Today there are more diets than ever before, with seemingly ‘new’ diets appearing all of the time. As a result we often receive questions from new members asking us what is the best diet?

Well the answer we give all of our members is simply “one you can stick to”. Here at The Fitness Collective we don’t tell people to do certain diets, in fact we actively encourage the opposite, we want people to build new habits around their nutrition, and be equipped with the knowledge to eat according to their goals and lifestyle.

But this also opens up deeper questions, what’s the best diet for what? As a diet for fat loss may differ from a diet for optimal performance.

Ultimately a style or way of eating that you can be consistent with, one that suits your lifestyle, and makes you feel good is going to be most beneficial. I’m sure you can appreciate this is likely going to look slightly different for everyone, based on their goals, their individual preferences, their lifestyles, and their needs. 

Is this diet the right fit for me?

We know that trying to shoehorn a diet into your lifestyle, often doesn’t work. Trying to do keto in an attempt to lose weight, isn’t realistically going to work if you love eating carbohydrates. How long do you think you can restrict all of your favourite foods that everyone else is eating around you? 

And the result of there is often short term weight loss followed by weight regain (alongside the negative and self defeating beliefs that you have failed – when in reality the diet has failed you, not the other way round).

Fat Loss

From a fat loss perspective we know that in order to lose body fat/weight, we need to be in a calorie deficit (we need to be consuming less calories than we are expending in order for the body to tap into fat stores). We can essentially view fat gain as stored energy, so when we want to lose some of this stored energy we need to adjust the energy we are taking in, and the energy we are burning. 

This is a key concept to consider when you see a diet promising weight loss, all diets use a method (such as cutting carbs out) in order to get the same outcome (a reduction in calorie intake). This can be done many ways, and doesn’t need to be done in an overly restrictive manner, or using a method that involves cutting out all of your favourite food.

Things To Consider

Here are a couple of the factors we consider important when we are talking about building a diet:

We want a diet that is nutrient dense, and provides all the vital nutrients we need.

One that helps us to look, feel and perform better.

One that is sustainable and builds long term habits

A diet that is focused on being inclusive, as opposed to exclusive (we would rather focus on adding rather than subtracting)

Are just a few, amongst several other factors…

The Answer

Put simply the best diet for anyone is one they can stick to.

Having a good understanding of each member as an individual we can then start to build a way of eating that you enjoy (meaning you can stick to it long term). That supports your goals, and health, making you feel good, and perform well.

We can then build a framework, and when you know the how, and why, you have the information and empowerment to make nutritional decisions that suit you. Instead of trying to conform to the rules of the next new extreme diet approach that promises the world, but doesn’t make you feel good, nor can you stick to it.