South Beach Diet & Other Weight Loss

Martin Stanwyck asked:


Dieting isn’t exactly a macho concept. What happens when a man wants to lose weight without subjecting himself to meager meals of salads and soup? Is there a better answer?

When it comes to dieting, some men cringe at the word “diet” alone. There is nothing macho about dining on salad, and most men wouldn’t be caught dead at a Weight Watcher’s meeting. Wouldn’t it be great to find a sensible diet for men… one that allowed a man to eat his favorite foods instead of soup and salad?

For men, the issue of weight loss is often a sensitive one. There is nothing a man hates more than to look in the mirror and find he has a less than macho physique. If you’re single, you probably think those love handles are anything but female magnets, and you definitely don’t want to have man breasts. Face it; you need to find a diet for men that works. The reflection staring back at you isn’t one that you like.

Perhaps you’ve rejected the idea of going to the gym. It’s almost embarrassing, actually. You’ve seen the guys who frequent the health club. Most of them look buff and toned in their muscle shirts and gym shorts. You tend to wear baggy T-shirts and blue jeans. There’s no way you want to go flaunting those extra pounds so you can be dubbed as the fat guy on the treadmill. Is there really a diet for men that works without leaving you hungry and unsatisfied?

When searching for a diet for men, your prime concern is probably the issue of hunger. It’s scientifically proven that men require more calories than women. While your wife or girlfriend might be perfectly satisfied after a lunch of salad and a diet coke, you view a salad as a prelude to the main course. Is there a diet for men that will still allow you to enjoy your meat and potatoes without leaving the table hungry for more?

Yes, there is. The best news is that you won’t have to eat a bite of lettuce unless you want to, and you will never have to tolerate a growling stomach. I’m not talking about a carbohydrate-free diet where you have to say goodbye to the concept of bread. Face it, that type of eating plan depletes your energy. The best diet for men is one where you simply cut calories. When you burn off more calories than you consume, you lose weight.

You may be thinking, “Sure, that would be an effective diet for men, but I’d be starving. I’m a big guy, and I need something that fills me up.” You’re in luck. Hoodia Gordonii was introduced to the market a few years ago, but this cactus-like plant has actually been around for centuries. Bushmen consumed it to ward off hunger during long journeys in Africa. It’s a vegetable, not a drug, so it’s totally healthy to incorporate as part of your daily diet. If you’re still concerned about being hungry, don’t be because Hoodia Gordonii actually reduces the male appetite by up to 2,000 calories. This is better than any diet for men because you can actually eat the foods you want. The bottom line is that you’ll feel as if you’ve already eaten, causing you to lose weight and feel better about yourself.

Imagine looking in the mirror and smiling as you see the transformation. Pretty soon, you’ll be pulling on a pair of gym shorts and a sleeveless shirt of your own. Hoodia not only makes it possible, it also makes it easy.

Dorrie Ruplinger asked:


Sure.

But, from my experience and from the experience of every person I know who has gone on a low carb diet and successfully lost weight, that weight doesn’t stay off unless all but a tiny amount of carbs are always avoided.

A few years ago when low carb diets were incredibly popular, I went on one just like millions of other people. I lost 40 pounds in a little over four months.

But as soon as I started eating a normal amount of carbs again I gained the weight back very quickly. Every person I know that did a low carb diet had the same experience – successful weight loss but weight gain as soon as they resumed normal consumption of carbohydrates.

I’m sure there are people who have gone on a low carb diet, lost the weight, and kept it off. I just don’t happen to know any of them so I can’t personally recommend a low carb diet as a way to lose weight and keep it off for good.

But, low carb dieting did have its pluses for me:

• I didn’t have to count calories, just carbs, which was much easier

• I never had to be hungry. On my low carb diet, there was always something I could eat. It might not have been something I was particularly hungry for, but I never had to deal with it being 5 pm and not having any more calories left for the day and having to be hungry the rest of the evening. Even if I had eaten my allotment of carbs for the day, there were always no carb foods like some cheeses and some raw vegetables that I could have.

• I lost weight fairly quickly and steadily.

• I was able to break myself of my perpetual cravings for high carb junk foods like potato chips.

But, there were cons too:

• The biggest con is that I was unable to keep the weight off.

• Carbs, even healthy ones like fruit and whole grains, were very limited on my low carb diet so I didn’t feel like I was eating a healthy balance of foods every day.

• My low carb diet didn’t limit the types of protein I could have so I was able to eat way too much high saturated fat foods like bacon, especially during the first two weeks of the diet. I know that wasn’t healthy.

If you want to try a low carb diet, do research to find one that doesn’t limit your carbs too severely. A lower carb diet that emphasizes healthy carbs and lean sources of protein is now recommended by many health professionals. And, when you have successfully lost the weight, be careful when you start introducing more carbs into your diet so that you don’t gain the weight back that you worked so hard to lose.

Ashish Jain asked:


Among low cholesterol recipes, soups that are low in fat happen to be very popular. Folks with high cholesterol love to have these soups as they are really tasty. These soup recipes provide a balanced and fat free food and could be of great assistance in dietary control for high cholesterol afflicted folks.

These soups to some extent also contribute to reduce level of LDL cholesterol. Some of these soups come under traditional recipes while some new soup recipes have also come on the block.

Lentil Soup

A very common of all soups among cholesterol patients is Lentil soup that could be easily prepared. Ingredients are tomatoes, onion, celery, carrot, curry powder and lentils. A balanced proportion of all these contents could be used to prepare this soup. These ingredients could be boiled together for ten minutes to be consumed. You may add chili pepper, chili powder or green chili as per your taste buds.

Cabbage Soup

Cabbage soup could also be given to cholesterol patients. This soup is prepared with cabbage, ginger, black pepper, onion, green chili, tomatoes and sherry. Its ingredients contribute to very little or negligible cholesterol content. The soup is free of saturated fat content.

Squash And Sweet Potato Soup

The other soup suited to people with high cholesterol is made with squash and sweet potato. This soup, in combination with salads that are rich in fibers are often offered to cholesterol patients. This soup must be prepared in canola oil. One pound each of squash and sweet potato could be used to prepare soup for four people. Other ingredients of this soup are chives, onion, black pepper and ginger. The soup may include chicken broth.

Bean And Spinach Soup

A cholesterol afflicted person may enjoy a bean and spinach soup. Even in this soup you can use chicken broth. This soup could also serve the purpose of lowering LDL due to presence of beans. Other ingredients of soup are carrot, celery sticks, tomatoes and dried oregano. Rotini is also added to it. Doctors often recommend this recipe to obese folks who are likely to develop cholesterol problem.

Low Fat Turkey Soup

Low fat Turkey soup is another soup serving to people with high cholesterol. Ingredients of this soup are sodium chicken broth, pasta noodles, celery stalks, carrot and black pepper. All these contents are boiled together to prepare the soup.

Black Bean Soup And Toskana Soup

Black bean soup and Toskana soup also happen to be very low in fat content and could be offered to cholesterol patients.

All these soup recipes happen to be good to your taste buds as well. You can enjoy these for the twin purpose of dietary control and LDL cholesterol reduction.

George Black asked:


In recent years, ultra low carb diets have hained a lot of popularity. But, are they really all they are cracked up to be?

First of all, let’s see some of the philosophy behind these diets:

Carbs make your body secrete a lot of insulin. Insulin is a hormone that carries nutrients from the blood to the different parts of the body. Some insulin is good (we would die without it – diabetics need to take insulin shots for example). But too much insulin is not good because it tends to make us gain more fat (no need to analyse the biological process – just trust me, this happens).

Fat on the other hand tends to be absorbed much slower. This means that if you add fat to a food, the food will be absorbed more slowly and not that much insulin will be secreted.

So, eating more fat and less carbs helps keep your insulin levels steady throughout the day (eating 6 small meals instead of 3 big ones does the same thing). This means that you will not have so many “crashes” (like those afternoon urges for food). By the way, when you exercise (and especially when you weight train) your body becomes that much more efficient at dealing with insulin and tries to “push” the nutrients to your muscles – and not your fat reserves.

Now, in practical terms, does the “high-fat, low-carb” type of nutrition work? It depends on what we mean by “high” and “low”. If you ask me, the name of the game is moderation. Do that and you should be fine. As I mentioned earlier, a typical diet, may look like this:

Carbohydrates: 60%

Protein: 10%

Fat: 30%

And I recommend something like:

Carbohydrates: 45%

Protein: 35%

Fat: 20%

So, should we take it to the extreme and do something like:

Carbohydrates: 10%

Protein: 35%

Fat: 55%

In my opinion, no. Although some people can respond well to this type of nutrition, most people won’t. The main reason is that very low carb diets will tend to cannibalise your muscle tissue – because carb molecules and water molecules are stored in the muscle (again, no need to get technical – just show some blind faith here).

You lose the carbs, you lose the water – and you lose the muscle. And then you can’t lose fat because your metabolism drops. Stick to the ratios I recommend (don’t obsess over them – just try to approximate them) and you should be fine (more than fine actually).

Finally, let me say that an ultra low-carb diet is BRUTAL and no “normal person” will be able to stick with it and see results from. Unless they are a masochist of course. In order to succeed, you need to enjoy your program so you stick with it. This is crucial…

Ryan Cote asked:


January comes and soon December is here — you haven’t completed your new year’s resolution yet to lose those extra 10 pounds. You sigh with dread because once again you face an enormous challenge.

How can you increase the odds to overcome this challenge? Start with being honest with yourself about your eating habits. Pinpoint exactly what you eat, as well as how much and how often. See the real you- the person who finishes a bucket of fried chicken in one sitting every Sunday afternoon.

Knowing your unique eating habits can help you find reasonable ways to change. Perhaps you love rich potato salads, loaded with mayonnaise. Or you must have steak, with the fat included. You may be shocked to see that you eat only a few vegetables, letting a head of lettuce wilt away in the fridge. And you discover that potato chips aren’t actually vegetables.

Eating more vegetables can help you lose 10 pounds. But you can’t avoid unhealthy foods altogether since the craving for junk food will build until it becomes irresistible. As a result, you may give in to the cravings by eating too many bags of potato chips. Instead, reward yourself every so often with treats.

Another useful technique to lose 10 pounds requires you to chew food slowly. Not only can you prevent choking, but you can also enjoy each bite, rather than devouring your food as if you’re late for a meeting. If you’re really running late, you might put off eating for later. In other words, you control food— food doesn’t control you.

What if you want to lose 10 pounds faster? Then you could try making more changes in your eating habits, like:

– Leave off the sauce. Forget marinating with rich liquids or barbecue sauce by using a good substitute, like a paste made from blending hot, ground chili peppers with water. You also get better flavor by spicing up your food with various seasonings.

– Use boneless chicken. Drumsticks may look mouth-watering, but not when you think about the extra fat. Instead, use boneless chicken and bake it.

– Leave out the salt. Try salting every dish you cook with half as much salt: if you use 1 teaspoon to flavor the vegetable soup, try 1/2 teaspoon. By the way, soups are a great way to get more vegetables in your diet- just make sure you buy low sodium soup.

You could practice making these changes and whatever else you think of, until you lose 10 pounds. You eventually won’t want to go back to your old eating habits because you’ll be addicted to feeling and looking great. In other words, your new dietary habits will become a part of your life.

Jonathan Fraser asked:


All smokers who want to quit smoking know how hard this really is. It may not seem this way, but it really is. And it’s not the physical addiction that is the biggest problem, no. This one can be overcome with just a few days of ambition and self motivation. The real problem is the psychological addiction. The brain needs the nicotine, otherwise the craving starts. And it is really hard to succeed in convincing your brain that you don’t want nicotine any more. That is why all persons who wish to quit smoking are hopping for a magic pill that would make everything easy, they want a quit smoking pill.

Fortunately for them this quit smoking pill exists, not in just one form but in more, although the specialists aren’t totally sure how do these things work.

Types of Quit Smoking Pills

Zyban is a pretty new medication that does not contain nicotine and is designed to help people quit smoking, therefor it is a quit smoking pill. It was initially designed to be an antidepressant and it was first used in depression treatment. A lot of smokers have found it helpful when wanting to quit smoking. It is said that it also reduces the nicotine withdrawal symptoms.

Zyban must be taken twice a day, and it needs at least a week before its effects start to take place. Like the majority of the quit smoking pills, it is recommended that Zyban should be used for about 8-12 weeks, although the company producing him says that it can safely be used for a long term too.

Another quit smoking pill is called Rimonabant and it works pretty much the same way as Zyban does. Other quit smoking pills are currently being developed, drugs such as Ta-Nic, a resembling medicine from Xenova Group in England or Varenicline, a drug from Phizer medical company.

How does the Quit Smoking Pill works

All the quit smoking pills are based around the same idea. They have to boost the level of chemicals in the brain, and as a direct result the person taking them will have a pleasant feeling of comfort and joy. It can also give energy to the patient. This whole process is made to help the body eliminate the nicotine or at least lessen the withdrawal from nicotine.

At least in studies the quit smoking pill has a proven effect. In reality there are people who say that it really works, and there are also people who say the opposite. Whether you decide to take the quit smoking pill or not, the decision is yours to make. But make sure to ask the opinion of your doctor too, before actually making the choice.

Brigitta Schwulst asked:


There is so much information on the web about dieting and diets and how to loose anything from 4 to 400 pounds in three seconds that I had no idea where to start looking for some easy steps to get me on the road to a healthier weight. That’s why I started doing some research to find out what steps would help me to Diet Eating success.

These are some of the keys I’ve found to diet eating success:

1. Decide why you are dieting

I know it sounds daft, but sometimes I went on diet just because everyone else was. Have you ever gone on diet after a Christmas or some big occasion just because it was a fashion or fad? So it’s important first to really decide – do I actually NEED to diet? Lets face it, everyone needs to lose a pound or two … but do you really have to go on a stringent diet or will cutting down for a week or two sort it out?

The answer to this question also determined whether I am successful or not. If I didn’t really need to or wasn’t 100% sure that I needed to then I shouldn’t because the level of commitment needed on a diet is MAJOR – for me anyway.

2. Choose a goal and a reward.

I am sure some people would love to loose every pound that they’re made of – or at least they act that way, but for me, I only lose weight successfully when I have a specific goal in mind. The goal doesn’t have to be a number – and in fact I found it best to use clothing rather than a number. So pick that pair of jeans you’ve had in your closet for months and set the goal as that – that’s what’s worked best for me, anyhow. Then choose a reward. The goal and the reward can be the same thing – I’ve used a brand new outfit, that I went out and bought to use as both the goal and the reward and let me tell you, when you get into that outfit, it’s the best feeling in the world.

3. Choose a diet.

This step is important because I think in general most of the diets out there work. I’ve lost weight on Atkins, Weighless, Weight Watchers, to name a few. And if you do your research properly, you’ll find one that is close to your current lifestyle and that’s probably the best one to choose. If you’re a big meat eater try Atkins, if you’re a nut nut then go for the low fat diets like the Zone diet, and if you like getting technical and learning about your foods try the South Beach diet or one of those.

I personally love my steak, eggs and chops, so although Weight Watchers worked for me I found Atkins easier in my daily life.

The point is that choosing a diet that is as close to your lifestyle as possible will give you the most chance to succeed.

4. Work out a plan

If you’re like me, I just rush into a diet without much planning. This is one of the biggest reasons for my failure most of the time. When I plan … I get a date to start, get my list of things I can eat, go shopping and stock the fridge with the “good foods” and get rid of the baddies, then when I start the diet, I am ready and I tend to follow through.

I have the will power of a squirrel so if I don’t do those things, the first time I want a chocolate I go into the cupboard and have one, no matter how many times I told myself I wouldn’t … I’d be strong. Its easier for to be weak and wish I had the chocolate but not able to eat it because it isn’t in the house, rather than try to be strong and avoid the baddies in the cupboard.

5. Work out a weekly menu

I find this also helps me diet effectively. This means I don’t really have to think about what food I’m going to eat tonight and thus what I would like …. Which leads me down the road to ruin. If my menu is planned, my shopping done for at least two weeks, then I can avoid all temptation and get on with the job of dieting.

6. Reward

I often forget to give myself that reward at the end …. But I know if this blog was written by a psychologist they’d probably tell you not to forget the reward.

Let me know what works for you. My blog is http://easydieteating.blogspot.com/

Hope to see you there.

Brigitta

Martin Stanwyck asked:


Not regulated by the FDA, cheap diet pills are a dangerous trend causing severe side effects including death. Is there a natural solution available?

The battle of the bulge - it is one fought by people across the globe. America has now become a predominantly overweight nation with eight out of every ten people over the age of twenty-five being overweight. If you turn on the TV, you are assaulted with commercial after commercial for cheap diet pills. In an era where thin is “in”, it isn’t hard to understand why these companies sell their pills in local stores, via the internet, and through television campaigns.

Who is buying these cheap diet pills? The simple answer is just about everyone. People from all walks of life are pulling out their wallets to purchase cheap diet pills as a possible “quick fix” for long term weight loss. These companies make big promises. Whether they promise more energy, a boosted metabolism, or astonishingly quick weight loss, they all have big promises.

A consumer often purchases these cheap diet pills without doing any research. Often, losing weight the healthy way isn’t as important as losing weight. Few people stop to consider the risks of cheap diet pills.

These cheap diet pills are over the counter medications. Probably the most rapidly rising segment of the weight loss industry, these medications are often unregulated by the FDA. This sounds like a trivial fact, but it’s not. Cheap diet pills that are offered to a consumer without prescriptions have not been tested by the government, and they are not subjected to dosage and labeling requirements. Although the manufacturers of cheap diet pills claim that these are not drugs but rather food supplements, the bottom line is that these pills really are drugs.

Most of these cheap diet pills have powerful ingredients that are similar to amphetamines. The problem is that, although many deaths have been reported along with other side effects, the numbers are unclear because they are unregulated and unreported.

Some of the many side effects of cheap diet pills are a general feeling of anxiety or nervousness, heart problems, diarrhea, irregular heartbeat, high blood pressure, and even heart attacks.

As the years roll by, cheap diet pills become more and more powerful. Now, pills are being manufactured to work on the brain, reducing your appetite to aid in weight loss. The side effects of these pills are even more serious. Chest pain, fever, high blood hair loss, impotence, heart damage, depression, and anxiety are just some of the many reported risks associated with cheap diet pills.

So what is the solution? If you really want to lose weight, and you realize cheap diet pills aren’t the way to go, you may find yourself frustrated. Jumpstarting your weight loss is important to you, but you want to do it in a healthy, natural way.

One option is Hoodia Gordonii. If you haven’t heard of Hoodia yet, you will soon. Recently featured on 60 Minutes and the Today shows, this revolutionary weight loss tool is actually a cactus-like plant that’s been around for centuries. Bushmen used it to ward off hunger since it actually tricks your body into thinking you’ve eaten. Before you dismiss the idea as another mind-controlling cheap diet pill, remember that Hoodia is a vegetable, not a drug, and completely safe. By incorporating this African plant into your diet, you could lose weight quickly and safely.