Phase 2 Diet Plan

If you are like more than two-thirds of American adults, you may consider a diet plan in order to control your weight. The concept behind some diets is to begin with an induction where you go "cold turkey" off of some identified element of a poor diet. The diet may eliminate offending items such as excessive carbohydrates, fats or other item. From the induction phase, you move next into a phase 2 diet plan to continue your weight loss.

What Is Phase 2?

The phase 2 portion of a diet attempts to lead you onto the path of permanent lifestyle changes. Some foods such as saturated fat and cholesterol can be just as addictive as nicotine, warns a 2007 study in "Health Matrix." The phase 2 diet plan helps you find a healthy balance between totaling elimination of some foods and smart eating habits. You may gradually incorporate more carbs or fats than the start of your diet allowed.

Features

The features of the phase 2 diet plan will likely rest on the degree of change the diet makes as well as the ultimate goal of the diet. If rapid weight loss is the goal, the phase 2 stage will likely have a small change in food additions or servings. Your diet may only permit the addition of certain foods while eliminating others all together. A low-fat diet, for example, may seek to keep your fat consumption close to 20 to 30 percent total calories from fat while eliminating trans fat sources.

Benefits

The benefits of the phase 2 portion vary with the particular diet plan. Diets which eliminate all carbs then reintroduce good carbs will create awareness about healthier diet choices. In addition, some diets may place restrictions on the amount of different dietary items, teaching you about servings and portion control. The whole process of the phase 2 diet plan is one of paying attention to what you eat. If you have issues with distracted eating, you may find additional health benefits from following these diet plans.

Considerations

Following a phase 2 diet plan is relatively easy as long as you know the nutritional information of the foods you consume. The difficult part remains dining out. You can use you increased awareness to avoid the foods your diet is restricting by looking for keywords which belie the presence of high-fat items or sugary foods, such as creamy or fried.

Warning

The phase 2 diet plan may give you clues about whether your change in eating habits will work for you. If you feel deprived by dietary restrictions, you may return to your poor eating habits once the phase is complete. This can undermine any benefits you may have received from dieting. While a certain amount of self-control is necessary, you can use what you have learned from dieting to make lifestyle changes with which you can live. The bottom line is that a diet is only as good as how well you follow it.