For many, dieting can be frustrating: Maybe you try a popular diet that seems to work for everyone but you, or you’re successful for two weeks and then “fall off the wagon.” If you’ve found dieting to be difficult, that doesn’t mean weight loss is outside your reach—it just might mean you haven’t found the right plan for you.
Here’s what seven experts have to say about finding an easy diet plan that works for you, as well as the latest research on five popular diets.
Why Dieting Can Feel Frustrating
Often, dieting is done to achieve a goal, like weight loss, but is not viewed as a permanent way of eating that can help sustain that weight loss or other health goals. This may be because when many people go on a more restrictive eating plan, their body pushes back.
He notes that nerves in the brain change as part of a biological process in the body to make any further weight loss more difficult.
How to Find the Easiest Diet to Lose Weight
What makes a diet effective and easy for one person, might not be the same for you.
So, it’s essential to consider individual factors—such as your budget, personal taste and comfort level with cooking—and work with a medical doctor or registered dietitian when searching for the easiest diet to lose weight.
Here are a few things to consider when deciding on an effective diet for you, according to experts:
Avoid any plan that feels overly restrictive, whether that’s in terms of calories consumed or types of foods
Pick a diet that includes foods that are recognizable to your personal food culture
Opt for a diet that emphasizes foods you can find and prepare easily
Make sure the diet includes foods that fit your budget and also promote a sense of fullness, such as high-fiber, high-protein foods like beans and lean meats
If you have a health condition, food allergy or intolerance, make sure the diet incorporates foods that work for you
If you have a family, decide if the whole family can benefit from certain aspects of the diet, and eat together
Determine how much cooking is realistic for you, and that the amount of cooking required by the diet matches your skills, time availability and resources
Know that some days of eating will not be as great as others—and that’s okay in the long run
Once you find a diet that might be easy for you, start slow rather than making big changes.
Focusing on foods that can be increased on a particular diet, rather than focusing on which foods have to be removed, can help with overall weight loss, explains Matthew Landry, Ph.D., a registered dietitian nutritionist and a postdoctoral research fellow at the Stanford Prevention Research Center.
