PORTLAND, Maine — There are so many diets that promise to help you lose weight quickly, but how effective are they? And, do they actually work in the long run?
We spoke with Erica Magnuson, a nutrition coach and licensed dietician at The Form Lab in Portland, to get some answers.
"A key way to recognize a fad diet is that if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is, as well as cutting out a whole food group," Magnuson said. "I like to ask people, 'Can you do this every day for the rest of your life?'"
Magnuson said the keto diet and intermittent fasting are really popular right now, but both are considered to be fad diets. Instead, she recommends adopting an 80/20 mindset. That means 80 percent of the time you are working hard to incorporate exercise, fruits, vegetables, and other healthy choices into your daily life. The remaining 20 percent can be filled with "treats" like a slice of birthday cake or a night out with friends.
"If we're not satisfying both the physiological and psychological aspects of hunger it's never going to work long-term," Magnuson said.
Magnuson added there is a lot of information about diets and nutrition out there, so the best way to guarantee results is by looking at the credentials of the individual or source sharing the information.
To learn more, watch the full 207 segment above.
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