Diets were never a man's thing. The word "diet" almost has a feminine claim to it that men don't like to consider themselves as being "on a diet", even if they are trying to cut their portions so they can lose the extra pounds. They were better off using exercise to lose those extra pounds. Lifting weights, running, bicycling-- all these were more masculine and hence had more appeal. If you closely looked at weight loss programs, you'd notice that a lot of them use female models, utilize female facts and paraded female success stories.

You could perhaps blame it on man's physiological makeup. By nature, men could burn off fat easily because their metabolisms work faster. They also lead more active lifestyles, especially where sports are concerned. And because of this, they need more calories. Hence, they can never live on the tightly controlled, thinly-sliced portions on women's weight loss diets.

But times are changing. Whether you have Hollywood to thank for that by showing extremely ripped bodies of Brad Pitt in Troy or the growing vanity brought about by the steady commercialization of the multibillion dollar fitness industry, the truth of the matter is that men are now, hold on to your seats, dieting! Even if they don't like to admit that what they're doing is dieting, they are now very conscious about buying smaller plates, eating smaller meals and weighing themselves on the bathroom every now and then.

You can't blame them. After all, men are not spared the bulging midsections brought about by sedentary lifestyles and overeating. Hypertension, diabetes and other cardiovascular considerations are also enough reasons to get them to be concerned about what they eat. But do weight loss diets for men really exist?

It's really a difficult question to answer. The most common diets practiced today (Atkins, South Beach, GI Diets) weren't specifically tailored for men. South Beach was originally developed by Dr. Agatston for his heart patients. GI Diets are based on the glycemic value of foods rather than on gender considerations. And while Atkins seem like the ideal diet for men because it allows lots of room for mayo, red meat and butter creams, the high-protein low fat content of the diet still poses a lot of unresolved health issues.

Losing weight, whether for health or aesthetic reasons, is always a worthy goal. Thus, the more important issue is whether there is a particular weight loss diet for men. For men, any diet that focuses on eating a well-balanced meal from a variety of food sources, drinking lots of water and spreading out the meals taken everyday, is the weight loss diet. It does not mean severely limiting portions to the point of hunger, but it means cutting down a bit. If the voracious eater in you used to eat one big slab of steak at dinner, dieting means halving it down gradually until you get used to only one the size of a deck of cards. If you were used to eating 3 main meals a day all with huge portions, dieting means spreading out your meals 6 times with smaller servings. If you usually snacked on a box of donuts, dieting means snacking on half the box, then a fourth, until you get used to only one donut or none at all. While you do have to quit on the soda if you really want to lose weight, dieting means consuming smaller portions while replacing it with healthier alternatives (like fruit smoothies) until you don't crave for it anymore.

That's the real weight loss diet for men.