Popular things catch on for one or both of the following reasons – they are heavily and/or cleverly marketed and they are actually really good at doing what they are supposed to do. When it comes to dieting, even though some diets are marketed, almost no marketing is necessary because there are a lot of people interested in dieting and they spread the news, both the good and the bad, very quickly. This means that if there is a diet that has been popular for quite a number of years, its popularity is usually accounted for the fact that there are simply a lot of people who have been able to benefit from it and thus shed the excess weight. Some of the most popular diets for weight loss, which are at the same time long-lasting, are the Atkins Diet, Weight Watchers and the Zone.
The Atkins Diet restricts the intake of carbohydrates, which is why it is usually categorized as a low carbohydrate diet. It was first proposed in 1972 and was revised in 2002, but no major changes were made in comparison to the original diet plan. The basic explanation of why this diet works is that we manage to prevent the levels of insulin from changing rapidly, which in turn means that our body will not try to store as much energy as it can and it will be more likely use fat as a source of energy.
If you are a fan of Sex and the City and if you have seen the episode where Miranda tries to lose weight after having a baby, then you are most probably familiar with what kind of diet Weight Watchers is. This is a diet that is mainly focused on paying attention to the calories and exercising. But these are not the things that make this diet plan so different from the other plans available. What sets this diet plan apart is the fact that there is a network of people that you will be referred to, who become your support group. People that you will be referred to are the ones that will help you throughout the process and they will keep track of your weight loss, hence the name weight watchers. This diet plans dates back to the sixties when a housewife decided to maintain her weight after weight loss by surrounding herself with her friends who would help her. The idea quickly spread and Weight Watchers is still one of the most popular diet plans out there.
With the Zone Diet, there aren’t too many restrictions. The basic rule is that each meal should consist of carbohydrates, fat and protein and the ratio of these constituents has to be balanced. Although this diet restricts the consumption of carbohydrates, it is not a low-carbohydrate diet. The proponents of this diet claim that this is one of the best ones because it is the closest to what is considered to be a healthy diet – a diet where everything is allowed, but where meals have to be balanced and moderate.