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Health and well-being are inexplicably tied together. Poor mental health can often mean weight gain, and unhealthy bodies can exacerbate mental health issues. Only when you work on improving both your mental and physical health, can you finally become your best self.

This isn’t to say it is easy, but with the right strategy and support you can achieve all your goals for your health and happiness. Just remember to never compare your progress with others, to work on finding the right strategy that works best for you, and to never give up.

Losing weight can be so beneficial to all areas of your health, but it requires a multi-faceted approach. Crash diets can work, but they won’t be sustained unless you plan for a longer-term process than just a few weeks. To do this, you need to find both the right diet and the right habits that will help you be your best and healthiest self:

The Reality about Dieting

The truth about dieting is that you cannot complete a diet and assume your life is fixed forever. Diet plans and diet trends can be useful, but only if you have a follow-up strategy to keep the weight off after you finish them. If you simply continue as you have always been before after your diet regimen is finished, you will slowly pack on the pounds once again. This isn’t sustainable, and neither is this healthy.

Then, of course, there is the fact that not all diet trends are made equal.

Not All Diets Are Safe

Some diet trends are downright dangerous and are only done by those who are truly desperate and want a quick fix. For example, there is one diet trend that has the dieter ingest a tapeworm. The worm will then theoretically eat all of your food for you, causing you to starve while eating as you would normally. In this trend, you will then take another pill once you have reached your goal weight to kill the tape work and voila, you have reached your weight loss goal – only it is incredibly dangerous to do and doesn’t actually help you make real changes.

Remember, a diet does not mean you stop eating. A diet is a safe means of losing weight so that you can reach your desired weight more easily.

Not All Diets Work

Not all diet trends work, either. Some force your body into starvation mode that actually results in your body putting on more weight instead of passing it through. Some don’t help you lose weight at all. It is up to you to find the one that works for you specifically; when you find a healthy diet that works for you, whether whole foods, plant-based, a weight loss kit, or anything in between, prepping your meals to keep you on track towards your goals is essential.

You Cannot Diet Your Way into a Body Shape You Do Not Have

It is also very important to note that you cannot diet or exercise your way into a body shape that you simply don’t have. If your natural waist isn’t as thin as you want it to be, then dieting won’t help. Your ribs will not get thinner. It is time to accept what you have an find ways to make it work for you.

The Importance of Finding the Right Diet Plan for You

Now that you know the dangers of diet plans, it’s time to find ones that work and work well for you. A low calorie or fasting diet, for example, can help you lose weight and force your body into autophagy, which is a cell regeneration process that can help your health in so many more ways than one. To successfully start this diet, you will want to find a meal plan provider for your fasting days so that you can stay moderately full.

The 5:2 diet, for example, will have you eat healthy on five days and work on creating a healthy lifestyle for yourself, and to fast on the other two. On these fasting days you will want to consume only a ¼ of your regular caloric intake, so it is important that you have a specialty shake plan to help you stave off hunger during these days. As this diet plan specifically has you eat healthily and exercise on five days of the week, this can mean improving your health, losing weight, and doing it all in a sustainable manner that lasts.

Those in the LGBTQ community disproportionately experience negative health and body image issues, due in part mostly to the stigma they may face in their everyday lives. Reclaiming your health at its core can help you build up your confidence and mental health, but in the cases, if it isn’t enough you should also seek out a doctor for advice on medicines and therapies that can help you in ways that diet and exercise simply can’t.