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A Quick Look at Some of Today’s Most Effective Diets

The idiot-proof diet is all about calorie shifting. That is, in this diet, you shift your food intake throughout the day instead of eating just 3 meals a day. The diet is popular because it’s actually very easy to follow and there are hardly any restrictions when it comes to the types of food you can eat.

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The Idiot-Proof Diet

The idiot-proof diet is all about calorie shifting. That is, in this diet, you shift your food intake throughout the day instead of eating just 3 meals a day. The diet is popular because it’s actually very easy to follow and there are hardly any restrictions when it comes to the types of food you can eat.

The ‘calorie shifting’ model takes place because you eat every two and half hours. The theory is that because your body is consuming calories (energy) constantly throughout the day, it’s always in ‘burning calories’ mode instead of the ‘saving calories’ mode.

When you sign up for the diet, you get access to a diet handbook, an 11-day diet-plan and a diet calculator. You get to pick what foods you like to eat so don’t think that you’ll be tarving in this diet!

NutriSystem

The NutriSystem way of dieting is all about proper meal planning. People love this diet because it takes away the burden of trying to figure out what to eat during their dieting phase. You see, a lot of people actually get confused as to what they can eat when they want to lose weight. That’s not really surprising because there’s so much information out there and for every yay sayer, there is a nay sayer so it’s really tough to know what to eat.

However, with NurtiSystem, they do all the meal planning and portion controlling for you. You just need to sign up to any of their diet programs (e.g., Women’s Program, Men’s Program, Vegetarian Program, etc.) and order a multi-day (usually for 28 days) diet program.

After you choose your diet program, a menu is presented to you and you simply choose what you want to eat. The meals are then delivered to your doorstep at various intervals during your diet program.

The South Beach Diet

The South Beach Diet is popular because the name alone conjures bikini-clad bodies! Add to that the fact that it was founded by a cardiologist, Dr. Arthur Agatston, then you have a sort of ‘doctor recommended, doctor approved’ seal on the diet as well.

At first glance, the South Beach Diet looks a lot like the Atkins Diet in the sense that it restricts carbohydrates during the initial phase of the program (there are 3 phases). The first phase (14 days) encourages ‘normal eating’ in the sense that you can pretty much eat whatever you want but you must NOT eat bread, rice, potatoes, pasta, or baked goods. Fruit is also not allowed. No sugar. No alcohol.

The second phase allows you to SLOWLY introduce these items back into your diet but at lesser levels that you consumed them before of course. The third phase is more about general maintenance.

Weight Watchers

Probably one of the longest running diet programs out there is Weight Watchers. It believes in the overall approach where food, exercise, behavior and support are addressed.

Weight Watchers is known for advocating a point system for foods. Using this system, one calculates the calorie intake of the foods he or she eats. The number of points you can have in a day varies depending on your weight. The beauty of the program is that there are no gut-wrenching food restrictions so you never feel deprived of anything. However, the point system teaches you how to balance your meals so that even if you indulge on one food item, you don’t go overboard and consume too much in a day.

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What is Dukan Diet and its side-effects?

This article gives pertinent information about Dukan Diet and its side-effects

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Pierre Dukan, a French doctor and nutritionist, challenged with the case of obesity started to look for alternative ways in curing the illness. After 20 years of thorough research he published in the year 2000, a book called, “Je ne sais pas maigrir” or translated as, “I don’t know how to get slimmer.” It gained the best-seller in France after a year it has been published.
It was made a hit in UK when Kate Middleton, now the duchess of Cambridge, tried the Dukan Diet before her marriage to the beloved Prince William, she reportedly claimed a loss of two dress sizes. It also allegedly claimed to help five million French. The book is also gaining fame in the US in the year 2011 when actress/singer, Jennifer Lopez, lost pounds after her pregnancy by following this diet.
Dukan Diet: What is it? How does this work?
Dukan Diet is similar to the famous Atkins diet. Atkins and Dukan are much alike in terms of non-intake of carbs initially and do not require portion control or counting calorie consumptions. In Atkins, it requires net carbohydrate intakes and unlike Dukan, it suggests a daily intake of oats, increase water consumption and 20 minutes of everyday brisk walking. Dukan Diet adopts four phases namely: Attack, Cruise, Consolidation and Stabilization.
Four Phases of the Dukan Diet
Attack: In this starter phase, the dieter is only allowed take protein rich foods that are exquisitely low in fat. Dr. Dukan provided 72-item list of foods to be eaten, it excludes pork, lamb, poultry products and cheeses. Food should always be cooked but without adding any fat to it, it best to cook in grilling or roasting. It also requires you to eat 1 ½ tbsp. oat bran & 1.5 liters of water per day. This phase should be followed around 2-7 days or more. Results from this initial phase within 5 days may result in 4-7 lbs. loss. This phase promotes quick loss of weight since it is strictly based on a protein-only diet.
Cruise: Cruise, the second to the fourth phase of the Dukan diet scheme. During this phase dieters who were only allowed to eat protein-only foods can now alternate a 28-items of non-starchy vegetables. They may take attack phase diet for today and take non-starchy veggie diet for tomorrow, and so this phase must go on by alternating these two types of diet each day. This phase may last long enough as much as you want by reaching your desired weight and assuring 2 pounds per week loss.
Consolidation: As one achieves the desired weight, one has to go the next phase called Consolidation, this is the maintenance phase of this diet scheme where you have to prevent putting back excess pounds. The plan in this phase is less strict compared to the first two phases. During this phase you are permitted to eat protein-only and veggie diet along with a piece of low-sugar fruit, 2 slices of whole grain bread and a portion of hard cheese. In this phase you are allowed to have 1-2 serving of starchy foods and one celebration meal per week. The phase of consolidation does not expect to loss off pounds but rather it is steadily the maintenance process.
Stabilization: Stabilization is the final phase and a life-long phase of the diet scheme. In here maintenance of the life-changing diet may be a challenging and tempting. During this portion of the scheme, one is already permitted to allow any food intake that a person wants and by also sticking to the diet rule in the consolidation phase. As Pierre Dukan suggest, that staying on the phase 1 rule once a week and eat whatever you like for the rest of the week lowers the chances of regaining weight.
Pros and Cons of Dukan Diet
Pros: The fast results of this diet scheme is beneficially rewarding and motivating. It allows you to have protein and veggie meal plan diets and does not require you to count off your calorie intakes.
Cons: It is highly restrictive and can exclude healthy foods. Dieters can experience side-effects such as symptoms of headaches, nausea, lethargy, irritable and loss of concentration. Dieters may acquire halitosis (bad breath), metallic tasting mouth and strong smell in their urines. For those people who have problems with their kidneys and liver are not advised to follow this diet plan. It is not also recommended for pregnant and nursing mothers.

Views and Opinions by Health Experts on the Dukan Diet
There are lots of critics in this diet plan. Due to the restrictive type scheme of this diet, some fruits, grains and nuts which are healthy and have high amounts of vitamins and minerals that are vital to the nutrition of the body are eliminated. Keri Gans of American Dietetic Association, said that the lost amount of multivitamins that should be acquired from those restricted foods are not compensated in the Dukan diet. Experts have also criticized that experiencing such side-effects may not be healthy at all.

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When You Want to Lose Weight and Your Relationships are

Change is hard for everyone. It’s human nature to want to stay where you are, to protect yourself and to preserve the status quo. In making deep and permanent lifestyle changes that affect your weight, you’ll encounter lots of “voices.”

First, there are the little voices in your head that say change isn’t necessary. Coaches call these voices “gremlins” and some of the things they might say are “I should be loved just as I am,” “Why should my weight matter?” or “I’m not as fat (or out-of-shape) as so-n-so.”

In addition to these little gremlin voices, there may also be some big voices! These are the people around you who also want to preserve the status quo.

Maybe your husband or wife doesn’t want to see you lose weight and then regain it again, like you’ve done in the past. Perhaps they hate to see the disappointment and sadness you feel when that happens. And they just might like to have chocolate cake in the house at all times too.

Your best friend might love having a binge-buddy or just someone who likes to eat as much as she does and she fears losing that companionship. I was waiting to be seated at a restaurant recently and there were two women standing in front of me. As the hostess approached, one of them turned to the other and said, “Let’s decide right now, are we dieting today or not?” Obviously, whatever they decided, they were more comfortable taking the same approach to lunch rather than following their own needs.

Perhaps your sister likes to control others. She gets her jollies by watching other people pig out. This is a dynamic I’ve witnessed in a lot of relationships when one person is thin but addicted to dieting and the other person is overweight. One of the ways the thin person stays motivated is to push food on others and (negatively) feel good because she’s NOT eating. This is the person who brings elaborate and high caloric dishes to the potluck and then sits in the corner with a few veggies on a plate and can’t take her eyes off people eating too much food!

No matter what the relationship might be, if you are trying to change your eating habits, your fitness lifestyle, or simply cut back on certain foods for health reasons, odds are you will encounter some relationship difficulties along with way.

Here are some things to watch out for:

1. Do you throw your efforts away when they aren’t met with excitement from friends or family?

I can’t tell you how many times I’ve heard things like “I was doing fine until Susi showed up with donuts.” Remember, Susi doesn’t control the pathway from your hand to your mouth. YOU are in charge of that.

2. Are you attuned to subtle sabotage?

Subtle sabotage often appears just when your weight loss starts to show, usually around the 10-pound mark. You go shopping with a friend and she suddenly wants to visit the cookie shack. You’re at a family dinner and your mother keeps passing dishes of food to you every two minutes. Your wife backs out of a commitment to go to the gym, citing something vague like “I just don’t feel like it.” Chances are your weight loss is showing.

Be aware. These people may have some personal investment in your being overweight! It’s like the potluck diva who never eats, they may negatively feel better about themselves if you are heavier than they are. Or they may be unhappy about their weight and feel powerless to change. Misery loves company but you don’t want to be miserable any more!

3. Are you strong enough to eat differently in group situations?

You’re having dinner with a group of friends. Everyone is ordering burgers and cheese fries. Are you focused enough to order grilled chicken and veggies? Do you feel too out-of-place?

Group situations will appear at work as well as with family and friends. Be prepared to deal with them. You might start by not following the crowd with a more sympathetic (or higher esteem!) group. Look for subtle saboteurs here too. There may be a coworker who’ll chide you “Are you dieting again?” but there’s also the friend who doesn’t say a word but eyes your plate with a nasty expression on her face.

The bottom line for all relationship issues that surround food and eating is that you are going to encounter them. And you’re going to have to deal with them.

As a coach, I help my clients deal with these kinds of issues on a daily basis. I’m often asked, “Will my friendships change?” To this, I say, “Yes, they will ALL change. The good ones will change for the better, the not-so-good ones will go away and you will build new ones that are healthier and more positive.”

Think about it. If all you have in common with a friend is that you socialize around eating, do you really have that much in common? Shopaholics encounter this too. If they have a change in income level and can’t shop for a while, their shopping buddies disappear! Well, there wasn’t a whole of deep connection or support happening anyway.

You may not have a whole lot of control over other people’s reaction to your personal change. But you can support yourself fully. Be open and honest about what you’re trying to do. Stay motivated no matter what. Never take on negative vibes from anyone else. Keep your goals in mind at all times. In short, be strong!

The longer you work on changing negative habits, the more successful you will be. It’s a persistence game. And, as you stay true to your goals over a substantial period of time, others will see that you are serious and either support you or… go away!

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