Appetite Control Patches Perfect for All Day Needs?

Appetite control patches are quite popular right now because so many people are looking to regain that willpower and control they once had before the holidays seemed to magically rip every ounce of self control out from underneath them. Oh, oops sorry I’m talking more about myself than anyone else!

So is anyone else feeling the serious pain that I am after the holidays putting on their work pants and getting back into the swing of things, only to find that their work pants -even the “bigger” ones aren’t fitting quite right?  Well, that was me. I was in for a very rude awakening after I allowed myself to indulge, indulge again, and then again this holiday season.

Even when I wasn’t hitting a holiday function or having food sitting in front of me at work or taunting me at other gatherings, I seemed to still make poor food choices. I think it’s because in our minds, we often figure why even bother during times when it seems like resistence is futile and we’re going to be tempted at every turn anyway.

It does seem like your body becomes so accustomed to eating fat and sugar and all that stuff that you’re not supposed to be eating that it almost becomes like withdrawing from a drug when you do get back on track and cut this stuff out of your diet.  So in order to get back on track, one of the most popular ways now is to use what is called an appetite control patch.

These little patches are great because you don’t have to remember to take a pill every couple hours, and you can affix the patch in a very well hidden area of your choice. It literally works all day long by slowly time releasing the hunger control ingredients in to the blood stream, effectively reducing your appetite and cravings for things like sugar, carbs and fats.

I like them because they seem to work pretty quickly after you attach them to your skin. I also think that they are more effective than a lot of orally taken supplements because they are more effectively delivered right to their source rather than having to pass through the digestive tract and be digested before they have any effect.

They also work better as an all day controller of the appetite and cravings. If you want to see a couple reviews of some of the more popular brands then see our special page on appetite control patches.

Many Diet Pills Come with Side Effects

The sad things about most diet pills is that they just about all come with some sort of unsavory side effect.  Especially the heavy hitters, the ones you have to go to a doc to get the prescription for. It seems that almost every big weightloss drug that’s been put on the market is either found to have serious side effects and taken off the market later, or is forced to put huge warnings on the product.

Heck, look at Alli (orlistat), the nonprescription sister of the prescription weightloss drug Xenical.  This one is notorious because of its potentially embarrassing and very uncomfortable side effect. It is known for producing water stool and diarrhea when too much fat is taken in.

People have literally gone in their pants with this stuff and had leakage, so that’s pretty unsavory and has prevented a lot of people from staying on it very long.  Then there are the heavy hitters like Meridia which I believe was finally taken off the market because of potential heart problems.

And who can forget the Phen Fen disaster? People actually lost their lives due to this lethal combination of prescription diet drugs. Heart problems were also associated with the drug, which is a shame because it was actually effective for weight loss. There are of course herbal phentermine options available and the one part of the drug, phentermine I believe is still available on the market for prescription use.

Then you have some problems even with the OTC stuff or stuff you can buy on the internet that’s herbal or all natural. First off, there have been a couple of scandals about “herbal” products actually containing potentially dangerous and interactive prescription drugs.

Second off, there have been scandals about some of the herbs and ingredients themselves. Consider the ephedrine ban. Ephedrine was linked to heart issues such as rapid heartbeat, arrhythmia and other problems associated with the fact that it tended to make the heart beat too fast.

Of course, this is the same reason it kept the appetite down, because it had you on “speed” motion all day long!  I know a lot of the herbal diet pills out there now give me that “shaky” feeling, like I’m going to pass out, or like I just can’t calm down.

Some of them even have made me feel sick, like I’m going to throw up. Sure, they’ve killed my appetite, but at what cost? Making me feel like crap all day?  These are all reasons that I’ve consistently turned to non-stimulant diet aids like carb cutters and hoodia appetite suppressants. They help me to get that extra “willpower” to not eat so much without making me a nervous, jittery mess!

Low Carbing It Again to Cut Weight Fast

So, it’s after the holidays and I really, really indulged this time. Too much. Waaaay too much.  After a week of work, I returned to the grind by waking up at the crack of dawn and finding that none of my work pants fit me.

I ended up having to wear an awful pair of sparkly pants that I never would set foot in if I were able to fit in any other of my “big girl” pants.  Even my largest size I’ve allowed myself to buy did not fit me. They wouldn’t even button at the waist – a sure sign that I needed to go on a very serious diet and lose weight very quickly.

The diet I almost always turn to when I need to simply cut weight really fast is the low carb diet. My body really responds to these types of diets because I’m normally such a carbaholic that my body just goes into total calorie burn mode when I totally cut them out.

In my mind, the low carb diet is among the easiest to follow. I find I don’t have to be so militant about totally cutting fat and calories down with the low carb plan because my body is burning off everything I eat due to such low carb intake anyway.

I also find that, while I do crave carbs and could probably benefit from a carb cutter or some similar supplement from time to time, I am not hugry a lot on this diet because I’m able to eat in quantities that are satiable to me.

Other diets, where you eat more of a balanced diet and include carbs and fruits and desserts, I feel deprived because the portions are so teeny.  I can actually eat things like brats with mustard and burgers with cheese, and big chicken salads with dressing that’s not fat free.

I get to feel like I’m indulging, but really I’m still keeping that carb burn up and not adding too many excess carbs to burn, so my body is still using up all the fuel I’m giving it and starting to burn off the stores of fat since I’m depriving it of the “gas” that is carbs.

I’m only on day three so far of my almost carb-free diet, and I can already tell a difference in the way my clothes are fitting. My pants are still tight, but at least I can button them.

Were You Shocked When Something in Your Pantry Turned Out to Have Trans Fats?

Well I can tell you, I was!  Funny how something you’ve been using for years and never thought twice about tends to seem insidious when you find out it has that all too scary unhealthy buzzword “trans fats” in it.  For me, it was our treasured nondairy coffee creamer we had used in our morning coffee – every morning mind you – for years.

We started using it because it was low carb, and we were your traditional “low carbers” a few years ago when we started using the convenient stuff instead of traditional creamers like milk or liquid creamers that don’t have trans fats in them.

Oh, let’s go over what trans fats are again too. They are regular chained fats that have another fatty chain added to them called hydrogen. This makes them even more dangerous to your heart health and can clog your arteries even worse than other fats that do not have the extra hydrogen added.

So many processed and packaged foods have these trans fats today, although now with public awareness rising, they are being removed from some.  The reason these prepackaged foods have them is because they are both cheap and tasty.

They can literally increase the shelf life of a food product by months or years. That is a warning signal right there. That’s akin to parabens in skin care – you know it’s just not natural for something to have a shelf life of five years.

So, what are some healthier options to trans fat loaded powdered creamers?  Well, you can try finding a powdered creamer that is void of the ingredient “partially hydrogenated” anything, but good luck with that because I haven’t found one yet. Any suggestions would be greatly appreciated on that front!

However, there are some healthier liquid options.  You can use skim, 2% or whole milk of course.  I prefer organic in milk though because it is void of the toxins that so frequently inhabit dairy products.

There is also full on creamer, or heavy cream. Now this is a truly fattening option, so try to limit the amount you use. You really only need a tiny bit if using heavy cream, that’s the good part, because a little goes a very long way.

Fad Diets of 2011

Well, 2011 is over officially. What I can’t believe is that there really were not any new, radically different fad diets that cropped up.  I mean, you have the infamous butter shortage that happened in Norway.

This was because Norwegians seemed to have really taken the to the high protein, high fat diet that was all the rage here in the US in the sixties, again in the seventies, and then again in the nineties – otherwise known as the Atkins diet, named after the Doctor that conceived and wrote about the diet.

Aside from that, we had the lemonade diet which seems to crop up here and there, and a little resurgence of the cookie diet.  Both of these sound terribly unhealthy by the way.

There was also a bit of new talk about the Mayo Clinic diet, which is a primarily liquid diet that is designed to help patients lose a lot of weight in a short period of time for things like surgeries and procedures that require it.

Then there were the other “usuals” that tend to crop up every few years and surge in popularity for no apparent reason.  There’s the disgusting baby food diet, which puts you on only baby food, so no wonder why you lose weight.

This diet uses the same basis as the liquid diet – you almost always lose weight when you get all your calories through things that are liquefied.  Let’s face it, when all texture is gone, and you lose the visual appearance of your food as part of the whole palate pleasing experience, you’re a lot less likely to over eat, right!?

Then there is the all too infamous “Master Cleanse” diet. This one was sold as a small, almost pamphlet-like book by the same name. It started off as a trend a couple decades ago, and re-emerged as a Hollywood trend in the early 21st century.

This diet is based on an all liquid diet of a concoction of water, cayenne pepper, lemon juice and maple syrup.  The idea is that you sustain your blood sugar just enough not to pass out, sipping this drink all day long.  It is supposed to starve (did I say starve?) I mean cleanse your body of toxins and help you shed weight very quickly.

However, lots of people who tried this diet claimed that it just led them to gain the weight right back after they even ate a morsel of food. Also, some experts claim the diet is downright dangerous because it essentially is starving the body, which may explain the “euphoria” so many people explain feeling at or after day 3 on the diet.

I tried this diet and didn’t make it past day 2.  It was hard when I smelled food, for sure. However, I did notice how much I seemed to really get done while I was not focusing on food as a main entertainment and pastime in my life.

I do think that sort of “education” is valuable. However, I don’t know that this diet is healthy over the long term as it may end up sabotaging the metabolism over a long period of time on and off this diet.

Black Beans Good for Weight Loss?

Black beans are a food that is well known in vegetarian and vegan circles. This is because they contain only the tiniest amount of dietary fat, they are tasty and have many uses, and they have a ton of filling fiber, as well as some other vitamins and nutrients that help you to maintain a svelte figure.

Just one cup of black beans contains about 15 grams of protein. Protein, especially when combined with fiber, is very filling. Now I know what you’re thinking. Sounds like it might make you a tad uncomfortable, right? Well, there is no denying the gas-inducing powers of beans of any sort.

However, you can help to mitigate this by buying only organic black beans. You can also reduce it by rinsing the beans thoroughly before using them. This helps to rinse away some of the gas-causing stuff.  Of course if you’re making rice and beans, you usually want all that oily stuff, but if not, then make sure you rinse it all off.

There is a theory I heard once. I’m not sure how much stock I should put in it. The theory is that organic beans may actually cause less gas than non-organic kinds. Why would this be?

It is supposedly due to the pesticides and chemicals that are heavily sprayed on beans.  Unfortunately, beans contain high levels of pesticides – this includes coffee beans as well.  Since organic is required to be grown without pesticides, fungicides and other chemicals, you may experience less gastrointestinal discomfort from these naturally beneficial beans.

The good thing about black beans, in my opinion, is their flavor.  I actually enjoy them more than kidney beans in a traditional chili. I also like them in soups and stir fries.  They are much softer than other types of legumes, and I appreciate that.

I prefer to eat them out of a can rather than reconstituted from the dried bean, but that’s just me. They are much easier to use this way, and they are prepped for immediate use so you can use them in easier recipes.

Black beans contain phytonutrients including the following : anthocyanin flavonoids: delphinidin, petunidin, and malvidin. They also contain manganese, tryptophan (yes, the same stuff that’s in turkey that makes you sleepy), magnesium, vitamin B1 and iron.

They are thought to be beneficial to the digestive tract, even though some don’t think this due to their ability to cause flatulence in some people.  Black beans are overall a great source of fiber, some vitamins, and protein and qualify as an excellent diet food.

Happy New Year!

Happy New Year to all of our cherished readers here at Daily Diet Blog.  We wanted to wish you a Happy New Year earlier, but were derailed by some unexpected news around the holidays. So better late than never!

We’re looking forward to yet another year of offering you the latest news in dieting, weight loss, health and wellness, food information and updates, healthy low fat recipes, diet reviews, new diet and recipe ideas, and more.

We look forward to increased reader participation as well, and can’t wait for the new year of hope and prosperity for the American people, who have been through far too much to consider not celebrating making it this far with their health, and hopefully a lot of their happiness.

HAPPY NEW YEAR!!!!

Looking forward to spending another year with all of you….

It’s True : Emotions Reflect Our Diet

A new book has come out that really focuses on the connection between what we eat and the moods we tend to inhabit the majority of the time. While there is of course the occasional anomoly (ie, people who eat great and still are miserable all the time), it is largely true that when it comes to our emotions, we really are what we eat.

The new book is called the Happiness Diet. It focuses on foods that it says can help to boost mood, fight off anxiety and generally help you to avoid depressed moods and depression in general. In short, eating a certain way can definitely help make your happiness factor go way, way up.

While it supposedly doesn’t focus much on the exercise component of well being and happiness, it does focus on the fact that most Americans eat a diet that is simply the worst possible thing they can do to help their mood.

Our diets now primarily consist of overly processed foods. These foods by their very nature tend to be high in fat, salt and sugar. They are also loaded with unhealthy preservatives and chemicals to extend their shelf life. Not to mention they contain trans fats, which are cheaper fats with longer shelf lives that really clog our arteries.

These foods burn off quickly and leave us craving more – more junk!  They usually contain large amounts of carbs as well, which is the worst thing we can eat when we are dieting since simple carbs tend to burn off very quickly leaving you quivering with hunger.

The book recommends you eat things that satisfy you, and are minimally processed. It’s a different book, because it doesn’t necessarily advocate going all low fat on everything. In fact, it encourages you to enjoy some full fat items so that you can get your healthy fats in the diet as well as some satisfying feelings that you are eating things that will “stick to your ribs”.

Overall, you may be eating more calories than on other diets, but the thought is that you will lose weight because the ‘whole’ foods you are eating are more satisfying, leading you to intake less food overall.

Very interesting theory! I certainly like it better than starving on fat free, nutritionless foods!

Merry Christmas!

Just wanted to wish everyone a Merry Christmas today! 

Take care, enjoy your family and friends and don’t forget to really take the time to reflect on the gifts in your life and enjoy everyone around you, even if you have some family angst

MERRY CHRISTMAS!!!

Omega 3 Fats Help Control Diabetes

Omega 3 fats are a sort of wonder food group of our time.  They can help us to stay slim, avoid heart problems and stroke, help us to maintain proper brain function and sharp thoughts, clear and beautify our skin, and basically act as an all around health tonic for every person of every age.

There are also now studies (which don’t surprise me by the way) that show consuming omega 3 healthy fats are correlated with reducing the likelihood of developing diabetes, and also may help to control and even treat diabetes when included in the diet on a regular basis.

Some of the foods you can add to your diet in order to get these benefits are olive oil, coconut oil, safflower oil, certain nuts like almonds and walnuts, avocadoes, and (chocoholics brace yourself) – dark chocolate! Yes, chocoholics rejoice – you can now enjoy your dark chocolate – at least in moderation, without tons of guilt.

Of course, someone who is diabetic needs to worry about the sugar content of the chocolate, but dark chocolate actually has so many antioxidants and healthy fats that it should not impact the blodo sugar quite as much as milk chocolate.

Not only can omega 3 monosaturated fats help to control diabetes, but they can also dramatically reduce the likelihood that you will develop type II diabetes as you age, as so many people get as they get older because of poor dietary choices and the body’s broken down ability to control the blood sugar naturally.

These fats have demonstrated an ability to lower your insulin resistance and they also help to regulate your blood sugar for a longer period of time in meals that are eaten with versus without them.

They are filling and satisfying and help to keep your full for a longer period of time, which can help in your ditary goals to reduce food intake and curb overal caloric intake.  Of course, these fats do contain calories, and lots of them, but consuming them in moderation is recommended to maintain blood sugar levels and to slim the body.