I always am asked by new clients “what is the best diet” or “what diet works” and my answer is always the same. If by “works” you mean lose weight then every diet works… If you stick to it. It’s true… The 3 grapefruit diet, the shakes, low carb, lo-cal, even the ridiculous pills (take 5 pills and eat a balanced diet and lose weight.) work if you can stay on them! And that is the problem. Most fad diets are so restrictive or unbalanced we find it impossible to stay on for more than a few days at best!

An important fact to consider when deciding to embark on a diet and nutrition plan is the following:

We are all entirely different people with different ages, lifestyles, weights, levels of fitness, food allergies, likes and dislikes. Just picking a diet off the shelf is like spinning the roulette wheel…its possible you might pick the right one, but unlikely. Do we actually believe the same diet that worked for the 120 pound 60 year old secretary will work for the 300 pound 25 year old construction worker?? Unfortunately many people do and spend about as much time on researching their precious bodies and getting it healthy as they do learning physics. Its a sad state of affairs when most people know more about their cars than their own bodies.

So we start the latest fad diet that worked for Jenny down the street. We do OK for a while, then hunger sets in as the diet is lacking something and we blow the diet. We binge eat and once again sabotage ourselves. Over and over again we try all the off the shelf diets never finding one that is right for us that allows us to actually have a life, not be constantly hungry, and get healthy as well.

But how about if instead of trying to make ourselves fit the diet, we do the reverse?? We MAKE THE DIET FIT US?? We do some research, discover if we have any food allergies or sensitivities, find our what foods are good for us, learn what nutrients our bodies need in order to not enter starvation mode, learn what foods make us feel full, learn our daily caloric requirements based on our metabolism, what foods make us feel great and which do the reverse.

This is what a nutritionist of trainer will do and why most Hollywood stars and the wealthy look the way they do. A professional will apply the knowledge they have learned and apply it to you. They will work to find a plan that you can stick to and succeed with. Do you need a trainer or nutritionist?? Absolutely not……. as all the clues and information are on the internet. But if you don’t have the time hiring someone is an easy solution and online personal trainers and nutritionists are just a click away.

by Robert Edwards founder of OPT http://www.onlinepersonaltrainer.ca