Dieting can be a daunting topic for the majority of people, mainly because there is a vast amount of conflicting information out there, all describing what is the best way of eating. Whether your goal is fat loss, muscle gain, strength gain, performance-based or all of these, it is worth bearing in mind that there is no one diet which suits everyone. There are, however, diets that are better suited to certain types of people. This article is written to help you find a protocol that suits your lifestyle and gets you the best results.
Diets always manipulate at least one of the following components:
- Amount of calories consumed
- Nutrient timing (when you eat)
- Food group selection (carbohydrates, healthy fats, proteins)
- Macros ratio (percentages of each food group consumed)
What differentiates each diet is the manner of manipulation. This article offers an unbiased view of the most popular styles of dieting and draws upon my personal experience and my clients’ experiences to help you work out which one would best suit your lifestyle and personal goals. Each diet featured will have the following information :
- Introduction to the diet
- The theory behind it
- The positive points
- The negative points
- Target consumers
Paleo
The Paleo style of eating is based upon the ‘hunter-gatherer’ lifestyle manipulating food group selection. You can only eat wholesome natural foods while avoiding all processed food. This is a nutrient-rich diet. Foods you can eat in Paleo are grass-fed beef, poultry and other wild meats such as boar and venison, fish, shellfish, seafood, vegetables, seeds, nuts, fruits, and oils such as coconut oil, olive oil, walnut oil, flaxseed and macadamia oils. The foods you can’t eat are dairy products (unless you can get raw milk), cereals, grains, legumes, refined sugars and all processed foods which were not part of our ancestor’s diet.
The theory
The Paleo diet is characterised by consumption of only natural whole food sources and avoidance of processed foods to ensure the body receives all the nutrients it needs. By excluding processed foods and grains from your diet, your body will have lower inflammatory levels, healthier blood sugar levels, and improved glycemic control and cardiovascular function, leading to a healthier, leaner body, much like our ancestors.
The positives
Paleo is without doubt a very healthy diet to follow because it is based upon whole natural foods. So, you can be sure that your body will reap all the health benefits. I have seen how effective it could be for fat loss while maintaining or even increasing muscle tissue, strength and athletic performance. You don’t have to obsess over calories (however, if you tend to massively overeat on any food group, you will end up putting weight). The foods you can eat as part of Paleo are all easily accessible for most people.
The negatives
Avoiding wheat, soy and dairy can be a challenge for a lot of people, especially those who eat out for lunch or dinner regularly. It also commands your precious time in order to prepare your meals from scratch, which could mean significantly adapting and changing lifestyle. This style of eating requires buying whole nutritious ingredients, which can be more expensive. But then again, what’s more important then investing in your health?
Is Paleo for you?
Paleo suits individuals who are able to sacrifice some time and become organised when it comes to cooking meals (this can be made easier by cooking larger meals and then eating the left overs for lunch the next day or using your freezer) and those who have the money to spend on good quality produce. If your goal is to achieve better body composition and improve your health, the Paleo diet is great for you as it’s totally based on whole natural food forces. It suits everyone, right from people with sedentary lifestyles to the ones very active.
The Weight Watchers Protocol
This diet has become quite popular over the years as it is easy to follow and gives people a well structured framework to plan their meals around while offering support from other like-minded people. It’s based on a points system, which restricts your calorie intake. Unlike Paleo, this protocol focuses on the amount of calories consumed rather than on particular food group and nutrients you eat. This means you can consume refined sugars and processed foods as long as you’re within your points.
The theory
By consuming fewer calories than the amount you’re expending will create a caloric deficit. To lose weight, you must use up more energy than you consume from food and drink. Thus, restricting the amount you eat will promote weight loss.
The positives
The structure incorporates regular weigh-ins and encouragement from the Weight Watchers community which can help support people with their dieting. It doesn’t have to be time consuming as you can eat ready meals and other processed foods; in other words, you don’t have to cook from scratch. There are extra small costs for becoming a member; however, in general, the foods and their requisite quantity make it relatively cheap.
The negatives
The quality of nutrients can be low as the emphasis is placed mainly on the amount of calories consumed. Nonetheless, this is the choice made by the individual on the diet. Eating processed foods and a low-calorie diet may lead to some initial weight loss due to the caloric deficit. However, it can also result in poor hormonal function and muscle atrophy, which is not a good fat burning environment for your body. You cannot function forever with a caloric deficit. Ultimately, this will stall any progress in fat loss and grind your metabolism down to a snail’s pace. Although some people have had good results and managed to keep the weight of, there are many others who achieve weight loss at first but then end up putting the weight back on, creating a yoyo effect, which can put your body under stress. Eating a low-calorie diet can dramatically decrease energy levels while increasing the risk of becoming malnourished and deficient in major vitamins and nutrients such as zinc, magnesium, vitamin C and potassium. Being deficient in vitamins such as these can lead to heart diseases, sudden cardiac death, type 2 diabetes, bone density decrease and osteoporosis.
Is Weight Watchers for you?
Weight Watchers suits people who need to be given basic structure in their dieting when it comes to calorie control and portion size. If you find it hard to stick to a diet, then the Weight Watchers’ regular weigh-ins involving other people, who are also on the diet, helps to provide you with more accountability. It suits people who live a more sedentary lifestyle and for those who don’t mind counting calories all the time.
Carb Cycling
Carb cycling refers to the amount of carbohydrates consumed on various days throughout the week. This method is widely used by body builders because it provides them with the nutrients they need to fuel tough workouts while also providing on certain days a caloric deficit to strip fat.
It basically involves cycling through your carbohydrate intake from high levels to moderate through to low carb and/or no carb days. The amount of healthy fats eaten is directly affected by the phase of the carb cycle you are on. For example, if you’re having a high-carb day, you will need to have a low healthy fats day; likewise, if you’re having a low-carb day, you will be having a high healthy fats day. The amount of protein stays high and fairly constant throughout the carb cycling.
There are different protocols within carb cycling, differentiating between the number of low-carb days taken during the week and high-carb days. For example, someone who is looking to strip body fat while maintaining or gaining lean muscle may do the following:
- Monday: Moderate carb intake
- Tuesday: High carb intake
- Wednesday: Moderate carb intake
- Thursday: No carb intake
- Friday: High carb intake
- Saturday: No carb intake
- Sunday: Low carb intake
It’s all about the manipulation of your macronutrient levels (amount of carbs, proteins and fats), which is based around your activity level for the day.
The theory
The high-carb days will give you energy and nutrients to fuel your muscles by increasing glycogen stores and spiking your insulin levels, which helps to reduce muscle breakdown during your training sessions. People usually allocate the high-carb days to the toughest training days.
The moderate-carb days enable you to train with just enough glycogen stored to provide fuel for the body during a workout while shielding you from a caloric deficit.
The low-carb and no-carb days are usually reserved for days of cardio, such as sprints and rest days, although if you lift weights more than 3 times a week, you may also have to lift on one of these days. It is on the low-carb or no-carb days that the body will have heightened fat burning capabilities because insulin levels are kept to a minimum and you will be in caloric deficit.
The positives
When done properly, carb cycling is healthy as it enables you to receive all the macronutrients your body needs to function optimally. It encourages you to eat slow-release carbohydrates such as sweet potato, quinoa, bulgar wheat, wholemeal bread and rolled oats, and to stay away from high glycemic carbs such as white bread, white pasta and potatoes. Carb cycling can be very efficient when it comes to results. As long as you get the macronutrient levels right for yourself, you can strip fat, build lean muscle tissue and increase strength.
The negatives
It can be fairly annoying measuring out your macronutrients (amounts of carbs, proteins and fats) for the day. It is also time consuming because you have to measure out your macronutrients and then cook them. You need to be organised and prepare your food so you have meals ready for the next day to take to work. The cost is similar to the Paleo diet (moderate to high).
Is carb cycling for you?
If you like carbohydrates and you don’t want to eliminate or deprive them from your diet, then carb cycling is great. It suits people who are moderately to highly active and who don’t mind spending a little extra time measuring out macronutrients and then cooking their food.
Intermittent Fasting
Intermittent fasting refers to a way of eating where you go for prolonged periods of time without consuming any food. It cycles through designated times of eating and then times of fasting. There are various methods of intermittent fasting, which are differentiated by manipulating the length of the fasting and feeding periods. Less active people generally would be able to fast for longer periods of time than active people.
An example of intermittent fasting for someone who leads a low to moderately active lifestyle would be the 5:2 diet. This involves eating a healthy well balanced diet for five days of the week and slashing your calorie count down to 500 for women and 600 for men on the other two days. Intermittent fasting is all about nutrient timing.
For detailed descriptions of intermittent fasting techniques, read my article intermittent fasting for weight loss.
The theory
By simply cutting down on the amount of calories consumed may initially lead to weight loss. However, it’s not sustainable as you just can’t keep eating smaller amounts of food. Not only will your metabolism suffer, you will lose muscle, have no energy and be deprived of vital nutrients. Thus, the theory behind intermittent fasting is to use fasting periods and feeding periods so that you are able to get the best of both worlds. Instead of prolonged calorie cutting, fasting for short periods of time can result in improved insulin sensitivity and blood sugar levels, reduced blood pressure and increased fat burning, while the feeding periods enable you to consume the vital macronutrients and micronutrients your body needs to function and provide you with fuel for your workouts and everyday life.
The positives
There have been many recent studies into intermittent fasting. Provided you eat whole natural foods and select a fasting to feeding ratio which suits your lifestyle, intermittent fasting can be very useful for fat loss and muscle gain. My clients have also had great results using different methods of intermittent fasting. If you lead a busy working life, then going for periods of time without having to worry about cooking or eating can make it very convenient and easy to stick to. The cost is generally low to moderate as you go through periods of eating less food.
The negatives
Intermittent fasting (especially the 5:2 diet) has received a lot of media attention, which has resulted in misinterpretations of the methods. Because people often just put emphasis on nutrient timing and pay no attention to the quality of nutrition during their feeding phase, the quality of the nutrients can suffer. Just because you are fasting doesn’t mean you should eat junk.
Is intermittent fasting for you?
The different methods suit a variety of people, from those who lead a sedentary lifestyle to those who are active. It is also great for people who are busy and don’t have much time to cook, and for those who don’t mind going without food for periods of time.
Tom Winterbottom personal trainer Marylebone personal trainer Baker Street