Archive for April, 2009

The Pitfalls of Weight Loss Programs and Diets

Saturday, April 18th, 2009


Most diet and weight loss programs have a depressingly high failure rate, with people either never reaching their weight goals or reaching them and regaining all the weight they lost (and sometimes more) in about one year.

Getting the weight off fast is so desirable that many of us are willing to sacrifice health and ignore common sense in the hope that some new weight loss program or scheme will work. This pipe dream can unfortunately outweigh the negative consequences. So let’s examine the downside of dieting.

What Is An Unhealthy Weight Loss Program?

* Any weight loss program that is not nutritionally sound;

* One that works against what the body naturally needs like vitamins, minerals, and a minimum number of calories a day;

* One that requires you to go without eating (for example, fasting or meal replacement drinks);

* One that puts your body into an unnatural state, such as starvation or ketosis.

Your body can only lose a few pounds a week on a consistent basis. If you lose more than that initially, it’s likely just water loss. So any weight loss program that promises you will lose five pounds a week, or 25 pounds in 3 weeks, is guaranteeing you will be losing water and muscle mass not fat.

Almost every popular weight loss program out there falls into one of the following diet categories: low calorie diets, meal replacement drinks, packaged foods, unbalanced nutrients, and ketosis diets. Let’s see how they stack up.

LOW CALORIE DIETS

Whenever you drastically reduce your calories, the body enters an unnatural state and its defenses kick in. So when calories drop below, say, 1000 calories a day, your metabolism will shut down in an effort to conserve energy. And weight loss with a sluggish metabolism is very difficult.

Your body will start using muscle tissue to provide energy, which again leads to a decrease in the metabolism. Taken to an extreme, the body will break down its vital parts (such as the heart muscle) trying to meet its energy needs.

In addition to these drawbacks, trying to maintain the weight loss over time is nearly impossible because your body is now used to making do with very few calories. Going back to “normal” eating causes the weight to pile back on.

For this reason, low cal weight loss programs rarely work over the long haul.

MEAL REPLACEMENT DRINKS

One of the most unnatural things for your body is to go without solid food, which is what meal replacement plans ask it to do. Some people think that dieting will be easier if they aren’t confronted with daily food choices and the pounds will just fall off. This may be true while they are on the liquid diet. But what about afterwards?

Where will the good eating habits come from after you’ve lost the weight? This is something that takes time, practice and knowledge. Dieters need to establish a healthy attitude towards a life-long eating plan. And no “fad” weight loss program or liquid lunch can help you with that.

Getting hooked on meal replacements can become a destructive way to view food. It often leads dieters to fear food or binge to “feed” their cravings after a long period of deprivation. And that’s just the psychological side of the equation.

The lack of fiber in such weight loss programs can be a threat to good physical health. And when the body is denied enough solid food, the intestines go into overdrive absorbing calories and nutrients. This helps you during the diet period, but later it makes it much easier to regain the weight.

Another yo-yo weight loss program that hurts you in the end.

UNBALANCED NUTRIENT PLAN

Be cautious about any weight loss program that has strict rules about good foods and bad foods. Sure, high fat and high sugar foods might be considered bad for the waistline, but moderation not abstinence is key to success.

Why? Because eating the same foods every day (say, grapefruit or high protein meals) is going to result in two things: nutritional imbalance and boredom.

All foods are made up of the same nutrients in different amounts: fat, carbohydrates, and protein. It is the right proportion of these nutrients that will bring about weight loss – not the avoidance of “bad” foods and the consumption of only “good” or magical foods.

In the world of dieting, no one food or nutrient group is magical. Variety and moderation are the keys to a healthy diet and a successful weight loss program.

PACKAGED FOODS

To stay at your ideal body weight, you have to learn how to make proper food choices. By following a packaged food weight loss program you are postponing the inevitable, and spending plenty of $$$ in the process.

Another problem with this kind of weight loss program is that the foods provided are not always healthy. Read the package label and you will see chemicals, preservatives, sodium, sugar and saturated fats. And when all you can eat is packaged food, how do you plan meals with other people? Going out to restaurants and parties and enjoying family meals becomes a big hassle.

Your weight loss program then becomes a burden, not only to you, but to those around you.

KETOSIS DIETS

Ketosis has been defined as:

“An abnormal condition marked by excessive production of ketone bodies. Often caused by high-protein, low-carbohydrate diets such as the Atkins diet.”

Atkins and certain other weight loss programs are based on the principle of restricting carbohydrates to the point that the body enters into ketosis. On the surface, a ketogenic diet seems to work for two reasons: First, you’ll lose large amounts of weight, which is very pleasing to the dieter. Secondly, you don’t experience hunger.

But there are serious drawbacks. Your weight goes down due to water loss (which occurs when you restrict carbohydrates) and a loss of lean muscle tissue. This is NOT true, lasting weight loss.

The loss of appetite comes from having ketones building up in the body, which can harm your health. Side effects of a ketosis weight loss program can include fatigue, kidney stones, gout, and muscle loss. The longer you follow such a diet, the greater the risk to your health.

Clearly not a wise choice of weight loss program, not for the short term or the long.

WEIGHT LOSS PROGRAM QUESTIONNAIRE

There are always new weight loss programs coming onto the market and going in and out of style. To evaluate if a weight loss program is healthy and sensible for you, ask yourself the following questions:

* Is the plan nutritionally sound?

* Will it help improve my weight, metabolism, cholesterol level, blood pressure, energy level, and general health?

* Will I be eating real food and not have to buy special formulas, drinks, etc?

* Will I be eating a wide variety of foods rather than just a few “diet” foods?

* Am I allowed to have some treats and eat my favorite foods?

* Can I eat out in restaurants, have a glass of wine with dinner, or some dessert?

* Can I follow this weight loss program without it interfering with my lifestyle?

* Can I lose weight without feeling hungry?

* Will l develop eating habits for life-long weight control with this weight loss program?

* Is this the last diet I will ever need to finally reach and maintain my ideal weight?



Keys to Weight Loss Discussed

Thursday, April 16th, 2009


weight loss is achieved faster with hypnosis. Some people say it feels like magic because it is so easy to make powerful changes. Weight loss is not an easy process. If you want to look more beautiful and slimmer, you need more than just perseverance. Weight loss is a given, but other changes have been freeing. Weight loss is simple, burn more calories then you consume. If you can fully understand that then you are on your way to losing weight. Weight loss is extremely difficult when you feel like you are depriving yourself. Instead of being a positive and exciting experience, losing weight becomes a struggle against yourself.

Additionally, women who want to lose weight fast that skip meals actually lower their metabolism. That means their body needs fewer calories and overeating leads to gaining fat faster. Therefore, you shouldn’t try to lose weight by dieting alone.

Are you ready to lose weight? Do you want to learn the secrets to finally shed your excess body fat while keeping your hard earned muscle? The only way you can lose weight and keep it off is to get your natural fat-burning mechanisms functioning normally and at peak efficiency again. The healthy way to weight loss is to lose excess fat, not lose muscle tissue and water. Crash diets can help you lose weight quickly, but most people gain the weight back. Some of these diets are also unhealthy and dangerous.

The majority of people who are trying to lose weight through conventional diets and calorie counting normally dream of food, reflecting on their needs and immediate experiences of food depravation. This creates a food craving that confronts them when they awaken, that regularly leads to them breaking their diet. So forget about all of the fad diets and learn how to lose weight by eating a healthy diet & exercising regularly!

Read more here: http://www.GoodHealthInfo.info

OK, back to learning how to lose weight. The main key to losing weight fast is to create a calorie deficit in the body. We need to look at natural ways to lose weight and find weight loss guides that teach us how to control our weight by making healthy food choices and leading an active lifestyle. The best advice I can give anyone trying to lose weight is to get rid of the tv and take up a sport. A custom-fit diet not only makes sense, it’s also good news for the dieter who couldn’t lose weight on this year’s fad, or who took off pounds quickly and then gained them back (and more).

Since you must burn a phenomenal amount of calories in order to lose pounds, exercise is crucial to long-term weight loss success.

Weight loss simply does not address the long term reasons why we gain weight. Weight loss only erases the evidence of persistent issues to weight control such as aging, processed food, metabolism damage, eating behavior and the fact we all spend long periods of time ‘out of it’ with respect to weight loss and fitness.

Weight Watchers has become a powerful force on the diet scene, bringing millions of people around the world into small group meetings for weekly weigh-ins and diet support and tips. And while today’s Weight Watchers program differs dramatically from years past, the main tenet is still to consume fewer calories than you expend. Weight loss is simple, burn more calories then you consume. If you can fully understand that then you are on your way to losing weight. Weight loss occurs since most of the calories and nutrients are routed into the colon where they are not absorbed.

Weight loss is extremely difficult when you feel like you are depriving yourself. Instead of being a positive and exciting experience, losing weight becomes a struggle against yourself. Weight loss is generally temporary, and unhealthy diet approaches have been linked with health damage and even death.

Losing weight is really hard to achieve by yourself. It takes encouragement, support, and a community of like-minded folks who are determined to make a difference. Weight loss is easy when you integrate hypnosis and coaching. Weight loss is a part of the equation for many women, but much more important is feeling a sense of control over one’s body and one’s health.

Weight loss is far too complex an issue to be dealt with by being preached at. Weight loss is a basic equation based on eating the right foods and doing the right exercises. Weight loss is often treated as a "quick fix" or short-term goal. Yet weight loss is a health and fitness issue, which is a lifestyle issue, one that is quite manageable if handled right.

This research continues here http://www.GoodHealthInfo.info



Quick Weight Loss Centers

Sunday, April 12th, 2009


When purchasing any weight loss product, it is important to do your research. Many people are exchanging their opinions about Quick Weight Loss Centers on DietBlogTalk.com

For an additional source, check out Quick Weight Loss Centers on the very popular Sensational.com



Overview

Weight loss programs – both digital and physical – sprout up all over the United States. They fade away just as quickly, it seems. And consumers are left with the difficult task of determining which weight loss program or center is the best for their given situation.

Quick Weight Loss Centers, out of Florida, is yet another option. But in this case, ruling the Centers out is a rather easy task. Quick Weight Loss claims to offer dieters a quick and easy way to lose weight on an individualized plan that involves no hunger. And what’s more – Quick Weight Loss requires no exercise. With these words, the program undercuts itself, betraying a measure of falsehood at the heart of the weight loss methodology. In other words, we reject outright any weight loss plan that claims practitioners don’t need to be physically active.

Program at a Glance

Quick Weight Loss Centers claims to offer holistic weight loss and management programs that focus on counseling, ongoing supervision, and the like.

Program in Focus

Despite the program’s denial of the importance of physical activity in weight loss, Quick Weight Loss Centers claims to offer a holistic approach. This seems a flat contradiction to us, as physical activity is absolutely crucial, not only to healthy weight loss, but also to long-term management.

Quick Weight Loss Centers takes into account personal history and medical conditions when determining how to best formulate an eating plan for an individual. The staff monitors progress and changes, while counselors help with behavioral education. The eating plan supposedly figures in a certain amount of flexibility, variety, and moderation. And the plans usually allow 1,500 calories per day.

Positives

•    Eating plans utilize real food.

Negatives

•    De-emphasizes the role of exercise.

•    Vague website is unhelpful for really getting a handle on things.

•    Not the best example of a local weight loss program.

•    If you do not live around a center, you are out of luck.

Final Thoughts

Quick Weight Loss Centers offers a rather underwhelming weight loss program. Consumers interested in healthy, sustainable weight loss might want to look elsewhere, as Quick Weight Loss doesn’t seem equipped to offer the holistic approach it promises. Look for a plan in your area that incorporates both diet and exercise and supplements these practices with a modern, non-caffeine fat burner and appetite suppressant. Such a combination can really make a difference.



Easy Weight Loss Plan: A Simple Secret To Ensure Weight Loss Sucess

Thursday, April 9th, 2009


I know what you are thinking “Easy Weight Loss Plan”, Ya, Right! As a doctor I am always been given information by patients on this and that diet or strategy and it can be unbelievably confusing.

Even as a doctor, I am confused. I have taken all sorts of course on nutrition and health and to be quite honest it is all a little over the top for me.

I hear all sorts of great evidence to support eating carbs, not eating carbs, eating lots of protein and not eating any protein especially from animal products.

While creating more information for my blog, I can across a program that at first looked like another diet but when I actually read through the material, it absolutely blew me away.

The concept that you have to completely resrict what you eat and how much you exercise is completely false, and I sort of already had that feeling.

Heres the thing, eating more or eating less is not the key it is timing your eating so that you maximize your metabolic burn.

This explains a lot for me as a doctor because there are many times I have patients who say they have lots weight yet spent the last two days at a buffet table.

If you want to lose weight you need to cycle through consuming more food with less food. Our bodies work and function like waves they are sometimes up and sometimes down.

If you can figure out when to ride the wave and when not too, you have figured out the harmonic balance of the body.

A simple test is to spend a couple weeks exercising on a regular basis everyday doning your favorite activity, but go through periods of eating more calories followed by periods of eating less calories.

Monitor you weight everyday and make note of when your weight starts to drop is it on days after you eat more calories or on days when you eat less calories.

Then it is a matter of mastering the weight loss with your cycle. You can find a more detailed explanation at easy weight loss plan



Weight Loss Diet Why Nutritional Cleansing Gets Fast Safe Natural Weight Loss

Tuesday, April 7th, 2009


ss has become an obsession in a nation where 63% of the people are overweight and a startling 31% are obese. Clearly our modern lifestyle is not healthy. Many people are desperate to make a change and will try any \’magic-bullet\’ weight loss cure that is offered – still the obesity rates climb. What are the reasons behind this trend? The stress of our lifestyles, toxicity in the environment, unhealthy processed food, improper nutrition habits, and lives spent in our cars, small offices and houses with little or no time in fresh air. Our lifestyles seem designed to make us fat.

People desperate for weight loss will try any diet, take any pill, and even resort to surgery to try and get their weight under control, but if they don\’t deal with the underlying issues that lead to obesity in the first place they are bound to regain the weight leading to an ever increasing waistline. There is no \’magic-bullet\’ to take away obesity. In order to counter the effects of our unhealthy lifestyles it is necessary to deal with the underlying issues that are causing the obesity in the first place. We can learn from the lifestyles of ancient cultures where the diet is predominantly fruits, grains and vegetables and where fasting or nutritional cleansing is an accepted practice.

We are surrounded by more chemicals with higher levels of toxicity than ever before. These chemicals can build up in our body and compound the problems of improper nutrition leading to obesity. Nutritional cleansing is a great way to help our bodies deal with toxicity. By eating healthy meals, predominantly of vegetables and lean protein, and by taking regular cleanse days to flush the toxins from the system our bodies will re-set the natural balance and weight loss will automatically follow. Unlike fasting, nutritional cleansing is not simply a process of not eating. When you undertake nutritional cleansing you drink a specially prepared vitamin and mineral packed supplement that will help increase your energy, cleanse the toxins from your body and even help your skin and hair regain the gloss of health.

Simply by reprogramming your life to eat healthier food, drink plenty of water and cleanse the toxins from your body you will see results. Not only will you lose weight, but you will have more energy, feel healthier and best of all, have reduced cravings for those unhealthy foods. The best thing about nutritional cleansing is that you can achieve weight loss without going on a diet!



Weight Loss Diet Reduce Risks of Cancer

Wednesday, April 1st, 2009


can Cancer Society Suggests you get to and maintain a healthy weight, exercise vigorously at least 30 minutes a day (preferably 45 to 60 minutes) and eat healthy diet including at least 5 or more servings of a wide variety of fresh fruit and raw vegetables each day. If you drink alcoholic beverages limit yourself to 1 glass a day for women and 2 glasses daily for men. Preferably avoid alcohol all together.

This is the formula they suggest and I recommend if you want to know how to reduce your risk of cancer cells in the body.

Healthy Weight. Often people have in their mind what weight is healthy for them. Medically speaking, if your body mass index is rated 25 or higher you have an increased risk for many health issues. There is no specific link to cancer other than the fact that there is a greater percentage of people with cancer that are overweight than not. The higher your body mass index is the greater your risks are. There is also a connection to your waist size. For men if your waist is over 40 inches and 35 inches in women, you will have additional health risk as well. Generally, people that carry more weight in their waist are overweight but not always. If they are overweight and have an extra wide waist the risks of health problems are even greater. I know because I have been there personally (waist and weight).

Regular Physical Exercise. We all should be intentional and serious about our regular physical exercise program. Not only will exercise help maintain our healthy weight and great looks but our body releases chemicals that help our immune systems fight disease when we vigorously work out. Do not over do it though. If you require a personal trainer please seek professional help. But, you know your body and you know when to quit. If you are currently suffering health issues make sure you consult your physician before you start a rigorous exercise program. It is always important to discuss your diet and exercise plan with your doctor. Ultimately, you must exercise and increase your daily physical activity to reduce the risk of cancer cells in your body.

Eat A Balanced Healthy Diet. The emphasis is on fruit and vegetables. Have you noticed in the last few years all the claims of super foods, super fruits, antioxidant, and superior disease fighting fruit and vegetables. This is true. The American Cancer Society does not endorse one fruit or vegetable as one that will reduce the risk of cancer cells in the body. As you research you will learn that these fruit and vegetables will dramatically help prevent disease and they should all be a part of your regular diet. These are some fruit and vegetables known to fight cancer (in no particular order):broccoli, cauliflower, cabbage, brussell sprouts, tomatoes, blueberries, cantaloupe, carrots, cherries, chilli peppers, figs, garlic, grapefruit, mangoes, oranges, strawberries, sweet potatoes, etc. Then add herbs, beans, nuts like peanuts and whole grains like oats and wheat and you will have a balanced diet of many foods to help prevent cancer. Even water boosts your metabolism, strengthens your immune system and helps fight disease. There are even fruit that are new to us in America like acai berries that help prevent cancer.

Avoid Alcohol and Other Unhealthy Food and Drinks. Not just alcohol but sugar, artificial sweeteners, soda and processed foods as much as possible if you want to reduce risk of cancer cells in the body.

Following this outline will help you live a long, active, healthy life avoiding and preventing cancer and many diseases.