@andersonkevin19, I really think it’s personal. I tried Atkins and liked it for a bit, but could not stay on it my whole life. I have friends who do low cal, keto, and paleo and the Keto & Paleo people love those (I can’t say I have met anyone who loves a low calorie diet, lol). I think the best diet plan is the one you can adopt forever, and the one you feel good on.

For me, on NFDs I just eat a Mediterranean type diet (maybe a little Keto-ish? although I used the term very very loosely).

We hired a nutritionist for my 14 yr old because she was uncomfortable with her body and all of us ended up adopting her recommendations for healthy eating since they seemed so common sense: tons of water, reasonable proportions, a minimum of 4 good sized servings of vegetables + at least one big salad per day, moderate amount of protein (and not much red meat), lots of good healthy fats (olives, nuts, avocados…), some dairy here and there, some natural carbs like rice, potatoes, legumes, and whole grain breads, and very few processed foods or sugar (only on very special occasions).

It’s relatively low carb because most of my carbs come from veggies, but pretty high in fat. I looked at the Keto diet, but I can’t see counting my carbs given my personality. The mediterranean diet is very common sense based on the way I grew up (I’m was raised in France) and it allows me to eat with friends and family without any problems. That’s the only one I can keep that up indefinitely. But it’s not structured so it may not be ideal for people who like rules

Here is a link in case it’s helpful: https://health.usnews.com/best-diet/mediterranean-diet

@diwantsthin, thank you for sharing. Your story breaks my heart because it is the story of so many girls. I think somewhere along the way, we forget that our weight has nothing to do with our worth and a lot to do with our strategies.

Case in point: The other day, my 14 year old put on a dress as a rehearsal for a formal dance that will take place in 4 weeks. She wanted to make sure it fit and sadly she realized that it fits very snuggly and she’s bound to feel self conscious all night at the dance. I saw her face fall and could almost hear the self-loathing words from her heart. She was sad and disgusted with herself. Mind you, she is a gorgeous, smart, funny, kind little girl. But all she could see was the tightness of her dress. I was so shocked to see that much pain reflected in her pain that I was at a loss of words and just held her in my arms. But the next morning I had regained all my words and we had a talk about it. The thing is, when she gets a poor grade in a class, she has learned after many years of coaching that this grade is not a reflection of her intelligence, it’s a reflection of how much work she put into studying, the strategies she used, and how hard the material was. She knows in her soul that she is a smart girl. She can put it in perspective: there has been many tests in the past and there will be many more tests in her future. It’s not permanent. Her success or failure has nothing to do with her worth as a human being. It’s separate from her and the only thing she can control is her level of effort and her strategies.

I explained to her that weight is the same as a test. There will be many times over the course of her life when she will not be at her favorite/ideal weight. After a pregnancy maybe, or after indulging during the holidays, or after taking certain medications or even during the transition to menopause. 90 years is a long time to live and nothing is permanent. But her weight has nothing to do with her worth. No more than a test grade is a reflection of our intelligence. That number on the scale is just a reflection of our strategies and the effort we put toward deploying these strategies.

I do believe 5:2 is a terrific strategy that works. It’s probably no more effective than any other weight loss, but for many (me included) it’s the easiest strategy to stick to. It’s not necessarily easy and there are days when fasting seems a bit daunting for me. But its effectiveness if we stick to it over several weeks and eat healthy/reasonably on NFDs is a fantastic motivator to keep at it. (The first 4 weeks for me were a bit flat with not much weight loss I will say. But I stuck with it because I knew it was good for my health. And now in my 10th week, I have lost about 10lbs in spite of a less than stellar start.)

I think having a good diet for those NFDs is another essential strategy. But that’s where everyone differs a bit. For me this Mediterranean/Keto-ish diet works beautifully, but I bet other “diet plans” work fantastic for other people. It takes experimenting I think and seeing what works for each person. In my case I discovered increasing the fat in my diet (avocado, olives, nuts, and coconut oil) really helps me stick to a reasonable calorie standard each day. And so does eliminating all sugar and artificial sweeteners, limiting the carbs and making them the high quality carbs, while increasing vegetables, water, sleep, and exercise (after reading your posts, I must try yoga!!!)

I hope that no matter what strategy you use (even if it’s not the right one for you and you don’t get the results you want) you will keep in mind that the strategy’s effectiveness has nothing to do with how wonderful and precious you are as a human being.

PS: I do not want my 14 year old to fast and she understands my veto –her brain is still developing and I don’t feel comfortable with that sort of stress on her body– so we just focused on looking at the NFDs strategies that have worked for her dad and me and seeing if she wanted to try them just for kicks. She did, and I’m pretty sure she has already melted away the couple of pounds she needed to fit more comfortably in her dress. (Amazing what stopping eating french fries and cookies will do! lol. I wish it was as easy for us as it is for teenagers to melt!!!!)

Breakfast will be overnight oats with blueberries and salt-free nut butter.
Lunch: Grilled chicken, vegetables, spinach salad, and salt-free crackers.
Snack: A fruit and yogurt smoothie with unsalted almonds.
Dinner will consist of salmon, broccoli, whole wheat couscous, and a variety of berries.

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