Weight Loss
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All diets are based on an idea that-s supposed to make them different. Aside from the basic -eat this and don-t eat that-, diets have to have an original twist in order to be noticed by the general public. Standing out in the crowded field of the modern dieting industry can sometimes make the difference between success and failure and even a good idea needs to be promoted. The same can be said about the Body Clock Diet, which is one of the diets that try to look beyond food in order to link the eating process with the greater picture of body processes.
The basic idea is that aside from being careful about what you eat, you should also be careful about the timing of meals in order to fit in with the natural rhythm of your body. The body has its own internal clock that regulates the metabolism, appetite, sleep and energy levels. This diet focuses on eating the right kind of food while observing the internal clock. It is important to eat regularly and getting the right balance of nutrients with each meal since this lets the body turn the feeling of hunger on and off naturally.
There is, of course, a two-week eating plan that you must follow in order to lose weight. Staying true to the body rhythms, each day features three meals and two snacks that are rich in vegetables and fruits. The eating plan follows a general protein-rich, low-fat pattern, which is nothing new. The best part of the diet, however, is tying everything in with the rest of the body. For instance, the author argues that eating grains and cereals should be done in the morning in order to match the effect of insulin on the brain, while dinner should consist of a light blend low glycemic cabs and lean protein.
According to estimates, this diet should allow you to lose up to two pounds per week, which is the average weight loss rate. The book explaining this diet comes with recipes and general eating advice and a comprehensive and no-nonsense explanation of how the body works, what impact the daily rhythm has on weight and how to work with the body instead of against it. This is a good eating plan that doesn-t come with any strange ideas about magic ingredients that can make anybody lose weight in a flash.
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Written by on October 3rd, 2008 with no comments.
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From the star-studded hills located near Hollywood comes a diet rich in fruit and lacking sound ideas about weight loss. Really, if weight loss was so simple, there would be no problem for anybody to drop as many pounds as desired just by eating fruit. Nevertheless, a fruit-based diet sounds good to some people and so one may run into the happy statements of those who managed to lose weight by sticking to this eating plan.
The diet itself is very simple. It claims that papaya softens the fat, pineapple burns it off and watermelon washes it out of the body. Unfortunately, this concept hasn-t been proved yet in a scientifically sound manner. While grapefruit has a positive effect on the sugar absorption system, it doesn-t burn fat outright. The only thing that burns fat is effort.
According to actress Judy Mazel, the founder of the Beverly Hills Diet, people can lose 10 to 15 pounds in 35 days. Since the founder claims that eating different types of food together is one of the causes behind weight loss, the diet focuses on eating a single type of food for a whole day. One day you eat nothing but grapes, while the next day it-s just melons for you.
The problem with this diet is that the eating plan is really boring. The average dieter has every chance to get bored and start dreading the coming of the next day. This is more of a quick fix type of diet instead of a long-term eating plan and should not be pursued by more than one month. Fruits alone cannot provide your body with all the minerals and vitamins it needs every day.
By restricting your food to fruit will leave you exposed to malnutrition and diseases. The fast loss of weight usually means that some of that weight will be muscle mass and water, which means that some of the fat will stay in place. It also means that if you start gaining back weight, you will simply be replacing muscle mass with fat. In the long run this will do you a lot of harm.
And, for the final words, I hope you can get used to diarrhea, because eating nothing but fruit will keep you in a near constant state of diarrhea. All in all, this is not a good diet. Poor access to crucial vitamins and minerals and a lot of water and muscle mass loss is definitely not a good way to lose weight.
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Written by on October 3rd, 2008 with no comments.
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Can you say hype? If you-re living in any Western world country then you-ve probably heard of the famous Atkins diet. Whether this is the most successful diet ever or not it-s still up for debate, but it certainly is the more advertised one. The Atkins diet has been for a while the most hyped eating plan around and millions of people have tried it at some point or another. This is no exaggeration. It was estimated that more than 3 million people in the United Kingdom alone have tried the Atkins diet at the peak of the hype in 2003.
The basic idea behind this diet is that cutting down on the carbohydrates, while allowing people to eat high-fat food is going to work. One of the best things in favor of the Atkins diet was the fact that it allowed people to eat eggs and cheese and steaks. It sounds like a dream diet actually. Who-d pass up the chance of losing weight while still enjoying a good eggs and ham breakfast? Well, the downside is that you get no bread or salad with that steak. None whatsoever. Which becomes a real problem after a week or so. How much meat can you eat without touching any vegetables at all?
Anyway, the theory is that cutting out the carbohydrates will force your body to use the stored fat in order to obtain the energy needed through the day. This means that you get to eat no bread and pastries, potatoes, pasta, milk, rice, fruit, vegetables (well, there are a couple you can still eat) and, obviously, no junk food or soft drinks. On the other hand, you are allowed to eat red meat, fish, chicken, cheese, mayonnaise, cream, butter and eggs. This is going to be your only food for the first two weeks, which are called the Induction Phase.
The second phase of the diet is called Ongoing Weight Loss and it lets you increase the intake of carbohydrates by 5 grams per day, starting from the basic 20 grams per day stipulated by the Induction Phase. The user must find how far the amount of carbohydrates can be increased before the body is unable to lose between 1 and 3 pounds per week. This is called the Critical Carbohydrate Level for Losing Weight and this is where the amount of carbs stops growing. This phase is supposed to last until you almost reach the desired weight.
With 5 to 10 pounds left to shed it-s time to enter the third stage of the diet. This one is called Pre-Maintenance and it-s supposed to increase the carbs intake by 10 grams a day in order to slow down the weight loss process. Welcome to the world of 30 grams of pasta per day. The final phase is called Lifetime Maintenance and a lifetime of eating around 90 grams of carbs per day for the rest of your life. Moving from 250 grams or more to less than 100 grams and for the rest of your life could be quite a challenge for many people.
The side effects of the Atkins diet depend on the user. Some people did fine on this diet, some got infections of the kidneys from the high-protein content or heart problems from all the fat food they ate. Dizziness and general weakness are also to be expected as the body goes into starvation mode when denied carbohydrates. With high-fiber fruit and vegetables out of the way you can also expect constipation to become a problem. Also, the lack of many dairy products leads to a significant drop in the amount of calcium absorbed by the body and may cause osteoporosis or other bone conditions later on.
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Written by on October 3rd, 2008 with no comments.
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One of the most interesting ideas to take the dieting industry by storm is the Glycemic Index. The index was compiled in the early 1980s at the University of Toronto and is a ranking system for carbohydrates based on their immediate effect on blood glucose levels. Carbohydrates that break down rapidly during digestion and are easily converted to glucose have the highest glycemic indexes. Those who break down slowly and gradually release glucose into the blood stream have a low index. The low glycemic index means that the body absorbs less sugars and starches from foods which fall into this category.
The GI Plan diet is based on the idea that it is better to eat plenty of foods with a low glycemic index because the steady and gradual release of glucose into the blood will provide energy for a longer time while keeping the feeling of hunger at bay. Foods with a high GI will make you feel full for a short while, but the feeling passes fast and you find yourself reaching for something to eat long before the next meal of the day comes around. The second part of the GI Plan diet is to combine the original glycemic index with a ranking based on the calorie content of each food.
Like other diets, this one is split into several phases. The initial two-week phase is built around eating 17 points worth of food per day for women and 22 for men. The points are based on both the amount of bad carbs and calories found in food. One of the good things about this diet is the liberty granted to users. As long as you stick to the number of points, you can eat anything you want. The second phase of the diet is the longer one, because this is where the shedding happens. The number of points is raised to 20 for women and 25 for men.
The last phase of the diet begins once you-ve reached your goal and its aim is to maintain the weight achieved. This diet encourages the consumption of wholemeal pasta, wholegrain cereals, vegetables and fruits over white bread and doughnuts. Users can expect to lose up to 2 pounds a week on the average, although the first two weeks are known to cause a much more significant loss of weight. Again, this is not unique to the GI Plan, but the normal response of the body before the starvation mode kicks in.
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Written by on October 3rd, 2008 with no comments.
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Try as we might, we cannot be creative all the time. Not all ideas are original enough and the harder you try, the more difficult it seems to get something decent out of your own head. This is one of the reasons why some people simply use something that has already been proved to work, add a little twist and try to pass it off as a new idea. The Internet, for instance, is choke full of websites, topics, design concepts and blogs are are nothing more than a poor rehash of a good idea. Diets are like that, too.
This one is not particularly original, despite sustained attempts to come across like a whole new and different idea. The theory behind the diet is that a high-protein, low-carb diet coupled with a lot of exercising will help you build muscle in order to keep metabolism high and burn a lot of calories. A high metabolism allows you to lose weight faster and to make sure you stay in shape for years, because it will be harder to put on weight in the future. Nothing new here- it looks like a variation of the Atkins diet (or any other low-carb diet for that matter).
Users can choose between two eating plans, depending on which suits them better. The Carbohydrate-Sensitive Plan reduces the intake of carbs to 20 grams per day for the first two weeks, increasing to 40-60 grams per day after this period. The second plan is called the Calorie-Sensitive Plan and it focuses on limiting carbs to 60 grams per day and calories to 1,200 for the same two weeks, moving up to 1,600 later on. The second phase of the plan is supposed to last for five weeks or until you-ve reached the desired weight and are preparing to return to normal food.
The eating plan is supplemented by exercises and some recommended vitamins and minerals. However, just like in the case of the Atkins diet, most carbs are off limits for both eating plans, which leaves the user eating a lot of low-fat, high-protein foods in order to keep hunger contained. This means no bread, no pasta or wholegrains, no fruit and only a few vegetables. By sticking to this diet you can expect to drop between 6 and 10 pounds during the first two weeks and between 1 and 2 pounds per week in the second phase.
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Written by on October 3rd, 2008 with no comments.
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