Saturday, April 21, 2012
WHAT ARE FAST DIETS?
Fast diets are everywhere these days. One has only to turn on the television or pick up any woman’s magazine to be literally bombarded with a huge variety of tips, tricks, cheats, and hints on how to lose weight fast. It’s almost as if trying and discarding diets on a daily basis has become our national pastime.
Most of us would like to lose weight. And, because we have been conditioned to expect instant gratification, we want to do it quickly. We want that fast transformation, and will try any number of strange diets in an effort to reach our goal.
There are many different diet plans out there that can help quickly jump start your weight loss. Some of the most popular fast diet plans include things such as a juice fast, where you consume nothing but juice for several days before going back to solid food, and the cabbage soup diet, where you eat cabbage soup for 2 out of 3 meals every day. Other diets may recommend eating foods in certain combinations on the theory that this makes a difference in the way the fat and calories are absorbed into the body.
Some of the more extreme fast diets include the Lemonade Diet. This diet calls for the dieter to drink 160 ounces a day of a lemonade mixture mixed with cayenne pepper and nothing else. No fruit, vegetables, meat or beverages, just the lemonade. Equally strange is the Chocolate Diet, which bans all salt, sugars, dairy products, red meat, nuts, seeds, coffee or soda, but allows you up to one ounce of chocolate every day.
Trying to lose weight quickly can have some unpleasant side effects. By drastically cutting your caloric intake, you may initially see a quick loss of pounds followed by no weight loss at all. This happens because your body’s starvation response kicks in. The starvation response is something that humans developed over thousands of years of evolution as a means to conserve energy. If your body experiences a sudden drastic reduction in calories, it will automatically slow your metabolism so that fewer calories will be burned, hence saving energy. Instead of cutting your calorie count so drastically, try reducing it by making healthier choices and slowly incorporating exercise into your daily routine.
While a fast diet can provide the motivation many people need to continue on a healthier eating plan, it is not always an appropriate long-term option. Here are some tips which can help you quickly drop some pounds, but which are also easy to maintain.
- Cut the fat-try to have no more than 25% of your calories come from fat.
- Reduce sugar and artificial sweeteners-sugar adds unnecessary calories and artificial sweeteners can make you crave sweets in general.
- Drink water-as a general rule, drink a half ounce of water for every pound of body weight.
- Choose fiber-high fiber foods such as raw vegetables and whole grain products will help you feel full so you eat less.
By following these common sense rules, you should be able to start losing weight at a sensible rate, which will help you keep it off in the long run.
healthy diet for adults
A healthy diet is beneficial in many ways. In addition to controlling a person’s weight, healthy diets protect against serious disease. They can also help people emotionally, as some foods are known to boost the body’s serotonin level. However, even in the midst of these benefits, many people fail at healthy eating because their regime is too boring or strict. To avoid this problem, you should form a diet plan based on two factors: your own personal health and the types of foods that you like to consume.
To form a diet based on your personal health, first you need to figure out how many calories you need each day. People of normal weight usually need around 2,000 calories, though there might be fluctuation depending on physical activity, height and age. In addition, people who are overweight usually need to consume fewer calories to jump start weight loss. In either case, there are a plethora of online calorie calculators you can use to get a specific figure.
Now you need to think about any physical conditions you might have. This is important, as there is no universal approach to eating healthy. Diabetics will need a diet plan that is different from those with cardiac problems. The same is also true when it comes to women who are pregnant or nursing.
The next step involves choosing a food pyramid and consulting with your doctor, (if necessary). If you are accustomed to the Western diet, the American food pyramid is the best choice. There are also food pyramids that recognize Asian, Latino, Mediterranean and vegetarian diets. Try to avoid fast diets as they tend to be unhealthy for the body. Just make sure that regardless of what you choose it meets your doctor’s recommendations.
Once you have decided which pyramid you are going to follow, you need to think about how you will manage cravings for “bad” foods. Sometimes this can be minimized with a healthy recommendation from a food pyramid. For example, instead of grabbing a cupcake for a desert, force yourself to eat your favorite fruit. Since it is something you like anyway, you will not feel like you are missing out.
You could also eat low-fat/low-calorie versions of your favorite sweets. True, you do not want to overdo things, as sweets are not a major component of a healthy diet plan. However, sometimes indulging on a healthier substitute can prevent a binge later on. The main key would be to limit yourself to one or two servings.
If this is not possible with a particular brand of sweets, stick to those that distribute food in a 100-calorie pack. Nabisco is one example. In their 100-calorie pack, you get dozens of small cookies to snack on. Psychologically, this may be more fulfilling than eating one large cookie.
Meat is another area of difficulty when you are eating healthy. People accustomed to the Western diet often develop a taste for large portions of fatty beef. Minimize this craving by eating more stir-fry meals, as their flavor comes more from the sauce than the meat. You should also try to put more emphasis on chicken and fish, as they are healthier sources of protein and are good examples of high protein foods.
Finally, you need to rethink the importance of carbohydrates. Thanks to Atkins, many people believe that carbs are bad. However, to form a healthy diet plan, you must consume a decent number of them. The key is to focus on good carbohydrates, like fruit and whole-grains. Sweets and carbs made from white flour are what you need to restrict.
No matter what diet plan you choose, keep in mind the side effects of fast weight loss and why it is often better to lose weight more gradually.
In conclusion, forming a healthy diet does not have to be an intimidating process. While nutrition is an important element of a healthy diet plan, you cannot abandon delectability. This is why you must think about both factors when forming your diet. By doing so, you will maintain success over the long haul.
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