How To Lose Weight The Easy And Safe Way

By Rasheed Aladel

WHAT IS THE BEST DIET

Many people ask me which is the best diet for me to follow, with practically a new diet coming out every year I find myself getting frustrated with the mis- information being put out there. Let me shine some light on some of these fad diets.

Why fad diets don't work

There's no question if you follow these fad diets you will lose weight, but I can also guarantee you will not be able to sustain these so-called diets which is why millions of people follow these diets only to pack back on the pounds again.

The simple answer to this is fad diets do not work, the reason they do not work is because you can only follow such a ridiculous routine for only so long successful long-term weight loss is not necessarily about a diet but it's about long-term happiness.

I even hate that word diets, because it is linked to feelings of restriction and unhappiness but what I do believe in is a sensible nutrition plan which allows you to eat five to six enjoyable small meals a day. To be honest with you I wish all of these fad diets did work then we wouldn't be experiencing the problems we have today such as obesity, diabetes and cardiovascular disease.

Before I explain to you the concept of a healthy eating plan I'll cover just a few of these fad diets.

THE ATKINS DIET.

I'm sure you've all heard of the Atkins diet and heard about the supposed success stories. The problem is that most of these fad diets work on the basis of calorie reduction. with the Atkins carbohydrates are severely limited, the atkins diet requires that you get your calories from just protein and fat.

The way this works is by consuming so much fat and protein it sends a signal to your brain saying that your full when in reality you are not, this can result in metabolic disorders. The Atkins diet will allow you to lose weight but at what cost? the side-effects of the Atkins diet is nausea, vomiting, stomach pain, and bad breath (urghh)

I would have to say the Atkins diet is a big no-no, a healthy diet is well rounded and borrows from all the food groups such as carbohydrates, protein and good fats. Tricking your body into believing it is full, when it's not, will only can catch up with you and make you feel ill through the lack of nutrients received in you diet.

The weight loss achieved in Atkins is mainly muscle mass, and muscle tissue is what helps speed up your metabolic rate, the more muscle tissue you have the more calories you burn. Which is why when people realise they cannot sustain the Atkins diet any more they put the weight on twice as fast because now they do not have the muscle to combat the fat.

Bear in mind when a new diet hits the market and seems too good to be true, your usually right!

THE ZONE DIET

The zone diet is used by many celebrities such as Jennifer aniston, Renee zellweger, Madonna, Cindy Crawford and Winona Ryder. The main concept of the zone diet is a balanced ratio of carbohydrates (40) and proteins (30%) so on this diet you do actually get to eat, which in my eyes is a good start.

The zone diet works by following recipes with a low-carbohydrate diet plan, it does insist on watching your calorie consumption while eating eg. A meal must not exceed 500 calories and a snack must not exceed 100 calories which they call staying in the zone.

I must say weight loss is not the only benefit of the zone diet you also experience improved energy, improved mental clarity and is also ideal for type 2 diabetes sufferers. This diet was implemented to reduce hunger and compulsion to eat. Zone diet recipes are customized to each individual, based on your sex, activity level and proportion of body fat.

The foods the zone diet encourages are fresh vegetables, fruits and nuts, leafy green vegetables, sufficient protein consumption, and eight glasses of water everyday. How weight loss is achieved with the zone diet is similar to the low gi diet.

By reducing your carbohydrates your body will not produce too much insulin (a hormone that tells your body to store up nutrients) consuming too much carbohydrates causes this to happen which is why carbs are seen as the bad guys. The overload of insulin tells the body to convert the carbohydrates you ate into fat stores around your belly, thighs, buttocks and other areas.

Carbohydrates are not totally the bad guys if you limit them and balance them with low-fat protein this will keep your insulin levels balanced. I like this diet because it's not so much a diet, it's more of a eating plan. The only problem I have with the zone diet is calculating meals and snacks every day is not totally convenient, with 5 hours of exercise a week and a variety of balanced meals consisting of low gi carbs, protein and veg is a simpler formula to lose weight.

THE SOUTH BEACH DIET

The south beach to me is an improved version of the atkins diet because it does allow "good" carbohydrates like fruit and foods with a low glycemic (Gi) index. The south beach diet gives you the freedom to snack all day if you feel the need to and not to worry about counting calories.

This diet is a complete waste of time because if you give people in search of losing weight the go-ahead to eat a portion as big as they like, they probably will, I know I would if I didn't know any better. Even eating the healthiest foods if you consume too much you will still put on weight.

WEIGHT WATCHERS

Weight watchers have created their own brand of foods with low calories from full dinners to ice cream. I must say weight watchers have tried to make counting calories as simple as they can here by running a points system.

Their point system runs something like this: each food has a point value ranging from 0 for jelly to 8 for pizza. Depending on your bodyweight, you are allowed a certain amount of points daily, if you stay under your points you lose weight.

With weight watchers you are allowed to bank points and use them over days, exercise also earns you points. When you're feeling down in the dumps or lacking in the motivation department you can go to daily weight watchers meetings and get great tips and motivation from others who have overcome their obstacles and achieved there goals.

I believe weight watchers has stood the test of time because they focus more on long term healthy eating rather than restrictive dieting, we are all human and sometimes we desire some of our favorite dessert or pizza without having to feel like a failure. I feel this is totally acceptable and is a good approach to achieving your goals.

THE GI DIET

This diet definitely takes the No.1 spot for me, because it's more of a eating plan than a restrictive diet. The GI diet also teaches you that carbs are not the bad guys after all, it's the type of carbs you eat that is important.

Put simply the GI diet is a scale which charts how quickly a food is converted into sugar in the body. Foods that chart as a high G.I number are converted into sugar more quickly than foods that have a low G.I number, the scale is based on a rating of 1 to 100.

So why is the G.I number important?

If a food is rated high on the G.I scale your body is more likely to store fat, this is due to insulin which is the primary storage hormone in your body and is used to help get nutrients into the different cells of your body. High G.I foods raise our blood sugar so rapidly that insulin has to be released in our body to bring our blood sugar down to a normal baseline, in order for insulin to bring our blood sugar levels down it has to store the sugar

It's a simple stimulus - response system that works to keep blood sugar levels in balance in the body.

So how does this affect your fat loss?

I'll tell you how, just remember when insulin is present in your bloodstream, your body is in STORAGE mode and will NOT release fat from your fat cells to burn. So when your blood sugar levels are high, your body isn't burning fat.

Another thing is when your blood sugar is high, your body is using that blood sugar for energy instead of using fat. Sugar is the preferred fuel for your body because it's easier to use, but it confuses the body so the body takes a guess and always releases too much insulin to bring your blood sugar level down but too much insulin results in bringing your blood sugar levels too low leaving you feeling dizzy and lethargic craving for more sugary foods to perk yourself up again, this is where the vicious cycle starts.

How do you stop this cycle?

To stop this vicious cycle you need keep your blood sugar levels stable so your body stays in fat burning mode instead of STORAGE mode. You accomplish this by focusing on eating low G.I carbs (every G.I diet book gives you a list of low G.I foods)

When you eat low G.I foods, the carbs are converted into sugar at a slower, steadier rate into the body, this way your body doesn't have to panick and send out extra reserves of insulin in an emergency response, also your blood sugar levels will not drop so suddenly leaving you craving for more sugar an hour later.

The steady state you recieve from consuming low G.I foods will allow your body to access stored bodyfat and use this fat for energy instead of constantly relying on blood sugar. The bonus… you don't get as hungry and you feel more energised throughout the day with a leaner body to go with it.

G.I diet: A eating plan for life

Another advantage of the G.I diet is that it focuses on good amounts of protein, healthy fats and fiber, which is a well balanced diet.

The concept of the G.I diet is scientifically sound because it works and can be maintained for the rest of your life unlike many fad diets which cannot. Eating low G.I foods for fat loss can have a positive impact not only on your fat loss but on your mood and well being as well.

A diet that focuses on natural, unprocessed foods such as whole grains, quality lean proteins, healthy fats and lots of fiber is no doubt going to be a effective diet

About The Author: Rasheed 'the body sculptor' Aladel is a certified Fitness and Nutrition Expert to find out more from this author visit http://www.sculptrexfitness.co.uk

Article Souce: http://www.articlecity.com/articles/health/article_7075.shtml

Mystery of a Failed Weight Loss Diet

By Ruth Tan

Bringing you the story of Jane to unravel why some weight loss diet strategies just wouldn't work...

Jane is struggling big time with her weight loss diet. Since young, she has a voracious appetite for sweet delights like ice-cream, candies, and desserts. Now that she understands the health risks related to obesity, she has started to conscientiously cut down her fat intake by avoiding foods such as milk, cheese, etc, eating a much lesser amount of rice for each meal, and taking a lot more fruits and vegetables than ever. However, inconceivably, she is still getting fatter. So, what's the mystery here?

Firstly, like many people, Jane probably doesn't know what a carbohydrate is. She seems to think carbohydrates are starchy foods like rice, pasta, noodles, breads, whereas vegetables, fruits, and even sweets are simply food types that she can eat in unlimited amounts to satisfy her sweet tooth without gaining weight. The truth is sweets, vegetables and fruits, like rice and bread are all carbohydrates, which are merely different forms of simple sugars linked together in polymers. Any carbohydrates not immediately used by the body will be converted into fat and stored in fatty tissue. And in this case, if Jane continues to eat a lot of high-glycemic sugared stuff and have aplenty fruits and vegetables, she is consuming an excessive amount of sugar and refined carbohydrates. And worse, if she is leading a sedentary lifestyle and not exercising regularly, she would have even a harder time shedding kilos.

Secondly, eating fat does not make us fat. Our body cannot metabolize fat into fat. When we consume fat, our body has to break it down into its little building blocks and then absorb the pieces, and what is not used it eliminates. The fat you have in our body is not the same as the fat you eat. The problem with fat is that it's calorie-dense and it clogs your arteries and coupled with starch causes bad cholesterol. Many dieticians believe it's hard to be successful in any weight loss diet by simply restricting calories. Eating less and losing excess body fat are not compatible. Low-calorie, high-carbohydrate diets generate a series of biochemical signals in your body that will take you out of the balance, making it more difficult to access and utilise stored body fat for energy.

The insulin stimulated by excess carbohydrates in Jane's body can aggressively promote the accumulation of body fat. And the higher the body's insulin levels, the more effectively it prevents fat cells from releasing their stores, and the harder it becomes for Jane to see any pay-off in her weight loss diet. Over the long haul, high insulin levels can lead to insulin resistance and cause Jane serious health problems like accelerated aging, heart disease, and diabetes. Diets high in refined sugars which Jane has cravings for release more insulin thereby allowing less stored fat to be burned. High insulin levels also suppress two important hormones: glucagon and growth hormone. Glucagon promotes the burning of fat and sugar. Growth hormone is used for muscle development and building new muscle mass. Insulin also causes hunger. As blood sugar increases following a carbohydrate meal, insulin rises with the eventual result of lower blood sugar. This results in hunger, often only a couple of hours after the meal. Yearning for sweets can become frequently part of the cycle, causing Jane to resort to bingeing on even more carbohydrates.

The learning gleaned from Jean's paradoxical eat-less-and-get-fatter situation is actually very straightforward: Our body's response to excess carbohydrates in our diet makes us fat. We have a limited capacity to store carbohydrates. Excess carbohydrates, which are fat-free, end up as excess fat in the body.

Source: http://www.benefits-of-honey.com/food-label.html

R. Tan is the owner of the website http://www.benefits-of-honey.com which is a rich honey resource community specially built for all the honey lovers and fans in this world. She has packed this website with a wide range of quality contents on honey based on her knowledge and experience with honey, so as to promote its invaluable benefits which she believes could bring many positive spin-offs in everyone's daily life.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Ruth_Tan

Eat and Exercise for weight loss

By Chris Harris

With the holidays over and the year 2007 gone, many of you wind down with one thought: "What happened to your year-round bodybuilding discipline?" Was the holidays and vacation worthwhile to have thrown all your efforts to one big feast?

Many have failed and many, have fairly got through the temptations of food, food and more food! Though it may seem a perfect time for relaxing and giving yourself a break, it certainly is not a brilliant idea to feed yourself with calories.

There may be slight changes on your already tight schedule or you probably have more time to spend in the office than at home or the gym. In this case, don't force yourself to get up and slip in to your bodybuilding garments as this is not the proper way how you should start your year to keeping fit. If you can't handle your schedule well and think that you don't have enough time to do all the needed activities in one day; you can start and still maintain your healthy figure by sticking to what you should properly eat.

If you are hungry, eat a properly composed meal and don't ever substitute sugar bars to suffice your hunger. If you can't make it to the nearest cafeteria, bring with you fruits that are rich in fiber. This way, you don't have to be bothered in running to the snack zone. You can be full and stay healthy by grabbing that apple from your desktop.

A good alternative too is to run your way to the office or to wherever you need to be in a hectic day. This will cause a steady release of endorphins from your brain which will practically make you feel happy. You will be in a good mood and there will be no need to worry about anxieties or memory decline as being and staying "happy" prevents any brain damage as well.

You can still be physically active and healthy if you know how to accomplish little details that matter to your health. When you have the time though, don't forget to drop by the gym and release a good amount of sweat!

About the author: Chris Harris is a physician by profession but he is also writing articles on Weight loss drugs for a long time. To know more about weight loss medicine, Acomplia weight loss pill, acomplia, Acomplia rimonabant, buy acomplia, acomplia diet pills visit http://www.acomplia.p5.org.uk

Article Source: http://www.Free-Articles-Zone.com

How Does Calorie Cycling Help Me Lose Weight?

By Rachel Jenkins

A brand new way to lose weight has been hitting airwaves all over the United States.

This diet, called "calorie cycling", allows people to effectively lose large amounts of weight in short periods of time. But before you dismiss it as a fad diet, read on.

This way of eating teaches people to switch up the amount of calories that they eat day-to-day. By doing this, their body can never figure out how many calories are coming to it (as is often the case with low calorie or low carbohydrate diets), and therefore it can't adjust... or plateau.

The diet actually enforces cheat days and says that it wouldn't be successful without it.

Rachel Rofe, calorie cycling expert, explains that our bodies are used to this way of eating. During the cavemen era, our ancestors would have to go hungry for days at a time. Whenever they got the opportunity to eat, they would binge in order to stay satisfied until the next time they had the opportunity to eat.

Cheat days are similar to the days that our ancestors fasted. Because the metabolism never expects these days, it can never adjust to a certain way of eating, and the body is literally forced to continue dropping unwanted pounds.

Because people get to have these cheat days where they can literally eat anything they want, psychologists heartily recommend this diet. They love that dieters don't need to feel deprived of malnourished. Doctors love it because it's a natural way to lose weight without people having to deprive themselves of nutrients, food groups, or even "bad" food.

Because calorie cycling is much easier to stick to than a typical weight loss plan, it has a much larger retention rate than many of the other diets.

Rachel has lost 100 pounds herself, and is passionate about helping other people do it too. She has been featured in Woman's World, among others.

You can check out more about calorie cycling on her website at www.yayFOOD.com

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Rachel_Jenkins

Natural Sweeteners: Which One Should You Take?

By Megri Soft

Sugar consumption in the United States is higher than most other countries due to fast food diets. Diabetes is also high in the United States. Natural sweeteners like stevia, luo han, and xylitol can help fight diabetes while keeping your taste buds happy.

There are many natural sweeteners to choose from if you want to avoid sugar, but don't want any of the artificial sweeteners over which there are a few questions. You can choose from xylitol, luo han, stevia and others, but before discussing these, let's have a look at the problems with sugar, artificial sweeteners and the American sugar industry.

Sugar as most people know it originates either from sugar cane or sugar beet, though by far the biggest American industry is in the cane. There are many different types of sugar, though that obtainable from cane sugar is sucrose. Sucrose is a disaccharide and carbohydrate, stored by plants as a reserve energy source to be used when needed. Humans cannot directly use sucrose, and it is metabolized in the body to glucose which needs the hormone insulin to help convert it into energy.

Insulin is produced in the pancreas, and a lack of it, or the body's failure to use it properly, is referred to as diabetes. There are two types of diabetes:

Type 1: A total lack or deficiency of insulin due to the pancreas producing insufficient quantities of insulin, or even none at all. This is often seen in young people and is generally cause by the immune system attacking the insulin-producing sells in the pancreas. The treatment for type 1 diabetes is to introduce insulin to the blood, normally by means of injections, plenty exercise and the adoption of a high carbohydrate low fat diet.

Type 2: This is strongly associated with obesity and weight, and is due either to insufficient insulin production by the pancreas (but not as deficient as for Type 1 diabetes) or an inability of the cells of the body to properly use insulin. Type 2 diabetes does not always require insulin injections, and can be treated by exercise, diet and weight control. However, there are occasions where insulin injections are also required. It tends to affect people older than those with Type 1 diabetes and 90% of cases are of this type.

Both types, however, are connected with an excess of glucose in the blood, into which most sugars are converted. A diet low in sucrose will go a long way towards helping people that suffer from either type of diabetes, and control of carbohydrate intake should include a reduction in the intake of sucrose in the form or beet or cane sugar. This accepted, then if you need a sweetener, a saccharide free natural sweetener would appear to be the logical choice.

You could opt for a synthetic sweetener, but they also have their problems. There is evidence that saccharin could be a carcinogen, and 'aspartame' disease is not a myth. The other artificial sweeteners also have sufficient questions that natural sweeteners would appear to be the obvious choice. But which? That is the question. Let's have a look at some and check out their pros and cons.

The first is Stevia. This is a South American herb that is 400 times sweeter than sucrose and yet is very low in calories and does not affect diabetics. Used throughout most of the world, it has not been approved by the FDA as a food additive due mainly, it would appear, to lobbying by the American sugar corporations. This is understandable, since mass substitution of sugar by stevia in processed foods is entirely possible, but would cost the sugar corporations billions.

However, it is available to purchase from health food stores, and does not appear to possess the problems that aspartame does. Unlike that sweetener, it can be used in baking and cooking, and is ideal for diabetics and people suffering from yeast infections such as candida. Such infections are aggravated by sugar in the colon, since yeasts love sugar, but they cannot survive on stevia. The safety of stevia has been proven through hundreds of years of popular use without any problems.

However, there are others. Luo Han Guo is a sweet Chinese fruit of which extracts are marketed as a natural sweetener. The plant it comes from is the Momordica grosvenori, a member of the cucumber squash family that grows in the mountainous areas of southern China. The sweeteners it contains are called mogrosides that are terpene glycosides, of which there are five different forms, the main one being termed mogroside-5.

The extract is available in the form of a powder consisting of around 80% mogrosides, and possesses around 250% of the sweetness of sucrose. This, too, can be used in cooking; because it is stable to heat and contains about 2% of the calories of ordinary sugar (one half teaspoon is equivalent to 25 teaspoons sugar). You can help 50 medicines go down for the same calories of getting one down using sugar!

Not only that but, like stevia, there are no known side effects. It has been used for many centuries in Chinese medicine in the treatment of gastrointestinal conditions and conditions of the respiratory tract. Unlike natural sweeteners, luo han has been found to be useful in helping to manage diabetes since it does not cause insulin levels to rise and are not involved in energy production, so have no effect on your weight. The mogrosides from luo han are also under study as inhibitors of certain tumors, and might be able to inhibit skin tumor growth. Other possible medical advantages include helping to reduce atherosclerosis and heart disease, so would appear to be a useful sweetener to use in your coffee!

Finally, xylitol. It was during World War II that Finnish scientists rediscovered xylitol that had been previously used in Germany as a sweetener in the late nineteenth century. The sugar shortage resurrected this substance that can metabolize without the need for insulin.

Xylitol is a substance that is found in some fruits and vegetables and also in corn cobs. In fact, it is a product that appears in animal metabolism, and so is perfectly safe. It is known to help support the immune system, and to help reduce the effects of aging. It possesses antibacterial properties due to its 5-carbon ring and has been approved by the FDA. Xylitol can replace sugar in most of its domestic uses, including in baking and as a natural sweetener. It is also used extensively in chewing gum as a sweetener that does not cause dental cavities due the acid caused by bacterial attack on the sugar.

However, one use to which xylitol cannot be put, nor any of the other natural sweeteners mentioned here, is in fermentation. Try these for your wine or beer and you will be very disappointed at the low alcohol level of your brew! This is also, however, one of the benefits of xylitol: it cannot feed the yeasts that cause candida or any other yeast infection. Although it is a saccharide, it is the same as the others in this respect.

So, which of these natural sweeteners should you take? The choice is yours since each has its own benefits with very few disadvantages and certainly no recorded side effects that we know of. Use stevia for superior sweetening effects, and make up a concentrated solution of it in water for your cooking. Use luo han if you have gastrointestinal problems, and use xylitol if you want fresher breath and to protect your teeth.

Use none for brewing or winemaking, and use any of them if you are diabetic. The choice is yours. These sweeteners are available at your local or internet health food store.

More information on natural sweeteners can be found at VitaNet, LLC Health Food Store. http://vitanetonline.com/

Finding easy weight loss diets

By Sumesh

Although the title of this article is ‘easy weight loss diets’, I am not sure about it. Is any weight loss diet really easy? I don’t think so. Enter the market for weight loss diets and you will be bombarded with information about different kinds of diets like the atkins diet and the south beach diet.

But which one is really best for you? Will a low carbohydrate diet work for you? Or will a normal high protein diet be the best one?

The worse part about diets is that what may work wonders for others may not work for you. Every individual is unique and hence has unique needs and requirements. This needs to be analyzed first before plunging to any weight loss program.

Why it doesn’t work?

To understand why weight loss diets do not work for you, it is important to have some information on body genetics and metabolism. Every human being has a metabolism rate or the ability to burn off calories. Similarly, every human being has a particular body structure. Some have broad shoulders and hips with minimum fat content. Others have droopy shoulders with a lot of fat deposits around the waist. This depends a lot on the genetics of the person.

So if you are genetically pear shaped, do not expect that easy weight loss diets will change you into a muscle machine. Or if you are an obese girl genetically, do not even attempt to turn into tyra banks. That’s not going to happen.

Have realistic goals

Set yourself realistic goals and start slow. For example, if you are starting your diet plan on New Year, target a weight loss of 4 to 10 pounds by March.

This should be achievable provide you stick to your diet and exercise routine. And make sure that you stay motivated on the diet. A lot of people quit midway due to lack of results. Perseverance is a virtue that you definitely need to succeed.

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Organic food for weight loss

By Robert Baird Baird

At present the market is flooded with scores of weight loss supplements and with the percentage of obese individuals increasing in number with the passage of time, it is doubtless that these supplements make brisk business. However, it is necessary to make individuals aware of the fact that most of these weight loss supplements are not effective in causing weight loss and the usage of some of these are detrimental to the body and its organs as well. Under such circumstances, it is safest to follow the various guidelines that have been set down by the United States Food and Drugs Administration or FDA and buy only those products which have been sanctioned by the FDA. The latest fad to have reached the market is organic food and it is considered to be very effective in causing weight loss. it is primarily necessary to realize what is meant by the term organic food. Organic food simply refers to those food components which have been produced naturally without the use of synthetic supplements or pesticides or preservatives of any kind. While at present certified organic food are widely available, researchers have opined that not only are these organic food extremely nutritious and beneficial for health, but at the same time they are quite tasty as well. One of the major reasons due to which organic food are considered to have an edge over cooked food is that heat used at the time of cooking changes the composition of the proteins, fat and carbohydrate contents and it also leads to the loss of various important nutrient elements and enzymes which are of good use to the body. On the other hand, organic food aids considerably in weight loss and the consumption of organic food makes a person feel more energized and full and as a result of swift bowel movements, the absorption of nutrients is faster and it prevents the accumulation of excess fat. Organic food helps in the cleansing of the blood stream and facilitates swift removal of toxins form the body.

Natural organic food not only aids in losing weight but in course of this process it does not compromise with the nutritional value of the food substances consumed. All nutritional elements that benefit the body are retained. Organic foods are natural substances and hence they are valuable for maintaining a healthy lifestyle while aiding in excess weight reduction and shedding of excess calories.

Many weight loss diets fail from lack of discipline.

Article Source: http://www.free-articles-zone.com/