There is no shortage of reasons for living a healthier life, and there are numerous diet plans in place for losing weight, losing belly fat, weight gaining and many.
Here is the high-level summary of various diet plans people using all around the world.
Paleo Diet
Paleo diet mimics the diet plan of the humans who live more than a thousand years ago. We may not be so sure about what was the exact food consumed by our ancestors.
But the researchers trust that their diet should have been natural, unprocessed and whole food.
So obviously, processed foods are avoided in the paleo diet plan.
This diet plan varies depending on the geographic location. But the primary idea is to avoid processed food and consume only the whole food.
If you’re planning for a weight loss, the paleo diet is the right choice. It directly attacks obesity and helps you to get rid of diabetes and cardiovascular diseases.
Based on the availability and possibility, people started modifying the paleo diet. They started including few everyday foods as well that are recommended by the nutritionist as healthy foods.
Generally, grains are avoided in the paleo diet, but nowadays, gluten-free grains are being included in the paleo diet plan.
Foods to be included on the Paleo Diet Plan
- Vegetables – Sweet potatoes, Broccoli, Spinach, Cauliflower, Tomatoes, onions, etc
- Fruits – Apple, Grapes, Bananas, Citrus fruits like Oranges and Lemon, Avocados, Strawberry, blueberry and more.
- Meat – Chicken, Lamb, Beef, pork
- Sea Food – Salmon Fish, Tuna Fish, Shrimp
- Eggs
- Nuts & Seeds – Almonds, Cashews, Flax seeds, Walnuts, pistachios, pumpkin seeds and more
- Oils – Olive oil, Coconut oil, walnut oil, avocado oil.
Foods to be avoided on the Paleo diet plan
- Sugar and sweeteners
- Grains
- Dairy products
- All kind of processed foods
- Soda and soft drinks
- Refined oils
Intermittent fasting
Intermittent fasting is a model of eating between given intervals. Usually, you have 3 or 4 meal per day, but intermittent fasting allows you to eat after a long break like 16 hours or 24 hours. It’s not exactly 16 or 24 as there are few patterns which could be followed based on your convenience and the ability.
In this Diet plan, there are no specific foods recommended or to be avoided, but an interval has to be followed between every meal.
There are several ways to pursue intermittent fasting,
12 Hours Fasting
It would be best if you were on fasting for 12 hours every day. Fasting for more than 10 hours allows your body to turn the fat into energy.
This option is suitable for beginners. You will be eating two meals a day instead of 3, and it’s doable at the initial stage. Moreover, ample an amount of fasting time will be spent on sleeping.
You could follow the schedule of 06:00 AM and 06:00 PM or between 07:00 AM and 07:00 PM. Please have your dinner on or before 07:00 PM.
16 Hours Fasting(16:8 Method)
It is a 16 hours fasting method and allows you to eat within the 8 hours. It is also called as lean gains diet.
During this diet plan, men follow fasting for 16 hours and women on 14 hours. It is the next level of 12-hour fasting.
You could finish your dinner before 09:00 PM every day and no breakfast for the next day. It would help if you continued your fasting until noon.
Fasting for two days a week (5:2 Method)
- You are allowed to eat five days a week and eat very fewer calories on the other two days.
- On fasting days, men can eat 600 calories and women to have 500 calories.
- The fasting days need not be consecutive.
Low Carb Diet
Low carb diet is a diet plan that allows you to consume a very minimal amount of carbohydrates. Generally, carbohydrates are highly present in sugary foods, bread and pasta. Rather than eating high carb foods, you can eat whole foods with natural proteins and fats.
It’s been proved that the low-carb diet helps a lot when you are trying to lose your weight.
It is also called as low carb, high-fat diet (LCHF).
Foods to eat on the Low-carb Diet Plan
- Vegetables,
- Fruits,
- Eggs,
- Meat,
- fish,
- nuts,
- Dairy products
- Gluten-free grains.
- Foods to be avoided on the Low-carb diet plan
- Sugar, Pasta, Bread, Processed foods, refined grains.
Keto Diet (Ketogenic)
Keto diet is one of the ways to follow a low-carb diet. It limits the intake of carbohydrate under 50 grams a day and results in significant weight loss in a given period.
A human body gets energy from Carbohydrate and Fats whereas in Keto Diet all the required power is taken from fat as you consume more of Fat food.
You no need to panic about if there will be any side effects of eating fat content. As you don’t consume any carbohydrate, the body burns the fat part and converts to energy for your daily routines.
Keto diet is considered as a lifestyle rather than a diet plan.
Foods to eat
- Meat – Chicken, red meat, turkey, steak
- Fish – Tuna and Salmon
- Dairy Products – Grass-fed butter, unprocessed cheese, cream
- Nuts – Almonds, pumpkin seeds, flax seeds and walnuts
- Oils – Virgin Coconut Oil, Olive oil and avocado oil
- Veggies – Tomato, onion, green veggies
Foods to avoid
Sugar and sweeteners – Soda, smoothies, cake, ice cream, sweet bread, candy, fruit juice, sweeteners and desserts
- Fruits – All fruits except berries
- Vegetables – Sweet potato, potato, Carrots and beetroot
- Oil – Processed oil
- Alcohol
The Bottom Line
The fact is there is no one particular diet plan which suits everyone. A diet plan works for you may not serve others. But all the diet plans are aimed to achieve and live a healthy lifestyle.
The vital area of following a diet plan is maintaining consistency.