You can reduce the number of calories in your diet while maintaining proper nutrition. However, not every balanced calorie-reduced diet suits the goals, lifestyle and tastes of everyone. Consider the negative aspects of a low-calorie diet before committing to following it for an extended period of time. If you have health concerns, speak with a nutritionist or your doctor before adopting a new diet plan.
High Cost
Some packaged diet plans that deliver food offer nutritional balance and a variety of dishes, but cost too much for most people to use for the long term. Likewise, a meal plan that has you shopping for expensive supplements and obscure ingredients, or that has you cooking meals that vastly differ from the foods your family consumes, requires greater investments of time and money. The best balanced diets for weight loss feature affordable whole foods.
Rigidity
A balanced diet is not necessarily a flexible diet. If your food plan restricts you to certain foods at certain times of the day, drastically fluctuating calorie counts or phases of eliminating a food group, you will find it hard to stay on track. Strategies like counting every calorie or totaling points may work for developing healthier habits in regard to eating and portion control, but a balanced food plan should allow you freedom to choose from many types of nutritious, low-calorie foods.
Lack of Support
Adopting a balanced low-calorie diet demands more than just making the decision to eat better and lose weight. If you have experienced a lifetime of fluctuating weight or chronically overeat, you may eat for emotional reasons. The best balanced food plans for emotional eaters feature a support component, such as group discussion, personal affirmations, goal-setting or writing in a journal. These strategies help shift your behaviors around eating so that you can stick to a calorie-reduced diet.
No Exercise Component
Simply following a nutritious diet low in calories is not enough for you to be healthy. Do not confuse being thin with having cardiovascular fitness, energy, endurance, strength or flexibility. Doing diverse types of exercises, such as walking briskly, doing calisthenics, skipping rope and doing yoga poses, helps you burn more calories and raise your basal metabolic rate, supporting weight-loss goals. In addition, people who exercise regularly experience more success in maintaining their weight loss over time.
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