Successful dieting requires individualized plans that fit your personality and dietary choices.

Many people start a diet with a plan to lose a lot of weight. Many look to throwaway magazines and books for that perfect diet that fits everyone and requires little to no effort. I am here to tell you that no such diet exists. Not everyone can live with a vegetarian diet and some of this cannot stand the sight of barbecued animals. The fact is that successful diets require some individualization to fit the personality and needs of each person.

Not only are people different in their dietary preferences, but there is also huge variability in weight loss responses to diets in many of those trying to lose weight. One person will lose weight fast eating like a rabbit and another would do the same on a high-protein diet. I suspect your success will depend upon your ability to maintain the diet while obtaining a certain degree of satiety.

I personally like a low carbohydrate lifestyle for weight loss, but it is not for everyone. Vegetarians may find low-carb to be exceptionally challenging. The fact is that both a low-fat or a low-carb diet can lead to successful weight loss. You have to pick a diet that works for you that you can maintain for a lifetime. If you return to your old unhealthy ways, the successful weight loss will lead to successful regain.

Research has shown that the large variability in weight loss response observed in obese individuals prescribed the same diet is partly due to differences in metabolism, successful adherence, and satiety. Glucose metabolism is directly responsible for appetite control in some dieters and others eat gummy bears (pure sugar)and feel full. Metabolic and physiological variability are both responsible for differences in both weight gain and responsiveness to the carbohydrate content of meals.

The discovery of this interaction between glucose metabolism and diet composition has opened a novel clinical management strategy that may improve dietary weight loss in overweight, obese, and insulin-resistant individuals. Researchers have discovered that individual weight loss responsiveness to diets depends on genetics and food preferences that can clinically relevant when establishing a diet plan for people.

The bottom line: Diets must be individualized for the person who has to make the changes and live within the rest of their life. There is no magic bullet or diet that will result in long-term weight loss for every patient, but lower carbohydrate levels tend to be the easiest thing to cut without hurting nutrient levels. The “optimal diet” must be tailored to enhance satiety, adherence, and weight loss