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“Choosing a Diet Plan?"

The diet word is abused, misused and misunderstood.  Most of us hate to diet.  We don’t even like the word.  Many people define the word diet as, “A restrictive program that limits what you can eat.”  Many people feel it is a way of life, just something they’ve been burdened to do forever.  Many men view dieting as strictly a female activity.   And some think it’s just something you do in order to lose weight.  Well, the people who feel burdened with dieting might have the right definition, yet maybe with the wrong attitude.

We all diet all day, every day.  Our diet is defined as the sum of those food products we put in our mouth.  So we’re all dieting all the time… it’s just that some of us have a horrible diet.

The good news is that we can make our diet both healthy and fun.  It doesn’t have to be a burden.  It can be tasty and we can even have those decadent foods we love from time to time.  Yet in the meantime, we need to beware of those in the weight loss industry who make unproven claims.  After all, every industry has players who take liberties with the truth and make outrageous claims to separate you from your money.

So how can we tell the good weight loss companies from the bad ones?  This is one of those times when the federal government is actually helpful.  In spite of the fact that the industry is not strictly regulated the FTC has been good enough to produce the following list of litmus tests to help you determine if weight loss claims may be exaggerated:

1. Causes weight loss without dieting or exercise.

2. Causes substantial weight loss no matter what or how much you eat.

3. Causes permanent weight loss, even after you stop using the product.

4. Blocks the absorption of fat or calories.

5. Claims of high weight loss for extended periods of time.

6. Causes substantial weight loss regardless of your unique situation.

7. Causes substantial weight loss by wearing a product or rubbing a product on your skin.

Diet Theory

There are countless weight loss programs on the market, with very little regulation.  Environments like this attract unsavory types who tend to rely on hype and snake oil to make a sale.  Yet let’s not dismiss those honest programs that use logic and truth in advertising to make their points.  There are several fact-based programs, yet this group is a very small representation of all the programs available today.

There are basically 5 types of diet programs:

Ketonic body   Ketogenic programs work from the scientific premise that if one controls what is eaten so the body responds by burning fat while protecting organs, muscle and other body parts, then you’ll lose fat in a controlled and healthy manner.

Calorie reduction   Consuming fewer calories than you burn will normally result in weight loss.  Each pound of fat is equivalent to 3,500 calories.  To lose only two pounds a week you’d have to cut out 1,000 calories per day, which is nearly half of your food intake.

Exercise  You burn about 100 calories per mile when running.  You’d need to run 10 miles per day in order to burn off two pounds per week.  While exercise is normally good for us, exercise alone is a real slow way to lose weight.

Drugs or injections   Some people need to take drugs or supplements for health reasons yet there is not a healthy drug or injection one may take to lose weight.

Magic claims   Any time they claim you can wear a special belt, or sprinkle dust on your food, or take a mysterious capsule, rub a lotion on your beer belly, or promises from the latest weird berry pill… run. 

From a scientific perspective there is only one program type that can help you effectively lose weight in an easy, quick, and healthy manner.  One can lose weight on almost any diet yet doing so quickly and in a healthy way eliminates nearly all diet plans except a ketonic body program. 

Good ketonic body programs encourage you to maintain a healthy diet with limited complex carbohydrates and sufficient protein and vitamin rich foods.  This is normally supplemented with tasty protein food supplements to complement your whole food diet.  You still get to enjoy beef, pork, chicken, shrimp and even lobster.  Sure, you have to give up breads, booze and other fun stuff for a while.  Any program claiming you can simply take a pill or sprinkle dust on your food or take mystical injections without changing your food input selections is a dangerous program that encourages the person to yoyo diet.  The essence of a ketogenic program is that the dieter learns how to eat for life while getting healthy… quickly. 


A good program should be simple, which normally means consuming an enjoyable protein food a few times a day along with a normal diet.  The program should be grounded in education.  Losing weight is only successful if you’ve learned how to keep it off along the way.  You shouldn’t have to count calories or weigh foods and you should not feel hungry.  Simply put, a good program needs to be scientifically based and the promoter should be willing and able to explain the science to you.

Losing weight doesn’t need to be difficult and it shouldn’t be equated to suffering.

By Mike Beatty

Mar 2014


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