Atkins
The Atkins diet has been around for awhile, and for good measure. The Atkins diet focuses heavily on calories and people who are on Atkins typically drop weight. The caveat? No carbs, simple sugars, or veggies that are high in carbs.

Ketogenic 
The Keto diet is a newly popular one. It’s well known for being low carb (I’m talking less than 15g a day) so the body produces ketones to be used as energy rather than glucose from carbs. Of the 15g of carbs you eat a day, you want to make sure they come from veggies, nuts, and dairy rather than wheat, starch, or fruit.

Whole30
Health gurus see the Whole30 diet as a reset button for your GI tract and a great way to see what your body may be allergic to based on the fact you follow a strict diet for a month then phase foods back in. People using the Whole30 diet are unable to eat grains, dairy, legumes, sugar, alcohol, and nothing you cannot pronounce. One thing that Whole30 expects of you that not many other diets do? Absolutely NO stepping on the scale for 30 days!

Paleo
Paleo, otherwise known as the “caveman diet”, focuses on steering you away from your typical go-to foods by the big box foods. People who enjoy HIIT (high-intensity interval training) workouts benefit greatly from this diet. Stay away from grains, legumes, dairy, vegetable oils, sugars (real and artificial), and anything you couldn’t easily forage for if you just so happen to wind up in a Gilligan’s Island or Lost situation.

So how do you know which diet is best for you? You need to pick which diet works best for your lifestyle. What works for some will not work for others. As always, it’s important to speak with your physician and dietitian before beginning a diet.

I do want to congratulate Mayor Gavin Newsom for vetoing the stupid legislation on McDonald’s Happy Meals, but I do disagree it is about inexpensive food being unhealthy.  A McDonald’s Happy Meal is about $3.50, a Healthy Choice frozen dinner has about 22 grams of protein, 260 calories and is about $2.50.  It’s quick, 4 minutes in a microwave, and inexpensive.

I wrote about fitness and nutrition starting at home a couple of months ago and I am going to continue to drive this point home as long as this country continues to make excuses and blames everyone else.