Losing weight and keeping it off can be really challenging. Most of us will do just about anything to lose weight…except following a diet that actually works. Maybe we all need a little “TLC” – diet, that is.
In this article, we will look at one of the best diets available that have stood the test of time — The TLC Diet.
It is made up of three stages, which promise to help you to lose weight.
The diet can also improve your overall health and well-being, as it is based on sound nutritional principles.
The TLC diet is a fad diet created from the concept that you should “live life to the fullest” and eat whatever you want as long as your plate contains colors from all of the colors of the rainbow. Let’s discuss this in full.
What is TLC Diet?
The TLC diet is a weight loss program that focuses on calorie counting, portion control, and exercise.
It was developed by Dr. Steven G. Pratt, a board-certified family physician and a professor at the University of Maryland School of Medicine. At the same time, its whole meaning is Therapeutic Lifestyle Changes.
The program was developed by the University of Cincinnati Medical Center’s obesity treatment center.
The center claims that the diet is designed to help people lose weight safely and permanently maintain their weight.
The TLC diet does not require participants to purchase any special foods or supplements, but it does suggest that dieters buy food scales and measuring cups for accurate portion sizes. And the TLC diet consists of three phases.
What are the three phases of the TLC diet?
The TLC Diet is a 3-phase diet designed to help you lose weight and keep it off. The three phases of the TLC Diet are:
- Fat loss – Phase 1
- Consolidation – Phase 2
- Maintenance – Phase 3
However, below are the details of the three phases.
Phase 1: The first phase of this diet lasts two weeks, during which time you eat between 800 and 1,000 calories daily.
You should also consume approximately 30 grams of fiber per day (half from fruits and vegetables and a half from whole grains).
You’ll receive all the protein you need from lean meats, poultry, fish, and eggs.
During this phase of the diet, you can choose from various fruits and vegetables to meet your daily fiber intake goals.
However, all green beans are off-limits during this phase because they contain too many carbs per serving size (about 25 grams).
Phase 2: The second phase of the TLC Diet is called “Precision Nutrition” because it focuses on helping you learn how to use food labels to find foods that meet your specific needs.
In this phase, you’ll avoid sugars and simple carbs while eating more lean protein sources like chicken breast or fish, whole grains like brown rice or quinoa, broccoli or spinach, nuts like almonds or nuts walnuts, and healthy fats like avocado oil or olive oil.
This phase lasts for two weeks and involves eating one serving per day from each food group listed below (except for dairy products).
Foods allowed in phase 2:
– Vegetables – All except corn and potatoes; choose organic whenever possible!
– Fruits – All except grapefruit; choose organic whenever possible!
– Grains – Rice only (no wheat or other gluten-containing grains); choose organic whenever possible!
– Nuts & Seeds – Almonds only (no peanuts
It’s essential, however, not to consume any alcohol during either phase two or three because it will slow down your weight.
Phase 3: The maintenance phase. This phase lasts for the rest of your life and makes up about 70% of your total weight loss.
In this phase, you will continue to eat healthy meals but can include some treats like desserts or alcohol occasionally if desired but not excessively.
You’ll be eating healthy all the time and stay within your calorie range every day!
You can still enjoy treats such as ice cream once in a while but limit these treats, so they don’t become part of your daily routine again!
What are the 5 Rules of the TLC Diet?
- Lose weight slowly.
- Reduce fat intake to 20 percent or less of the total calories consumed daily.
- Reduce saturated fat intake to 7 percent or less of total calories consumed daily (including meats and dairy products).
- Eat cholesterol-lowering foods every day, such as oatmeal, nuts, and fish oil supplements (EPA/DHA).
- Get regular exercise; 30 minutes a day is recommended.
What is the difference between the DASH diet and the TLC diet?
The TLC Diet is based on the Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) diet.
The DASH diet has been proven to lower blood pressure significantly. It’s also been shown to help people lose weight.
But the TLC Diet incorporates many other healthy lifestyle changes into its program so that you not only lose weight but also improve your overall health.
The program includes walking and strength training exercises to help maintain muscle mass while losing fat mass.
The program also encourages participants to develop better sleep habits during their weight loss journey through sleep hygiene education and stress management techniques such as yoga or meditation.
What makes the TLC diet work?
A few aspects of the TLC Diet account for its success.
- Low Saturated Fat: This diet is based on the recommendations in the National Cholesterol Education Program’s Adult Treatment Panel (ATP) III.
One of the main goals is to limit saturated fat intake to 7% of total calories.
The TLC Diet recommends limiting saturated fat to less than 10 grams per day for women and less than 13 grams per day for men.
- Low Cholesterol: The number one rule of cholesterol-lowering diets is to get your cholesterol down and keep it low.
The TLC Diet suggests consuming no more than 300 milligrams of dietary cholesterol per day with a goal of 200 milligrams daily.
- Lifestyle Components: This diet also involves a lot of behaviour modification.
For example, it stresses getting at least 30 minutes of moderate-intensity exercise on most days of the week, quitting smoking, and learning how to cope with stress without eating.
Does TLC help you lose weight?
It’s a question that has been asked for years:
Does TLC help you lose weight? The answer is yes.
But it’s not just about what you eat. It’s also about how much you eat and how often.
The basic concept behind the diet is that if you’re going to try to lose weight, you need to put yourself in a calorie deficit every day of your life.
Each day, you need to burn off more calories than you consume.
If you eat more calories than your body needs to maintain its weight, those calories will be stored as fat or glycogen (carbohydrates).
If you eat fewer calories than your body needs to maintain its weight, those calories will be used as energy by the body or stored in muscle tissue as glycogen.
A deficit of 500 calories per day over time will cause weight loss of about 1 pound every week.
What are the Pros and Cons of the TLC Diet?
The TLC Diet was first introduced in 1992. It is a diet based on eating a lot of lean proteins, fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grains, and legumes. However, the TLC Diet has both pros and cons. Let’s take a look at both:
Pros of TLC Diet:
- It’s easy to follow. You don’t have to limit yourself to certain foods or buy expensive products to follow the diet. You must avoid most carbohydrates and eat more fat and protein instead.
- It’s effective for weight loss; it’s one of the most effective diets out there for losing weight quickly
- The diet is low in fat, which can help you lose weight by reducing your caloric intake.
- It focuses on portion control rather than calorie counting, so you don’t have to worry about keeping track of every calorie you eat.
- It focuses on lean proteins, fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grains, and legumes as its main food groups. These foods are generally suitable for you because they contain lots of vitamins and minerals (especially fruits), fiber (whole grains), and protein (lean meats).
- It allows you to eat real food instead of processed junk high in calories and low in nutrients.
- Helps reduce insulin resistance.
- Reduced risk of heart disease and congestive heart failure
- Lower blood pressure
- Control of LDL and HDL cholesterol levels
- Eat fish and poultry more often than red meat.
- Eating foods high in soluble fiber like oats and peas.
Cons of TLC Diet?
- Some people may not like this diet because it doesn’t allow you to eat sweets or fried foods. This can be hard for people who have a sweet tooth or love fried foods like French fries or onion rings, but if you can get past those things, then this is an excellent diet for anyone looking to lose weight!
- The lack of variety in food choices leads to boredom and cravings, making it challenging to stick with the plan.
- It’s expensive, especially if you’re on it for more than three weeks.
- There’s no guarantee that it will work for you or that it won’t cause side effects like constipation and dehydration.
- Some reports that the TLC diet might cause headaches or nausea in some people.
- Avoid Cholesterol-Lowering Medications: The TLC diet incorporates cholesterol-lowering medications into its treatment plan for people who need them to reach their target LDL levels.
- Limit Your Fat Intake: The TLC diet limits total fat consumption to between 25 and 35 percent of your daily calories.
- The TLC diet requires a minimum of seven servings of fruits and vegetables daily.
- Limits on sodium intake are suggested but not mandatory, especially if you have high blood pressure.
- Weight loss is usually recommended, with a goal weight at the lower end of a healthy range for your height (as measured on the body mass index chart)
TLC Diet Review: Can It Lower Your Cholesterol Levels?
The National Institutes of Health developed the TLC diet to help people lower their cholesterol levels.
Doctors and nutritionists around the country recommend the diet because it has been proven to be safe, effective, and easy to follow.
The TLC diet is recommended for anyone who wants to lose weight or lower their cholesterol levels.
It is unnecessary to be overweight or have high cholesterol to benefit from this diet.
The TLC diet has reduced harmful cholesterol levels by 10%. It can also help you lose weight and feel better overall.
If you want to try the TLC diet but are worried about side effects like headaches or nausea, many alternative foods can be used instead of animal products like red meat and pork.
Some examples include tofu, beans, peas, lentils, soy products like tempeh or edamame, nuts like almonds or walnuts, sunflower seeds, chia seeds, and flax seeds.
Does the TLC diet work for everyone?
If you’ve been looking for a diet that’s easy to follow and will help you lose weight, you might have heard about the TLC diet.
But does it work for everyone?
The quick answer is yes because the TLC diet is designed to help people with high cholesterol—but that doesn’t mean it’s an ideal solution for everyone.
Here’s what you need to know about the TLC Diet and whether it could be the right choice.
The TLC Diet is designed to help people with high LDL (harmful) cholesterol levels reduce their risk of heart disease by lowering their total cholesterol.
But even though it’s safe, it’s not necessarily suitable for everyone. The diet is very restrictive.
You’ll need to cut way back on foods like meat and dairy products, which means cutting out many of your favorites and mainly eating vegetables instead.
That can make it difficult if you don’t enjoy a vegetarian lifestyle.
Plus, since the diet is designed to lower your cholesterol, you’ll also have to limit how much-saturated fat you eat and your overall daily calories.
That can be challenging for some people.
Who Should Try the TLC Diet?
The TLC diet was designed to lower cholesterol levels, particularly LDL (bad) cholesterol.
The TLC diet can help with that if you want to lose weight. With careful planning, you’ll be able to fit all the food groups into your 1,500- to 2,000-calorie daily allowance.
The diet also lets you eat acceptable foods — including whole grains, fruits, and vegetables — without counting calories or grams of fat.
If you have high triglycerides or high blood pressure, the TLC diet may also lower those numbers.
Who Should Not Try the TLC Diet?
The TLC diet isn’t for everyone. If you have a known allergy or sensitivity to any ingredient in the plan — such as milk or tree nuts — it’s best not to follow this program until you’ve consulted a dietician or nutritionist.
Is it difficult or expensive to follow the TLC diet?
The TLC diet is not difficult or expensive to follow.
You can prepare most meals at home, and you don’t need any special equipment or ingredients.
The TLC diet is based on standard, everyday foods low in saturated fat. Many of these foods, such as fruits and vegetables, are also common in cost and don’t require much preparation time.
In addition to following the dietary recommendations outlined in the TLC diet plan, you will need to exercise for about 30 minutes a day on most days of the week.
You don’t need to join a gym to do this—you can take brisk walks around your neighborhood or jog on a track near your home.
When you follow the TLC diet, you may be able to lower your LDL (“bad”) cholesterol by 8% to 10%, which could significantly reduce your risk of heart disease and heart attacks.
Does the TLC diet provide enough nutrients to keep you healthy?
The TLC Diet is a low-calorie diet that promotes rapid weight loss. It is not just a fad diet but a lifestyle change.
This program aims to teach you how to maintain a healthier lifestyle that will not only help you lose weight but also improve your overall health and well-being.
The TLC diet is a very low-calorie diet (VLCD) intended to treat obesity.
It’s designed as a rapid weight loss program and not a long-term lifestyle change, but it can be followed indefinitely if you’re successful in losing weight.
7 Must-Follow TLC Diet Guidelines for Beginners
Your daily intake should include about 30% of your calories from fat, 15% from protein, and 55% from carbohydrates on the TLC diet. The best way to achieve this with food is by following these guidelines:
- Eat various foods, including fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and low-fat dairy.
- Consume at least two servings per week (the American Heart Association recommends eating fish twice a week).
- Choose lean meat, poultry, and fish; limit fried foods; and avoid fatty meats.
- Limit high-fat dairy products like cheese and whole milk.
- Read labels carefully to choose products low in saturated fat and cholesterol.
- Stay away from trans fats—keep your intake less than 2 grams per day.
- Choose healthy oils like olive oil rather than butter or lard.
17 TLC diet Food lists
If you’re on the Therapeutic Lifestyle Changes (TLC) diet, here are some foods list you should buy:
- fruits
- vegetables
- unrefined whole grains
- low-fat dairy products
- seafood,
- skinless poultry
- lean meats.
- Almonds
- Apples
- Asparagus
- Avocados
- Balsamic vinegar
- Bananas
- Beans (black beans, garbanzo beans, kidney beans)
- Beef (round steak)
- Bell peppers (red and green)
- Blueberries
Conclusion:
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