Two Kinds Of Diets

Today is day #2 of The Beck Diet Solution. We're supposed to choose two reasonable diets. It's ok if you're already following a plan, but Dr. Beck wants us to choose two diets anyway and put them in writing. She says the reason for this is because the first diet is the one that you plan to start with, and the second diet is there in case the first one doesn't work out.

It doesn't matter whether a diet directs you to consume certain combinations of food; to eat prescribed meals; or to count calories, grams, or predetermined numbers assigned to foods. the bottom line is that you'll still be taking in a limited number of calories. Researchers at the U. S. Department of agriculture have determined that most people who don't vigorously exercise need to pare down their daily consumption to between 1400 and 1500 calories to lose weight. In fact, in a review of popular diets published in the "Journal Obesity Research", researchers found that the daily meal plans of several current popular diets each contain roughly 1500 calories.

Dr. Beck says that there are two kinds of diets. The first kind of diet encourages us to follow a set eating plan, and it provides precise meals and snacks such as Jenny Craig, Slimfast, Optifast, etc. The other type of diet is a counting system that allows us to design our own meals and snacks as long as we stay within a certain number of calories, or assigns numbers such as the Weight Watchers points plan. She says, there are pros and cons to both plans.

The pros to the set eating plan, is that you don't have many choices. Sometimes this is easier for people, especially in the beginning, because you don't really have to put much thought into what you are going to eat. The cons to this set eating plan, is that it can create a mindset of "good" foods and "bad" foods. If you end up eating a "bad" food that wasn't on your plan, you might think you've blown your diet, and keep eating that "bad" food for the rest of the day and just figure you'll start over again tomorrow. The other downside to this plan is that it really isn't something that you'll be able to do for the rest of your life, and it doesn't give you the flexibility for uncontrollable food circumstances, such as eating out, going to parties, or vacation.

The pros to the counting system plan, is that you can match your diet more easily to your lifestyle. This will allow you to find meals wherever you are rather it be traveling, eating out, or at a party. You can always ensure that your meals and snacks include all your favorite foods. This is a plan that you could possibly stick to for the rest of your life. The cons to the counting system plan is that it may offer you too much flexibility. It allows you to choose foods that may not be particularly healthy, but still meet the set requirements. This type of plan also takes more time and energy than a set eating plan to figure out what you're going to eat.

Whichever plan you choose to follow. It should be healthy, because you be following this diet for a long time. You want to choose a diet that allows you to eat a variety of foods. You should be wary of any diet that restricts healthy food choices. You might be able to lose weight on a diet that isn't nutritious, but eventually your body will rebel and you'll start to gain back the excess weight. You want to choose a diet that includes food you like and can easily prepare. You'll be much more likely to stick to it if the food is tasty and convenient, and you will also be more likely to make recipes and eat the required meals. Choose a diet that allows indulgences. If you have foods that are completely off-limits, you will likely have cravings sooner or later.

Before moving on to the next step in this plan, we are suppose to pick the primary diet we want to follow, along with a backup diet. The reason for this is so that in the event that two to three months from now we find that the first diet isn't working or even if were bored with it will have something to fall back on. This way, we are less likely to quit.

Today's tasks are to investigate different diet plans and choose the one we are going to follow along with our backup diet plan (write down both plans into your diet notebook so that you will remember what your backup plan is in the event that you need it down the line). The other thing that we should do today is read our advantages response card that we made yesterday at lease twice.

Ok, so my main diet plan is the Weight Watchers Flex Points Plan, and my backup diet plan will be the Weight Watchers Core Plan. What two plans have you chosen for yourself? TTYL!