If you’re looking to lose weight fast, you’ll want a diet that will offer sustainable results. Many popular diets promote quick weight loss, but they often don’t provide a balanced diet or lasting results.
Diets that restrict food groups or require extreme changes don’t rank well with wellness professionals. This is why keto and the Master Cleanse didn’t score high in our rankings.
1. The 5:2 Diet
The 5:2 diet is a popular form of intermittent energy restriction that was made famous by a BBC documentary and bestselling book. The best fast diet recommends that you restrict your calories to 500 calories for women and 600 for men on two non-consecutive days of the week, while eating normally on the other five.
This approach to dieting is easier than many other weight loss plans because it doesn’t require you to think about calorie counting every day. It’s also been backed up by research that shows it can help you lose weight and improve your cardiometabolic health.
However, like all restrictive diets, the 5:2 plan may not be appropriate for everyone. You should avoid this diet if you have an eating disorder or a challenging relationship with food, and you should always consult your doctor before starting this type of diet. You should also avoid foods high in calories, especially sugary drinks and refined grains. Instead, try to eat more vegetables, lean protein and whole grains. These are low-calorie foods that can keep you full while providing the nutrients you need to maintain good health.
2. The 16:8 Diet
The 16:8 diet is one of the most popular forms of intermittent fasting. It’s also referred to as time-restricted eating and is based on the concept that the body does better when you only eat during a certain window of time each day.
There are many variations on the 16:8 diet, but the basic idea is that you eat only during an 8-hour window each day, and then you fast for the rest of the day. Some people do this by skipping breakfast and only eating from noon until 8 pm, while others eat their calories during an earlier window of the day.
The 16:8 diet can help you lose weight and improve your health by reducing inflammation and insulin resistance. However, it’s important to eat a healthy and balanced diet when you do eat. Make sure to include a variety of fruits, vegetables, lean proteins, whole grains, and healthy fats. And remember to drink plenty of water and non-calorie beverages during your fasting periods. Also, don’t fast if you are pregnant or breastfeeding, have a condition like diabetes, or are underweight.
3. SlimFast
If you want to lose weight quickly, the SlimFast diet offers a structured program with meal replacement shakes and snacks. It has over 40 years of weight loss success and helps you learn how to eat better, according to its website.
The plan’s main goal is to cut calories by replacing two meals a day with SlimFast products and having three 100-calorie snacks a day. It also encourages daily exercise and healthy eating habits.
You can customize the plan to your dietary preferences and goals by choosing between four plans: Original, Favorite Foods, Low-Carb, and Keto. Each of these plans has a different selection of meal and snack options. The app allows you to create grocery lists based on meals and recipes, track your progress, and share results with friends.
Healthline vetted the company, which has a B+ rating from the Better Business Bureau and has not been named in any lawsuits related to its products. It also offers a money-back guarantee. You can get more information about its plans and products by visiting its website or app.
4. The Atkins Diet
The Atkins diet is another low-carb option that promises weight loss and may help reduce certain health conditions. But be warned that the Atkins diet is restrictive, and you may experience unpleasant side effects such as fatigue, headaches and dizziness. The Atkins diet also requires you to count carbs, which can be time consuming and confusing. There are a number of recipes and pre-packaged food products available for the Atkins diet, and they offer online and mobile app tools to make tracking your progress easy.
The Atkins diet is based on the idea that restricting carbohydrates leads to fat loss and increased energy. It encourages you to eat a variety of foods such as meat, fish and eggs, but excludes many calorie-packed foods such as fruit, bread, potatoes and pasta, while allowing healthy fats such as olive oil and butter. The Atkins Diet has three phases, starting with Induction which limits your net carb intake to kickstart weight loss, followed by Pre-Maintenance, where you add back in carbs until you find your carb balance, and then Lifetime Maintenance, which focuses on making sustainable lifestyle changes.
5. The Volumetrics Diet
The Volumetrics Diet is a low-calorie diet that focuses on filling up with nutritious foods. It divides food into four categories based on their caloric density, aiming for most of your meals to come from groups one and two (fruits, vegetables, broth-based soups and whole grains). Only occasionally should you eat foods from category three and four (processed foods, high-fat meats and dairy) in small amounts.
The key to this diet is eating foods that are rich in water and fiber. These include fruits, vegetables, whole grains, beans and lean proteins such as skinless chicken and fish. The plan also includes healthy fats such as olive oil and nuts in moderation.
Conclusion
Unlike other diets, the Volumetrics Diet doesn’t exclude entire food groups or impose any rigid rules. Instead, it teaches you how to make healthful swaps to suit your tastes and lifestyle. It also promotes a slow, sustainable rate of weight loss, as opposed to the rapid weight loss associated with other crash diets. It is also an affordable option since it doesn’t require expensive branded speciality foods.
