The first thing that comes to your mind when you decide to lose weight is going on a diet. We all feel following a diet is the best way to shed to extra kilos. With so many diet plans in question, you naturally want to choose something that promises quicker results and is also not too difficult to follow, right? Most often, people fail to follow diet plans that are restrictive (let's be honest - most diet plans are). Moreover, these diets help one lose weight faster but the lost weight comes back the moment you go off that diet.

Diet plans fail because apart from offering limited options to eat, there is also a lot of effort involved in preparing the meals and keeping up with the timings. All this needs a lot of planning and preparation in order for the diet to go right.

As per research, the DASH diet and the Mediterranean diet are the two sustainable diets that promise to keep your heart healthy and is also good for people suffering with hypertension in the long run.

The DASH and Mediterranean diet do not want you to focus or avoid any macronutrient (fats and carbs). Instead, the two diets help you make better food choices overall.

Most diets are restrictive and built around the concept of blocking out food items or even groups altogether. But psychologically, as soon as we are told not to eat something, that is exactly what we want to eat it.

The DASH and Mediterranian diet work the opposite way. The diets focus on what to include and limits the intake of processed foods, sugar and alcohol.

The DASH diet focuses on daily and weekly nutritional goals. As the diet name says, Dietary Approach to Stop Hypertension. The diet limits the foods that are high in saturated fats, full-fat dairy and tropical oils.

The diet focuses on lowering blood pressure by increasing the consumption of fresh fruits and vegetables.

The Mediterranean diet is inspired by the eating habits of people living in the Mediterranean region. It encourages you to choose dairy, fish and poultry over red meat and using olive oil as a source of monounsaturated fats. Furthermore, it focuses on heavy consumption of fruits, vegetables, potatoes, nuts, seeds, beans as per the American Heart Association.

The added benefit of the diet is that it allows limited intake of red wine. The diet focuses less on the quantity consumed and more on the quality of the food.

The diet is high in healthy fats and natural fibres. The diet focuses on eating minimally processed plant-based foods such as grains, legumes, nuts and seeds, which have a handsome amount of protein.

Unlike many diets, both Mediterranean and DASH diets do not focus on eating or avoiding a particular macronutrient like fat or carbs. The only matter is choosing high-quality foods.

Though most diets have a bad reputation, you can still try these two diet plans. Sometimes, these diets can help you get started and change your habits for the better.

The diet you adopt should become a way of your life. And do not forget to pair your diet with regular exercise as that is the key to a healthy and fit life.

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The only two diets most people are able to maintain in the long run - Times of India