best diets, dieting tips, weight loss

The Diet Zone

The importance of diet in our daily lives is well analyzed over the years by many experiments and studies conducted by renowned scientists. Dr. Barry Sears is a well known researcher who has formulated a perfect diet as the basis for perfect living.

His years of experiments in food, diet and the pattern in which the intake of food is arranged formed the basis of the research conducted on the diseases caused by food. He firmly believed that the food is the cause of the diseases. His family suffered from a lineage of heart diseases and hence his interest in finding out the reason for that. The outcome is his famous Zone Diet.

His writings on food and diet are supported by many medical faculties especially the Harward Medical School. He wrote a book on Diet Zone in 1995, which was a best seller in New York. The people who followed his diet pattern found it very easy to follow with a simple approach and the result was phenomenal especially in reducing the excess weight.

The food intake always results in the increase in the insulin level. If the insulin level is kept under control, the general health is maintained well without giving any scope for ailments. The easy way to keep the insulin at the same level without much variation is achieved by eating at regular intervals, at least five times a day. It combines three full meals with two snacks in between.

This is the basis for Dr. Barry Sears’ research and he had found that it works in a positive way. Starving depletes the insulin level in the blood stream. When the next meal is consumed the quantity of food intake becomes more to refurbish the insulin level. This results in the insulin level suddenly increasing beyond the normal level. This sudden dip and the sharp increase in insulin becomes the main cause of many diseases.

Dr. Barry Sears’ suggestion is to eat at regular intervals, a small quantity of food. It helps maintain the insulin at the same level. The adequate combination of carbohydrates, fat and protein is essential for a balanced meal. By eating a variety of delicious meals at regular intervals which are less in fat, a proper health is maintained.

He further suggests that exercise should be a part of one’s daily life. Medical advice should be sought to follow the exercises which would suit the individual needs. To reiterate his theory he has written over ten books.

A visit to his website also can be highly informative about the facts and procedures in food consumption. A thorough understanding of the functions of the body would help to follow the diet program with conviction.

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Atkins Menu Plan

The Atkins diet limits the amounts of carbohydrates for daily consumption. The meal plans for the Atkins diet are not difficult but can be very time consuming for the average busy chief cook and bottle washer. Here are a couple of meal plans for the Atkins diet to save you a little time.

Try a little spaghetti for your meal plan on the Atkins diet. Not the kind made with pasta but spaghetti squash.

One cup of spaghetti squash contains 10 grams of carbohydrates; if you take out the fiber, it nets eight and is a great addition to a meal.

Low carbohydrate spaghetti sauce

4 cups of chopped fresh tomatoes
1 tablespoon of green bell pepper chopped
1 pound of ground beef fried with 2 tablespoons of onions chopped
1 cup of mushrooms
Salt, pepper, celery salt and garlic to taste.
4 grams of carbohydrate per cup.

Grated Parmesan cheese .20 grams per tablespoon or 1 gram for 5 tablespoons

Wedge of iceberg lettuce (1/6 of a head) 1 gram

Ranch salad dressing
1 cup of mayonnaise
3 tablespoons of sour cream
1 small spring onion
1 small clove of garlic minced
Salt and pepper to taste
Carbohydrates per tablespoon .05

Dessert:
1 cup of fresh blackberries topped with 1 tablespoon of Cool whip.
Net carbohydrates count: 7.2 grams

Total carbohydrate count for this menu depends on the serving size you choose. If you want 1 ½ cups of spaghetti squash, 2 cups of sauce, 2 tablespoons parmesan, the salad and 4 tablespoons of dressing and the dessert are only 31 grams of carbohydrates.

When you choose meal plans for the Atkins diet make sure you vary the vegetable selection. Most meats, poultry and fish contain no carbohydrates, except organ meats, breaded meats, mussels and oysters.

Another popular main dish for the Atkins diet is the Beef Roll Up You’ll need to start with:

Two pounds of beef round, cut ¼ inch thick slices
¼ cup Parmesan cheese
½ cup of fresh basil, chopped fine
2 ounces red bell peppers, roasted
2 cloves of garlic crushed
6 slices of thin sliced prosciutto
2 cups of tomato sauce
¼ cup of chopped onion

To prepare pound the meat thin and then sprinkle the top with salt and pepper. Put a little red pepper on each thin slice of meat, top with basil and the Parmesan cheese. Roll each piece tightly and brown in a heated pan containing oil, the crushed garlic and onion. Brown the rolled steak on all sides. Place the steak, garlic and onion in a baking dish, pour tomato sauce over the top of the ingredients and cover with foil. Bake at 300 degrees for 1-½ hours.
Net carbohydrates are 7 grams.

Cook one cup of peas and one cup of carrots together. Add a pat of butter and salt and pepper to taste.
Carbohydrates per ½ serving: 7 grams.

Iceberg lettuce salad (1/6 head) with ¼ tomato chopped and ¼ stalk of chopped celery.
Carbohydrate count 3 grams.

Add bacon to the ranch dressing from the previous meal.
Carbohydrates per serving .5

2 sliced fresh apricot Carbohydrate count 6
Total carbohydrate count for the meal if you eat one beef roll up and ½ cup of peas and carrots is almost 20.5 grams.

There are many different low carbohydrate foods to choose from and the main course is the easiest since meat is low in carbohydrates. When you make meal plans for the Atkins diet make sure you record the carbohydrate count in a book. After a few months you have ready made menus at the tip of your fingers.

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Crash Diets

Thousands of men and women follow crash diets every year in the hope that they will lose a significant amount of weight in a very short period of time. Crash diets are popular because they promise more energy, fast weight loss, and sometimes even more toning within days or weeks. Frequently, these diets promise results within five days and maximum results within four weeks, but these days, crash diets are unanimously denounced by experts as inefficient, not to mention dangerous.

A crash diet is one of the most restrictive types of weight loss plans that you can follow. However, they are not only a poor way of losing weight they can also be very dangerous for your body. During strict crash diets, carbohydrate and calorie intake is so low, that your organs cannot get enough energy from these sources. Weight-loss cycles also have a more profound impact on your mind, as the initial losses and inevitable gains make it easy to get demoralised.

Many followers of crash diets even end up putting back on all of the weight they lost, along with additional pounds. This is known as the yo-yo diet effect because of the impact that this type of starvation diet has on your body’s metabolism and it is not coincidence that weight loss experts, nutritionists, doctors, and fitness professionals do not recommend crash diets to their clients and patients.

Not only do crash diets cause extreme food cravings, but they can also wreak havoc with your mood. You may find yourself feeling more irritable or depressed than usual and they can also set people up for serious mental health disorders, particularly eating disorders like anorexia and bulimia and are extremely dangerous for your vital organs, including your heart, kidneys, liver, and brain.

Crash diets don’t solve the real problem and do not change that lifestyle pattern, which is of the utmost importance for successful prolonged weight loss. Inevitably, when you get off the diet, the weight returns with a vengeance. Simply, crash diets don’t work in the end.

Successful dieting means taking a healthful approach to eating that can be sustained and evolved into your lifestyle so that, gradually, a change to a healthier way of eating is the result. For this reason the best diets are based on real foods rather than shakes, bars or special food formulas which you would otherwise not give a second thought to. Diets should not deprive you of food, but allow you to take some time to lose weight so your body gradually get used to it and therefore it will be more difficult to put on weight again.

So in the end crash diets are not only agonizing during, but very disappointing after, as the results don’t last. Healthy eating and mild exercise is the right route to dieting and consulting your Doctor, who can put together an eating plan for you which takes into account your metabolism and general health, is highly recommended. Crash diets are unhealthy and are best to avoided at all costs if you are intent on losing some weight.

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