trade off… eating at home requires having food on hand to prepare those meals, which requires time each week for planning and the time it takes to go to the grocery store. It’s work. Well, your resident nutrition coach (ME!), is here to teach you one simple thing you can start doing THIS WEEK to simplify your meal planning, save time, and save money. Watch this week’s video for a step-by-step on how to set up an Instacart account and grocery lists, plan your meals in advance, and order groceries from the comfort of your own home. With the convenience of online shopping, you can browse through a variety of healthy options and have them delivered straight to your doorstep in no time. Check out the video below to see just HOW easy it is to order your groceries online !
By Christina Jodoin 10 Aug, 2023
Are you a “perfectionist"? When you strive for perfection, you have good intentions. You want to take care of your health, feel your best, and live a long and happy life with loved ones. One way that perfectionism can show up in our health is through a fancy term known as cognitive distortion also known as all-or-nothing thinking. Striving for excellence can be a really wonderful thing! It means it is important to you to look after yourself! However, all or nothing thinking can also lead to disappointment, burnout, and self-criticism when we inevitably miss a day, or go “off plan”. When our focus is on getting a “perfect” outcome, we lose satisfaction and enjoyment along the way and lose sight of other measures of progress. Want to know one of the greatest predictors of long term success with any behavior change? FLEXIBILITY. Flexibility allows you to come as you are on your best day AND on your worst day. It fosters self-compassion, and helps you to keep moving forward. Check out this video below to find out more!
Share by: