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How Hard is the Atkins Diet?

I’ve tried many diets over the years, and I must say that one of the easier diets I could stick to over a period of time was the Atkins style diet, which is low carb and almost complete avoidance of things like pasta, bread, potatoes and the like.

Basically, you watch the carb count in your foods rather than the fat or calorie count so much.  However, if you want to be heallthy, I think you should still watch the fat intake as well, so for instance, buy low fat cheeses and meats for your low carb diet lifestyle.

High fat diets aren’t good for your body, and you may be losing weight if you indulge in bacon and eggs every morning, but you may also be putting your body through a lot of processing, and the less fat you take in, the less processing and stress your digestive system has to take on, which is a good thing, and makes your working parts – well – work a lot longer!

Another risk with Atkins is if you don’t get enough fiber in your diet and you shun  fruits and veggies, you will definitely get constipated.  So make sure you at least eat an apple here and there, and make big salads with chicken in them for at least one meal a day so that you are still getting roughage or some form of fiber in your meal with each bite.

Eating just cheese and meat will put you in serious pain if you don’t get that fiber in there too.  My personal favorite is to do a combination of Atkins low carb and a fiber diet.  I simply can’t eschew all fiber containing foods in favor of lower carb options, my system isn’t built to be regular under all circumstances like some people are.  I need fiber and bulk in order to have any sense of regularity and comfort, and it’s just not worth the weight loss if I can’t have that.

I also try to eat a lot of fiber containing nuts, like raw walnuts and almonds. Almonds especially are a great nut to eat for low carb diets because they contain tons of omega 3 fatty acids which are ultra healthy, and they also contain lots of natural fiber to help you stay regular.

I use spinach leaves and dark leafy greens in my salad for higher vitamin and fiber content instead of plain old iceberg lettuce, which has poor nutrient and fiber value. It’s the little choices like that which make my Atkins style diet a bit healthier – and keeps things moving along!

Low Fat/Low Carb Egg Salad : The Trick

Ok, so I accidentally discovered this one, and it may sound a little gross when I tell you how I made it, but it’s a low fat alternative to egg salad. I love egg salad. It’s funny, because I used to hate it as a kid and never wanted any part of hard boiled eggs. Hard boiled eggs in a salad!?  Oh, that was the worst when I was a kid, I thought my parents were totally nuts for thinking this combination was tasty!

Now, I love to add a hard boiled egg to my salads. But the difference is, I only allow myself half of the yolk. As you know, the yolk is the fattiest part of the egg, and it also contains a lot of cholesterol. It’s really good tasting though, and it actually does offer some nutrients that the egg white, it’s lesser calories, high protein counterpart, does not.

In one large hard boiled egg, there are about 77 calories, and just the yolk accounts for 59 of those calories. The egg white, even though it’s larger in surface area than the yolk, only has about 17 calories in it and it’s a great source of lean, fat free protein.

So, my low fat egg salad alternative is as follows. All you do is take a hard boiled egg, I like to use jumbo eggs since they give more egg white. Throw away half of the yolk.  Chop it up into small squares like you would for regular egg salad. Mix with about 1/4 to 1/2 cup of low fat, small curd cottage cheese.  I like to add a dash of sea salt and pepper – voila – low fat, high protein, no mayo egg salad – yum-o!!!

I actually discovered this little trick one morning at work because I was running low on my usual cottage cheese and had brought a hard boiled egg with me to eat plain. I’m pretty adventurous when it comes to mixing foods and experimenting, so I figured why not mix the two, they’re both low fat sources of protein that are filling and nutritious.

So I mixed them and add a little salt and pepper. It’s a nice low carb snack or part of a meal if you like egg salad but don’t want all the fat.  Kept me full for a few hours too!

The Best Low Fat Dressings Choice Goes To…..

My choice for the best lowfat and low calorie dressings has been decided for a while.  It’s because this particular brand has the tastiest dressings at the best calorie counts, and with the least artificial “weird” taste that often accompanies these lower fat versions of the fattier creamy dressings on the market.

In other words, they make you feel like you’re indulging, but really you’re saving about 30-50% of the calories that are in their higher fat, non low calorie counterparts.  Wish Bone has the best low fat and low calorie cream dressings I think, hands down.

Their zesty Sweet and Spicy red french dressing is one of mine and my husband’s favorites. And another favorite is their low fat Creamy Caesar, which unfortunately is really hard to find at grocery stores any more.

Another good low fat creamy caesar dressing that’s good, but not as good as Wish Bone brand, is Marzetti.  It’s got that same pungent taste that a lot of good caesar’s have, thanks to the anchovi oil (I know, sounds gross, but it really makes for a tasty caesar dressing!), but just not as much flavor overall as the Wish Bone.

I really like mixing the Sweet and Spicy French lowfat dressing with a low fat ranch. It makes a nice sort of thousand-island-ish sort of flavor, and creams up the french a bit more too, making it taste a bit more indulgent. Believe it or not, Wal-mart has a pretty tasty low fat, low cal ranch dressing that’s also easy on the wallet at less than two bucks for a bigger bottle.

One thing you have to be careful of when you’re using low fat or low calorie dressing is that you don’t use more of it than you would a normal dressing, since we tend to do that subconsciously when we use a low fat/cal product. You can easily over do it on a light dressing too, and defeat the purpose of a healthful, low calorie salad in a couple extra pours of the bottle.

Try measuring it out into tablespoons, and keeping it to one serving or 1 1/2 servings, depending on how big the salad is. You’d be surprised at how far some dressings go in coating your lettuces and veggies with just the right amount of zesty flavor!

Is Portion Control the Hardest Part of Dieting?

In my opinion, the absolute toughest part of dieting for me is the portion control aspect. If I could just get that one down, I’d probably never have so many fluctuations between that 5-10 pound range that I do.

Actually, I dare say that portion control is the most challenging part of dieting for just about everybody.  I think that’s why diets that promise you can eat all you want are so popular, like the Atkins diet which doesn’t focus so much on portion control, but rather the amount of carbs you are taking in at each meal.

I still think though, that weight loss is best achieved by using portion control in conjunction with whatever type of diet you choose – low carb, high carb but low fat, or something like the Zone diet (which is portion controlled, but uses specific combinations of food to rev up your fat burning potential).

We have a lot at our disposal as far as tools to enforce portion control in our meals, but it’s not always easy to actually execute it because you’re often still hungry after consuming a “portion controlled” meal.

It’s really how we’ve become programmed to eat because we were brought up on the super size mentality many times. Some of us are lucky and have a built in “stop” button when we’re full, but most of us have that other button that tells us we’re still hungry when we’re really not needing the extra food.

Natural appetite suppressants can certainly help, but it also take discipline to do it at first, and shrink that stomach so you become accustomed to eating less.  There are even special plates and bowls you can buy that do the portioning for you that have helped a lot of people do it without just eyeballing it.

There are also a lot of portion controlled foods available, like 100 calorie snack packs and prepackaged meals that are a preset amount of calories that can help you start off on the right foot when trying to control portions for the first time, or re-learning it.

I’ve found that for me, the initial first week is the toughest, when I’m trying to reform my portion control and make sure I’m only eating what I have to in order to be “full” and at least satisfied til my next meal.  A lot of it is the idea that we eat as a way to pleasure, instead of eating to “live”.  If you can get over that idea and only eat what you need, then your body will follow and reduce it’s fat content and all that excess baggage it’s been carrying around in response!

Do We Tend to Eat Lighter in the Summer?

I don’t know about you, but there are definitely changes in my appetite and the foods that I crave when summer time comes around. Especially if it’s a summer that’s a real scorcher like this one (who isn’t scorching now, seems like everyone is experiencing a hot one).

It is true that we tend to change up what kinds of foods we crave and like to eat in the summer time. I just read an interesting article that pork is in higher demand in the summer time because a lot of families like to eat lighter and eat BLT’s for dinner. Now, I don’t know if I’d consider a BLT to be light on the calories, but it certainly is lighter fare as opposed to traditional winter fare like chili and hearty soups and meat dishes.

Also, foods like fruits and veggie skyrocket in demand in the summer. it’s true that part of the reason is that they are more abundant and in season, but also it’s a showing of the shift in change of appetite and cravings.  I know I myself tend to crave things that are lighter. Like I don’t really want heavy ice cream, instead, something like a slushy or a frozen yogurt berry sundae sounds great.

Even my sweets cravings are lighter. In the winter I typically would crave chocolate and rich desserts all time like cookies and cakes, but in the summer, I’m all about hard candys and fruity flavored candies.  It’s definitely true that your body sort of turns off the same heavy appetite for rich foods and instead instinctively wants foods that will provide instant energy instead of bog you down for hours digesting and processing it.

My craving for carbohydrates even declines in the summer time. While I crave things like mashed potatoes and heavy pastas in creamy sauces in the winter, I crave things like light grilled and marinated meats, accompanied by a nice cool salad and some veggies. It really is like your body turns on it’s more “naturally healthy appetite” during the times when your body needs to be it’s most active and alert and ready for action.

In-Home Diet Meal Delivery Booming

With today’s hectic world of work, kids, extracurricular activities, second jobs, and so on and so forth, we live in a very hectic time where instant gratification is expected, and convenience has become number one priority. This is also part of the reason our obesity epidemic has become so widespread and deeply rooted in our culture.

People don’t have the time they used to where they could cook up nutritious, healthy meals that were in the right calorie range, carb range and fat range they should be for maintaining a healthy weight, or losing weight to get to a healthy weight.  This is exactly why those that are health and weight conscious are increasingly turning to another solution for getting healthy meals on their tables, without all the preparation and planning that is required of cooking.

In home diet meal delivery plans are really booming right now. The good ones that really used good food that tastes wonderful and really results in proper weight loss and body fat shedding were previously only available to celebrities and those that lived in really health conscious, progressive areas like New York or L.A.

Now, with lightning fast shipping methods available all across the US, more and more people are turning to in-home meal delivery services that cater to people who want to keep their waistlines trim but just don’t have the time to make meals that will keep them thin while also tasting excellent and having the right balance of calories, carbs and fats that keep their body’s looking great.

The trend for these gourmet home delivery diet meals began in none other than California, where celebrities and models demanded fast, convenient healthy meals for their hectic schedules and their jobs which required them to look great in smaller sizes. That was before we had such great shipping options as we do today. Now, people everywhere are learning that they can get health meals shipped to their homes, so they don’ t have to worry about cooking meals that are exactly right for themselves.

Low Carb Good for Cholesterol Levels?

There has been so much debate over the years about which kind of diet has the best long term weight loss benefits, as well as the best overall health benefits. While low fat diets vs. low carb diets has been a raging debate for years, apparently one aspect of one of them is now not subject for debate.

The low carb diet, similar to what you would do on the Atkins diet, where fat doesn’t matter so much, but rather the carbs matter more, actually not only resulted in about the same sustained weight loss and maintenance over a period of two years, but it also improved cholesterol levels impressively.

So impressively that it has caused researchers to really reconsider whether or not the low carb diet, which was at first praised when it was all the rage over this last decade, but then vilified for it’s potential health hazards, is actually better for you in the long run or not.

The study that made the cholesterol connection was actually done on obese people who had followed the two different diets. They both followed the same habits otherwise, and both groups actually lost the same amount of weight over those two years and kept it off. However, the one major difference was that those who followed the low carb diets had much better cholesterol readings. Makes you consider those low carb diets once again, eh?

My husband and I did the low carb thing for a few years on and off until we finally fell off the wagon pretty permanently in favor of savoring some high carb meals which were lower in fat.  I have to say that going low carb is still the best way for me to drop weight very quickly. I especially notice a difference in the weight loss I experience as well as the speed at which I lose it if I make sure I’m eating low carb at least for dinner. For example, I’ll have say a hamburger patty with no bun and a small side dish of veggies and a small side salad.

Although that burger patty may have a lot of fat in it, I will drop weight pretty much over night just from eating no carbs, so there is something to it. What I never liked about being on the low carb diet was how often you had to “refuel” because your blood sugar would always be low and you felt like you were going to bite someone’s head off!  That part was never fun. And if you aren’t careful, you will get constipated. You have to make sure you’re still getting enough healthy fiber when on a low carb diet.

For Weight Loss, Cut Carbs in PM?

My husband and I are trying to lose some weight – he more than I, I’m just trying to lose about 8 pounds and get back into my personal comfortable weight zone.  We ran into a wall though lately, and I think the reason that we hit that wall was that we are eating too many carbohydrates in the afternoon – or for dinner, and that is what is causing our immovable plateau.

We are following a simple calorie and fat restriction diet, restricting our calories to around 1500-1600 per day, and that seemed to work great for the first few pounds to come off. However, we noticed that we leveled off for several days, and I’m not attributing that to our consumption of high carb Lean Cuisine meals for dinner.

We do combine them with a large side salad, just so that they are  more filling, but the fact that these Lean Cuisines have things like rice and pasta in them, although they are still low calorie, they are piling in the carbs before bed time.

This is probably the problem, since we don’t burn off carbs in our sleep really, they are just left there to convert to fat, so what we are trying to break through to our next weight loss goal is to cut out the carbs for dinner, unless they are carbs that came from a vegetable or fruit.

This way, we’re not going to bed and sleeping with carbs still in our system, such as rice and pasta, and our bodies can more effectively burn the fat and calories off since the carbs don’t provide that instant energy that calories usually go to.

Calories are energy, especially when it comes to calories garnered from carbohydrates, and when you go to bed after dinner, it makes sense that those “instant energy” carbs may have a hard time getting burned off when the only physical activity you’re doing involves dreaming and snoring!

Carb blockers may help to bind and release some of these carbs from the body, but it’s still a good idea to keep your carb consumption to the day time when you have plenty of the day still ahead of you to burn them off before they get the chance to convert into fat and extra weight.

Hoodia DEX-L10 Review

So I was at this discount outlet store called Ollies that is popular down in southern Ohio, and I noticed that in the bargain bin there was one leftover bottle of this hoodia product that I had wanted to try since I’ve tried so many others that I liked for appetite control, called Hoodia Gordonii DEX-L10 by a company called Delmar Labs.  It is advertised as pure south african hoodia gordonii, which as you probably know by now is the “miracle” appetite suppressant that is derived by a cactus that grows in Africa.
DEX-L10 Hoodia Gordonii (500mg) Natural Appetite Suppressant, SEE CUSTOMER REVIEWS Capsules, 60 Count

Hoodia, I’ve found is one of the best natural appetite suppressants that I can take when I’m trying to lose a few pounds.  It’s really great because if you are sensitive to stimulants like caffeine and guarana that are in the “thermogenic” formulas, this doesn’t have any of that in it, so you don’ t get the shakes and the crash when it wears off.

This stuff has been really great so far. It does what it claims to, it reduces your cravings and your appetite -although you still get hungry, you just find yourself getting full and more satiated by smaller amounts of food it seems.  I’ve found that it’s done wonders for my sugar cravings, which is great because I almost always crave sugar after my meals to “finish off my meal”.

I have a pretty massive appetite naturally, and I especially love to eat a lot in the PM when it’s dinner time, which is my biggest weight buster.  This helps me to stop at a reasonable portion at night. I’ve been eating a Lean Cuisine at night with a big salad on the side with light dressing, one egg white, cucumbers, tomatoes and onions, and I’m ok after that, and my appetite is satisfied for the rest of the night, which is awesome for me.

The only side effects I’ve noticed for me personally is that it seems to make me more thirsty, and of course because I drink more water, I pee more, which can be a little annoying. This is odd, because hoodia is supposed to curb both hunger and thirst, but it seems to do that opposite for me with thirst.  I don’t care, as long as I’m drinking more and eating less, that’s fine by me.

I take one at about 10:30, an hour and a half before my lunch, then I take another about one and half hours before my dinner. I’ve found this works better than just one hour before meals for me, it seems to set in more with an hour and a half and take the edge off my appetite better in this time frame. I’m down 4 pounds so far and I just need to take off about 4 more or 5 would be great, and I’ll be in my skinny jeans again.

Diet Competition is On!

My husband and I are sick and tired of not being able to fit properly in our summer clothes. We gained a little weight after a few weekends of family and friends and barbecues and such, and we really want to take off a little bit of weight.  I want to lose about 7 pounds – not too bad, I just want to be able to fit in my clothes again. It’s amazing what  huge different 7-8 pounds can make on me, I’m a woman with a small 5’4″ frame, and even 5 pounds can make a one size difference in my pants!

My husband wants to lose a little bit more weight than me. Perhaps about 15-20 pounds. He currently weighs about 200 pounds and stands at 6’3″ tall. Like me, he’s not necessarily ridiculously overweight, he’s just not in his comfort range and would like to feel better and fit in his clothes better.

It’s amazing the older you get, the less losing weight is about vanity and the more it is about things you can actually feel and that make your life a higher quality, like energy levels and better sleep.

Here is how we are going about this weight loss challenge. We’re making it fun. I have set up a pad of paper with a pencil in our master bathroom.  Every morning, we’ve agreed to write down our weight.  This will help us keep track of progress and see that weight in writing every morning as an extra boost of will power for eating and exercising throughout the day.

I have a few little “extras” that I will be practicing to help me in my first week or two so that I can shrink my stomach and get used to eating smaller portions, as well as control my cravings. I’m taking a weight loss quality hoodia natural appetite suppressant to help get me through.

This will give me power over my appetite and cravings without giving me any of the nervousness, heart palpitations or jitters that caffeinated and stimulant laced weight loss aids may cause.

I’m also going to be listening to my treasured weight loss hypnosis CD’s which will really help give me that subliminial, subconscious sort of boost to keep going on the right path toward weight loss and my goals of exercising more and doing the things I need to do in order to get back to my ideal weight.

Of course, a little friendly competition never hurts. We are competing in a way, but it’s more of a rah-rah we’re both cheering for eachother sort of thing, not a knock down drag out kind of competition.  We are both really on board with this endeavor, and it’s great to have a partner to go through a weight loss regimen with.