To achieve weight loss, you must burn more calories than you consume. Counting calories does give you a specific number to aim for. But tallying up the number for every one of your food items is time-consuming and often unrealistic. As a result, several weight loss programs have shied away from calorie-counting and have focused on alternative concepts that should limit your calorie intake and help you lose weight.
The New Sonoma Diet
Dr. Connie Gutterson created the New Sonoma Diet, which is after Sonoma County, CA, where many people are devoted to healthy eating and an active lifestyle. The diet focuses on the enjoyment of whole, unprocessed foods in moderate amounts. The diet particularly emphasizes 12 "power foods" that are low-calorie and may protect against disease, and uses plate size for portion control. The diet has three phases or "waves." The first wave recalibrates your eating habits, the second is the weight loss portion, and the final wave is a weight maintenance phase.
Mediterranean Diet
The Mediterranean Diet is a lifestyle that includes exercise and natural eating to ward off such diseases as obesity, heart disease and cancer. The diet emphasizes foods such as fish, olive oil, fruits and vegetables that are central to the cuisine in Mediterranean countries such as Greece. Most foods are permitted on this diet with the exception of artificial foods and drinks containing trans fats and added sugar or sweeteners. However, certain high-sugar fruits and vegetables such as bananas, grapes, carrots and potatoes are prohibited on the "slimming" phase of the diet.
eDiets Meal Plan and Delivery Service
If you need a little help preparing healthy meals, eDiets, an online diet plan and meal delivery service, could be your solution. The eDiets service does the calorie-counting and meal portioning for you based on your height and ideal body weight. And you have a variety of meals and plans to choose from. Membership without meal delivery is $17.96 for four weeks and includes online and phone support from certified dietitians and personal fitness trainers. Meal delivery for seven days costs $161.60 -- but it also saves you from calorie-counting and worrying about preparing healthy, balanced meals.
Paleolithic Diet
The Paleolithic Diet stems from the principle that primitive humans could not eat grains, beans and potatoes because they are toxic in raw form. About 10,000 years ago, humans discovered that these foods became edible when they were cooked. Since these foods are calorie-dense and commonly make up a significant portion of today's American diet, they may contribute to excess weight gain. While the diet emphasizes many nutrient-dense foods such as meats, nuts, berries and vegetables, it also forbids many foods such as dairy, grains, beans, potatoes, sugar and salt.
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