There are several different goals that one might hope to achieve when dieting, from weight gain to weight loss to simply improving one's health. For each of these goals, there are a variety of gimmick diets on the market. However, these options need not be trifled with; each of these goals can also be achieved through tried and tested nutritional strategies.
Muscle-Building Diet
If you're looking to gain muscular mass through diet, your first priority should be, quite simply, eating more. However, you'll likely also have to change the composition of your current diet, so increasing portion sizes alone won't cut it. Start by consulting a free online basal metabolic rate calculator; this will analyze your personal characteristics such as age, gender, height and weight to determine the number of calories necessary to idly sustain your current body mass on a daily basis. Armed with this number, aim to construct a diet that exceeds it by at least 1,000 calories. In doing so, remember that the most important macronutrient for building muscle is protein; according to a consensus formed by the International Journal of Sports Nutrition, you should aim to ingest approximately 1.6 grams of protein per kilogram of body mass each day. To accomplish this, build your meals around protein sources such as beef, chicken, fish and eggs.
Weight-Loss Diet
If you're looking to lose weight safely and effectively, avoid drastic gimmicks and crash diets. Instead, simply aim to create and stick to a daily caloric deficit. With your basal metabolic rate in hand, aim to construct a diet featuring approximately 500 fewer calories each day. To meet this requirement, trim your current diet from top to bottom, starting with desserts and junk foods. If this isn't sufficient to produce the required deficit, proceed by decreasing your portion sizes as necessary. By maintaining a 500 calorie deficit, you'll lose approximately one pound of fat per week through diet alone. Further, if you're concerned about maintaining muscle mass, ensure that you're also ingesting at least one gram of protein per kilogram of body mass -- this will encourage your body to trim fat rather than muscle.
General Health Diet
If you're simply dieting to improve your general health, you won't have to worry about calories or macronutrients directly. Instead, simply consult a trusted food guide, such as the interactive online USDA food pyramid. By inputting your age, weight, height and gender, you'll be provided with an ideal daily diet, broken down into servings from each food group. Following these recommendations will ensure that you ingest the recommended daily values of all essential vitamins, minerals and nutrients.
References
- "Journal of the International Society of Sports Nutrition"; International Society of Sports Nutrition Position Stand: Protein and Exercise; B. Campbell at al.; 2007.
- MayoClinic.com: Counting calories: Get back to weight-loss basics
- "International Journal of Obesity"; High protein intake sustains weight maintenance after body weight loss in humans; M.S. Westerterp-Plantenga, et al.; 2004.
- MyPyramid.gov: MyPyramid Plan
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