Archive for the ‘Specialized Diets’ Category

Low Carb Dieting

Low carb diets has become fashionable lately with the publication of the Atkins diet, South Beach and other diets on the market. Weight loss is a goal for many men and women and everybody is looking for the fastest solution to lose weight. A select amount of people may not need to lose weight at all but they may want to lose a few pounds for a special occasion. Others may need to lose for medical reasons or a person may have one hundred pounds or more that they want to get rid of in order to regain their health.

There are many different diets available to people including low carbohydrate diets and the truth is that most of them will achieve weight loss if they are followed correctly. This will not mean that you have to be 100% on the plan for the rest of your life because it is not realistic. What is more important is how you handle the inevitable occasion when you eat too much or indulge on foods that are not mapped out on your diet. If you are able to write the indulgent moment off and continue on to your diet plan without giving yourself a hard time, you are likely have success with weight loss. Everyone has those days – the important thing is to let them go and accept them as a stepping stone to learning about weight management and keeping the weight off for good.

It is also important to find a diet that you can easily follow. Many low carb diets are successful with a lot of people because the guidelines are fairly easy. As the name suggests, the diet involves of avoiding or limiting foods that are high in carbohydrates. These include white bread, pasta, potatoes, rice and other grains. Also remember sugar is a carbohydrate. Once you understand what these foods are, it is a simple matter to choose dishes that eliminate them.

Most criticism of low carbohydrate dieting is mainly that many dieters will get most of their daily calories from meat, dairy and other high fat products. This may lead to high cholesterol and other problems relative to a high intake of saturated fats. It is recommend that medical advice is received before beginning this type of diet. Sometimes weight loss is good in the early stages but after that many people may not be able to handle the restrictions of a low carb diet in the longer term and start to slip away from the diet.

One issue with that many people have with low carb dieting is the elimination of favorite carbs like pasta and bread. Which translate to no more toast, spaghetti or pizza! Make know that many of today’s foods that are quickest to make are based around carbohydrates – burgers in their buns, fries, sandwiches, pasta and sauce. Another item that is high in carbs are alcohol drinks line margaritas and pina coladas. It is correct to assume that alcohol is generally restricted on any diet, because it is high in calories and low in nutritional value.

Still there are many foods that are available to be enjoyed on a low carb diet. If you enjoy eating meat you will love the opportunity to consume beef, chicken and other animal products. The popularity of these diets is clear from the length of time that they stay on the bestseller lists. Low carb diets work, just make sure it suits your needs for successful weight loss in the future.

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The Benefits Of A Food Diary In Weight Loss

When you track your nutrition, you are more likely to reach your diet and health goals, research proves. So starting a food diary is possibly the most important step you can take toward developing a lifestyle that leads to long-term weight loss success.

A notebook can be made into a very good food diary that can record the foods and drinks you consume during the day.

This is a great way in which to help yourself stick to a weight loss plan. There are a number of pieces of information you can record in your food diary, you can either track a number of things in your food diary or you can keep it simple.

You can record calories, protein, fibre, fat, and other nutrients which you take every day. Portion size may be recorded as well. However, just list your daily menu to help you actually record what you eat on any given day and correct the patterns of unhealthy eating that you never considered before is good enough.

Use it as a normal diary format. For some people, the traditional journal or just a plain notebook works fine. But you don’t have to keep a traditional journal , you can use whatever kind of recording and writing tools you like best. Writing down the reasons you’re eating other than hunger, the cravings you experience, and your feelings about your diet during the day.

If computing is your seeing, you can use Excel or other data entry programs to keep your food diary, or open up a word processing program and keep the icon on your desktop, which help quiet a lot when it comes to adding totals at the end of the day.

A minimum of a week or two would be best for keeping your weight loss food diary. But just a few days is good, and if all you can manage is one day that would still be beneficial. Remember to update your food diary very day and review it at the end of each week in order to track your progress.

Continue to monitor what you eat and how active you are in some way when you hit certain weight loss goals or when you gain weight in order to look for causes.

Keeping a food diary can double a person’s weight loss according to a study. It provides insight into the progress of your weight loss program and will indicate whether or not you meet your goals.

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Getting The Low Down On This Diet

Losing weight has become a household mantra in todays fast paced lifestyle. Most people are thinking about losing weight and leading a healthy lifestyle. People have taken to dieting and have become what we call calorie conscious. It is common knowledge that reducing calorie intake or burning more calories keeps people from gaining weight. This has lead to what is called the Low Calorie Diet.

Talking about low calorie diet, one should first assess if the diet is suitable. It is important to consult a dietician instead of going into a self-made diet routine. Low Calorie Diet does not have any hard and fast rules, but is normally tailored according to individual needs.

To define a Low Calorie Diet in simple terms, we can say A Low Calorie Diet is any diet that allows a person to consume 1500 to 1800 calories a day as against a average normal consumption of 2000 to 2400 calories per day. People following this diet are said to lose about 2-3kgs in a week. According to experts, this diet is followed for a relatively short period of time, generally 3-6 months and extending it for a longer time period could lead to health complications.

Who can follow this diet? This is a form of diet that is followed by people who are overweight or suffer from obesity (generally with a body mass index over 30). It is not prescribed for children, pregnant women and adolescents. The person following this diet needs to monitor the intake of every calorie for nutritional value and the calorie intake is very low compared to the average calorie consumption.

Normally, for people following the Low Calorie Diet, physicians/doctor recommend avoiding regular food diet in favor of meal replacement supplements. Doctors will also include a prescription for physical activity as part of the diet plan. It is suggested that when following this diet one should change one thing at a time to move away from the regular diet.

It is very essential to monitor your diet routine followed by regularly consultations with your physician as there are chances of side-effects such as nausea, diarrhea, fatigue and constipation. However, expert claim that these side-effects will reduce over time.

In case dieters are losing weight rapidly it could lead to complications such as gallstones, hence it is extremely important to start a Low Calorie Diet after consulting a physician.

Many people mistake the Very Low Calorie Diet with the Low Calorie Diet. The Very Low Calorie Diet is however, different ” here the calorie consumption is restricted to 800 calories per day. People are generally recommended a liquid diet with supplements. However, experts do not recommend this diet without proper medical guidance.

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Some Facts You Should Know About Carbs

You’ll find that when you are interested in weight loss that the question of carbs comes up quite quickly, whether you are trying to shed those last few pesky pounds or you are looking at making drastic lifestyle change. When you are on a low carb diet you have a wide selection of foods available to select from, there are many foods in the market claiming they are low in carbs.

Do you know what carbs are and what information on them would help you in taking a decision? Does cutting them out really cause you lose weight?

Initially, it is important that you are aware of what carbohydrates actually are. Carbohydrates, generally referred to as carbs, are very important in providing energy to the body.

There are two kinds of carbohydrates. Sugars -simple carbohydrates- are the first. There are also starches, also called complex carbohydrates. The difference between them is that your body spends more time digesting one than the other. Sugars are processed through your digestion much faster than starches. Simple carbs are foods such as pizza, chocolate, cake, and other processed food with sugar additives. Certain highly nutritious fruits such as apples, bananas, grapes, and raisins fall in the category of simple carbohydrates too.

Complex carbs are found in breads, cereals, nuts, pasta, and vegetables such as carrots, potatoes, and corn. Starches take more time to digest, the release of energy is slow and it will last longer throughtout your body.

Both simple carbs and complex carbs are necessary for your body to function correctly, as you might expect. Consider that sometimes you feel immediate need for a quick energy boost, but you also need the foods that help you to maintain a steady metabolism.

One way to use simple carbs is to have a bit of fruit in the morning to get you started, and to make sure that you keep your energy going by eating well rounded meals that have good complex carbs in them. When you eat too many carbs, you will gain weight because your body is not using the energy, but rather storing it in the form of fat.

So with this in mind, you’ll find that it is quite important to look carefully at diets that claim to help you cut carbs. The problem that many people have with carbohydrates is the fact that they eat too much of them.

Unless there is a problem with your body’s ability to cope with it, cutting a whole food group out is a poor idea. Keep in mind that while carb reduced diets can help to a certain extent, that’s happening because you are in fact cutting back. That’s not a healthy way to lose that extra pounds! So, you know now that carbs can be good or bad for your body. It all depends on how much of them you consume.

Instead, make sure that you point your gaze towards eating carbs in moderation and getting a lot of exercise. Exercise can go a long way towards getting you the right kind of weight loss that you need, particularly when you are eating well, and it will help you get toned up and looking great. This is an important part of getting the body you want.

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