What the Heck is the TLC Diet

Hearing the word diet usually inspires thoughts of cutting food, counting calories, and depriving yourself. Diets tend to come in waves, and they tend to be unsustainable – many of them even go as far as being unhealthy if done over a long period of time and can lead to lack of nutrients.  

The TLC diet isn't just a diet, it's a way of changing your lifestyle and eating healthier. TLC stands for Therapeutic Lifestyle Change. It isn't just about restricting yourself to a set number of calories per day or juicing everything before ingesting it. It's about making changes that are better for your body. Sometimes, the things we fuel our body on can cause fatigue, headaches and other unseen dangers and illnesses. The TLC diet is designed to make us feel better and healthier, while still providing us with everything we need to keep moving and to help learn how to be healthier while still enjoying what we eat.  

The idea of the 'diet' is to help control the amount of saturated fat that a person consumes; this can mean cutting down on milk and meats. It also means cutting out nicotine and getting in frequent exercise. All of which benefits overall health, as well as cholesterol.  

The Benefits 

One of the main benefits, medically, that the TLC diet has is reducing cholesterol. It has been recommended by doctors, and by the National Cholesterol Education Programme from the US National Institute of Health.  

As well as helping with cholesterol, the TLC diet can help with weight loss, too, and as it's a change in lifestyle rather than an actual diet, it's easier to sustain, and there's much more chance of the weight staying off and little chance of the person slipping back into their own way of eating. It becomes a way of life and eventually becomes natural.  

It reduces the risk of health problems later in life, making sure that we're taking care of ourselves as we fuel our bodies. It makes sure that we're getting the right nutrients and that we're putting the right kind of food inside our bodies.  

The Negatives 

Depending on how you view it, the negatives might not necessarily be bad things.  

Cutting down on meat is a big one – while protein can be good for you, too much of it can cause unseen problems, such as raising cholesterol. It's recommended while following the TLC diet that only two portions of meat are consumed each day, maximum.  

Another big thing is learning how to read a nutritional label, and understanding everything they put on there. It can be difficult to learn what they mean, especially when they have a habit of being sneaky. Many times, packaging will state a serving size that doesn't represent the full packet. Learning to read these will help you keep your portions under control and ensure that you're not eating more than you think you are.  

Overall, the idea of the TLC diet is to become healthier, leaner and more aware of what we're fuelling ourselves with. Whether the diet has been recommended to you by a doctor, or it's one you've found online, it's never too late to start looking after yourself.