Summer Diet: Maintain your summer physique while enjoying summer.

This may be right for you if you're looking for a diet to maintain your summer weight loss goals but you still want to enjoy life (a.k.a eat whatever you want)...or if you're looking to quickly cut a few more pounds. The recommendations are based on real world applications for those of us who aren't able to train/do cardio every day.

5 weeks, no cardio, lifted weights 3-4 times a week.

Background

A little bit of background on the thought process behind the diet: so as part of my profession I keep up with the weight loss trends and diets floating through the industry. I do so using research as opposed to blogs or diet's from fitness 'guru's' as many of the info floating through social media and on the web works like the game telephone. If the research makes/implies a claim, that information will get passed down through multiple people, even before it is peer reviewed, to the general public. Attempts, successes and a whole lot of failures will ensue once this happens.

What we know today about modern diets can be summed up like this...

Vegan: the vegan diet is extremely healthy (high nutrient value for every calorie consumed) but can leave vitamin and nutrient gaps (because you're missing dairy and meat) in your diet that you should supplement with. I cover some of these nutrient gaps in my article 'Weight Loss: Which diet is the right diet?' The vegan diet is one of the most proven diets through research and has been shown to reverse type II diabetes in physician monitored extreme low calorie situations (less than 1,000 calories a day).

Mediterranean: this is the other 'most proven through research' diet in the industry today and has also been used to help reverse type II diabetes in extreme low calorie situations. It is also proven to help improve blood lipid profiles and promote long term health.

Paleo: a great diet for removing possible allergens and refined carbohydrates from the diet. It is also great for aiding people in preparing their food when they engage in the 'Whole 30' challenge. It has limitations with sports performance and users should look to incorporate essential foods for sport (ex: white rice, supplements) back into their diet and monitor any negative effects after 30-60 days of strict Paleo practices.

Keto: was originally used for temporary weight loss in the fitness community and lacks the long term data to ensure it does not put your long term health at risk from the high fat content. It has also been shown to be poor for muscle maintenance and sports performance.

Low carb/carb cycling: one of the tried and true methods of weight management. However, calories are still king and this fact often gets lost in the practice of low carb dieting which often leads to failure.

Intermittent fasting: the rat studies showing concerns for insulin resistance are laughable, it is solely based on hypothesized mechanism of action as opposed to reality. The reality is that human studies have shown improvements in immunity, insulin resistance and blood sugar control. Not to mention it coincides with the history of human eating since we were originally hunter gatherers and our ancestors practiced a feast or famine lifestyle.

All in all, calories are still king, this is something I emphasize in my review of research surrounding the above diet's in my article: Weight loss: Which diet is the right diet?

Summer Plan: I've lost the weight, how do I keep it off and have fun?

So if you've lost the weight for summer but you're looking to maintain your new look. The trick is simple (but easier said then done). The plan is a low calorie/low carb approach during the week while allowing your calories to jump up and speed your metabolism back up on the weekends. You don't want to stay low calorie every day of the week for two reasons: 1. You want to be able to enjoy yourself 2. You don't want your metabolism to crash. Below, I'll give you an idea of the diet structure and approach.

Summer Plan: I still need to lose the weight for summer

For those of you who have fallen behind and need to cut the weight with a tight schedule (but want to maintain a dietary social life) and life getting in the way, this is for you. Your approach in structure will be similar to the maintenance crowd stated previously but you can only have one high calorie day per week. :(

The Diet

Sunday

See Saturday below if you're part of the maintenance crowd! What's that? You still have weight to loose...too bad, see Monday-Friday :(

Monday-Friday

-Skip breakfast: I'm not asking for a full on fast here. Just talking about skipping breakfast and starting your day with lunch. Many of you busy people skip breakfast anyway, and for those who feel they absolutely can't do without it, I suggested you start working on getting a hold of green tea or black coffee with 0 calorie sweeteners in the morning. 0 calorie electrolyte or flavored water drinks are clutch too. This will help you to regulate your blood sugar and reduce the total calories you consume in a day.

-Eat your veggies: The rest of your meals (4 per day), should be protein (or protein substitute) and vegetables/fruits. You can help fill yourself up and get the fiber/vitamins you need without taking on a fat storing glycemic load. Avoid red meat while you're on this diet, eating less carbs means that everything that isn't protein should contain fiber to keep you regular. Red meat can interfere with your digestion time, make you feel sluggish and give you more calories than you're asking for.

-Your new favorite snack: 100 calorie packs of nuts: You can find these everywhere now, pre-portioned packs of nuts that you can use as a snack during the day (<200lbs is 2-3 packs a day, +200lbs is 3-4 packs a day). Why not nut butters? Because portion control and self-control become an issue. All it takes is that extra scoop of your favorite peanut butter or that gigantic scoop of almond butter to throw you a couple hundred calories off for the day.

-Shake Shake Shake: protein shakes, whether vegan or dairy are key for low calorie diets. At less than 160 calories and generally over 20g of protein per serving they are great for home made smoothies to substitute for a meal or for use post-exercise to help you recover. Shoot for getting around 90% of your body weight in grams of protein per day (between food and shakes).

Saturday

Got to brunch...try that new donut place...O.D. on a pack of Oreo's and wake up on a park bench with no recollection of where you are while covered in Oreo crumbs (personal account, don't judge me). But have fun, this is your day. Only 1 cheat meal is recommended per day, but throughout the day you can return to consuming carbohydrates with your meals.