2007-Nov-16 - The Average Diet

The word diet has two connotations. One is roughly what you eat. The other one is more limited in scope: what one eats in order to lose weight.

Let’s work on the first definition. The word diet is rather neutral about what you eat. You can eat 12 Dunkin’ Donuts a day and that will still be your diet. On the other hand, you can switch to healthy eating.

The average North American diet consists of the following:
60–70% of calories derived from refined carbohydrates such as white flours and sugars
20–25% of calories derived from saturated fats and trans fatty acids
10–15% of calories derived from protein

Research clearly shows that eating in this ratio leads to weight gain which can result in diseases such as heart disease and high cholesterol.

On the other hand, a healthy diet would look something like this:

Breakfast
2 slices of Whole Wheat bread; 1 ounce of Kashi cereal; 1 medium banana or orange;
1 cup of skim milk or yogurt

Lunch
1 cup of your favorite fruit juice; 1 cup of raw leafy vegetables; 1 cup of other vegetables, cooked
1 cup of brown rice; 2-3 ounces of lean meat or chicken

Dinner
1 cup vegetable juice; 1 cup brown rice; 1 medium apple; 2-3 ounces of your favorite fish

What’s the difference? A lot! The first one is unhealthy, while the other one is healthy. The healthy diet is what you would follow if you knew Harvard University’s Healthy Eating Pyramid.  For the uninitiated, the pyramid has been the shape of choice when it comes to presenting healthy and nutritious food recommendations (Mediterranean Food Pyramid, the USDA Food Guide, etc.).

Just some features of the Harvard diet are:

The Healthy Eating Pyramid breaks carbs and fats into good and bad, rather than lumping them together. The new pyramid suggests other major changes as well, which includes:
Sharply restricting red meat, potatoes and refined grains, such as white bread
Limiting dairy products to one or two servings a day
Replacing unhealthy saturated fat with healthier unsaturated vegetable oils
Consuming large amounts of whole grains, fruits and vegetables
Taking a daily multivitamin
Drinking limited amounts of alcohol 

Now let’s go to the other definition of diet, the one that connotes fad dieting for weight loss. There is a dizzying variety of fad diets to choose from nowadays.   So many that one website has only to devote itself exclusively to just reviewing all the diets which come and go (http://www.diet-reviews-zone.com/).
The Atkins diet looks like this:
40-45% less carbohydrates
Two to three times more protein
Majority of fats are derived from healthy fats (omega-3 and monounsaturated) 

Bottom line is no fad diets are healthy because they are not meant for healthy eating.  They are skewed towards helping the individual lose weight.

One common criticism of the Atkins diet is that it gets its followers stressed. Dr. Natasha Turner, M.D. at TrueStarHealth.com offers two supplements which may keep you going and burn fat. She recommends taking Tyrosine and green tea which are excellent in taking off the stress caused by carbohydrates deprivation and in burning fat.

It is strongly suggested, though, that you stick as much as possible to following healthy eating guidelines. One flaw of the Atkins diet is the Yo-yo weight loss syndrome: lose 30 pounds and get them right back if you quit. The process goes on and on.

If you follow the healthy eating regimen, instead, it might take longer to lose weight, but you not only lose weight in the future. You also become healthier!

2007-Jul-16 - Fast Weight Loss Diet- Why You Shouldn't Go on A Diet For Fast Weight Loss?

So you want to go on a fast weight loss diet? Almost all of us have felt this way at some time or another its just the way we assume things have to be done.  Maybe it's some holiday weight you want to work off the weight fast for this years vacation, or maybe you've just decided that you would feel and look better with a little less bulk around your tummy or butt. Whatever the reason, losing weight fast diet methods can sometimes be difficult.

It's often the case that you find yourself dealing with a very restrictive diet that is difficult to stick to, or other things that just don't work for you. You can avoid much of this, however, by making some simple ifestyle changes that incorporate more healthy activities into your daily routine.

Although everyone will likely be tempted to try and lose their 10 pounds or even lose 20 pounds as quickly as possible, unless you feel for some reason that this is absolutely necessary, it's better to take a longer term approach.

If you want to lose weigh fast  , it's likely that you're going to have to make a restrictive and drastic diet change that will be hard to implement and even harder to maintain. This also means there's a good chance you will simply put the weight back on when you fast weight loss diet is over, or when you (inevitably) lapse from it.

A far better long term solution is making some basic lifestyle changes. Not only will this be an easier way to lose 10 pounds, but those 10 pounds will stay lost. The reason that lifestyle changes are an effective way to lose weight is that you don't have to alter your daily routine too much.

Many people find the exercise regimens and diet changes involved in quick weight loss unrealistic - you never have enough hours in the day as it is, so it's hard to make more for exercise.

The best place to start in your attempt to lose 10 pounds is to look at things you do every day. First and foremost for most people is going to work. Many people live close enough to their employers to bike, but choose instead to drive.

 By biking to work you will not only be getting exercise and working towards your goal of losing 10 pounds, you will be saving money and doing a good thing for the environment. Try and think of other small changes in a similar vein: take the stairs instead of the elevator, go for a walk on your lunch break instead of sitting at your desk. Although these chances may seem small and suspiciously convenient, they will go along way towards losing weight.

The other more pro-active way to lose 10 pounds through a lifestyle change is to engage in more sports and athletic activities over a period .Take up a sport, or go hiking on weekends. The beauty of this is that these things are entirely recreational: you're having fun at the same time that you're losing weight.

It's much easier and more enjoyable to commit to going on a hike every weekend or playing tennis with a friend than it is to sit alone in gym: after all, there's a reason they call it "work"ing out. I personally think the biggest problems with gyms are not that the machines are top ad great for working out but the fact that it is a solitary way of exercising and that get boring pretty quickly. 

Lifestyle changes go a long way towards losing weight, and anyone who incorporates some of the changes listed above should find themselves able to lose weight fast diet not needed life style change is.

2007-Jun-29 - Common Diet Mistakes Most Dieters Make

Personally I hate the word diet You are not 'going on a diet' and i will explain why and this is why most dieters fail at this first hurdle.

The concept of 'a diet' implies a temporary change that will work miracles - if we're only strong enough to stick to it. But what good is a temporary change in being over weight?

You don't really want to put all that weight on as soon as you stop this 'diet' do you .... of course not what you really want is something which lasts and then keeps the weight off for good.

But we have all been programmed for so long to believe in 'fad diets' that promised us quick, low-effort weight loss, if we just ate this one miracle food.

I still remember the Cabbage diet ( i always referred to this as the no friends diet), the No-Carb diet and the Banana diet, among others.

Over and over throughout the last 40 years, diets that advocated eating by a strictly enforced menu have been proven ineffective, or worse, dangerous. 

Even the ever popular Atkins diet for many people is too extreme not if they follow it properly i might add but most try and stay on the main Atkins diet and never get to the maintenance program for ongoing weight control.

By referring to going on a diet also implies that you will eventually go off your diet - whether you 'fall off' it, or return to 'normal eating'.

 The secret to losing weight and keeping it off is to create a new eating plan that will BECOME your normal eating plan week in week out month on month.

 And this is the place that most of the popular 'diets' fail before the first month.

Any diet that restricts your intake of ANY necessary nutrients too severely will ultimately fail you it just has too your body is not designed that way.

 In order to lose weight and maintain your weight loss indefinitely, you need to teach yourself to eat a balanced diet in portions that your body needs and will thrive on.

I have listed for you  a list of common diet mistakes that will undermine your attempts to lose weight make sure these don't catch you out.

* DON'T restrict your intake to less than 1000 calories a day, unless you are under the supervision of a doctor it is very rare even a doctor will recommend such action and even then it will be very carefully monitored and for short time.

 Restricting your intake in this way can lead to serious health complications and also may lead to ilnesses such as anorexia, bulimia and other eating disorders.

Remember this is you remember nothing else SIZE ZERO IS NOT SEXY IT IS DANGEROUS!

Such restrictive eating will convince your body that it's starving and slow your metabolism so that it conserves your stores of food which is exactly the opposite of what youy are trying to achieve.

 In other words - your body will kick into gear to hold onto your fat so you don't starve to death.

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2007-Jun-22 - Fat Free Does Not Mean Calorie Free

Want to know why people are getting even fatter even with all the available fat free foods out there for you?

It's because people assume that if a food is fat free they can eat all they want and not gain weight.

Seriously I asked 100 people and 97% said that's what it meant ....

Oh brother it seems being a weight loss master is going to be rather harder than I thought surely people aren't really that gulible.

Wrong it seems based on my blind test maybe it was just a sample of people not that sharp ...

Come on please restore my faith in humanity and tell me you don't believe that!

Where was I ?

FAT-FREE food it seems people automatically assume they can eat more of it which means total calories wise they actually eat more than they probably would have if they had eaten fat foods in the first place.

So watch OUT and go easy on the fat free foods the same as any other foods.

Remember excess calories are what make you fat, not necessarily just eating to much fat. So if you are eating to much protein you'll get fat if you are eating to many carbs you'll get fat.

It's simple really if you eat to much of anything you will get fat and fat free does NOT mean calorie free in 99.9% of all cases...

Good hope you find that hits the spot be back very soon.

One of my favorite books on the subject of getting rid of fat is written by Tom Venuto and is calledBurn The Fat Feed The Muscle which I highly recommend why not take a look now. 

2007-Jun-14 - 5 Ways To Curb Your Appetite Fast

I will keep this article brief but I think you will agree half the battle of losing weight is to curb your appetite in the first place. So if you are trying to curb your appetite give these simple tricks a whirl.

1. Make sure every meal you eat contains at least some protein and eat it before anything else - it triggers the release of anti hunger hormones (Pancreatic Peptide YY_3-36 is a peptide produced in the small intestine and colon that reduces appetite in response to feeding) this according to some to recent research carried out by Lead researcher Dr. Rachel Batterham MRC/AMS Clinician Scientist Fellow in the Department of Medicine at University College London in England,

You should choose poultry or lean meat with the skin removed or you could of course choose an egg which is very high in protein another alternative might be a glass of low fat milk.

2.Drink more water around 45 minutes to hour before you have a meal do not drink with the meal excessively as this can lead to bloating and stomach cramps. Take in to consideration trick number one an alternative to water might be low fat milk.

3. A protein based snack such as beef jerky might also be a good appetite suppressant and can easily be obtained at Jerky Works .

4. Eat lots of fibre rich, healthy green vegetables such as broccoli, cabbage or spinach.

5. When eating bread choose wholegrain varieties also the same with pasta and rice they have a higher GI index (glycemic index) and subsequently will help keep your bodies insulin levels low which leads to you storing less fat. Look to have around 2-3 portions of whole foods a day as part of your overall diet.

I hope you agree these are pretty easy tips to follow but if you want to find even more you can whizz over to my other web site Dreambody Now and get your copy of 82 Tips Tricks and Techniques To Fast Weight Loss.