Choosing a diet plan that you'll actually follow is imperative to your weight loss success. Restrictive diets that require you to eat foods you don't like will only set you up for failure. Instead of looking for a trendy diet, consider creating your own diet plan with foods you like, so that you can indulge while still losing weight. With proper knowledge about nutrition, you can create your own diet plan.
Step 1
Decide on what your target caloric intake will be per day. You can use an online calculator to help you decide what a healthy number of calories per day will be in order to lose weight. For example, an average, 5 feet, 4 inch woman who weighs 130 pounds would need 1,200 calories per day to lose weight, according to the website.
Step 2
Choose foods that fit your caloric requirements. The website CalorieKing.com can help you figure the calories is some of your favorite foods. Write down the calories in some of your favorite meals and decide whether they are low enough to include in your diet plan.
Step 3
Create meals based around the foods that you've chosen and that you have caloric values for. You may find that you can indulge in something like cheese, if it is sprinkled on top of a green salad, or peanut butter, if it is on whole-grain toast. Pair your favorite foods that are higher in calories with healthier alternatives so that you're able to eat the foods you like, but still keep your calorie count down.
Step 4
Keep a food journal. The American Academy of Family Physicians recommends that a food journal can help you be accountable, which is especially important when making your own diet plan. The AAFP instructs you to track the food that you eat, and the time of day when you ate it. It can help you track potential weak points in your day, and allow you to find ways that you can improve on your diet plan by substituting fatty foods with healthier alternatives.
Step 5
Take one day off per week to indulge. Giving yourself a day to eat all of the foods that you love, without counting calories, may be what you need to adhere to a healthier diet for the rest of the week.
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