South Beach Diet & Other Weight Loss

Albert Alexander asked:


When you start the Atkins diet, you are entering a new world of eating. And nowhere is that more apparent than at the supermarket. Suddenly, all of your stand-by foods like macaroni and cheese, pasta and bread are no longer on your shopping list. When you go shopping for the first few times you may feel like a fish out of water. However, with a bit of practice you’ll feel just as comfortable as you were with your previous shopping lists.

Successful Atkins shopping starts before you reach the store. There are many resources for shopping lists online and in Atkins books. Before you head for the store, make a list of the week’s recipes and then decide what you’ll need to make each meal. Make sure to purchase low-carb snacks for in between meals.

Also, plan for modifications to the meals for other people in your home. You won’t be able to make totally different meals for yourself and your family for the long term. The best approach is to use the main meat dish for your meal for the entire family and then a carbohydrate side dish for your family. For example, if you are eating meatloaf you can add half a potato for the other members of your family.

Once you’ve made your meal plan for the week, its time to hit the store. When you arrive, buy your protein items and produce first. This may sound very simple and like it won’t make much difference, but it will. Once you’ve filled your cart with all of the acceptable foods, there won’t be room for much more.

Consider buying your meat in bulk. This will save you lots of money if you know where to get family sized packages of meat. When you buy meat in large quantities, you can also cook it in bulk as well. Taking time a few days per week to cook meat makes it simple to follow the Atkins plan. You can cook your meat before hand and have it ready to go when you need it. You can purchase ground beef, chicken pieces, small steaks and even seafood in bulk.

Cheese, if you can tolerate it, can also be purchased in bulk. Many stores offer store-brand cheese in large bricks. You’ll need to make sure to read the labels before you purchase any cheese. Make sure that when you eat cheese to eat some fiber (salad or raw veggies) as well. Having large blocks of your favorite cheeses on hand can make it easy to grab a quick snack between meals.

As you walk around the store, stick to the outer edges. The outer aisles have the freshest food. Think about your neighborhood grocery store. Most often the deli, the meat counter and the produce section are all along the sides of the store with the packaged items in the aisles. This is especially important if you are in the initial phases of the Atkins diet. You’ll want to stay away from all packaged foods during induction, even if they are low carb packaged foods. Once you add more carbohydrate grams to your daily limit, you can start to experiment with low-carb packaged foods.

That leads to the next important tip, read the labels! Just because an item says it is low carb, it may have hidden sugars. Do your investigative work at the grocery store so you won’t get home with products that cause you to gain weight.

Shopping for the Atkins diet will take some time to get used to. You’ll be navigating parts of the grocery store that you may not be familiar with. You’ll also be purchasing items you’ve never cooked before. However, with planning and dedication low carb shopping will become easier. Just remember to make a list before you visit the store and stay toward the outer aisles of the grocery store. In no time, you’ll be an experienced low carb shopper.

Darrell Knox asked:


The rate of obesity in humans is increasing each year and it looks like the situation will not improve anytime soon. Even though there are so many different diets out there; none of them will work for every person.

There is a highly effective diet available that has seen successful results over a large amount of people. It’s called the low carb diet and is one of the more simple diets to take part in.

The word “carb” in low carb diet refers to carbohydrates. When losing weight it’s important to keep the amount of carbohydrates you’re eating to a minimum. It’s important to understand why exactly an excessive amount of carbohydrates will increase your weight, before we further discuss the rationale of this diet.

Carbohydrates, whether they come from pasta, bread or a couple of donuts turn into glucose. Glucose is primarily used for energy and some is also stored in our muscles. Your body can only store about 2,000 calories of glucose and the rest as you might have guessed is turned into fat.

Essentially how the diet works is by restricting the amount of carbohydrates you consume. By doing this, your body has no choice but to use your fat as energy, thus you lose weight.

You may be discouraged in trying another diet however you should give the low carb diet a try, as it’s very simple and the results can be great. Most of the diet requires you to just count carbs and read food labels, so it’s something even you will be able to do.

The diet can be so effective that a lot of people will find themselves losing 3 to 4 pounds in the first week.

This all sounds great doesn’t it? However we need to determine whether the this particular diet is right for you. Before making the commitment you should consult with your doctor first. However the following is a general outline to whether or not you have a carbohydrate problem that needs rectifying:

You’re overweight but you don’t eat that much food

You experience sweet cravings

You eat when you’re bored or emotional

You lose some weight but put it back on shortly after

You feel hungry after shortly after eating a normal sized meal

If any of the above applies to you and you’re overweight, you may have a carbohydrate addiction problem. The low carb diet would be ideal in your case and is something you should consider.

There are a few things to consider though when going on this regimin. There are potential short term side effects that you may experience, they’re

Bad breath

Constipation

Dehydration

Dizziness

Unfortunately not everybody will be able to go on the low carb diet due to potential health hazards, they’re:

Pregnant Women

If you have kidney problems

Alcoholics and Caffeine Addicts

If you consume alcohol and caffeine you can go on the low carb diet, however they may halt the dieting process.

If you’re looking for another diet to try and one that will give you results which is easy to take part in, definitely give the low carb diet a go. Even children can take part in the diet, but as always first consult with your doctor.