Top Ten Diets in American Culture
With so many diet books flooding the Internet and local bookstores, it's become increasingly difficult for the average person to make an educated decision about what diet strategies may or may not work. One of the many questions to ask is; are these diets using scientific research to make their statements or are they grounding their claims on anecdotal evidence and testimonials, and misrepresenting actual science in order to confuse and dazzle their prospective patrons?

This article will summarize the main points of the current top ten diets, expose their calorie recommendations in a typical diet plan, explain why weight loss occurs, and discuss the ease with which they may be maintained for appropriate weight loss.

What is Success?
Program success is not simply weight or fat loss, but maintaining results. In other words, the ability to live by the resolutions one makes to achieve his or her goals. Maintenance is defined as a minimum of three years of sustaining a healthy and desirable body fat by incorporating the designated food plan for the entire period. If these criteria are not met, then the user is not a candidate for a legitimate testimonial because the diet plan did not work.

Summary
The remaining four diets fall onto the category of very low-calorie diets (VLCD- which are less than or equal to 1000 calories) and have been established as unsafe unless monitored closely by qualified physician. From what has previously been discussed, you should be able to identify the common mode of operation of flawed programs.

In a nutshell, most of the plans are low-calorie diets disguised by distorted science. Using scientific words and hocus pocus research to dazzle and confuse the reader, these authors sneak in the calorie reduction necessary for weight loss.

No one needs to look any further than today's environment for the cause of our weight problem. It is well documented that our society has increased its average food intake by approximately 300 calories and is moving roughly 260 calories less than we did last decade.

We eat too much because food is there and we move to little because of technology and our dependence on it to support our families. If labor-saving devices were banished, we would eventually return to our non-overweight society. As technology grows so does the waistline. But just as humans once lived without technology, we now have to learn to live with it or eventually the only "normal" weight persons will be people that make a living based on low body fat or weight. Incentive drives action.

The weight-loss business generates $40 billion a year and encompasses over 30,000 diet plans while it continues to grow along with the collective waistline of our population, validating the fact that there is no one answer for everyone. Science, however, has established the basic parameters for success, and once an individual comes to peace with himself or herself on the actual cause for the weight problem (see the above), they will find their personal solution within those parameters.

Basic parameters

• A true personal commitment to change, or a significant triggering event that keeps you in the proper frame of mind to complete the mission of accomplishing a personalized sensible goal
• A maintainable balance of exercise, consisting of the least amount of specific work, and adequate nutrition incorporating palatable foods that satiate and does not require deprivation of most normally consumed foods
• Depending on an acceptable lifestyle, exercise can be as little as adding more daily walking or other convenient movements to as much as regular workouts that include weight training and more intense cardiorespiratory activities-the more you work the more you can eat.
• Once you establish your daily caloric intake based on estimation of size and an average of daily activities, the food plan can fall within the following percentages:
  • Protein-15-30%, carbohydrates-40-75%, fat-10-30%
  • Identify the sensible foods you like and assemble them within the above percentages and incorporate a few of your favorite treats including alcohol if necessary
• Weight loss should be slow and steady - should not average more than a pound a week
• Maintain a daily food log for at least six weeks or until you feel comfortable identifying food values by sight.
• The program should not dramatically alter your lifestyle. You must be able to live by the resolutions necessary to achieve your goal. In other words small gradual lifestyle changes that include plateau and maintenance strategies

The above is an outline of a well- documented strategy that allows a person the best chance for success. See your Apex fitness professional for your individual program designed within these parameters.