What is the best clean eating diet plan to follow for quick results?

First of all, forget about quick results.

You don't want that.

"Quick results" are unreliable, crash-diet, bigotry.

Now, for diets.

There are so many different types of diets out there, but which one is the one for you?

Which diet will get you to lose fat, or build muscle?

Is it low carbs? Hint: It's not

You’ve probably heard about the Paleo diet, or the Atkins and so on; but do you really know what each of these are?

I’m going to briefly break down the trendiest diets out there so that you can have a better understanding, and probably choose the one you think you might like.

You'll see which one is my favorite, too.

Ketogenic Diet

This diet is also known as Atkins or low carb diet.

It basically consists of eating less than 50 grams (typically) of carbs a day, so that the body can go into a ketogenic state; and use ketone instead of glucose (carbs) as fuel.

To put it into perspective, 50 grams of carbs is about 2 slices of bread! You also have to eat a lot of fat, basically, 75% of your calories would come from fatty foods.

There is a huge misunderstanding out there. People believe that the Keto diet will help them lose fat faster, but this is not true. At first, people on this diet will lose weight, but mostly because of water retention from lack of carbs.

The Ketogenic Diet will not help you lose fat faster unless you’re in a caloric deficit.

However, there are some health benefits about low carb dieting such as diabetes, cancer, and seizure treatment.

There have been studies comparing the Ketogenic Diet against a normal western diet.

Same calories, same protein intake.

The result?

Keto is not superior for fat loss.

Paleo

Honestly, I don’t even know who came up with this.

It’s based on the idea of eating as humans did 2.5 million years ago.

Yes, you read that right. A diet based on eating fish, grass-fed meat, eggs, vegetables, fruit, fungi, roots, and nuts.

The common misbelief about the Paleo Diet, is that humans were healthier during the Paleolithic era, but that’s not true.

Also, a lot of the data gathered to create this diet is extremely flawed and many ancient societies actually ate some foods that are a big “no” in the current Paleo Diet.

However, the good thing about this diet is that it teaches you about the nutritional values of natural foods like vegetables, good fats, and fruits. On top of that, it recommends a high protein, and unprocessed foods, which is a good thing.

Intermittent Fasting

The idea is, you starve yourself for 16+ hours and then feast. Sounds great, right?

Unless you are in a caloric deficit, this diet won’t help you lose fat faster, or lose belly fat; but it does have many potential benefits.

There are some research out there claiming that intermittent fasting helps with inflammation and hormone levels - but honestly, it's somewhat insignificant.

Also, Intermittent Fasting might help with weight loss because it severely restricts how many calories you can eat, and if you’re like me currently eating 3500+ calories a day, it is very difficult to eat a large amount of food in such a small time frame.

I personally fast once a week for 16 hours, the reason being is beyond the scope of this article. I do it since there are some small benefits in fasting. However, it is not the “magic” diet.

IIFYM/Flexible Diet

Also, known as, If It Fits Your Macros. 

This type of diet has a bad reputation because “fitness models” like to show off eating junk food and since calories are created equal.

The reason I say this is because I personally fell into the belief that a calorie is a calorie. This is a true statement, but we must also take into consideration the nutritional value of food.

However, IIFYM works.

Period.

It’s what I recommend to all my clients.

The reason it works is that, when done correctly, you can take control of what you eat and in the exact amounts that you need. It’s simple, if you want to lose fat then you must eat fewer calories, and having a controlled IIFYM diet lets you know exactly how much to eat and how much fat, carbs, and protein to eat.

Same goes with if you want to build muscle. You control your intake.

In other words, when done correctly, an IIFYM lifestyle will let you know exactly what to eat to reach the goals you want.

You can fit a donut, a Big Mac, fruits, beans, etc. if it fits your diet, and if the calories match. Hence the name IIFYM.

Lastly, the beauty of Flexible Dieting is that if you like Paleo, or Keto diets, you can implement Flexible Dieting to adhere to your goals.

You will know what you’re eating throughout the day and it gives you the freedom to choose what foods to eat.

In my personal experience, I have found IIFYM work best for me. I have learned the value of food, macros, and micronutrients; and when you build up knowledge you can set yourself up to succeed.

In The Ultimate Performance Blueprint, I teach you how to calculate exactly what to eat to build muscle or lose fat.

You choose your goal.

I help you achieve it!

So, how do you eat? Please don’t say you’re a “clean eater.”