Let's consider the possibilities for the best diet for fat loss.

• Intermittent Fasting?
• Ketogenic Diet?
• Low Fat / Low Carb?
• Paleo?

 Currently, in nutrition, there is an eternal battle between the low carb, high-fat cult and the low-fat, high carb cult and everything in between. 

Both sides use hand waving arguments and sometimes get celebrities to endorse their methods which usually convinces people it works!

It's All About Energy Balance 

No matter who you are, what you do for a day job, how big or how small you are, if you consume more energy than your body expends daily, you will gain weight!

Naturally, if you consume less energy from food than you expend throughout the day, you will lose weight!

Calculating Your Energy Requirements Accurately Is Key

It's worth taking the time to calculate this accurately as your results depend on it. It's important to understand the type of food you enjoy eating as well as considering the times you eat. If you don’t particularly enjoy high-fat foods (cream, cheese, eggs, avocado, nuts, and seeds etc.), but you love sweet, high carb foods, then a ketogenic diet (high-fat diet) is not going to yield positive results.

A successful diet is one you can stick to long term, so having an understanding of the foods you enjoy can help you make the best decision about your macronutrient ratios.

Carbohydrate Vs Fats

To date, there have been 32 studies examining carbohydrate vs fats. When calories and protein are equated between diets (this is important to control), the studies show virtually NO difference in fat loss.

If the ratio of fats & carbs doesn’t really matter, then it is so important that whatever strategy you pick for nutrition it's something you can see yourself doing for YEARS. 

You want to go on a keto diet? 

Cool, so long as you can see yourself never having a carb again. 

Gonna try a juice fasting diet? 

Ok, have fun with that for the 1 week you are able to adhere to it.

Adherence is BY FAR the biggest determining factor in how effective a diet strategy is, far more important than your strategy of low carb, low fat, high protein, etc. This is why the vast majority of people who lose fat will put it ALL back on and then some!

Points To Consider:

The best diet for fat loss is one you can adhere to!!

Address energy balance, ensure you are consuming less energy from food than you expend daily. E.g. I eat 2000 cals but I burn 2300 cals!

Protein intake can help optimize dieting. High protein diets have been shown to increase lean body mass, improve recovery from exercise, and improve fat loss relative to calorie-matched, lower protein diets. Therefore, it is advisable to prioritize your protein consumption when dieting.

After calories, and protein have been addressed break up the remaining calories between carbs & fats in a way that is going to allow you to continue eating the foods you really like.

Remember adherence is the big factor in losing fat & keeping it off.

In short;

• Calculate your calorie allowance
• Prioritize protein
• Make your diet enjoyable by eating foods you like
• Don’t sweat the small stuff
• Make it a lifestyle