Top 10 Diets » Diet Plan

Weight Loss Success With Low Carb Dieting

BJ — Mon, 04 May 2009 21:06:07 +0000

Low carb diets have become fashionable ever since the Atkins diet and Hollywood made eating carbs a no-no. There are all sorts of diets out there including low carbohydrate diets and most of them will help you lose weight if you follow them. But with low carb dieting you are expected to do exactly what the diet says; often a slip up will send you back to the most strict induction phase of the diet.

It's very important how you deal with the inevitable occasion when you’ve had too much to eat or end up eating foods not on your diet plan.

If you can forgive yourself, and move on, returning to your diet plan without punishing yourself for your transgression or worse yet giving up, you are likely to succeed. Everybody messes up once in a while - the important thing is to accept that this will happen or has happened and move forward. None of us eats a perfect diet.

Once you're through with the first and most difficult phase of the diet, a single slip up - while still a no-no, won't necessitate going back to the beginning again.

That's why it's so important to find a healthy diet you can live with. Low carb diets suit many people because the rules are simple. No calories to count, no fat grams to watch, you just cut the simple carbs. These foods would include anything containing grain or sugar. Once you have a good understanding of what these foods are, this diet is quite simple to follow.

Most criticism of low carbohydrate diets is because dieters will get many of their calories from meat and dairy products which contain saturated fat. Conventional thought is this can lead to high cholesterol and other problems related to a high fat intake. However, quite to the contrary, most individuals find their cholesterol numbers will go down drastically on a low carb diet if it is followed correctly.

Weight loss on low carb diets is very good in the early stages though some people find restrictions difficult in the longer term and start to deviate from the diet.

Many people find it difficult to give up breads and pastas. This means no more toast, pasta or pizza! Beer and other alcoholic beverages are out as well.

Carbohydrates are cheap and easy to prepare, they just aren't necessarily good for us. But then we know fast food is seldom the best food. In addition to the problems these foods cause our waistlines, some doctors now believe as many as 10% of adults have an intolerance for Gluten products (the protein in most grains).

Still there are many foods that can be enjoyed on a low carb diet. This diet has been popular for any number of years and is drawing followers as more and more doctors are embracing and endorsing the healthy lower carb lifestyle. But as with all diets, you have to determine what suits you best.

The top three low carb diets are the tried and true Atkins and South Beach Diet, and the newcommer, and top selling diet on the internet today, Fat Loss 4 Idiots also known as the Idiot Proof Diet.

3 Diet Defeating Mistakes – Avoid At All Cost

BJ — Mon, 04 May 2009 16:33:17 +0000

There is so much information available about losing weight, so why do people continue to make the same mistakes over and over? I'm not talking about the unexpected slice of birthday cake it would have been an insult to refuse; I'm talking about big mistakes that lead to diet failure and ultimate defeat.

Understanding the problem can help you develop a plan that will lead to permanent weight loss. Here are the three most common mistakes we make on our diets:

The All Or Nothing Attitude

Dieters who have an all or nothing approach to dieting will pick out a diet and before they begin, they'll gut their kitchen looking for anything that doesn't fit the diet plan they've chosen and fill their trashcans. They have every intention of being 'the perfect dieter' .

And so they will be, for a whole day, maybe even two or three days. In fact a very few intense, driven individuals will actually make it week or even a couple of weeks. But then, invariably, something happens that keeps them from adhering to their diet plan. And from that moment on, the whole thing is ruined in their eyes and there is no hope. It's over. Then they binge shop. They go to the grocery store and buy all those things they threw out the week before, proceeding to gain back the weight they lost, as fast as possible.

If you see yourself in this description, you need to decide if you really want to lose weight, or do you just want to take off a few pounds so you can gain them back. The way to lose weight is to make a few little changes in your diet and to slowly lose the weight.

The Attitude of Sacrifice

Another mistake would be to view your diet as a time of sacrifice. You won't allow yourself to eat any of the things you so enjoy until you reach your goal weight. A sort of penance you must suffer for having gained the weight in the first place. And this may work for you . . . and you may lose the weight successfully, but of course as soon as you reach your goal, you're gonna gain it right back when you allow yourself to go back to your old ways. It would be better to allow yourself to have a small quantity now and again rather than making it a forbidden food. Your diet should be more about learning a new healthier way to eat.
Goal Failure

Setting goals you can't reasonably achieve is detrimental to any diet. You can't expect to lose 3 years of weight gain in 3 weeks. Your goals should be realistic, specific and in writing. A great goal would be to lose one and a half to two pounds a week for the next month and then a pound a week thereafter. Then track your progress and you'll see yourself slowly but steadily progressing toward your goal.

If any of these scenarios sound like you, don't worry. The point is, you can begin again - now. It doesn't matter if you just ate a row of Oreo cookies; starting right now you can start eating healthy. Learn from your mistakes and your successes and don't use your mistakes as an excuse to give up. Your overall goal should be to become healthy. The great shape will follow. If you enjoy food in moderation and eat healthy; you'll meet and exceed your goals.

Low Carb vs. Low Fat

BJ — Mon, 04 May 2009 14:49:25 +0000

What's the Best Diet for Me?

Because most of us have a richly mixed ancestry, few of us really know what type foods best satisfy our bodies. While some of us respond better with a diet higher in carbohydrates, others of us are more satisfied with a protein rich diet.

Why Does It Matter?

If a person needing more protein were to go on a low-fat diet, they would probably be hungry - constantly - or would become hungry more quickly after eating. Conversely, if you are a person who requires more carbohydrates to feel satisfied and you go on a low carb diet, you will feel weighed down by your diet and often constipated.

Get It Wrong and It Won't Work.

In either scenario, the likelihood of your staying committed to any diet plan if you are constantly hungry, bloated or constipated is extremely low. You are virtually destined to fail. You need to choose the best diet for your body type.

Take a few days to find out whether your body needs more carbohydrates or more protein. If you already know whether your body needs more carbohydrates or more protein, click the link.

Here's What You Do

Tomorrow for lunch eat a nice healthy meal, with equal amounts of protein and carbohydrates. No simple carbohydrates (ie, no cookies, crackers, white bread, potatoes or sugar), if you have bread, it must be 100% whole wheat and no sodas or fruit juices of any kind. And last but not least, don't over eat. Eat only until you're comfortably satisfied.

Then an hour later, write down how you feel and what you ate.

Do you feel great, or are you hungry, sleepy, tired, bloated, grumpy or do you have a stuffy nose. Do the same thing two hours after lunch and then again three hours after lunch.

Now, Check Your Results

If you wrote down sleepy, tired or hungry at any of the intervals (and didn't over eat) tomorrow, try having a little more protein and fewer carbohydrates, percentage wise.

If you were bloated or grumpy, or if your lunch seems to be heavy on your stomach, try for a few more carbohydrates and less protein.

And if you had a stuffy nose, you might want to omit dairy products if you had any, and if that doesn't solve the problem, try eliminating wheat products.

Your goal is to feel satisfied, energetic and well able to coop with your afternoon. If you feel sluggish, bloated, hungry, tired or out of sorts after lunch you may resort to extra caffeine, snacks or you may just suffer through, making mistakes you could have avoided if you'd felt better.

So what does this tell us?

If you need more carbohydrates, you will probably do best on a low fat diet. This would include most of your calorie counting diets, Weight Watchers, DASH and the Ornish diet. (To calculate the number of calories you should take in to lose weight click here.) These diets will give you the carbohydrates your body craves.

If you need more protein, you should look at a low-carb diet, such as the Atkins Diet. This will help balance your blood sugar and keep you from feeling hungry all the time.

And if you're like most of us, you're somewhere in the middle and you need a reduced carbohydrate diet without going low carb, the G.I. Diet (Glycemic Index Diet), the Idiot Proof Diet, South Beach Diet, The Diet Solution, The Mediterranean Diet and the Zone Diet will be more effective for you.