We just finished kicking some Plexus® Fit Squad workout booty—and now it’s time to eat!  With so many meal plans, programs, and diets to choose from, which is right for you?

We’re pulling back the curtain to see what each of these meal plans really look like:

Paleo Diet

The Paleo Diet was made popular by a blogger and former triathlete and Ironman, Mark Sisson. It’s so named because it takes many of its principles from the Paleolithic man, who hunted and ate meat primarily for survival in an unkind world. The Paleo Diet is actually part of a comprehensive Paleo lifestyle that includes exercise and practices that ape the Paleolithic life—think: walking barefoot and lifting things (not weights). This diet emphasizes grass-fed meats, fish, seafood, fresh fruits and veggies, eggs, nuts, seeds, and healthful oils (olive, walnut, flaxseed, macadamia, avocado, coconut). Foods off the list include cereal grains, legumes, dairy, refined sugar, potatoes, processed foods, refined vegetable oils, and salt.

Whole 30 Program

The Whole 30 program is based on the principle that eliminating craving-inducing, blood sugar disrupting, gut damaging, inflammatory foods from your diet leads to weight loss. For 30 days, you’ll eat moderate portions of meat, seafood, eggs, lots of veggies, some fruit, natural fats, herbs, spices, and seasonings. Foods should have very few ingredients—all pronounceable and available on its own. Because you’re not heading to the grocery store to pick up a little thiamine mononitrate. Stick with whole and unprocessed foods.

The program completely restricts natural and processed sugar, all alcohol—even those tasty Skinny Girl cocktails—all grains, legumes including peanuts and peanut butter, dairy except for ghee, carrageenan, MSG, sulfates, and all baked goods. Oh! And you can’t weigh in for 30 days—not even a peek. If you’re someone who can’t skip your coconut flour French crapes, this might not be the program for you.

Atkins Diet

The Atkins Diet is named after its “inventor,” Dr. Robert Atkins, who ascertained that people don’t get fat from eating fat. This diet begins with a two-week induction period, during which dieters should only ingest up to 20 grams of carbs daily. Or, about one cup of undressed lettuce. Dieters can eat unlimited amounts of meat, cheese and healthy fats, as long as the total carb intake remains below 20 each day.

After those two weeks, the dieter gradually introduces increasing amounts of healthy carbs, like greens. Atkins was introduced as a life-long dietary change, not a quick-fix for weight loss. The challenges of this diet include constipation from a lack of roughage in the diet and halitosis. In his books, Dr. Atkins emphasized the importance of vitamin supplements during the diet.

Mediterranean Diet

The Mediterranean Diet came about after a study concluded that people who live in this region of the world enjoy long lives. After some study, these same researchers uncovered certain specific differences between the way Mediterranean people eat compared to how people in the Western world eat. Differences include the heavy consumption of olives, olive oil, greens, and fresh fish. Thus, the Mediterranean Diet includes abundant consumption of Omega-3s like salmon, as well as fresh fruits and veggies. Red meat should be limited to one or two times per week, and the substitution of butter for healthy oils like olive or canola is recommended.

Raw Food Diet

When food is heated, much of the nutrient value is altered or reduced. Raw food enthusiasts support not cooking food in order to consume as many macro and micronutrients available in every bite. On a raw food diet, you would eat salads, as well as nuts, seeds, berries, fresh fruit, fresh veggies, and even some raw meat and fish—like steak tartar and sashimi. Processed foods are discouraged, since nutritional density is the primary focus on the raw food diet. This diet works well for people who don’t like complicated, time-consuming recipes. Or, for those who like to “nosh” as opposed to having sit down meals.

Vegan

Most people who practice a vegan lifestyle believe that animals shouldn’t be treated as commodities—though a growing number of people are adopting a vegan lifestyle for the health benefits alone. They abstain from all animal foods like fish, fish eggs, poultry, poultry eggs, red meat, and pork. Vegans also don’t eat animal-derived dairy, like cheese, milk, or butter. And, a pure vegan won’t ingest or use any animal product or byproduct like leather. A major challenge for vegans is ensuring adequate consumption of protein. Beans and vegan protein shakes for all!

Vegetarian

All forms of the vegetarian diet center around the concept that veggies are good for you. And most—not all—vegetarians don’t eat red meat. Truth is, there aren’t hard-and-fast rules about vegetarianism. For example, some eat dairy. Some don’t. Some eat eggs. Some don’t.

• Flexitarians: May eat meat on occasion or in limited quantities
• Fruitarians: Only eat fruit
• Pescatarians: Eat fish and seafood and no other forms of meat
• Ovo-Lacto Vegetarians: Eat eggs and dairy products, and not meat

Gluten Free

Gluten—usually found in wheat, rye, and barley—is the protein responsible for the elastic texture of the dough. Whether it’s because you’ve been diagnosed with Celiac disease, experience food sensitivities, or you’re exploring a more microbiome-friendly diet, going gluten free is a significant lifestyle change.¹ The gluten free diet restricts the consumption of foods that contain gluten or that are made with gluten products.

Sugar Free

A sugar-free diet prohibits all forms of sugar. That’s right, both natural sugar—honey, maple syrup and stevia—and refined and processed sugar—Aspartame, granulated sugar and brown sugar. It also includes the sugar found in citrus fruits and juices, a.k.a. fructose. A true sugar-free diet may also prohibit simple carbohydrates which are quickly turned into sugar once they enter your body.

Low Carb, No Carb

When you eat carbs, your body turns them into sugar for energy. If you don’t burn that energy, those same sugars turn into fat. Low-carb and no-carb diets limit the types of carbs to consume—usually you’d avoid simple carbs like starchy potatoes, bread, pasta, rice, and bran. Low-carb diets allow for some consumption of carbs, as long as they’re complex, or non-starchy. And, no-carb diets eliminate all starchy veggies.

Low Calorie

Calories in, calories out. It’s a pretty simple concept. Basically, peeps on a low-cal diet acknowledge that you have to burn more energy (calories) that you take in. Dieters count the calories in every bite they eat. In theory, on this diet, dieters can eat practically anything they want, as long as they remain under their maximum calorie allowance each day. This is a great diet for those who simply can’t resist a bite or two of treats like cake, ice cream, bread, or even candy.

Low Sodium

Practitioners of a low-sodium diet avoid excess salt intake. These dieters avoid adding salt on their food before eating and typically avoid eating processed food that contains additional sodium. You would need to drain and rinse canned foods, since salt is used as a preservative. And, even some natural foods like bacon and ham are no-no’s because salt is used to cure the meat. Low-sodium diets aren’t usually followed for weight loss, but since they do discourage processed food eating, some weight loss may occur.

Low Fat

The low-fat diet is an older model based on the principle that too much fat in the diet creates fat accumulation in the body. Low-fat diets encourage practices like cutting the fat off of meats in order to eat only the lean parts, and avoiding fatty foods like duck, pork, whole milk, butter, and avocados. Low-fat diets can include treats like cookies, candy, and even some alcohol, as long as they are made with low-calorie ingredients. The low-fat diet can result in weight loss because it inherently eliminates most high-calorie foods, while encouraging the consumption of natural, low-calorie foods.

We can’t recommend the perfect meal plan for you. It might be one of these. It might be a combo of these. Or, it might be none of these. We can remind you to pick meal plan that fits your values, lifestyle, and budget. Oh! And be sure that you like what you're eating!

A truly happier, healthier life isn’t somewhere over the rainbow (sick of the Oz references yet?)—it’s the perfect, and often in-perfect, blend of habits and actions, physical fitness, emotional health, financial awareness, social support, spiritual belief, and your relationship with Y.O.U.

 

 

References

1 http://www.niddk.nih.gov/health-information/health-topics/digestive-diseases/celiac-disease/Pages/facts.aspx