Though there is some variation among experts on the proper percentage of carbohydrates--some recommend higher than 60 percent, while others recommend a little lower--there is general agreement that carbohydrates should account for no fewer than 50 percent of calories for any endurance training program. But be sure to listen to what your body is telling you as you follow the plan. If you are feeling unusually tired during longer runs, it's likely that you'll need to increase your carbohydrate level to 65 percent (or higher). The Peak Performance plan rounds out your daily intake with about 18 percent of calories from protein sources to maintain muscle development, and 22 percent of calories from healthy fats.

In this plan, carbohydrates account for up to 45 percent calories consumed and protein levels stay fairly high at up to 25 percent of your calorie total. If your current eating habits have high levels of carbohydrates this will be a change for you, and will help spur your weight loss. If you're currently eating a higher level of protein and therefore a similar macro-nutrient balance, this plan will allow for an easy transition to healthier foods. Please note that the balance in this diet has a great record for weight loss and can be maintained until you reach your goal. If at that point you have progressed to more intense running workouts, you might need to transition to a plan with higher carbohydrate levels.

By allowing for up to 25 percent of calories from healthy fats, the Low-Fat Diet still delivers plenty of fat to slow insulin response. Plus, eating fats releases a hormone that tells the brain to stop eating. In simple terms, without enough fats in your diet it becomes more difficult to tell when you're full. So you continue to ingest more calories to fill the void, often increasing the percentage of calories from carbohydrates. Unless you're training for a marathon or other distance event, those excess carbohydrates will not be burned off and will instead be converted to fat. Balanced with the same 25 percent of calories from protein, this diet rounds out your meal plan with the remaining 50 percent of calories from carbohydrate sources.

Many of these so-called "high-protein" diets were derived from study of the "French Paradox." Despite eating lots of fat, the French have very low rates of heart disease. There are multiple factors for this, but after closely looking at the traditional French diet, it becomes clear that their meals are moderate in calories, always contain some protein, include some fat and have plenty of fruits and vegetables. By following a low-fat/low-protein diet plan more suited to a long-distance runner, dieters for years were miserable and actually making themselves fatter as they tried to fill their cravings with even more carbohydrates. If you are following a weight-training routine for your exercise plan, this type of diet is even more effective, as your body can use the extra protein calories to build muscle.

If that description sounds like you, then the Balanced Diet might be more suitable to your needs. By keeping protein levels at a manageable 18 percent of total calories, we're able to increase your carbohydrate level to up to 53 percent of calories. Fat levels are higher, allowing for up to 29 percent of your total, but they are made up of healthy fat items and will help you feel satisfied after a meal. As long as you're eating healthy food items and following the caloric restrictions for your body type, weight should come off easily. On top of that, this plan is less of a "diet" as it probably more closely matches your currently eating habits, but with some healthy tweaks and caloric restrictions necessary for a healthy lifestyle.