Low Carb vs. High
March 8, 2010
Low carb diets can be classified as food plans that require keeping carbohydrates as low as 3% and never more than about 25 to 30%. This is much lower than the 50 to 60% recommended by most good scientists and valid research. Low carb diets include programs like Atkins, Protein Power, The Zone, Sugar Busters and the South Beach diet.
As you can see by the chart below, the Ornish and Pritikin diets at 70% and 80% carbs, are definitely high carb. One means used to distract people’s attention away from the fact that the Atkins diet is basically an unhealthy food plan is to compare a "low carb" diet to a "high carb" diet. However, neither one is the best solution.
Although the in-depth research of Dr. Dean Ornish, using his high carb/low fat diet, has uncovered some amazing findings and produced phenomenal results in reversing heart disease, as a weight loss program and regular eating plan, it has some drawbacks. The Ornish diet, as with Pritikin, is proving to be too low in healthy oils from fish, olives, nuts and seeds. Plus, it may also raise triglycerides and lower HDL (good) cholesterol.
Spot Reducing is For The Laundry
March 3, 2010
· Can you give me an exercise that will get rid of the fat on my stomach?
· What exercises an I do to tone my thighs?
· Can you recommend some exercises to make my arms, thighs and stomach smaller and also speed up my weight loss??
I hear questions such as this on a daily basis, both from our clients and from people standing in the grocery line with me who want to know what exercises I do for such "toned" arms. Spot reduction works only in the laundry room, ladies and gentleman - there is simply no such thing as localized fat loss. The reality is - muscles which are stimulated with exercise will increase in size, regardless of what type of exercise gadget is used to "tone" an area. While resistance training is vital to overall fat loss and sculpting the body that you want, "overtraining" an area with the hopes of "toning" it will lead to muscle being added disproportionately and the area getting larger. If you build muscle more quickly that you strip fat in any area , it will get bigger.
Shape Up! 4-Alternative Weight Loss Solutions
February 28, 2010
I am embarrassed to admit how many different commercial weight loss programs I’ve tried. I don’t know about you, but after a while I grow tired of talking heads touting empty promises. None of them helped me look the way I think I should and most of them left me agonizing over eating the same foods over and over.
What’s a body to do?
In this article I’ve outline a few different ideas that I’ve found to really work. Ideas I continue to come back to again and again. Whether you need to lose a few pounds or are looking for a healthy lifestyle change, these 4 solutions will help get you started.
Solution #1: Use Creative Visualization
Creative visualization a great way to bring about lifestyle change. "Seeing" yourself thinner is one of the most successful ways to decrease your body size and improve body image. Guided imagery works by training your mind to stimulate changes within your body.
This can be accomplished using a few of my favorite tools:
Affirmations: Using affirmations will train your mind by stating or affirming your intentions. It will retrain your thinking toward positive thoughts.
Citric Fruits - A Healthy Food
February 22, 2010
New studies suggested once again that citric fruits including oranges, tangerines, and grapefruits help fight cancer, high cholesterol, and obesity.
Studies both at Texas A&M University and Kanazawa Medical University in Japan showed that compounds in citric fruits can help reduce the risk of colon cancer. Researchers at Texas A&M University found that freeze-dried grapefruit, similar to the whole grapefruit, can reduce the incidence of early colon cancer lesions in animals. The Japanese researchers found anti-colon cancer properties in nobiletin - a compound found in tangerines.
Grapefruit can also reduce the risk of cancer caused by smoking. A study on the cancer prevention was done by the researchers at the University of Hawaii. The researchers found that drinking 6 ounces of grapefruit juice a day reduces the activity of a liver enzyme that is thought to activate toxic chemicals in the smoke.
On another front, scientists from the USDA and a Canadian company isolated a compound - polymethoxylated flavones (PMFs) - from orange and tangerine peels that can actually lower cholesterol in animals. They found that use of food containing 1% PMFs can lower cholesterol by 32 to 40%.
Some Straight Talk About Low-Carbohydrates and Your Health
February 18, 2010
There have been many diets and weight loss plans that have come and gone over the years. Low-carbohydrate, high-protein diets were popular decades ago. And today are making a comeback.
These diets do promote weight loss. Low-carbohydrate, high- protein diets are more effective. Than low-fat, low-cholesterol, low-calorie diets. Also your cholesterol levels often improve more on a low-carb diet.
A low-carb diet plan structures your eating choices around the selection of lean protein sources. Focusing on fish, soy, poultry, low fat dairy and lean red meats.
It is a diet high in fibrous, crispy vegetables and fruits. Like green beans, cauliflower, broccoli, asparagus, peppers, spinach, lettuces, berries, cherries, grapes and melons, to name a few.
You are also allowed limited size portions of starchy vegetables. Such as potatoes, carrots, beets and beans/legumes.
However, sweets and sugary foods are eliminated. With the exception of small portions on occasional *diet holidays*.
Your focus should be on healthy choices of fats. That Include raw nuts, seeds, nut butters, olives, olive oil, nut oils. Also some butter, fish oil and flax seed meal.
You should avoid trans fats (partially hydrogenated fats). Like fried foods, excessive saturated fats and margarine that contains trans fats.
Who Said Low Carb Diets Ever Meant No-Carb?
February 14, 2010
A little information if often a dangerous thing… and many people trying low carb diets failed miserably in the long-run because they took the concept to its extreme figuring that if low-carb diets were good, then no-carb diets must be better? Wrong!
One of the primary reasons why low carb diets are so successful for a lot of people is that it forces them to remove the nutrient-deficient junk food from their daily food intake. In the last 20 years the average North American diet has become so polluted with refined foods, sugars, and unhealthy fats that the average American is now clinically obese!
Low carb diets owe their success to common sense more that any "diet revelation". When was it ever acceptable to consume donuts, soda pop, Big Macs, deep-fried French fries and pizza on a daily basis? As people’s lives became busier the advent of fast food and convenience food grew by leaps and bounds. This was all very convenient for busy families trying to get food on the dinner table in time, but only now are we realizing the true cost of this convenience.
Why Most Diets Dont Work
February 10, 2010
Ever thought of, known someone, or gone on a diet? You probably have. The word diet seems like a common word for someone who is unsatisfied with their current physical condition. The problem is that most diets usually end up failing?in the long run. Going on a "diet" usually refers to eating alot less food, in the hope that it will make us lose those unwanted pounds of fat. Although there are different types of diets, 90% of them stress a strong reduction in calories one way or another.
Everyone has a certain amount of calories that they require per day to keep themselves alive and to perform bodily processes. This requirement of calories is known as Resting Metabolic Rate or RMR for short. For the purpose of this article, we will use my body as an example. My RMR is about 2500 calories/day. I will eat about 2500 calories to just keep myself alive. Note: You can calculate your RMR at http://www.weight-loss-resources.com/calculators/rmr.html
Low-Carb Diets: Are You Losing More than Weight?
February 7, 2010
The average American eats about twice as much protein than what they require. Some people, in the pursuit of thinness, are going on low-carb diets and are eating up to four times the protein their body needs. Protein deficiency is certainly not a problem in America. So exactly how much protein do you really need? Much less than you think.
Protein is a vital nutrient, essential to your health. In its purest form, protein consists of chains of amino acids. There are 22 amino acids that combine to form different proteins, and 8 to 9 of these must come from the foods we eat. Our body uses these amino acids to create muscles, blood, skin, hair, nails and internal organs. Proteins help replace and form new tissue, transports oxygen and nutrients in our blood and cells, regulates the balance of water and acids, and is essential for making antibodies.
However, too much of a good thing may not be so good for you. Many people are putting their health at risk by eating to much protein. Excessive protein consumption, particularly animal protein, can result in heart disease, stroke, osteoporosis, and kidney stones. As important as protein is for our body, there are many misconceptions about how much we really need in our diet, and the best way to obtain it.
Weight Loss Surgery: A Last Resort
February 3, 2010
Thinking about weight loss surgery? You’re not alone. Over two-thirds of Americans are overweight or obese. Many are looking for ways to lower their bodyweight and enjoy a healthier, more active lifestyle. A fast surgical procedure seems like a great option. But, for the vast majority of people, weight loss surgery should be a last resort.
One of the most common types of weight loss surgery is liposuction, a procedure that removes excess fat from the waistline. Thousands of people - mostly women - undergo liposuction surgery every year. For many, it appears to be a much easier alternative to diet and exercise. Yet recent studies show that removing abdominal fat with liposuction provides almost none of the health benefits of “normal” weight loss: lowered levels of blood sugar, insulin and inflammation-related biomarkers, not to mention increased cardiovascular fitness, improved muscle tone, stronger bones, etc.
Another little-known problem with liposuction weight loss surgery: over 40% of patients regain the weight they lose from the procedure. Why? Simply because they make no healthy lifestyle changes. Some even believe that they can exercise less and eat more now that they have fewer abdominal fat cells. Obviously this isn’t true and thousands of people find that out the hard way.
Diet: Changing Your Focus
January 30, 2010
Have you ever decided to take a trip somewhere relatively unfamiliar? Suddenly, everywhere you look, there is something about your planned destination. Turn on a television travel channel and it is featured. Pick up a newspaper and there is an article about it. Why this sudden universal interest in somewhere you had never really thought much about?
That is the secret: you were not previously thinking about it. The subject was always out there but you didn’t -attend so you didn’t notice. We are surrounded by so much stimulation and information that we cannot grasp more than a fraction of what comes into our environment. We filter out the vast majority of that stimuli by our own interests and by our lack of interest. Become involved in a new field and what you thought was a rather narrow and under-developed subject is revealed as a worldwide, enormous, fully developed area in which you are a novice surrounded by experts who appear to be widely known and respected — the “gurus” of the new field — but you have never heard of them before.
