Michi's Ladder: A New Way To Diet

T

he problem with so many diet plans is that while their participants often do well for a few weeks or months, the amount of restriction is not sustainable; who wants to spend more than 3 months eating only bacon and eggs and steak? Even if you are an avid vegetable-hater, you'll likely miss the snap of a carrot at some point. Enter Michi's Ladder, a new diet plan that aims not for restricting one's diet, but rather offering so many options that failure pretty much doesn't exist—it's all about how hard you work to stick to its tenets.

The more foods one eats from the first two tiers, the higher chance of weight loss.

Michi's Ladder focuses on "Tiers" of foods—levels of different kinds of foods. Tiers 1 and 2 are comprised mostly of low-carb veggies (so, not potatoes), complex grains (instead of white flour, for example, Tier 1 lists quinoa), and lean proteins like yogurt, tofu, and egg whites.

Tiers 3 through 5 range from simply calorie-dense but healthy to calorie-dense foods with little to no nutritional value (for example, high fructose corn syrup is in Tier 5, as are onion rings, soft drinks, alcohol, and cake).

The takeaway here is that the more foods one eats from the first two tiers, the higher the chance of weight loss. Michi's Ladder says that foods should be eaten raw, steamed, grilled, poached, baked, or broiled; fried foods, even vegetables, land squarely in tier 5. The idea is that instead of restricting the amount of calories one consumes throughout the day, that a person can eat more from the higher tiers and less from the lower tiers in order to lose weight. It seems nearly foolproof, since a person looking to slim down can create his or her own personal plan based on personal preferences.

The diet plan's website also has different pre-planned meals, ranging from the "Power Vegetarian Plan" to the "Active Lifestyle Plan," so no matter what your lifestyle, you could construct a meal plan to help you reach your goals.

It's an interesting and fresh approach to dieting and meal planning, but without a rigid set of advice, we have to wonder how effective it would be, especially for people who tend to "need" more guidance when dieting.

[Source: Team Beach Body]