South Beach Diet & Other Weight Loss

Ron Subs asked:


Weight loss diet plans come in all kinds of packages. Some are low-fat, high carb. Some are high-protein, with little or no carbs at all. Some require that you eat a strange combination of foods. When you think about the Nutrisystem diet, consider how it stacks up with some of the others.

1. A good, healthy diet will have plenty of variety in fresh fruits and vegetables. Many diets do well in this category. Nutrisystem itself encourages dieters to eat about 4 cups of fruits and vegetables a day. They plan for you to eat a lot of salad, including fat-free salad dressings in with their meals.

Weight Watchers gives values to all the fruit and vegetables and leaves it up to you as to how many you will eat. While this may seem haphazard, it really works if the dieter stays with it. The reason is that eating small amounts of high point foods will leave them hungrier than eating a lot of lower point foods like fruits and vegetables. Over time, they will switch to a healthier way of eating. The weekly meetings encourage this.

The Sonoma Diet has healthy fruits and vegetables, but the emphasis is on eating smaller portions of everything. This does not give these colorful food groups the boost they need in the diets of most overweight people. However, some of the top ten power foods in the diet are vegetables and fruits.

2. A healthy diet has high quality carbohydrates. Nutrisystem is making its theme the good carbs and bad carbs idea. They have very few menu items that are fast-acting carbohydrates, although the regular Nutrisystem diet does have some desserts with 12 or more grams of sugar. If you prefer not to have these desserts, you can do the diabetes diet from Nutrisystem.

Here again, Weight Watchers depends on the points system to encourage people to go for the healthier carbohydrates. They cost fewer points, so dieters can eat more of them. The support system focuses on getting people to make healthy carb choices.

The Sonoma recommends a Mediterranean style diet that includes whole grains. In fact, whole grains are considered one of the top ten power foods of the Sonoma Diet. Wine can be considered a carbohydrate, and the Sonoma diet permits it. It is not considered to be a good carb by most diets, but it does have some health benefits.

3. You need protein to make a diet complete. The Nutrisystem program includes lean meats and dairy to take care of protein needs. Some of the entrees are based on soy protein rather than meat. If you want your meals ready to eat, the Nutrisystem diet makes getting your protein fairly easy.

Weight Watchers has a point system for proteins as well. It is much less complicated than some of their other point system values. Lean meats, fish, and soy are all acceptable within the Weight Watchers diet. There is no guessing about how much protein you will eat. It is a set amount every day.

The Sonoma Diet does not highlight meats or other proteins as the main features of their plan. No protein food is among their ten power foods. Yet, the Sonoma Diet is all about enjoying food rather than avoiding particular foods. You will not have to give up all meats on this diet.

Nutrisystem has all the healthy components of a good diet. There are a few unfortunate slips, such as the sugar in some of their desserts. Some other diets, like the Sonoma Diet, are more focused on taste than this diet is. However, the Nutrisystem shapes up fairly well along with these other diets.

Wendy Wood asked:


The Low Carb Craze. Diets low in carbohydrates have been very popular for the last decade or so. Proponents of these diet plans seem convinced that significantly reducing a persons carbohydrate intake is the key to permanent weight loss. Various low carb based diets continue to appear on the best seller lists and the food industry has responded by offering many carbohydrate reduced products to meet the demand for low carb food options. So, do low carbohydrate diets really work? Before deciding whether or not to pursue a low carb diet, it is good to get an understanding of how carbohydrate rich foods are processed by the body.

How Carbohydrates Figure Into Nutrition

Along with protein and fat, carbohydrates are one of the three food groups classified as nutrients for your body. A healthy diet should be composed of all three nutrients, although not in equal amounts. Carbohydrates can be described as ant type of food that comes from a plant, plus milk and yogurt. Carbs provide the building blocks for energy and are frequently used by athletes to increase their endurance and stamina while training. There are two main types of carbohydrates, simple and complex. Simple carbs are received from natural sugars or glucose, while complex carbs are full of fiber and starch. While the body needs nutrients found in both types of carbohydrates, our bodies make better use of more complex carbohydrates to function properly. Simple carbohydrates include foods like sugar, honey, fruit juice, milk and candy. Complex carbohydrates are comprised of foods such as grains, bread, potatoes, rice and beans.

Healthy Ways to Cut Carbohydrates

While completely removing carbohydrates from your diet will negatively affect your health, cutting back on certain types of carbohydrates can help you to lose weight. Because carbohydrates can metabolize into fat, reducing the percentage of carbs in your diet will have a beneficial effect on your waistline. High carb diets generally consist of a caloric intake that is between 50% - 60% from carbs, while low carb diets trim that percentage to 30% - 40%. Some ways to maintain a healthy diet while reducing the overall carbohydrate intake include:

Avoid Processed Foods. Natural grains and organic vegetables provide more nutritional value than processed carbohydrates.

Remember that Milk and Yogurt are Carbs. While milk and yogurt also contain fats, there is also a carbohydrate content in dairy products. Do not forget to count dairy based foods in your overall carb intake.

Minimize Simple Carbs. While many consider bread products to be the ultimate carbohydrate villain, candies, cookies and other sugar based simple carbs actually do more ultimate damage.

Get Your Carbs from Fruits and Vegetables. The best carbs for your system include fresh fruits and vegetables. Along with maintaining important nutrients and fiber, fruits and vegetables have long been considered a staple of healthy diets.

Debbie Fontana asked:


Going on a new diet usually ranks about as high as going to the dentist.

You know you need to do it. But you procrastinate because your past experiences have been so unpleasant. Even torturous.

But there’s one big difference between going to a dentist and going on a diet. The results from the dentist usually last.

So why don’t the results of a diet usually last?

Because you have to eat several times every day. So if the only way to keep the weight off is a diet that seems as torturous as a trip to the dentist, is it any surprise most of us fail repeatedly?

I believe you’ll have a greater chance for long-term success if you enjoy your weight loss program.

So here are my top 10 tips for choosing a successful diet plan:

1. You Have to Be Able to Live With Your Diet And Have a Life With It.

This is absolutely the most important tip.

If your diet seems like torture, if the food gives you no pleasure, if you’re making yourself and everyone around you miserable, then you’ll have trouble losing all the weight you want and keeping it off.

You have to make long-term changes in your eating habits to succeed with weight loss. So whatever you do to lose weight initially should be similar to how you keep it off.

That means you have to eat foods you enjoy. You have to be able to socialize at food-based events. You have to be able to enjoy life.

2. You Should Lose No More Than 2 Pounds a Week.

Sometimes, you may lose a little more at the beginning. But week-to-week, 2 pounds is enough. Anything more is unhealthy.

3. Your Diet Shouldn’t Be Extreme in Any Way.

Unless your doctor advises you otherwise, it’s unhealthy to eliminate entire food groups. A balanced diet provides vitamins and minerals to keep you strong.

So skip the diets with low-carb, all grapefruit, or whatever the latest fad is. Extreme diets usually don’t work. At least not for very long.

4. You Should Have Minimal or No Hunger.

If you’re losing only 1 or 2 pounds a week, you shouldn’t experience tremendous hunger. Not if you plan your meals and snacks correctly.

5. You Should Have Lots of Food Choices.

There’s no reason to restrict the kinds of food you eat week to week. I’ve never understood plans that say in Week 1, you can only eat these 10 foods. In Week 2, you can add another 5 foods. But if you gain weight, go back to Week 1.

If your diet doesn’t work with every food from Day One, it’s probably not going to work. Period.

6. You Should Be Able to Enjoy the Holidays.

If your diet doesn’t build in holiday eating, you’re going to do it anyway. You’ll just ruin your diet.

That’s why so many people start diets in January - after the holidays. Trouble is, the holidays always roll around later in the year. So you need to have a way to handle them.

7. Your Diet Has to Allow for Moments of Weakness.

Perfect diets are for perfect people. But there are no perfect people. So a perfect diet is destined to fail.

8. You Shouldn’t Have to Exercise with the Diet To Lose Weight.

I’m not saying you shouldn’t exercise. We all know exercise is healthy and it makes you feel good.

But the benefits of exercise should be a bonus. Not a necessary part of a diet plan.

After all, what if you become unable to exercise for some reason?

Or suppose you stop losing weight on your diet plan and you haven’t reached a reasonable target weight. If the only way to start losing again is to exercise more, then the diet’s not working.

9. You Should Get All the Information You Need When You Start the Diet.

If someone sells you a diet and you have to go back week after week to get more information, they’re just trying to make money off of you. There’s no reason why Week 1 should be substantially different from Week 9.

And when you pay your money, you should know what the entire diet system is about. How else can you evaluate if it’s going to work for you?

10. You Should Control the Diet.

The diet shouldn’t control you. By this, I mean that your diet should meet your needs and wants.

Strict rules just increase your chance of failure.

For example, if you like to snack in the evening, but your diet eliminates eating after 7PM, how are you most likely to fail on your diet?

That’s right. By snacking in the evening.

But everyone has different needs and wants. So you have to be able to customize a diet to meet yours. Then you’re more likely to succeed.

And of course, before starting any weight loss program, you should see your doctor to make sure your diet is right for you.