There are a LOT of plans out there. By and large they all have some things in common:
- cut back on food overall
- cut out sugars and sweets
- eat more veggies
- exercise and move more
Sometimes just making those few changes can make drastic changes at first. You can have some success while you evaluate other plans.
Other than that, the two big camps are lower-fat and lower-carb. Protein stays pretty much constant, because you need a certain amount of protein each day. But if you eat low-carb, it is by necessity higher in fat. And if you eat low-fat, it is by necessity higher in carb. Because your calories have to come from somewhere!
There are many plans like Weight Watchers that have points or exchanges that you follow. X servings of this and Y servings of that a day. Or you have Z points for the day and each food has a point value and you spend it as you will.
A lot of folks use a calorie-counting framework. THey give themselves a certain number of calories a day to eat. You can stop there, or go on to make those calories lower-carb or lower-fat. Which one works for you depends on your body. Some people don't deal well with starches and sugars; it makes them even more hungry and triggers overeating. So they should lower their carbs.
Personally, I use a calorie-counting structure (1200-1400/day) with lower carbs (fewer than 50/day) because I have PCOS and am Insulin Resistant and have pre-Diabetes. Because I have IR (which is part of the other two diseases), I'm one of those who don't deal well with carbs. So I limit them, and feel great, and am not ravenously hungry on 1200 calories/day. (In contrast, when I tried 1200 calories/day on low-fat/high-carb, I was always hungry and thus grumpy, even when my carbs came from whole grains and fruits and veggies. It was just too much for my system.)
You can look around the board for overviews of different plans. Almost everything is represented here, from very low fat to very low carb to Weight Watchers and South Beach and Atkins and on and on.
But I still think that if you want some quick changes that will fit ultimately into any plan, try those first four bullets for a few weeks while you look for a longer-term plan.
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