The world of nutrition can be a confusing place. With so many diets to choose from (keto, low carb, high carb, intermittent fasting, 5:2, weight watchers to name but a few). It can be hard to know what is best for you and your goals! Hopefully as you read through this blog it will help create a clearer picture. 

I will start by saying there is no 'best' diet. Only the best diet for you, your lifestyle and your own personal goals. 

If your goal is weight/ fat loss the most important thing is you are in a calorie deficit. Basically your calories in are less than your calories out. 
Most diets will work for that very reason, you are in a calorie deficit. Low carb diets will drop your carbohydrate source (breads, pastas, rice, potatoes, etc) helping you reduce your total calories. Intermittent fasting helps by only being able to eat for a certain period of time, again helping reduce your total calories! The cabbage soup diet will work by reducing your calories because you can only eat cabbage soup! I could go on but I think you get the picture.

If you are looking to build muscle mass, 'bulk'  then you need to be in a calorie surplus to help the body have energy to not only help repair any muscle damage but to help it grow bigger and stronger.

Keep scrolling down to see my weight loss guidelines and advice!

• Ensure you are consuming between 1.6g and 2.2g of protein per kg of body weight (e.g. for an 80kg man this will equate to 128g - 176g per day). Older people should be consuming the higher limit to help keep bone density and health and also to keep muscle mass high.                                                                                                                                    
• Eat plenty of fruit and veg; Try to aim for a good mix of colours. Fruit and veg are an important part of any healthy and balanced diet. They are packed full of vitamins, minerals and are low calories but have a high satiety level.                                                                                                                   
• Try to avoid calories in drinks (fizzy drinks, alcohol, smoothies). These tend to be fairly calorific, but have low satiety or in some cases very little nutritional value to them. But make sure you drink plenty of water (I would recommend at least 2 litres a day)!                                                                                                                                                                   
• Try to keep treats as treats, but avoid foods that trigger you to binge. Everyone has something that is their 'treat food', mine is biscuits, for others it's chocolate and for some it's crisps. There is absolutely nothing wrong with indulging in something you love, in fact it can be quite the opposite; however if you find your treat food makes you eat a whole family size bar of chocolate or a whole pack of biscuits in one sitting you may want to avoid that food to stop you over eating and therefore putting on weight.                                                                                                                                                                                                                                 
• Track what you eat! Write a food diary, use a food diary app that counts calories, protein, carbs and fats. You probably won't need to track food for the rest of your life but it's a great idea for the first 4-6 weeks to get an idea of correct portion sizes. You may shock yourself by how much you are over or under eating!                                                                                                                                  
• Make sure you choose a diet you can keep for a long period! A diet shouldn't be something you only do for 6 weeks. 

A GOOD DIET REVOLVES AROUND YOUR LIFE AND NOT YOUR LIFE AROUND A DIET