The diet industry has never been bigger – with people all over the world looking for the holy grail of weight loss.
With that in mind, FEMAIL spoke with Sydney-based dietitian and exercise physiologist, Gabrielle Maston, to find out which diet works best for weight loss.
From the trendy intermittent fasting to juice diets and a Paleo approach, Gabrielle ranked four approaches from best to worst.
Here, FEMAIL uncovers the eating plan which will really help you shift those last few kilos.
FEMAIL spoke with Sydney-based dietitian and exercise physiologist, Gabrielle Maston (pictured), to find out which diet works best for weight loss
1. Counting your macros
Counting your macronutrients – or the exact amounts of protein, carbohydrates and fats you are eating – is all the rage right now, with Instagram fitness personalities and trainers saying it’s by far and away the best way to get diet results.
And while it has its downsides, for Gabrielle, counting your macros is one of the ‘safer weight loss diets’:
‘It’s balanced, gives you a healthy balance of nutrients your body needs to lose weight and provides flexibility in your food choices,’ she told Daily Mail Australia.
Gabrielle did add, however, that there are some negatives around this eating approach – even though, for her, it comes out on top:
‘For people who have experienced disordered eating or an eating disorder, it can fuel the emotions surrounding food and obsessive-compulsive tendencies,’ she explained.
‘If you have this problem, do not do this diet. Another downside is this diet is often marketed in a way that tells people that you can fit pizza and doughnuts into your daily diet if it fits your macros (IIFYM).
‘Healthy eating isn’t just about losing weight and counting macros. You might lose weight by eating pizza every day, but that doesn’t mean it’s healthy.’
Coming out on top for Gabrielle is ‘counting your macros’ – which she sees as one of the most balanced weight loss diets you can try (stock image)
2. Intermittent fasting
Coming in second place for Gabrielle is the intermittent fasting approach, popular with those who are looking for a solution to weight gain over a period of time.
‘Intermittent fasting can be done in many different ways,’ Gabrielle outlined.
‘The most popular is the 2 and 5 plan, whereby you “fast” for two consecutive days and on the remaining five you eat normally.
‘On the fasting days, it’s not actually a complete fast as people are still encouraged to consume 500-600 calories worth of nutritious food and water. There are other variations on fasting diets, but they aren’t as popular and are not recommended.’
According to the dietitian, intermittent fasting has proven results in weight loss.
‘However, after a three month duration it performs no better than a standard energy-reducing diet without fasting.
‘This is because old habits die hard and people tend to fast for fewer days, while the added extra food sneaks its way back in.’
Gabrielle concluded: ‘The 5:2 fasting plan is okay as a kickstarter to weight loss, but don’t be complacent and think that it’s the one and only solution.
‘Think about weight loss and maintenance as a lifelong commitment. You need to change your lifestyle and habitual eating to keep the weight off long term.’
The Paleo diet (stock image) has many plus points, insofar as it encourages dieters to eat less junk food and more wholefoods – however it also cuts out many beneficial food groups
3. Paleo diet
The Paleo diet enjoyed a huge surge in popularity in the early 2000s, when the Atkins diet reigned supreme.
The Paleo diet is an approach by which dieters believe better health can be achieved if we revert to what our caveman ancestors ate, notably lean meats and vegetables:
‘If you are a junk food eater and you switch to eating a Paleo diet, you will lose weight because you will be increasing the volume of food eaten, while simultaneously reducing its energy content,’ Gabrielle said.
‘The problem is that the Paleo diet also omits other food types that are highly nutritious, such as legumes, wholegrains and dairy products.’
The dietitian said that these are ‘unnecessary subtractions that will not necessarily result in better health’.
In fact, you could end up deficient in calcium, folate and vitamin B.
‘To improve this diet, use the principles of the Paleo diet to eat more whole foods, but don’t give up food groups entirely,’ Gabrielle said.
‘Most people can benefit from reducing their intake of junk food and portions of carb foods, so do that instead.’
Coming in last place in Gabrielle’s diets for weight loss list is juice fasts – often tried by people looking for a quick fix way to shed fat (stock image)
4. Juice fasts
Coming in last place in Gabrielle’s diets for weight loss list is juice fasts – often tried by people looking for a quick fix way to shed fat:
‘Juice diets are sometimes marketed as detox diets as they involve drinking vegetable and fruit juice for a period of time in order to lose body fat and “cleanse” the body,’ she said.
‘They might help you to drop weight quickly, but as soon as you resume normal eating, the weight will pile back on again.’
Gabrielle said that the problem with this diet is that it doesn’t teach you how to portion your normal food correctly, and ‘it also eliminates vital food ingredients such as lean meats, dairy and grains.
‘This isn’t a problem in two weeks, but can pose major problems if followed long term.’
For more information about Gabrielle Maston, please visit her website here.