Dieting Trends

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.

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.

Getting Your Diet Back on Track After Thanksgiving

It’s that time. That infamous “intermittent” time between one big holiday and another – both of which are known for gluttony and tons of food being available everywhere you turn.  Many people find it really hard to get back on track not just right after Thankgiving, but even right after Halloween, and then all the way to the new year.

The winter months are when most of us tend to pack on many of the pounds that we fluctuate with throughout the year.  Many cite the reason as the holidays, which are pretty much everywhere you look.  The smells of the holidays, the constant temptation to bake and cook comfort foods, and the gifts we get, the endless holiday parties and gatherings, the gift baskets we partake in at work.

All of this ends up really adding up. Then…we find we can’t stop after the actual holiday itself is over. We find that we really biologically GOT USED to all the extra fat, salt and sugar in our diets. We go on a sort of withdrawal after we’ve let it all hang out for a few weeks, days or even months.

It is almost like withdrawing from a drug because our body can often violently protest in the form of cravings and hunger that seem out of control when we first take these fattening foods away.  Foods full of trans fats, salt and sugar have been proven time and time again to actually have addictive effects on the human body.

One of the ways I find it easiest to help me through the first few crucial days (or heck, even hours) of a withdrawal period is to take a non stimulant appetite suppressant patch. I like to use hoodia or green tea (the kind that’s not hyper-caffeinated) to help me get through the serious hunger pains and the ridiculous carb and fat and sweet cravings.

Also, doing something productive, such as cleaning out the closets, working on a project you’ve been meaning to get to, or moving around the layout of a room (or painting a room) can take your mind off of food and put it on something with a positive, productive outcome.

Exercising lightly is important as well. You may not want to partake in an all out sweat fest on the first day or two back on the wagon as it can trigger serious hunger, but at least make sure you are getting light exercise to help curb your hunger and cravings.

Getting Your Daily Greens?

Let’s face it. Even those of us with the best of intentions occasionally have a day where we might be a little lacking on the greener side of things. Let me clarify. By “green” I don’t mean necessarily that exact color. What I mean is your fruits and veggies.  The foods that give you nothing but pure, unrefined nutrition and allow you to “eat your water” with their high water content and hydrating abilities.

Oh yeah, and their weight loss and health benefits!  But I digress. You know we’ve all had those days when maybe we’re traveling, or it’s the holidays, or something prevents us from having a fruit or vegetable with each and every meal – which is how we should be eating every single day.

For those lacking days, I’ve come up with a solution for myself personally. I make sure that I drink my daily greens in a powder form, mixed with some fruit juice or vegetable juice. There are plenty of green powders that mix up things like barley, wheat grass, and other very green grasses and nutrients chock full of nutrients like chrlophyll, vitamins and minerals.

Some of these green powders even contain fiber or added probiotics to help keep you flushed out and everything “moving right along” – just like veggies do. However, they still don’t work as well as real, whole fruits and veggies do in that regard – take it from a person who knows.

I sometimes will mix the powder up with a sugar free based drink, or maybe with some orange juice. It goes down much easier when it is paired with something very sweet that covers up its rather bitter “green” flavor.

How Healthy is Vegan?

Vegan diets used to be virtually unheard of a few decades ago. They were considered somewhat radical and quite new age to most people. The vegan diet was restricted to more progressive areas like California and places that have always been in on the fresh and healthy food movement from the beginning.

However, veganism has definitely gone more mainstream in the past ten years, coming to areas of the world that had previously never heard of this “radical” diet.  Why is it considered radical by some? Well, you have to cut out not only meat, but you cut out all animal fats.

This includes cutting out dairy products such as eggs, milk and cheese. You would be shocked to know of all the staple products that we eat as Americans that do not qualify as a vegan food. Even a lot of breads and pastas have some form of eggs in them, so there are often times even special pasta noodles, soups and breads that are vegan friendly.

A lot of vegans swear by their diet. I have actually eaten vegan for week stretches at a time, and I can see the merits of it. I just am not quite so strong willed, and I do eventually need to break down and indulge in some dairy or some meat or other animal fats.

There are definitely some benefits to the vegan diet. For instance, many believe that we stop producing the special enzyme that we produce as infants one year into our life for digesting dairy. Many believe this is the reason that so many adults have issues with digesting and processing dairy products.

Eating a vegan diet also means that you likely would have to dramatically increase your healthier foods, such as fruits, vegetables, and whole grains.  This would include nuts as well. Vegans just have to be careful that they are getting enough filling protein in their diet, and enough vitamins and minerals as it would be easy to skip the foods that provide these nutrients if one gets stuck on things like special pastas and starches.

Legumes are a great choice, and nuts like walnuts and almonds provide healthy fats as well as healthy protein. Coconut oil is a good choice to cook foods in which can give the healthy fats as well as a filling sensation.  Coconut milk, avocadoes and other nuts are also good sources of protein as well as healthy fats to round out the vegan diet.

Football Season Ushers in Bad Eating on Sundays

Tis the season. The season before “the real holiday season” – it’s fall and it’s football time. If you and no one in your family like to vege out and watch football all day Sunday, then maybe you are immune to the inevitable bad eating that goes with watching football.

The September football season often “kicks off” a season of bad eating for a lot of Americans, not just the football season.  Things like chips, soda, pizza, wings, pasta, burgers and other high fat, salty and sugary processed foods are unfortunately the most popular football season fare.

There are some people who are totally immune to it, because they either don’t watch football or come into contact with a whole lot of people who do.  However, this is a huge American pastime that has only gained more in popularity with college football getting more viewers as well.

On a football day with friends and family, you may just keep munching and muching without even realizing it.  It ends up being an all out all day buffet for lots of people.  You can fight this though by using a couple weight maintenance backup ideas.

One thing I like to do is to take a fiber drink before I eat. This helps to expand my stomach and prevents me from eating way too much. It also helps to keep you “regular” since a lot of these foods not only pack on the pounds but also do not lend themselves to constipation, another weight loss killer.

You can take a supplement such as fish oil or flax seed as well. Both contain powerful omega 3 fatty acids, which help to send signals to the brain that you are full. This prevents you from filling up on junk all day also.

Apple cider vinegar and cinnamon also help because they regulate the blood sugar, which prevents large spikes and drops in the blood sugar. Our blood sugar ups and downs also cause us to crave bad foods like carbs and sugars and fats.

Both apple cider vinegar (the real thing is better than a supplement, but a supplement will do in a pinch) and cinnamon are excellent not only for weight loss andweight maintenance support, but also for those that have hypoglycemia or hyperglycemia.

It would be wise to avoid high sugar drinks as well. If you can, drink only light beer that is also low in carbs.  Or, if you like to drink sugary soda, then make sure it is sweetened with stevia or erythritol, both of which are safe sugar alternatives that have zero calories and none of the chemical man made stuff. 

Dire Warning on Obesity

Boy, I read this headline, along with another very alarming one about how each hour we watch of TV can shorten our lives by 22 minutes, and I thought wow, these are not very good statistics to read. They certainly do make you think twice about your own fitness and diet routine though, I’ll give them that.

Sometimes I wonder how much truth these are in contract to speculation, but I suppose that they should be taken with a grain of salt anyways if you are already a healthy person and at a weight that you feel comfortable at.

This newest headline was warning that half of all US adults will be what is considered “obese” by the year 2030.  That is a staggering number if you ask me.  It’s downright eye opening that we have a real problem on our hands.  Certainly we have an epidemic that is not showing signs of slowing down or reversing itself, and that in and of itself is a very alarming view of the future health and prosperity of Americans.

The problem, the study purports, is that the Federal government needs to make healthy foods more economically available to everyone, even people who typically can only afford to buy the types of foods that cause and exacerbate weight issues.

These are processed and cheaply made foods loaded with sodium, sugar, preservatives and other junk that only clutters the body instead of assisting it in cleansing on a daily basis and burning as many calories as possible.

However, to put the burden on the government is not right either. This is a personal choice for people. The only thing that I think is part of the fed’s responsibility when it comes to making sure Americans are properly nourished is getting the foods that we should be eating to be price stabilized.

Things like produce and healthy grains and meats are expensive, and it’s hard to eat really healthy on a regular basis without spending beaucoup bucks these days. Perhaps if healthy food was more affordable, the same luxury of eating right would be equally available to everyone.

The “Ruined” Diet Day Mentality and Why It’s Bad

Women (and a lot of men too) tend to think a certain way when they start their day off on a bad foot as far as their diet and eating healthy. Many people say the same thing. “Oh, I already ate horribly today, why not just finish off the day with a cheeseburger and french fries or pizza and call it a day”.

There is a reason the commercial was made about a woman who starts her day off right ( I think it is for a yogurt, or a healthy bowl of cereal), and then makes better food decisions throughout the rest of the day.

Then it shows the counter of that, and the woman starting off with a totally unhealthy breakfast and snacks, and going through the day eating fattening, greasy and fried foods.

It is true that the way we start our day, or even if we ruin it in the middle, our bodies crave “crap” for the rest of the day. I’m definite proof of that, and I have the mentality myself.

However, I noticed when I started to reject that mentality, and get right back on track that same day and eat right, my weight really seemed to either stabilize or come off if that’s what I was trying to do.

Foods like salty, fried fattening foods and sweets that are heavy and fatty in nature are truly addictive. There has been multiple studies that have pointed out that fatty and sugary foods have the same addictive chemical effects on the brain as some addictive drugs. However, part of it is also a state of mind.

You can definitely put yourself back into the right state of mind after eating unhealthily at one meal, and get back in the groove. It’s just that it takes a lot more effort to do it after you’ve indulged because your brain is sort of programmed to crave that kind of food for the rest of the day. When it doesn’t get it, it may still send out those signals, but they will go away.

You just have to be patient and realize that this is a typical process. It’s almost like going through a withdrawal phase. You have to add some willpower to it and really try to resist the urge to splurge.

You will be amazed that if you can get into the habit, it will impact your waistline like nothing else.  Skinny people typically have this habit, even if they don’t know it or actively try to do it.

They just may have a natural affinity to get back on track and they may naturally crave good eats after indulging in foods that make them feel crappy.  Your appetite gets fueled for fatty, greasy and sugary foods when it gets a taste of them in other words.

Emulate the skinny people in your life in this way, and in a few months, you will realize the positive impact it has on your weight goals.

Even Our Pets Need Diets in America?

I would venture to say that we are one of the only countries that are so obsessed with dieting that we even put our poor pets on diet routines.  Maybe I’m wrong, but I sure do see a lot of specialty pet foods for obese dogs and cats lately, that it got my mind spinning about how much emphasis we put on a slim waistline in the US.

Not only that, but in reality many of our pets suffer from the same over eating that many of us Americans do. We put food out, and unless our pets have an incredible sense of self restriction, they usually are gonna go for it whenever they can, and get that food while they can.

It’s the nature of the beast, and it applies not only to animals, but their more sophisticated cousin, us.  We are by nature hunters and gatherers, but we also are programmed to eat food whenever it is available, and eat as much as we can when it is, since originally, food was was not as available all the time as it is now.

So, we as humans have to self regulate when it comes to food intake. Hence, the popularity of hunger controlling pills, appetite suppressant patches and more.  We don’t have the old “scarcity” variable in our favor when it comes to limiting our food intake. We are much like the kings and queens of the old days, we have unlimited food supply.

That’s why many kings and queens back then were fat!  Peasants didn’t have constant easy access to food, but kings and queens and other royalty did, and hence, fatness was actually attractive because it was a sign of prosperity!  Oh, how times have changed.

Being thin, toned and ripped is now a sign of prosperity, because those people are the ones that can afford the exercise programs, cellulite treatments, and healthier, wholesome foods that come with affluence.

When it comes to animals, I have found that  cats tend to have a better sense of appetite control than man’s best friend, dog.  Cats can definitely be fat, and those are the ones that have probably been fed too many table scraps or fattening wet foods, but cats that are only fed dry food, and are left to their own devices with a full bowl all the time, I’ve found, tend to not overeat.

Girl cats definitely have more of a tendency toward being “fat cats”, which may be due to hormones.

High Tech Gadgets for Weight Loss

Technology is pervasive in our everyday lives from computers and iPods at home to GPS units in our cars.  So it would make sense that there is all kinds of high tech gadgets to assist us with our workouts and weight loss measures. Technology has advanced to the point where tech gadgets, both wearable and hand held, can track your progress and count calories burned from your workout.

The Nike Plus Sports Band sells for about $59.00 and it has a small sensor that fits into specially designed Nike shoes with a slot in them.  This sensor sends information to an iPod Nano, iPod Touch or an iPhone3GS to keep track of the pace you are keeping and distance you have run.  If you don’t have a pair of Nike shoes, you can get a specially designed pouch to put on another brand of shoes. 

The Timex Expedition WS4 has basic timing functions for your workout and also gives information on temperature, elevation and a compass.  It would be especially useful for hikers.  You do need to calibrate this device.  It sells for about $200.00.

Coheso Calorie Smart CS-100S sells for about $80.00 and it is a hand-held calorie counter that you use by simply typing in what you are eating and it logs your calories.  It works the same way when you exercise.  You type in what you did and the duration and it tells you how many calories you burned. 

This device is great for items such as a Big Mac, but it is not as readily informative on generic food without you doing some extra figuring.  The Gymboss Interval Timer sells for about $20.00 and it is a device that lets you know when it’s time to start or stop your workout.  It will, for example, tell you to do one more weight lift, then rest for a minute, then when to resume your workout.  This device beeps when it’s time to start or stop an activity.

At the University of Southern California, experimental devices were being designed in labs to keep track of how many minutes are spent working out, how much food is consumed and even whether a person is having fast food or spending time at the park. 

The devices are wearable and designed to get past the self reporting and see what’s really happening for overweight and obese people.  At the lab, the devices used more precise electronics and sometimes even used video cameras.

The science behind the extreme measures of such devices were designed to get a more accurate idea of what’s really happening with eating and activity so they could design a personalized plan of weight loss and management.