Losing weight is tough. Duh.
That’s why, every now and then, a new diet program pops up promising us everything and the moon.
Today, we’ll have a look and review two diet programs that have been running for the past few years, and have grown from being just books to full-fledged communities of thousands of active people.
First on the list is the Beyond Diet program, run by nutritionist Isabel De Los Rios.
The Beyond Diet Program Review
Beyond Diet started as “The Diet Solution Program” back in 2009 when the internet had just started bloating with e-books and PDF files.
Unfortunately, the diet solution program sounded like another “me too” program at that time, offering generic weight loss advice that almost all experienced folk, and most amateurs already knew (eat this, not that, etc.); however, what really set it apart was Isabel’s proprietary “metabolism type” method.
According to the Beyond Diet, each one of us has a unique metabolism ‘type’, and that eating according to this type would unlock the secrets to better health, weight loss, and even better fitness.
To be successful with Beyond Diet, Rios says, “You need to do some work. This work entails many small tasks that essentially can be grouped in three main steps: Determine your metabolism type, create your personal meal plan, and learn which healthy foods you should choose. Once you complete these steps, you will have all the tools you need to achieve the long-term results you desire: weight loss and optimum health for life.”
About This “Metabolism Type”
Metabolic typing was the brain child of one William Wolcott. Wolcott was intrigued by the fact that some people could actually thrive on a low-fat high carb; whereas some others showed horrible results on the same diet.
The same results were observed with people on low carb diets. He concluded in his research that as humans evolved and settled in various zones of the earth, the local culture, food habits, and other factors influenced their metabolism to a large degree.
In short, their bodies started adapting to the habitat they were exposed too.
For e.g. Eskimo’s and most other northern cultures usually survived on fish and wild game since they had a severe lack of vegetables or tropical fruits.
Conversely, cultures that settled closer to the equator had much more dependence on farming, as well as rich variety in vegetables and fruits, thanks to the abundant rainfall. Most of these equatorial cultures ate less meat and more vegetables.
Summarizing: Your ancestral heritage can actually have a huge bearing on your metabolism today.
Now, back to the beyond diet, Isabel chimes the same thing. That just as we are all unique in all other respects, our body’s biochemistry requires certain types and proportions of healthy proteins, carbohydrates, and fats to perform optimally.
This unique makeup is what Isabel calls your metabolism type. And learning this metabolism type will help us to lose weight in a safe and healthy manner, once and for all, and achieve optimum wellness.
She also claims it will also will help us achieve long-term results without the starvation and cravings that usually accompany most other diet plans.
In general, Beyond Diet says that everyone is a Carb Type, a Protein Type, or a Mixed Type. Requirements for the appropriate ratios and types of healthy proteins, carbohydrates, and fats exist along a fixed spectrum.
The requirements for people whose biochemistries require high amounts of protein for optimal health (Protein Types) are located at one end, and those for people whose biochemistries demand high amounts of healthy carbohydrates (Carb Types) are at the other end.
Mixed Metabolism Types are a combination of these two types, so their requirements fall somewhere in the middle.
Now, even though medical doctors and nutrition pioneers have used metabolism typing for decades, and that many studies have acknowledged it, the extra knowledge that Isabel shares in the program is definitely worth the price she’s asking for it.
The only caveat in the program so far is, that finding out our metabolism type requires filling out of a somewhat tedious, long form, the only saving grace being that it has multiple choice answers, making the process feel fast.
The Community
In 2013, the diet solution program was discontinued and all of Isabel’s program was brought under the one Beyond Diet umbrella.
The biggest update and differentiating factor of the program were the ‘Q&A community’. Isabel created a web only community of beyond diet members on their membership website. Every person who purchased the program is given access to it. As of August 2017, they boast a community of over 896,000 people in there, that’s a number to be reckoned for sure.
We had a look inside this community, and can confirm that it sure is buzzing with activity with members asking questions, coaches answering and a whole lot of “give and take” in there.
What Do Beyond Diet Reviews Say About It?
We couldn’t find many third-party reviews of the beyond diet. Of the few we could find, Bonny Jones, on her Skinny Bonny blog has written a FAQ style review addressing most common questions pertaining to the Beyond Diet. There were just a handful other sites we found that had positive recommendations of the program.
We did find some reviews right on the Beyond Diet site itself, but couldn’t verify their authenticity.
Concluding
The Beyond Diet is definitely a breath of fresh air in the world of the usual low-carb, low-fat, low-something diets. It is based on solid science, most of its claims are backed by research studies, and the pricing is very competitive, especially when you take into account the huge community of like-minded beyond dieters.
CONS: Incessant promotions after purchase, takes time to show results
PROS: Price, science backed, no severe restrictions, time-tested.
The “Fit Finally” Program Review
“Lose weight in 30 days…”
“Start losing 7lb in 7 days…”
“Lose gobs of stubborn belly fat with our ab roller”
Claims like these are not uncommon to most of us. And although there are quite literally, thousands of nutritionists, “certified” fitness experts and weight loss companies in our country, the mark of a genuine source of information and advice, the one that differentiates the good ones from the rest is - expectations.
Enter the Fit Finally program, a relatively new and unique diet program that focuses more on your daily habits than your diet or activity.
As Betty Hartley, the founder of the program says, “Most people get caught up too much in unnecessary details of their diet program. They waste too much of their time and resources on things that simply do not matter in their everyday life. They forget that the most important thing is not which diet they are on, but whether they are able to stick with it!”
Rightly said by Ms. Hartley, the most important success parameter for any diet is how well we are able to adhere to it. This was actually proven in a study a few years ago.
The Fit Finally program, though touted as a ‘diet program’, is more of a lifestyle program. The foundation of the program is in fact, called Foundation, which is a guide that teaches the user how to adopt and inculcate the necessary weight loss habits.
The other modules of the program are the “Eat 2 Lose” nutrition module, the 8-week bodyweight workout, and a full-fledged cravings control program among other things.
The basic proposition of the Fit Finally program is focussing on eating real foods, getting more active with exercises and activity, and controlling food cravings with the scientific methods.
Though this might sound run-of-the-mill advice, the way all of this is taught to you with a habit-based approach is where the Fit Finally program really shines.
For the one-time price of the program, Betty Hartley does provide many practical resources for the average weight loss enthusiast.
Albeit we were somewhat disappointed in two areas; one, the program is specifically created for women, we would love to see a unisex version. And secondly, the Fit Finally program is relatively new in the ‘market’, so we are unsure how well it works for the masses.
What Do Fit Finally Reviews Say About It?
Just like Beyond Diet, the Fit Finally program is also at a nascent stage so we couldn’t find many third-party reviews of it.
But we did find a couple of bloggers reviewing it, and the general consensus seems quite positive. One of the blogger says “(It) Works really well. Easy to maintain, unlike fad diets. Includes a very effective food cleanse plan”.
Concluding
The Fit Finally program does seem to have a very unique habit based approach to weight loss. We were surprised to see the inclusion of a nutrition, workout and a cravings controlling program at a price where most other online diet programs charge a recurring fee and/or an enormous upfront fee. The Foundation guide does look good with some really solid techniques.
CONS: Not a big company, only for women as of now, programs are only accessible online.
PROS: Unique habits-based approach to weight loss, practical and easy to begin, value for money.
So there you go, two potential superstars in the ever changing, ever popular diet market. As you can probably deduce from these two reviews, we are not biased towards any particular diet program, not the Fit Finally program or the beyond Diet. Ultimately it all depends on what works for you, your body, and your life.
However, the one thing we can all take away from this post is no matter what diet program you choose (or not); good health and weight comes down to three things:
- Eating as many real foods as possible,
- Inculcating healthy habits in your daily routine, and
- Being as much as active as possible.
For 90% of us, following these three things will ensure we remain healthy, fit and active for the rest of our mortal lives.
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