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I am going shopping today and need to buy some stuff. What are some good healthy, low fat and low carb meal plans. I am basically looking for something healthy. I already plan on buying chicken breasts, eggs. What are some good ideas? What did you eat to get your six-pack and lose fat?
Archive for August, 2010
Low-carbohydrate diets are nutritional programs that advocate restricted carbohydrate consumption. Low carb diets are based on the principle that a diet low in carbohydrates leads to decreased production of body’s insulin, resulting in consumption of fat stores as energy source. Low-carb diets are usually higher in fat. And fat takes longer to digest, which makes you feel fuller longer. Most low-carb diets reduce your overall calorie intake because they strictly limit the variety of foods you can eat.
Carbohydrates — including bread, pasta, rice, cereals, milk, fruit and sweets — usually supply over half of people’s daily calories. Many carbohydrate-containing foods are loaded with essential vitamins, minerals, fiber and other substances that promote health. While eliminating “white” carbs, such as white bread, white rice and white pasta, is fine to do, incorporating whole grains, fruits and other natural carbs is essential. And while you do need carbohydrates, take in moderation if there is little or no weight loss cut the carbs.
This 30 minute workout combined with any weight loss diet will yeild amazing results.
As a practicing cardiologist Dr Arthur Agatson was getting more and more frustrated when his patients failed to lose weight. They were faithfully following the standard, low-fat American Heart Association diet on his advice, with no results. He noticed that, not only didn’t they lose weight, but their blood chemistry did not improve. The results he was looking for was an increase in HDL (good cholesterol) and a decrease in LDL (bad cholesterol). Eventually, he developed a new diet specifically for his patients, which later became the basis for his best seller book, The South Beach Diet, which was first published in April 2003. The South Beach Diet was on the New York Times best seller list for more than 96 consecutive weeks, and in excess of 8.5 million copies have been printed. The book was listed as #1 on the New York Times Bestseller list for 38 weeks. Like many other so-called “low carb” diets, the South Beach Diet assumes that many of us are addicted to carbohydrate-rich foods. The South Beach Diet is very similar to the Atkins Diet. They are so similar that many people believe the South Beach Diet is just a revised version of the Atkins Diet. The first phases for both diets are designed to get rid of the body’s addition to carbohydrates. Where the Atkins Diet has four phases, the South Beach Diet only has three, with a single phase replacing the second and third phases of Atkins. The last phases of both diets, again, are very similar. Since greater variety of foods are introduced earlier on in the South Beach Diet Plan, dieters tend to lose weight at a slightly slower pace than those on Atkins, but many find the South Beach Diet easier to follow because it is less restrictive. This diet focuses heavily on balancing the blood sugar levels, and as such, the Glycemic Index plays a very important role in this diet. The Glycemic Index is a ranking system for carbohydrates based on their effect on blood sugar. On the South Beach Diet, carbohydrates are selected using the Glycemic Index tables; the lower the ranking the better. This also leads us to one of the South Beach Diet’s major differences from the Atkins diet. The South Beach Diet allows most carbohydrates (preferably only those high in fiber, like multi-grain bread and wild rice), while these products are typically just too high in carbohydrates for an Atkins follower, even on the maintenance phase. Another area where the approaches of Atkins and Agatston differ quite drastically is on the healthy intake of fats. Atkins followers are encouraged to ingest saturated and monounsaturated fats in the first phase, and then gradually reduce the saturated fat content of meals during later phases as more carbohydrates are introduced. Dr. Agatston advocates mostly monounsaturated fats, like those found in olive oil, nuts and oily fish like salmon, throughout his diet. You will not find butter, bacon or anything fried in the South Beach meal plans, whereas they are positively encouraged during the first Atkins phases. One of the benefits of the South Beach Diet over many of its competitors is that Kraft Foods entered into an alliance with Dr Agatston. Together they launched a whole range of South Beach Diet convenience products, which covers breakfast, lunch, dinner, dessert and even snacks. Examples of the convenience food on offer include breakfast cereal, meal replacement bars, frozen pizzas and frozen entrees. Dr Agatston once stated “My goal is to help change the way America eats, and these great-tasting, nutrient-rich products from Kraft are convenient, making it easier for people to follow The South Beach Diet – whether for a healthy lifestyle or weight loss.” As with many of the other popular diet books on the market, it is very difficult to find specific scientific proof for the South Beach Diet. Some aspects of the diet may have been scientifically studied and reviewed, for example the benefits of monounsaturated fats, or the benefits of regulating your blood sugar. In general though, it is safe to say that the South Beach Diet is based on sound principles, and can offer you a well-balanced and sustainable way of life.
Jo Campbell is an expert in the field of weight loss and management. She writes for OptimalBodyWeight.com
I want to lose weight. I want to lose weight quick. How many calories should I eat to lose weight? That answer depends on many factors, there is no magic number, if you will. A person’s daily recommended caloric intake for weight loss will depend on such factors as height, current weight, fat to muscle ratio, etc. However, there are some general rules of thumb that do apply.
If you are wondering, “How many calories should I eat to lose weight?”, a great place to start is to find your personal BMR (basal metabolic rate). There are many BMR calculators available online that will do these calculations for you. This calculation will give you the number of calories you will need in order to maintain your current weight. From here, you can decide at what rate you would like to lose the weight and subtract calories from this number. To lose one pound, the body must be deficient of 3500 calories. A person can deduct these calories either through exercise or by deducting calories from their daily food intake. By simply cutting 250 calories from your diet each day when figuring how many calories should I eat to lose weight, and walking moderately for 30 minutes five days per week, you can lose at least one pound per week.
Cutting at least 250 calories from your diet each day should not be difficult. If you are a soda drinker, a great way to cut out those calories is to skip a can of soda per day. Sodas are full of sugar and chemicals and are com plete empty calories. This means that they only do harm to your body. Sodas have absolutely no nutritional value. Skipping the fast food line is also an easy way to cut the unwanted calories and fat from your diet when deciding on how many calories I should eat to lose weight. It is common knowledge that fast food is laden with fat and unneeded calories. Instead, opt for fresh salads, small amounts of proteins, and small amounts of complex carbohydrates like brown rice. If you do splurge for fast food, order the smallest burger on the menu and remove the top half of the bun. Instead of greasy fries, order a side salad, and instead of a soda, opt for water instead.
As you can see, “How many calories should I eat to lose weight?”, is a question without a simple answer. There are many theories floating around out there that do not force a person to count calories, but most of these theories lead to fad dieting, which is unhealthy and unproductive.
The good news is that it is fairly simple to calculate how many calories you need to consume in order to lose the weight in a healthy manor. As long as you remember that you need to delete 3500 calories in some way, shape or form from your body to lose a pound, you can easily figure what foods are worth eating and which ones you need to steer clear of. Once you learn to eat in moderation and exercise regularly, the weight will start to come off. Weight loss is not a crap shoot, it is simply science.
Stephen Choy, editor of www.quickways2loseweight.com