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If you are having trouble deciding which is the proper diet to lose weight for you, this guide may help you.

For many of you it’s time to go to the beach, to show a bit more of you or change into tighter or more revealing clothes, changing out of what you’ve been  comfortably “hiding” in for months. 

This is a time of the year when many people realize that they have some unwanted extra weight and want to do something about it.

If you are in this situation, you have unlimited options available to you. Most likely, you’re probably wondering: Which is the proper diet to lose weight: a fast or a slow approach?  Wouldn’t be nice to know what to do?

Even the top weight loss programs or weight loss techniques are not valuable to you if they don´t fit your needs. 

When trying to lose weight there is not a specific right or wrong answer 

Both options, the fast or the slow can be right for you if you feel comfortable with your choice.

What is really important is that while you are following your chosen approach you really learn how to eat to lose weight and how to change your habits. This will allow you to keep losing weight and to keep it off, and in the end to be able to have your weight under control in the long term.

Diets never work in the long term. You have to plan ahead for once you have finished the diet

Whether you chose the fast or slow method, even if it’s with a  top weight loss program or one of the latest and fanciest weight loss techniques, you’ll end up dropping it for one reason or another and gaining the weight back if you don’t plan ahead to once you stop dieting. 

Let’s be realistic. If you choose a fast weight loss approach, you know that sooner or later you’ll end up feeling hungry or tired from the aggressive approach. You’ll end up fed up with your diet. And that’s normal. 

If it is the slow option, you won’t be able keep it forever if you haven’t learned what to do and why. Basically, you will end terribly bored of eating the same “healthy eating plan for weight loss” as the diet probably calls it, over and over again since the diet never really taught you how to find healthy eating options and why to choose them. I have created a healthy eating plan to lose weight that you can use, but unless you learn how to create a new one for every week adapted to your personal needs and taste, it won't be to useful. 

Or if your diet required you to remove important food groups, you’ll end missing those groups terribly, or starting to have deficiencies or even health consequences if that diet is too restrictive for your needs.  

When I started in this business I believed that if decided to follow a diet, a slow weight loss option was more effective than a fast weight loss one, until an Australian study showed me I was wrong. 

A revolutionary Australian study showed me I was wrong

This Australian study was published in 2014 in “The Lancet Diabetes & Endocrinology” and challenged the common belief that losing weight gradually is better in the long term than rapid weight loss. You can read the study here. 

They had two groups, the 36-week gradual weight loss program consuming 500 fewer calories per day, and a 12-week rapid weight-loss program with a very-low-calorie diet of 450 to 800 calories a day.

81% of the people in the rapid weight-loss group and 50% of those in the gradual weight-loss group lost more than 12.5% of their body weight.

I am still not a fan of very restrictive diets. I find them too hard and too limiting. But I recognize that it can be the right approach for some people who need to see results fast and are willing to make an extra effort, rather than having the patience to make slower changes.  As long as the fast weight loss diet is used for short periods of time so the metabolism does not begin slowing down, and it is accompanied with an “after the diet” plan, I feel comfortable endorsing this approach. In fact, I recommend protein shakes as a meal replacement option for some of my clients.  

In the study mentioned above, authors found that regaining weight was just as common regardless of the speed of weight loss. In fact people in both groups regained about 71% of their lost weight by the end of 3 years, no matter how fast they had lost it.

That’s what is most important for me:  What to do after a weight loss diet that worked so you keep losing weight and get in control of your weight for the long term. 

Learn how to take over and make an "Eat to Lose Weight" Plan

Here is how you can do it:

1. Follow the Healthy Portion Sizes. Learn what are the healthy portion sizes so you don't eat more than necessary.  
2. Learn the right combination of meals so you can be satisfied after your meal and not feel hungry before your next meal.  
3. Learn about Glycemic Index & Glycemic Load and how implement the knowledge so you are able to maintain your blood sugar levels steady, avoid insulin peaks and keep cravings under control.  
4. Make an "Eat to Lose Weight" Plan that works for you. Follow a healthy eating plan for weight loss. You can use the 32 Mondays Template so you know how your meals should look like and then fill the gaps.
5. Learn how to cook easy and healthy meals.

You can download all the information you need (including some recipes) in the FREE restricted area of the 32 Mondays website, which is only for subscribers. 

In fact, if you start following that plan straight away you don't even need to look for a diet. You can directly work with your plan.