Created by exercise physiologist Bob Green, Best Life Diet is described as “a dream diet”.  It proposes a healthy lifestyle, which is supposed to be easy to follow and should change bad eating habits. This miraculous diet is Oprah Winfrey’s “The One” diet, which she followed religiously in order to lose those extra pounds.

The Best Life Diet is more a “lifestyle change” than a diet.  The founder recommends those who start following this diet not to give it up after obtaining good results. Furthermore, Green specifies that this plan is an effective way, but not a quick one, to lose weight. In order to lose weight and feel good about yourself, Green advice is to take it one step at a time.  

The guidelines suggest a daily calorie intake ranging from 1,500 up to 2,500, depending on the daily activities and the gender.  The main principle is to exercise proportionally to how much you eat.  That means that eating more equals more exercising.

The diet concentrates more on the food choices and the portion sizes than on the counting of the calories.  The “cheating” or “anything goes”, as Green calls it, is only allowed during the third phase of the diet.  Unhealthy food such as fried ones and those containing trans fats, white bread, regular pasta, and sugary soft drinks are replaced with healthy choices such as fruits, vegetables and whole grains.

What makes this diet special is that the focus in not on following a strict diet and losing weight fast.  The idea is to improve the lifestyle and make smart food choices. Furthermore, the first phase is more liberal compared to other diets, because Green considers this to be the difficult adjusting phase. It lasts four weeks and it emphasizes on increasing the activity level and changing bad eating habits.

Green recommends three meals and a snack a day, no eating two hours before going to bed, and alcohol eliminated from the diet.  Also, drinking a lot of water and taking vitamins are a good idea.  Second phase should last at least four weeks and it aims losing weight by increasing physical activity.  The last phase is the maintenance one which focuses on removing all the bad foods.

In spite of this, Green introduces here the “anything goes”, which means treats are allowed, but in small portions.  This is very good, considering this last phase is the most physical active phase of the diet.