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.

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.

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.

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.

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.