Choosing Food Wisely Helps Whittle Your Waistline

Choosing Food Wisely Helps Whittle Your Waistline

Making healthy food choices is important to any successful diet. Some dieters know what constitutes healthy choices but they have trouble making those choices, while others grew up without being taught which foods promote long term health.

Most diet plans address the need to make healthy food choices but some do better than others at explaining what to choose and why it can be challenging. The Dorm Room Diet was designed (with professional help) by a college girl, Daphne Oz, in part due to her own struggles to eat healthfully once she left home to attend college. This diet addresses the challenges of endless choice in college dining halls, and the importance of selecting lower fat, high fiber foods, plenty of salads and vegetables, and keeping the fried things to a minimum but there are no strict rules or directives to cut out certain foods or food groups.

Similarly, the Picture Perfect Diet, by Howard Shapiro, M.D., doesn't eliminate any foods but uses side-by-side comparison photos to help dieters recognize that they can eat more healthy foods for the same number of calories as small amounts of less healthy junk foods. The diet plan advocated by Philip “Dr. Phil” McGraw (The Ultimate Weight Loss Solution) also emphasizes the importance of healthy food choices, although Dr. Phil also touches on the psychological barriers (such as depression and low self-esteem) that can make it difficult for people to choose healthy foods.

Regardless of your diet plan, you can make healthy food choices in many ways, whether you're choosing a healthy breakfast food such as high-fiber cereal or whole wheat toast instead of a cheese Danish in the college cafeteria line or following one of the many easy, healthy recipes that different diet plans provide and cutting down on the processed foods that you eat.

DietTV.com has your best and full review for each diet plan with pictures of what you can/can't eat.