Healthy Diet

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Diets don't work! - this phrase is everywhere now. Unfortunately, it doesn't make sense. The Random House Dictionary gives the following definitions of the word "diet": food and drink considered in terms of its qualities, composition and its effects on health; a particular selection of food; a selection or a limitation on the amount a person eats for reducing weight; the foods eaten, as by a particular person or group; food habitually eaten or provided. About which of the above diet descriptions can we say: It doesn't work?

The phrase: Diets don't work - only makes sense when referring to all those systems, plans and programs sold by physicians, weight loss gurus, nutritionists, dieticians and celebrities. This obvious distortion of the true meaning of the word "diet" causes a lot of misunderstanding and confusion among people wanting to lose weight.

If you really want to get rid of that extra fat, you need to see diet as a part of your individual life-style. As a dieter you are not a follower of a given weight loss expert. You are 100 percent your own boss, although you can use Dr. X or celebrity Y as your advisor or inspiration.

Actually, it is not true that diets, understood as specific weight loss concepts, do not work. All the most popular programs, available on the market, have a potential for success. Unfortunately, their authors don't tell you that their ideas are not beneficial for everybody. Consequently, Mary goes on a low carbohydrate diet, while a low fat diet would be better for her. At the same time, John chooses a low calorie plan and kills his metabolic rate, while all he needed was a reduced sugar consumption and a two-mile walk several times a week.

The bad news is that you are basically on your own. The good news is that you can make it. Absorb information. If you purchase a system by a no-matter-how-famous weight loss guru, do not automatically become his or her follower. Study their diet advice critically. Notice all the irrelevant and repetitive material. Most of the popular diet concepts can be explained on several pages, if not in several sentences. Instead, you receive thick, overwhelming books, created not for your benefit but for profit.

Trust your instincts more than famous names. Buy different sources of information about how to control weight. You will not lose money that way. Your costs - both financial and emotional - will be much greater, if you go in a wrong direction and end up disappointed.

People who are overweight tend to believe that only an expert can help them shed pounds. They do not realize how quickly they can become experts themselves.

But before you become a weight loss expert, you may think that eating less and skipping meals is the only way to go. Wrong. Actually you can eat more often and still lose weight.

If you decide to go on a low carbohydrate diet you may be strongly tempted to eat the sweet stuff. If you choose a low fat diet you may be strongly attracted to the meaty foods. Believe us, this can be a real problem. An e-book we know concentrates specifically on the diet control issue and shows you how you can easily avoid eating urges. Check out: STOP CHEATING.

DR. ATKINS' WEIGHT LOSS PLAN

For 30 years dieters have sworn by Dr Atkins' low-carb, high-fat, high protein plan. Physicians have been less convinced. But two studies in the New England Journal of Medicine (reported also by Newsweek Magazine) make it harder to dismiss as a quick way to lose weight. In one study, Atkins dieters lost twice as much weight in the first six months as people who followed a food pyramid based regimen. In the other study, severely obese subjects lost an average of 13 pounds after six months on Atkins and only 4 pounds on a traditional diet.

Dr. Atkins diet enthusiast will say:
     Atkins is an amazing diet where you will never go hungry again yet still lose weight. This is not a gimmick; it has been around for decades now. Most people will lose 10-30 pounds in the first month! How do they do it? Eat all of the meat, cheese, eggs, fats (like butter and oils) as you like. No calorie counting.
    The trick? Eliminate carbohydrates from your diet. The amazing thing is that you will feel better mentally and physically while doing this diet. You will find that your cravings for foods will go away and comfort foods are no longer necessary. Another benefit that most people report is increased mental alertness, no more feeling sleepy after a meal.
Our opinion:
     The Atkins diet is more a concept than a strict regimen. Of course, you can purchase his book and follow the author’s advice. On the other hand, you can simply keep in mind that avoiding carbohydrates and eating more proteins instead supports weight loss. Because this is just a concept, it can be implemented in many different ways.

A study conducted at Brigham and Women's Hospital (BWH) in Boston - a world renowned center for advanced patient care -separated a group following a low-fat diet (25% of calories from fat) and a group following a moderate-fat diet (35% of calories from fat). After 12 months, the low-fat diet group gained an average of six pounds; the moderate-fat group lost an average of nine pounds. The low-fat diet emphasized eating low-fat foods, which, in general, contained added calories from carbohydrates.

LOSE FAT NOT WATER

Can you lose five pounds in one day, as some weight-loss programs promise? Take a look at this calculation: One pound of your fat reserves contains 3,500 calories. To lose five pounds of fat you must burn 17,500 calories. Even if you didn't eat anything for 24 hours, you could hardly lose one pound. Even if you practiced exercises burning a lot of energy, such as martial arts or swimming you would have to train non-stop for 25 hours to lose five pounds of your fat. The only way to lose weight at the pace of several pounds a day is by drastic dehydration and that can be deadly dangerous!
Daily weight fluctuation is a result of water retention. Your body is made up of 2/3 water. On the days it holds more water, the scale will say you weigh more; on the days it is holding less water, the scale will say you weigh less. Misleading weight loss programs use rapid water weight loss to make you think their program is working. They only emphasize the quantity of your weight not the quality of your weight. To get a more accurate idea of how much you weigh you need to view your progress in terms of body fat and lean muscle mass.

FEED YOUR BODY, NOT YOUR EMOTIONS

    Most of those with overweight or obesity problems do not feed their bodies. They feed their emotions, moods, fears, disappointments, setbacks. Reaching for food under stress or in distress is not much different from reaching for alcohol in similar situations.
     The very realization: my body does not need this additional food, only my mind and emotions do - may help. Unfortunately, most overweight persons start weight loss oriented "diets" without any prior analysis of their problems. A rigid food regimen becomes another stress calling for the same old remedy: bingeing on food; and the vicious circle closes.
     That's why we do not believe in stiffly designed weight loss diets. You will feel much better by changing your eating habits step by step; by challenging yourself, playing games with yourself, forgiving yourself lapses and relapses; by moving towards your goal via many different roads, instead of that boot-camp-drill path imposed on you as a "miraculous" or "revolutionary" weight loss program.
     So, take things into your own hands. Stop eating automatically. Realize that food is only a fuel of your body required in specific amounts. Become aware of what you buy in a grocery store, what you select in a restaurant, how your hunger mechanism works, who may be a good friend but a bad eating role model, etc. And when you sometimes get lost and do not know, what to do next, ask for help from the best experts you know: your intuition and your imagination.

Proven Results Weight Loss

Burn the Fat: Well balanced, comprehensive. Shows in a very competent and clear way, how you can practically manipulate all functions of your body (food intake, metabolism, physical activity, etc.) to meet your weight loss goals.

Fat Loss for Idiots: An idiotic title and a great book. It provides tons of versatile and scientifically valid information. A lot of it is free. They do not recognize any of the most advertised diets. Instead, they offer a convincing "in between" approach.

Fit over Forty: Personal but honest and knowledgeable. It shows how obesity, lack of confidence and constant struggle can be reversed; provides excellent inspiration for those, who are not so young any longer. Baby-boomers invited.

Shocking Proof: We usually forget that our body is a temporary dump and an enormous ZOO. Disgusting plaque and horrible little “critters” living in our guts are very much capable of creating our overweight problems. This approach is not pretty but very much scientific.

Turbulence Training: Although so called, this fat burning routine will introduce little turbulence into your existence, because it was designed to comply with all kind of lifestyles. Exercise haters may be surprised.

Fit Mummy: Ladies who cannot lose the remaining baby fat and are too busy to effectively control their weight will love this book. Holly Rigsby is a busy mom herself. She is also a friendly and warm professional, well prepared to help you.

Self-hypnosis: This site’s web master used self-hypnosis to successfully quit smoking. Call him prejudiced but he will still believe that hypnotic auto-suggestion can help you to shed all those excessive pounds and keep them away for the rest of your life.

Eat-Stop-Eat: You eat normally then you fast then you eat normally then you fast again… Most diets expect us to fast all the time and that’s why we fail. You endure fasting easily, when you know that normal eating will come back soon. Of course, there’s more to this concept. Read the book!

Combat the fat: Have you seen a fat soldier? May be a fat general… Military ways must be as good as possible; otherwise they would lose wars. The author was a long time soldier and he is a weight control expert as well. Attention!

Speed Fat Loss: We usually reject programs promising a quick weight loss but this one makes sense. At least this is not just a diet; and the author is both sincere and convincing.

Losing by Believing: They say: the key to losing weight is - believing you can and thinking yourself thin. You only must believe frankly and think deeply. Well, there are a lot of famous (and thin) people out there, who attribute their successes to strong beliefs.

Lose Weight Classic Obesity Facts Overweight Children
French Paradox Counting Calories Fitness Classic Articles