This is not easy for me to admit. I feel I am a person who has control over my life in almost every area, except for my health. I have tried the Atkins diet, low fat diets, Slim Fast, and other methods. I have lost weight with all of them. The problem is that all of these diets simply are not realistic for a person to live out in real life. As an adult with kids, school, a job, and one who travels, it is difficult, at best, to stick with one of these diets.

To make one of these diets work, everyone in the family must be on the diet too. You cannot live out a diet if you are eating bacon and eggs, while others around you are eating doughnuts and waffles for breakfast. That is not a good long term strategy.

The only diet that seems to be most compatible into everyone’s life is Weight Watchers. Now, I am not associated with WW in any way whatsoever. I just know that I can eat pizza when others eat pizza. I can eat ice cream when others do as well. I can go out to eat and order off the same menu as others. There may be other choices to make along the way, but this just appears to be the best long-term option for those who need to lose weight and keep it off.

Another reason Weight Watchers is a good option is it is widely supported and accepted among many manufacturers. Just go to the grocery store and you will see many items that show point values for the food, or look in many restaurant’s menus and you will see point values assigned to different meals and entrees. This is very important if are going to live your life in the real world.

I know there are many other systems out there. I have looked at them all. I just like what WW has to offer and how they make living out your diet a real thing. If you really want to get beyond all of the other diets and put an end to the failures associated with the other systems, go to the Weight Watchers website and check things out for yourself. It may be just what you are looking for.

By: Rich Niccolls

The best diet and exercise routine is one that you can stick to long term. A diet and exercise routine just won’t work if you give up on it after only a few weeks. The idea is to change your whole attitude to food and working out so that in the end you enjoy carrot sticks in the same way that you used to love a bag of crisps and that there’s nothing you like better than a good work out rather than sitting in front of the television.

The best diet and exercise routine is one which slowly reduces your weight and fat without spoiling your pleasure in life. In any event, slow weight loss means that the weight will stay off in the long term.

The hard part of all this is sticking to a diet and exercise routine, so how do you keep yourself motivated to succeed?

Firstly, you could follow the diet and exercise routine with a friend. It’s much easier to know that someone is sharing what you’re going through. Choose someone who needs to lose about the same amount of weight as you do and make a bit of a competition of it. Go to the gym together so that you can have a bit of a chat while you exercise, if you have enough breath left of course.

Secondly, keep a diary of your progress. If you’re not following a pre-written plan which tells you exactly what to eat and how much exercise to take, then keep a detailed record of your meals and exercise. That way, if you’re losing weight, you’ll know you’re doing the right things but if you’re not losing weight, you absolutely must cut down on the food or increase the work outs.

Thirdly, keep a photographic record of yourself in a bikini or swimsuit, month by month. Keep the before photo and the latest one pinned side by side where you’ll see them most often so you can see how your figure is improving. If that won’t motivate you to carry on, then nothing will. You could even publish your photos on Facebook so that your friends can congratulate you on your success.

Whatever you do, the best diet and exercise routine is one that works for you; a bit of trial and error will soon have you losing those pounds.

By: Liz Canham

The best ripped abs diet must include low fat, high fiber, high protein and little or no carbs. You can have the glamorous six pack, it’s not really hard to accomplish. But, you must understand, you will have to make sacrifices to get ripped abs. Eating low fat is not very difficult. You just stay away from the inner aisles at the grocery store and stop parking your butt at the fast food joints. Fat is an essential part of every diet, so you will need to find some good supplements. The best kind is Omega 3 fatty acids found in Salmon. You can find these in different quantities at a health food store.

Adding fiber to your diet will help push food and fat through the body quicker. It will move it out instead of storing it, in the body. I always slowly build up to a level of around 40-50 grams. Make sure you do this slowly, it can wreak havoc on your intestines if you jump right up to a high level of fiber. You don’t want to spend half your day in the facilities. Start jacking up your protein intake to 1.5 grams to every pound you weigh. You may find it hard to ingest protein at those levels. I suggest finding a supplement in the form of a whey protein powder shake or bar. It makes it easier for people who have busy schedules and do not have time to prepare meals.

You will hate cutting carbs but your ripped abs diet must include it. You should try and cycle your carb intake. I would eat oatmeal in the morning and then a yam or other low glycemic carb for lunch. Do not eat any more carbs during the day or night. I would then play a trick on my body and feed it a bunch of carbs every fourth day. This will fool the body, your metabolism will start to taper. It will think it’s starving for carbs and then it will get what it ask for and will feel like it got its fill.

You can eat a clean diet and do all of the above, but there is no substitute for a killer cardio workout. You need to help your ripped abs diet with a brisk cardio workout five times a week. This will help the body remove excess fat. You do not even have to lift weights very often. You should start to see a six pack forming in three weeks and by the sixth week you will have the look you desire. One more tip to help your ripped abs diet. It can be a pain to eat clean every day. I would suggest incorporating a cheat day every couple of weeks. Your body needs it and you will have a healthier state of mind.

By: R.T. Bucher

Trying to find the best diet pill out there can be a daunting task. Every weight loss company would love for you to believe they have the best pill out there. The truth is what may be the weight loss pill out there for one person may not be the best for someone else. You have to determine what you think the best diet pill out there is based on your needs. Some diet pills are created for calorie burning, appetite suppression, or absorption blockers. It is up to you to determine which kind of pill is best are for you, and that you will think is the greatest pill.

Absorption blockers can be the good option for those who are looking for a diet pill to block the absorption of carbohydrates and fats into the body. Absorption blockers are the best option for those who prefer a natural pill. Most of the absorption blockers are made from soybeans or white beans. Being made from natural ingredients makes this the best diet pill out there for people who are concerned about putting harmful chemicals in their body, or those who prefer organic or natural pills.

If you are looking for a natural pill to help assist in burning more calories, then pills designed for calorie burning will be the best solution for you. Calorie burners work by increasing you metabolism for a short term period in order to cause more calories to be burned. These pills do have several side effects such as increased heart rate, increased blood pressure, and chest pains. It is common that women find calorie burners due to due to the energy burst they receive while taking these pills.

Appetite suppression pills are the greatest pills out there for anyone who has trouble with portion control. Most people state that when they are taking appetite suppressors they have to force themselves to eat. A majority of these pills contain caffeine and can offer the same burst of energy and affect that calorie burning pills offer. So if you are looking to control eating habits and burn more calories, then these may be the right solution for you.

By: Ezra Rogers

Looking for the best diet for you? Diets are everywhere – especially at this time of the year. You literally have hundreds of choices. So which one is the best choice for you?

Well, just as there are many ways to get to your local convenience store (ride a bike, drive a car, walk, run, rollerskate, etc), there are many ways to get to your perfect weight. But you want to choose the diet that will get you there fastest and in the most enjoyable way for you.

So the best diet really starts with you. Here are 3 questions you absolutely must ask yourself before you choose a weight loss plan:

#1 What Has Been Your Past Experience?

For example have you ever tried a weight loss plan before? What was your experience? What did you like about it and what didn’t work so well? Did you get the results you wanted? Why or why not? By looking at your past experience you’ll be able to see which plans didn’t work in the past. Then you can learn from that and try something new.

For example, maybe you tried the Atkins diet in the past but you hated not being able to eat bread or fruit. So now you want to look for a diet that allows carbs and fruit.

Maybe you broke a past weight loss plan because you got too hungry on that plan. So you’ll want to find a diet that lets you eat 4 – 6 small meals a day so you don’t get hungry (or a diet that emphasizes protein which makes you feel fuller longer).

Maybe you hated feeling deprived and not being able to have your daily chocolate. Never fear – there are plans that let you eat chocolate every day too!

By asking this question, you can be strategic about choosing your next weight loss diet and find a better program for you. Don’t be afraid to try something new here – don’t stick with the same old, same old since if the same old, same old worked in the past you wouldn’t be looking for a new diet now!

#2 What is My Lifestyle Like?

For example, are you super-busy, trying to juggle a career, spouse and kids? If so, do you really have time to prepare complicated diet recipes every dat?

Do you order take-out a lot or get frustrated when you’re hungry and have to wait for food? If that’s the case, you may want to try a diet delivery plan or a program where most of your food is on hand or ready in a few minutes.

If, on the other hand, you enjoy spending time in the kitchen for hours tinkering around, you may want to try a plan that requires you to make your own recipes like a raw food diet or a low carb diet.

This question is important because most people don’t break their diets because they are hungry – they break them because they don’t have time to make and prepare the food. They’re in a rush, they get hungry and then there’s no time to make special diet food – so they break their diet.

Losing weight is hard enough – you want to make it as easy as possible by choosing the best diet plan that fits well with your lifestyle.

#3 Are You Ready To Lose Weight?

This may seem obvious – of course you are. But stop and think about it.

Losing weight will require a commitment – whether that is a monetary commitment, commitment to carve out extra time in your schedule for exercise or food prep or a commitment to forego that 2 donut-a-day habit.

Whenever you make any change, it’s smart to look at what that change will mean and ask yourself if you are ready for that change.

If you’re not – that’s ok. You can always re-evaluate and ask yourself what you can do. If you are ready – then you know what to expect and won’t have as many surprises on your weight loss journey.

So those are 3 key questions to ask yourself in order to find the best diet plan for you. When you know the answers to these questions, you can easily choose a plan that will take off the pounds and get you sliding easily into those favorite skinny jeans!

By: Kate Fox

There are so many diet plans out there. Which is the best diet plan to follow? They all seem to promise guaranteed weight loss. Some of them guarantee that you will lose a specific number of pounds in a specific number of days. Some of them guarantee that you will enjoy your diet and that you will feel satisfied and not feel deprived. So which one should you follow? Should you just roll the dice and pick one and try it? Are they all equally viable options? Or are some diets more suitable for some types of people then others? Let’s take a look at your options and you be the judge.

Low carbohydrate diet – This type of diet is one in which you eat as much quantity as you want of every type of food, except for carbohydrates. You must restrict your carbohydrate intake drastically. Some notable examples of this diet follow:

Atkins Diet: Eat as much of every food you want without regard for fat, cholesterol, proteins, calories, or anything else… ALL you must do is restrict your carbohydrate intake to 20 grams per day for fourteen days. This diet promises rapid weight loss. Most people who follow this diet do in fact lose five to twenty pounds in two weeks. But this type of diet is not truly sustainable for a lifetime, because even though it gradually increases your carbohydrate intake over time, after the fourteenth day, your carbohydrate intake will always be held under constant scrutiny, and more than likely your “lifetime” daily carbohydrate intake will be significantly less than what you are accustomed to.

The Protein Power Diet – Do not eat any carbohydrates throughout the day. However, you are allowed to eat as many carbohydrates as you would like for one hour per day only. As with the Atkins diet, this is not an easy diet to maintain, for psychological as well as physiological reasons.

Low calorie diet – This type of diet is one in which you eat all kinds of foods but you significantly reduce your intake by counting the number of calories you are consuming every day and making sure never to exceed that number. The principle behind this is that if you burn more calories than you consume, you will lose weight. Some notable examples of this are:

Weight Watchers: Every food in the whole world is assigned a “point value” and you can eat any type of food in the whole word, as long as you do not exceed your daily points allotment, which is a number based on your present weight. This diet promises you very slow and steady weight loss, at the rate of one to two pounds per week. The theory behind this slow approach is that you are less likely to give up on the diet if you train your body to eat less and use your points wisely to consume more healthy foods. However, the downside is that once you reach your goal weight, you are committed to counting points even on the “lifetime” diet. You must never exceed your daily maintenance points allotment if you are to never gain any weight back.

Nutrisystem: This program takes all the guesswork (and preparation effort) out of what to eat on a diet. This program requires a paid subscription, in which they will ship you or you must go out and buy only the foods that they prescribe, from their line of brand-name products. There is no room to eat anything on your own. You MUST eat Nutrisystem prepared meals.

Calorie shifting diet – This is a relatively new diet plan that has a unique approach to dieting. You can eat as much food as you want until you are satisfied. However, you must shift your calories. That means that you will be eating carbohydrates, proteins, meats, fruits, and vegetables, group together into four meals per day, and rotate which types of calories you can eat at which times every day over an eleven day period. After the eleventh day, you are allowed to take 3 days off and “cheat”. You can eat whatever you want for three days before you must get back on the regimen for another eleven days. The novelty of this diet is that there is no calorie restriction. The only caveat is that you must eat only until you are satisfied and not until you are stuffed. Also, you can eat as many calories, carbohydrates, and proteins as you want. You are merely triggering a metabolic response from your body to burn stored fat by only feeding it certain calories at certain times of day that are conducive to maximizing your body’s metabolism.

By: Dawn Woods