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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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Eat More Food! – Are Calorie Restriction Diets Making You Fat?

Calorie Restriction Theory The basis of calorie restriction is pretty simple. People who advocate this kind of dieting imagine your body as a big rubber bag; food goes in and gets used for energy, but if you’re not using enough energy, the food gets turned into fat and the bag expands. To cut down on fat, just decrease what goes in. It takes about 3,500 excess calories to make a pound of fat, so by reducing your intake by 500 a day, you should lose a pound a week. Starvation Mode Unfortunately, things are a little more complicated than this theory suggests. While reducing the amount you eat does cause weight loss, it can backfire. This is especially common if you decide to cut out a large number of calories. It may seem like reducing your intake even more will cause you lose more weight and to lose it faster, but you could actually find yourself gaining. This is due to the fact that your body enters a phase called starvation mode when your food intake drops below a certain level. This level varies for everyone, but is usually between 900 and 1,200 calories per day. If you’re a very active person or have a naturally high metabolism, however, it could be much higher. When you use a diet that restricts you below this threshold, your body believes that it’s going through a famine and that resources are scarce. Instead of getting rid of that pesky fat, it starts holding onto it even more tightly. Instead of attacking fat for energy, it begins to use up lean muscle tissue, especially if you’re not doing any resistance training to build up that tissue. You lose weight, but you probably won’t lose much fat. You’ll also probably notice that your energy levels start to drop. You may feel tired and listless throughout the day. This is due to your body cutting down on the amount of energy it needs in an attempt to get through the famine. As your metabolism slows down in response to perceived starvation, your weight loss will probably slow down and start to plateau. In the end, severe calorie restriction and fad dieting leaves you tired, flabby and with a reduced metabolic response. Long-term Effects of Dieting Problems with calorie restriction don’t stop there, of course. In the long term, repeatedly using highly-restrictive diets to take off those last few pounds can actually lead to more weight gain. Recent studies in the weight loss field have shown that even people who successfully lose large amounts of weight tend to gain it back. That’s because the calorie restriction causes their bodies to believe that they need to return to their “normal” size as soon as food is more readily available. If you’ve been using a strict diet, after you lose the desired amount of weight, you’ll probably find yourself slipping back into your old eating habits. You may even find that you crave unhealthy foods like refined sugar and fried, salty snacks. People who’ve lost weight through restrictive diets are often actually hungrier than people who are naturally thin, since the previously-fat people’s bodies are still trying to put the weight back on. Over time, your weight may even go up. Long-term weight loss studies have shown that repeated yo-yo dieting encourages people to increase their bodies’ internal upper weight threshold, potentially getting fatter than they were before they started dieting. This tendency is highest in people who lost large amounts of weight very quickly through calorie restriction or other faddish methods. What’s the Solution? All this information can be disheartening. After all, most people want to take off fat and stay healthy and fit, not slow down their metabolisms and potentially gain more. The good news is that long term, sustainable weight loss isn’t impossible. It’s just a little more complicated than “eat less, lose more.” Studies have shown that minor calorie restriction, especially if it’s done by reducing your intake of unhealthy foods, can be quite effective, but that activity may be the real key to reducing weight. While exercise alone won’t burn enough calories to whittle your waistline quickly, it will help you keep your energy level up and maintain muscle mass. Resistance training activities are especially important for this, so it’s vital to make sure you’re taking in enough energy to stay active. Over time, you can replace fat with lean muscle, which actually burns more calories and can increase your metabolism, instead of starving your body and slowing down your metabolic rate. The more energetic and active you are, the better your results are likely to be. Reasonable Expectations It’s also important to maintain reasonable expectations when you go to lose weight. Doctors at the U.S. National Institutes of Health say that most successful dieters take off about 8 to 15 percent of their highest body weight. That means that a 200 pound person can expect to effectively lose 16 to 30 pounds. This isn’t an upper limit, of course, but it’s what most people lose without the risk of gaining it back. If you want to lose more, those figures can be disheartening, but there is hope. Slower weight loss backed by sound nutrition and an activity level powered with plenty of energy increase the chances of major loss. This plan might not get you into a bikini by the end of the summer, but it’s the best-documented way to take that weight off and keep it off. If you’re hoping to take off some fat, don’t be tempted by plans that tell you to eat nothing but grapefruit and coffee or subsist on spicy lemonade. Instead, cut those calories only a little, ramp up your activity level, and make sure that you’ve got the energy to keep moving. It might take a little longer, but you’ll do a lot better at losing fat, permanently.

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5 Diet Plan Saving Tips !

Guilty and frustrated from cheating on your diet plan? These diet plan saving tips will keep you on track!

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It’s nine thirty at night and you have followed your new diet plan perfectly to a tee all day. A pizza advertisement comes on the commercial break of your favorite show and you notice it is close to your next mealtime.
Up to the kitchen you go to eat your next meal. When in the fridge pulling out your nicelyprepared diet plan meal, you notice some left over Fettuccini Alfredo your wife or roommate brought home. Sure looks good you think as you catch a little bit of saliva about to drip on your shirt!

“Just a little taste won’t hurt my diet plan,” you justify…

“ I’ve stuck to my diet plan all day……”

A little taste and before you know it you tell yourself the extra carbs and calories will be a good boost to your workout tomorrow!

An hour later your gut is stretching and Indigestion plagues you from cheating on your diet plan!!

“I should have stuck to my diet plan!” is going through your head as you lay down to have nightmares of a fat ass! “Tomorrow I’ll stick to my diet plan “, you chant in your head!But you fall from your diet plan only a day or two later!

The occasional stray from your diet plan can really add up!And billboards,tv’s, radios and people are everywhere pushing fast foods and junk to sabotage your diet plan!

Here are five diet plan saving tips to arm yourself against the onslaught of the Cheating War!

Diet Plan Tip #1 – Eat Slowly – Take your time when you sit down to eat.

The chances you will stuff yourself or overeat diminish and you will reach the point of satiety much more quickly if you eat slowly!

The more you are satisfied with what you have eaten the less likely you will continue to think of food. That chocolate Black Forest cake won’t be as tempting either!

Diet Plan Tip #2 – Have Delicious Meals That Fit Your Meal Plan Prepared Ahead Of Time.

Having meals prepared ahead of time makes it convenient to eat according to a plan and on schedule.

You can make it more convenient to stick to your diet plan than it is to eat that bag of candy by having your diet plan meals prepared and available when it is time to eat– and when you gethungry.

Diet Plan Tip #3 – Get Used To Eating For Your Purpose Instead Of For Your Taste Buds.

Satisfying your taste buds when you get the urge to gorge down a Big Mac will never develop a healthy, lean, muscular physique! Keep in mind you are eating to develop a lean, healthy muscular physique every time you open your mouth! The temporary taste satisfaction of a jelly-filled donut will be gone real fast but the empty calories you just devoured can defeat a whole day’s worth of bodybuilding effort!

Diet Plan Tip #4 – Be creative with your cooking to make sticking to your diet enjoyable.

Ideally, with proper preparation and some reciperesearch you can create delicious mouth watering meals that meet your diet plan criteria. Learn to cook. Employ spices from other parts of the world. India and China are twocountries with interesting choices to really spice up your diet plan. When you don’t have to force feed yourself with your nose plugged the chances are much higher you can stick to your diet plan more easily!

Diet Plan Tip #5 – Drink Water.

Drinking water between meals can help to reduce your hunger pains temporarily by giving a sense of fullness. For those of you that sabotage your diet plan munching here and there,keeping a water bottle with you wherever you go can really help.Just sip away when its oral satisfaction rather than hunger driving you.

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