If you’re searching for the “best” diet program, you’ll find a ton of results on Google, but you likely won’t see any results in the mirror.

The secret to losing weight and never seeing those pounds again is to create a lifestyle that helps you live lean and healthy. Research shows that successful dieters create their own strategy to cutting calories that they stick to, even when it’s the weekend, holiday, vacation, or when they don’t have any weight to lose. Bottom line: They never take “time off” from their healthy eating plan.

If a diet program is too restrictive or includes foods you don’t like or that are essentially “foreign” to you, you’re setting yourself up for failure. If you’re a carb-lover, a plan like Paleo or Atkins would be less likely to be successful compared to a vegan or low-fat approach. Likewise, if you like to cook, a commercial weight-loss program that requires you to eat boxed meals, bars, or shakes will be less satisfying for you.

U.S. News evaluated and ranked the 35 diets below with input from a panel of health experts. To be top-rated, a diet had to be relatively easy to follow, nutritious, safe, effective for weight loss and protective against diabetes and heart disease. The government-endorsed Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension (DASH) snagged the top spot.