Dan Dempsey’s Weight Loss Blog

People who need to lose weight are constantly seeking diets that work. The trick isn’t really finding a diet that works, but rather beginning a diet to which a person can stick. The diet industry is huge. Between books, diet food programs, trainers and nutritionists, spas, and all the other elements of the health and diet industry a lot of loot, over 46.8 billion dollars in 2005, is made not from people becoming healthy or losing weight, but rather from people trying to become healthy or lose weight. Because repeat business brings in the cash, the focus is surely on the yo-yo reality of un-healthy living followed by short periods of diets and health programs.

Here’s a diet that sheds pounds. Combine limiting caloric intake to 1000 calories a day with at least 30 minutes of exercise at least 5 days a week. It’s a guarantee you’ll drop pounds. Only two small things. The first is that cravings will ruin the diet. 1000 calories and all that exercise will eventually lead to ruinous hunger and binge eating. One piece of cake, or just one bag of chips, or one extra hamburger will soon steer you to end the diet. The second problem is what happens after the diet is over? What happens when the weight is shed? What, you’ll go right back to eating the same way you ate before the diet? Guess what, then the weight will come back. Next spring, or next fancy dress occasion, or next vacation, or simply the next time you look into a mirror on the way out of the gym it will be time to return to a diet to lose the unwanted pounds.

The best diet is one making a change to overall diet, forever. A lifestyle change to healthier eating habits and more physical activity is the best way to lose weight and keep off the weight. The Sonoma Diet, created by Connie Guttersen, focuses on 10 “power foods.” The power foods are almonds, bell peppers, blueberries, broccoli, grapes, olive oil, spinach, strawberries, tomatoes and whole grains, combined with the diet of the Sonoma country, which includes Asian, Latin American and Mediterranean foods and dishes. The diet is full of real food, and real portions, combined into enjoyable dishes to help motivate someone to stay with it .

Want a diet that works? Move your mind from a short term diet to permanent eating habits that go along with an overall healthy and active lifestyle. That’s the way to not only lose the weight, but to avoid gaining it in the first place.

In 1985 the famed three day diet first came on the scene. It boasted creation of a “specific metabolic reaction” to cause quick weight loss and the system to be cleansed. This reaction has never been proven or even attempted to be explained. The diet goes on for three days and then off for four or five with lots of specific and cryptic steps so that when it fails the dieter can be pinned for doing something wrong.

First day breakfast includes coffee (no sugar), one half a grapefruit, and a piece of toast with 1 Tbsp peanut butter. Lunch is a can of tuna, a piece of toast, and black coffee. For dinner it’s 3 ounces of chicken or lean meat, a cup of green beans, one cup of carrots, one apple, and one cup of regular vanilla ice cream. The other two days of the diet are pretty similar in meal quantity, though the specifics change, for example Day 2 recommends two beef franks for dinner in place of three ounces of lean meat. The diet crows that weight loss of 10 pounds is achievable over the 3 days that the diet lasts.

Hogwash is the answer. The question is what is a specific reaction to that claim? As stated the metabolic reaction has never been explained much less proven. Any weight loss would be mostly water loss due to a lack of carbs which help the body hold water. That could lead to dehydration.

Because of binge eating after such starvation and because most of the weight lost is from water, the weight will quickly return after the three days. Furthermore, such water loss could result in some serious medical problems. But hey, then you’d lose some real weight in the hospital.

The 3 day diet is best treated as a no day diet. In other words, don’t do it.

Article Title: Atkins diet
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Author: Daniel Dempsey

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Many people have heard of the Atkins diet, the short name for Atkins nutritional approach. It was the brainchild of the doctor named Robert Atkins. He had gained a great deal of weight while he attended medical school. Atkins read about a low-carb diet in one of his medical journals. He decided to improve it and release it under his name.

Dr. Atkins came up with new ideas, his Atkins diet, about the nature of weight gain. First, he dismissed the idea that saturated fats were bad. The carbohydrates are the culprits. In Atkins theory eating too little fat make things even worse. He pointed to all the low-fat foods that were high in carbohydrates. Dieters were being tricked into eating foods that would cause them to gain more weight.

The Atkins diet shifts the focus. He shifts dieters’ metabolism to burn body fats by cutting out carbohydrates from their diets. That’s the goal of weight loss. The goal wasn’t necessarily to take in fewer calories. The diet would work because it burned calories. In fact Atkins cited a study that claimed the body would burn an extra 950 calories on his diet. But the claims were not true.

The Atkins diet also could help people with type 2 diabetes.. Being overweight is generally considered the major cause for type 2 diabetes. Weight loss associated with the Atkins diet, as with any diet, would therefore help people manage type 2 diabetes. In addition the Atkins diet also addresses the measure of taking in fewer carbohydrates which is part of managing type 2 diabetes, so that Dr. Atkins suggested people on his diet would no longer need to monitor their blood sugar or take 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.

So just how does this Atkins diet work? It follows four phases - induction, ongoing weight loss, pre-maintenance and lifetime maintenance. Here are more details of Induction which is the most crucial of the phases.

As the first phase, Induction is the most crucial and most restrictive portion of the Atkins diet. This phase should be followed for a period of two weeks. Carbohydrates are nearly removed entirely from the diet, only 15-20 grams can be consumed each 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 of 20 pounds over this period isn’t uncommon – that’s a staggering amount.

The next three phases of the Atkins diet help establish the levels of carbs people can consume in order to lose weight and to maintain a desired weight. The diet lost popularity after Dr. Atkins died, but it’s still popular.

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Resource box: Daniel Dempsey Dempsey

2189 N. Rte. 83 # 103

Round Lake, IL 60073

http://www.dandempsey.com/weightloss/tsfls.htm

Do easy ways to lose weight exist? Everyone knows that diet, lowering food intake, and exercise, increasing calories burned, combine into a formula for losing weight. But the hard part is sticking to a low calorie, and often bland, diet. It won’t be easy, but with a little work it sure is easier. Here are some tips to make it easier.

Keep a daily log of everything that passes your lips. Keeping notes will help you eat less. Studies show that people eat 15% less when they track everything they eat. 15% is a lot.

On average Americans consume 245 calories a day from drinks. Switch from juice, soda, and other calorie drinks to water. 245 calories a day is nearly 90,000 calories a year. That’s 25 lbs. Water isn’t that bad, is it? Another fact is that despite their calories, drinks like soda and juice don’t trigger a feeling of fullness the way foods do.

Grazing, eating more smaller meals during the day rather than a few large meals, is another way to drop weight. Eating more meals with smaller portions results in eating 30% fewer calories. You’re also less likely to binge because the body won’t produce as much insulin which leads to hunger.

Make sure your wardrobe only includes the “skinny” clothes. If you don’t have clothes that are comfortable when you’re heavier, you’re more likely to be reminded to keep slim every time you dress. And if you have to buy a whole new wardrobe you’re less likely to gain weight.

Use smaller plates. It’s proven that people eat what’s in front of them. Smaller plates mean smaller portions, so put the salad plates into use as the main plate.

Try serving meals on the plate, restaurant style, rather than in bowls and on trays. When the plate is empty the meal is over, instead of spooning another portion onto your plate.

Avoid white foods such as white bread, sugar, and white rice. Those foods are loaded with carbohydrates which lead to higher blood sugar and weight gain. Do eat whole grain breads and brown rice. Don’t worry about the sugar, pretty soon you won’t miss it.

There are a lot of other tips for easy ways to lose weight. Don’t think it won’t take a little work. If weight loss were effortless everyone would be slim all the time.

Diet and exercise combined are king, together they represent the quickest way to lose weight. How do you burn more calories than you take in? There’s no need to starve, and in fact periods of starvation such as missing a meal could lead to more weight gain when the body enters “starvation” mode, not to mention starving yourself could cause tremendous damage to your body. Patience is a virtue when trying to lose weight, as with many endeavors. In the long run a smart every day diet combined with good exercise is the quickest way to lose weight. That’s without the yo-yo effect of many fad diets.

Diet doesn’t mean a diet, a short term alteration of normal eating habits. Diet means the everyday, day after day, for all the days of your life way that you eat. A good diet includes foods from each of the food groups, taken in moderation and the right amounts. And with a well balanced diet it’s easy to adjust calories down when you need to lose a few pounds temporarily.

Sounds like a big change, huh? It doesn’t have to be. You may already eat most of the foods needed for a well balanced diet, just not in the right portions. Cut down quantities, replace starches with whole grains, and you can still even eat cake while losing weight .

A good diet plan includes preparing for special occasions as well as for meals at home. Eating at restaurants and friends’ homes doesn’t mean breaking good eating habits. Ask some questions. Don’t let a failure discourage you. Sometimes you’ll eat the wrong things. But when you get bucked off get right back on. Get back to the diet.

As for exercise perform 30 minutes of aerobic exercise seven days a week. That’s the goal, don’t worry if you miss a day here or there. Add extra exercise such as parking further from the store or office for a little walk, or taking stairs instead of the elevator.

Combine the healthy every day diet with physical activity for the quickest way to lose weight.

Article Title: Atkins diet
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Author: Daniel Dempsey

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The short name for the Atkins nutritional approach is the Atkins diet. It was the brainchild of the doctor named Robert Atkins. He had gained a lot of weight in medical school. A medical Journal had an article about a diet. He decided to improve it and release it under his name.

Dr. Atkins had rather radical theories about the nature of weight gain as expressed in the Atkins diet. He held that saturated fats weren’t as bad as people claim. Carbohydrates, found in potatoes, and breads, were the real problem. In fact Atkins thought that the focus on fats had made a problem much worse. Carbohydrates are used to make up for the lack of fat in low fat foods. That meant people on a diet often ate foods that were worse than they normally ate.

The Atkins diet changes this. By cutting out carbohydrates people would burn stored body fats. Once the fat was burned, the pounds will follow. Atkins flipped the equation from lowering caloric intake. The diet would work because it burned 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. Being overweight is generally considered the major cause for type 2 diabetes. Therefore, by means of losing weight a person on the Atkins diet would be addressing their type 2 diabetes. Dr. Atkins also said that his Atkins diet would remove the need for medications such as insulin, because it severely cut down on carbohydrates which Atkins claimed were the major cause of type 2 diabetes. The jury is still out in the medical world as to the causes of type 2 diabetes. So while science agrees with Atkins that lowering intake of Carbohydrates will help with the disease, it would disagree that the step alone would remove the necessity for medicine.

What steps does one take to follow the Atkins diet? Induction, ongoing weight loss, pre-maintenance and lifetime maintenance are the four necessary phases of the diet. Here are more details of Induction which is the most crucial of the phases.

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 induction the dieter can consume only about 20 grams of carbohydrates on a day to day basis. 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 of 20 pounds over this period isn’t uncommon – that’s a staggering amount.

The next three phases of the Atkins diet help establish the levels of carbs people can consume in order to lose weight and to maintain a desired weight. The diet lost popularity after Dr. Atkins died, but it’s still popular.

====================================================================================================

Resource box: Daniel P. Dempsey

2189 N. Rte. 83 PMB 103

Round Lake, IL 60073

http://www.dandempsey.com/weightloss/tsfls.htm

In 1985 the famed three day diet first came on the scene. It boasted creation of a “specific metabolic reaction” to cause quick weight loss and the system to be cleansed. This reaction has never been proven or even attempted to be explained. The diet goes on for three days and then off for four or five with lots of specific and cryptic steps so that when it fails the dieter can be pinned for doing something wrong.

First day breakfast includes coffee (no sugar), one half a grapefruit, and a piece of toast with 1 Tbsp peanut butter. For lunch, you are to eat a can of tuna, a piece of toast, and black coffee. For dinner it’s 3 ounces of chicken or lean meat, a cup of green beans, one cup of carrots, one apple, and one cup of regular vanilla ice cream. The other two days of the diet are pretty similar in meal quantity, though the specifics change, for example Day 2 recommends two beef franks for dinner in place of three ounces of lean meat. The diet claims that weight loss of 10 pounds is achievable over the 3 days that the diet lasts.

Baloney! How’s that for specific? And no baloney is not part of the diet. As stated the metabolic reaction has never been explained much less proven. Any weight loss would be mostly water loss due to a lack of carbs which help the body retain water. That could lead to dehydration.

Once the three days are over the weight will return, primarily because it’s mostly water. But also because any weight lost from the lack of calories will be regained when the starving diet victim returns to normal, or in this case heavier than normal, eating. Deprive the body of water for three day cycles enough times and a person could develop kidney damage, dehydration, or a host of other dangerous conditions.

The 3 day diet is best treated as a no day diet. In other words, don’t do it.

Many people need to lose weight, and lots of people are always on the look out for diets that work. It’s not really difficult to find diets that work, but finding a diet a person can stick with is the trick. The diet industry is very large. With books, diet food programs, trainers and nutritionists, spas, and all the other parts of the health and diet industry a lot of money, over 46.8 billion dollars in 2005, is pulled in not from people becoming healthy or losing weight, but rather from people attempting to become healthy or lose weight. Because repeat business brings in the cash, the focus is naturally on methods and products that work for a short period of time but result in return business.

So you want a diet that works? Here’s one. Drink only water, eat only 1000 calories each day, and combine it with 30 minutes of aerobic activity five times a week. It’s a guarantee you’ll lose pounds. Only two small things. #1 cravings will likely foil the diet. Sooner or later, particularly after intense work outs, those 1000 calories won’t be enough to satisfy. One piece of cake, or just one bag of chips, or one extra hamburger will soon steer you to ending the diet. The second problem is what happens after the diet is over? What happens when the weight is lost? What, you’ll return to eating the same way you ate prior to the diet? Guess what, then the weight will come back. Next spring, or next fancy dress ball, or next family trip, or simply the next time you look into a mirror on the way out of the shower it will be once again be diet time.

The best diet is one making a change to overall diet, forever. A lifestyle change to healthier eating habits and more exercise is the best way to lose weight and keep off the weight. Connie Guttersen created the Sonoma Diet which, as a base, discusses 10 “power foods.” The power foods are almonds, bell peppers, blueberries, broccoli, grapes, olive oil, spinach, strawberries, tomatoes and whole grains, combined with the cuisine of the Sonoma country, which includes Asian, Latin American and Mediterranean influences. The diet includes a wide selection of real, and enjoyable foods so it’s easy to stay on it .

Want a diet that works? Move your mind from a short term diet to a long term style that’s part of an overall healthy and active lifestyle. That way you won’t gain the pounds in the first place.

The quickest way to lose weight is through diet and exercise, period. How do you burn more calories than you take in? There’s no need to starve, and in fact periods of starvation such as missing a meal could lead to more weight gain when the body enters “starvation” mode, not to mention starving yourself could cause tremendous damage to your body. Like so many other things slow and steady wins the race. In the long run a smart every day diet combined with vigorous exercise is the quickest way to lose weight. And the best part is you won’t regain the weight.

Diet doesn’t mean a diet, a short term alteration of regular eating habits. Diet means the everyday, day in and day out, for all the days of your life way that you eat. A good diet includes foods from each of the food groups, taken in moderation and the right amounts. And with a well balanced diet it’s simple to cut calories down when you need to lose a few pounds temporarily.

If it appears to be a daunting task consider that you likely already eat the foods necessary, just in too large quantities. Cut down quantities, replace starches with whole grains, and you can still even eat cake while losing weight .

The key to maintaining a healthy diet is planning. When you fail to plan you skip meals, that leads to binge eating. When you fail to plan you often find yourself at the mercy of a fast food restaurant or a friend whose menu leaves a lot to be desired when it comes to healthy foods. Plan meals in advance, including for occasions like parties and social gatherings. It only takes a few questions to find out what’s on the menu and plan the days other meals accordingly to not eat too much. Part of the process is understanding that sometimes the plan will fail. Don’t let missteps discourage you. One cheated meal doesn’t mean the whole diet, remember it’s an every day forever diet not just a few days diet, has failed.

Seven days a week exercise for at least 30 minutes. Little things like parking further from the office can add extra activity that makes a huge difference.

Combine the healthy every day diet with exercise for the quickest way to lose weight.

Are there any easy methods to drop weight? Everyone knows that diet, cutting down on caloric intake, and exercise, increasing the number of calories you burn, combine into a formula for losing weight. But the hard part is sticking to a low calorie, and often bland, diet. It won’t be easy, but with a little work it sure is possible. Here are some tips to make it easier.

Keep a daily log of everything that passes your lips. Taking notes helps you eat less. Studies show that people who keep track of what they eat end up eating 15% less. That’s significant.

The average American consumes an additional 245 calories per day just from drinks. Switch from juice, soda, and other calorie drinks to water. 245 calories a day add up to 90,000 calories a year. That’s 25 pounds. Are soda and juice really that good? Keep in mind too that juice and soda don’t trigger a feeling of fullness, despite their calories.

Grazing, eating more smaller meals during the day rather than a few large meals, is another way to drop weight. Studies show that eating in smaller portions more often results in eating 30% fewer calories. You’re also less likely to binge because the body won’t produce as much insulin which leads to hunger.

Make sure your wardrobe only includes the “skinny” clothes. If you don’t have clothes that are comfortable when you’re heavier, you’re more likely to be reminded to keep the weight off every time you dress. And if you have to purchase a whole new wardrobe you’re less likely to gain weight.

Switch to smaller plates. It’s been proven that people eat more when more food is available, and they eat less when less food is available. Smaller plates mean smaller portions, so put the salad plates into use as the main plate.

Similar to the idea of using smaller plates, serve your food on the plate rather than in bowls on the table. Again, people tend to eat what’s in front of them.

Avoid white foods such as white bread, sugar, and white rice. Those foods are loaded with carbohydrates which lead to higher blood sugar and weight gain. Stick to whole grain breads and dark rice. Don’t be concerned with the sugar, pretty soon you won’t miss it.

There are a lot of other tips for easy ways to lose weight. Don’t think it won’t take a little work. If weight loss were easy everyone would be slim all the time.