Overcoming plateaus on the Atkins diet. Helpful Information to Know

If you are experiencing a stall or plateau in your Atkins weight loss efforts, you are not alone. This occurs from time to time. However, you first must make sure that you have actually reached a plateau point. A plateau means that you have gone an extended period of time without losing weight or inches. It’s important to take your measurements before you start your weight loss plan, in addition to your weight. On some weeks it may not seem like you are losing any at all on the scale. But a qu

Appetite diet. Useful Things to Know

One of the most common, and surprising, effects of following the Atkins diet is appetite suppression. Many followers of the plan report that the between meal hunger pangs they used to experience fade away very quickly. This makes it easier to stay on the diet and continue to lose weight. While other diets have their followers starving between meals, the Atkins diet offers relief from constant hunger. The Atkins diet, with its specific combination of foods and ingredients, has powerful appetite s

Overcoming plateaus on the Atkins diet. Interesting Information to Take Into Consideration

June 23, 2009 Overcoming plateaus on the Atkins diet. Interesting Information to Take Into Consideration If you are experiencing a stall or plateau in your Atkins weight loss efforts, you are not alone. This occurs from time to time. However, you first must make sure that you have actually reached a plateau point.A plateau means that you have gone an extended period of time without losing weight or inches. It’s important to take your measurements before you start your weight loss plan, in ad

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How Safe Is The Atkins Diet To Have Fast Fat Loss?

by Christine G. ShannonMost people have heard of the Atkins diet, but may have no idea who Robert Atkins, the founder is. He was a doctor in the 70’s that was overweight, read a normal diet plan in the Journal of American Medicine and adapted it to fit his own needs and lost weight with it. He started writing books about his weight loss plan and the rest is history.The Atkins diet or low carb diet, as it is often called, involves restricting carbohydrates, but allows all the protein you want. So

Zone Diet

The zone diet is considered a fad diet created by a biochemist named Barry Sears.  In reality it’s not a  fad diet in that it is not planned to only be consumed in short periods, but rather to become the normal eating habits for a person. It is considered a low carbohydrate diet, however is more based on balancing hormones and therefore does not restrict carbohydrates as much as other low carbohydrate diets such as the Atkins diet.

The basis of the zone diet is a ratio of calories from carbohydrates, proteins, and fats all of 40 to 30 to 30. Some nonscientific studies done by various television shows have shown that the diet can indeed produce reasonable weight-loss. In fact, many of these nonscientific studies show that people gain muscle mass while losing weight on the zone diet. Many of the people in these studies also reported that of all the low carbohydrate diets, the zone diet was easiest to fit into an everyday lifestyle.

The zone in zone diet refers to a hormone balance in which insulin levels are perfect, glucagen levels are perfect, and thus the body releases various anti-inflammatory chemicals similar to aspirin but without side effects.  In addition, claims Sears, the natural anti-inflammatories help with heart health. Another benefit of the zone diet is that once the human body is in this hormonal balance it becomes more efficient and stops storing excess calories as fat.  Thus, with no fat stored, and with stored fat used as energy, the body loses weight. Later Sears added a Omega three and Omega six fatty acids to the diet, through such supplements as pharmaceutical fish oils.

A typical zone diet meal was described by its creator in the following manner. In every meal eat enough protein to fit in the palm of your hand, as many non-starchy raw vegetables as you can take, just enough carbohydrates to maintain mental clarity, and just enough oils to stop hunger.

This zone diet has a famous weight loss case in its files, that of the man who weighed over 1200 pounds. After two years on the zone diet he lost nearly 1/3 of that weight, all that after trying everything he could think of including liposuction that had nearly been fatal. The man’s current diet consists of 2000 calories broken up into six meals per day. It includes egg white omelets, fresh salads, chicken, fish, and other healthy foods mandated by the zone diet.

Give the zone diet a try, but be careful.

Fat Smash Diet

The fat smash diet was a diet book written by Dr. Ian Smith, and made popular on a VH1 show called Celebrity Fit Club where B. list celebrities competed to lose the most weight. The diet is based on changing bad habits in both eating and exercise.

Ian Smith, the fat smash diet author, has quite a resume. He graduated from Harvard, is a medical contributor to the view television program, a medical columnist for men’s health magazine, and sits on the Board of Directors of the American Council on exercise. He also happened to be the head judge on celebrity fit club, a show that was designed around his book and fat smash diet plan.

The fat smash diet is separated into four phases designed to smash bad habits and create new healthy habits. These phases are:

One – detox: This is a nine day period on the fat smash diet during which the body and mind are purged of impurities, and during which Dr. Smith claims people can lose anywhere from 6 to 10 pounds. This phase includes some strange but ineffective suggestions such as weighing yourself in the nude and being photographed in a bathing suit.

Two – foundation: This is a three-week phase of the fat smash diet during which many foods removed in the detox phase are re-added to the diet. These include the 3 ounces of meat or seafood, and is based on portion control rather than calorie count.

Three – construction: This a four-week phase is a time during which the dieter creates an eating plan that incorporates foods they enjoy. These foods can include desserts, pasta, bread, and many other foods restricted another types of diets such as the Atkins diet.  In the fat smash diet moderation is the key.

Four – Temple: This is the portion of the fat smash diet that lasts the rest of your life. Dr. Smith refers to the work done in the other three phases as the Temple, which must be maintained with continued diligence in moderation achieved through self-control.

Fat smash diet has both good and bad aspects.  The initial 6 to 10 pound weight loss is really due to severe calorie cutting which can be dangerous. In addition the nine day detox is considered unhealthy by many health experts.  But many of the general principles of the fat smash diet are good ones – including exercise and moderation in all foods eaten.

Fad Diets

Fad diets are diets designed to be followed for only a short period of time.  Another popular culture meaning for the term is a diet that becomes wildly popular for a period of a few months to a few years, and then fades into obscurity. Some of these fad diets include the cabbage soup diet, the Atkins diet, and the cookie diet.

Another name for the fad diet is food fadism. This refers to any form of food that becomes popular for a short period of time such as the fad diet. These generally have some common elements, including:

-    Some elements of the food are said to have miraculous properties.
-    Many other foods are completely eliminated from the diet, because they are thought to have negative properties.

As example of these elements of fad diets in the diet, take the Atkins diet. In this diet carbohydrates are the Keystone element that is negative and therefore to be avoided. Carbohydrates take on both of the common elements in that removing carbohydrates from the diet creates a near magical metabolic state in which fat is burned at an incredible rate.  This diet had a number of short periods of extreme carbohydrate avoidance, followed by long periods of sustainable low carbohydrate eating. Unlike many fad diets the Atkins diet was designed to be something a person could stick to for a long period of time.

The Atkins diet was also one of these fad diets in that huge popularity was fairly short-lived. For a number of years the Atkins diet was everywhere, and everyone seemed to be following it.  Entertainment magazines were full of movie stars and music stars and sports stars who claimed amazing weight loss and fitness all due to the Atkins diet. But after the death of Dr. Atkins, the diet became much less of a household word.

Many fad diets can be quite dangerous.  Even a diet like the Subway diet, as first presented in the commercials, could have problems. It was based on the legend of Jared, a young man who’d lost nearly 250 pounds in only a year by eating Subway sandwiches, baked chips, and diet soda. In reality Jared cut his caloric intake from over 10,000 calories a day to only 900.  Such an extreme level of caloric intake cuts and rapid weight loss is unhealthy. Even so, the Subway diet when followed in moderation can work.  Particularly because the diet included exercise — Jared walked 6 miles a day while losing the weight.

Beware of fad diets. A healthy combination of reasonable diet and exercise in the long-term can help you lose weight and maintain a healthy lifestyle.

Atkins Grapefruit Diet

The Atkins Grapefruit diet is a diet plan, not endorsed by the estate of Dr. Atkins, that plays on the popularity of the grapefruit diet and the Atkins diet name.  A closer look into this diet shows that it may not be all it claims to be.

First of all it’s pretty difficult to find information on the Atkins grapefruit diet plan.  Smart people know that when someone is perpetrating a deception, or a con, they will often gloss over facts.  This is what the Atkins grapefruit diet seems to do in an attempt to get people to associate it with two supposedly effective diets.

Is the Atkins Grapefruit Diet part of the Atkins Diet or endorsed by the estate of the late Dr. Atkins?  The answer is no, not only is there no mention of the Atkins Grapefruit Diet on the Atkins web site, but there is no fruit of any kind mentioned in the list of allowed foods in the Atkins diet Induction phase.

The induction phase includes the following foods:

Fish of all kinds
All fowl such as turkey and chicken
Any shellfish
Any meat such as beef or pork
Eggs cooked in any style including fried
Cheese
Vegetables
Herbs and Spices
Fats and Oils
Low carbohydrate beverages including diet soft drinks

Notice one thing – fruit is not on that list.  Later phases of the Atkins diet do include limited amounts of fruits such as cantaloupe and even lemon juice, and the pre-maintenance and maintenance phases even specifically allow small quantities of grapefruit.  But when compared to the amount of Grapefruit recommended on the Atkins Grapefruit Diet, again there is a disagreement.

The Atkins Grapefruit Diet recommends a cup of grapefruit juice or a cup of grapefruit sections, with 8 and 18 carbs respectively.  Even the most generous phases of the Atkins diet, when it comes to grapefruit, recommends limiting intake to below 8 carbs per day.  That’s a direct contradiction of one diet to the other.

Most reasonable people would look directly at the Atkins site the moment they heard of the Atkins Grapefruit Diet.  When they found no mention of that diet on the site, a red light would go off and an alarm would sound.

In general remember this.  Any diet that relies too heavily on one food, such as grapefruit on a grapefruit diet, is unhealthy in any but extremely short periods.  The Atkins Grapefruit Diet is not associated with the Atkins diet, and may interfere with the results of the Atkins diet in its early phases.

Atkins Diet

The short name for the Atkins nutritional approach is the Atkins diet, which was the brainchild of the doctor named Robert Atkins. He had gained a lot of weight in medical school. He read about this diet in the medical journal and decided to improve it and release it under his name.

Atkins, in his Atkins Diet, believed prevailing theories about weight gain were all wrong. First, he dismissed the idea that saturated fats were bad. Instead it was carbohydrates that led to the weight problems Americans have. Atkins held that our obsession with fat actually worsened the problem. He pointed to all the low-fat foods that were high in carbohydrates. That meant people on a diet often ate foods that were worse than they normally ate.

The Atkins diet shifts the focus. By cutting out carbohydrates people would burn stored body fats. Lose the fat lose the weight. It’s not just a matter of eating less. Dr. Atkins held that your diet could actually help you burn calories. The Atkins diet supposedly burned an extra 950 calories everyday. But the claims were not true.

Dr. Atkins also touted the positive influence this Atkins diet could have on people with type 2 diabetes. As opposed to type 1 diabetes, type 2 is often closely associated with diet and people who weigh too much. So in general any diet that helps decrease weight will help address type 2 diabetes. But the Atkins diet is also low in carbohydrates, which must be avoided with type 2 diabetes regardless of caloric intake, so by means of this aspect of the diet Atkins claimed those who suffer type 2 diabetes would no longer need medication such as insulin. The medical world, in general, disagrees with Atkins on this point. They agree lower carbohydrates help with type 2 diabetes, but there is no proof that carbohydrates cause the disease.

What steps does one take to follow the Atkins diet? It follows four phases – induction, ongoing weight loss, pre-maintenance and lifetime maintenance. Here is an overview of the most important phase – Induction.

The Induction phase is the most difficult phase of the Atkins diet. Atkins is flexible as to the time period – but recommends two weeks. During this phase carbohydrates are severely limited – only up to 20 grams per day. The goal is to enter a fat burning metabolic phase called ketosis when the body, starved of glucose, will begin converting stored fat into fatty acids needed to power the body. Weight loss during this phase can be extreme – some Atkins followers reported losses of 5-10 pounds a week.

Learning the ideal carbohydrate levels for weight losing and for day to day intake after the weight loss ends are the purposes of the final three phases in the Atkins diet. Millions of people are still losing weight on this diet – but beware the dangers of taking in too much fat.

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