Diet Rating

• 1). Begin rating a diet through the most basic and universal standard of all---reasonableness. Pay attention to your gut instincts while reading over the basic requirements of the diet (meal timing---how often you are allowed to eat; food allowance---what food the plan recommends, i.e. healthy, natural foods or the same foods you are currently eating; meal structure---if the plan is low-carb, low-fat, or some combination of the two). Ignore any marketing propaganda at this point, such as how much weight you can expect to lose and why this is the "best diet of all time." Strictly cut to the heart of the matter---the plan itself. If the plan seems unnatural, unreasonable, impossible, or any combination of the three, it is probably a poorly structured diet.
  
  
• 2). Continue rating a diet by evaluating its feasibility. Feasibility is a subjective term, involving not only whether you believe the diet will work, but whether you believe that the diet will work well for you. Consider your lifestyle, your general eating habits, your nutritional requirements and your medical history and make a determination as to whether this is an eating plan you are likely to be able to follow for three to four months at a time.
  
  For example, endurance athletes like joggers and sprinters would have a hard time coping with their chosen sport while following a low-carb diet, so while the diet works as a whole, it is simply not feasible for this subset of the population.
  
  
• 3). Conclude your rating of any particular diet by considering the past experiences of other dieters, along with any available scientific evidence on the general structure of the diet itself. It is difficult to argue with results, and where a diet has a proven track record of sound science and satisfied customers, the diet should be rated higher than those plans that offer little in the way of anecdotal or verified results.