I get asked by people who knew me when I was overweight about my method for losing weight. They first assume that I lost the weight through a lot of exercise and they are always astonished when I tell them that I lost the weight through diet alone. Then, invariably, they ask what diet I did, and when I tell them I did a Whole30 followed by going Paleo, they either nod their heads and say something like, “Oh, I’ve heard of that. It’s like Atkins, right” or they shake their heads and say, “Well, those diets don’t really work long-term and aren’t good for you. You should eat low-fat.”

Well.

First, I’ve kept my weight off for over two and a half years. Second, as more data comes in from repeatable studies, it is becoming clearer all the time that a low-carb/high-fat diet is better for us. From my own experiences with my improved health to the countless millions of others who have also “Stumbled” upon the LCHF life. But that’s not what I want to write about.

There are lots of ways to lose weight including counting calories (also known as Calories In/Calories Out, or CICO), portion control, and others I don’t even know about. But people have been known to have success with them. So they can’t be all bad, right? Well, I’m not going to talk to that, either, because my opinion is that LCHF is better for us, but what I’m really getting at is the secret ingredient to success in ALL diets, whether they involve LCHF or not: adherence. Strict adherence to the diet and NO CHEATING/SABOTAGE.

I read study after study today regarding many different types of diets, and every one of them claimed to work. They pointed to success stories and proved that if you were to adopt their way of eating and stuck to it, you would lose weight. So, how can so many different diets yield the same results: lost weight? It comes down to being strict.

If you are strict with calories in/calories out (CICO), then it’ll work. Scientifically, this is very solid, and to be honest, there’s nothing more basic. Eat 20% fewer calories than your body needs in a day, and if you keep that up for a long time, you will lose weight. What I advocate in LCHF is that it is easier to maintain than a diet that has a lot of sugar and carbs in it due to the decrease in cravings and no sugar crashes after meals. But aside from that, sticking with a diet is probably the most important thing you can do.

I personally prefer the LCHF diets, but I don’t have a problem with anyone using any other non-invasive method to lose weight. No surgeries, pills, powders, shakes, or crazy fitness regimens are necessary to get healthy and lose weight. Just find a diet that works for you and stick to it!