Tag: Atkins Diet

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Weight Loss Exercise

Atkins in bankruptsy


I am not a big fan of the Atkins diet although I do like the idea of increasing ones protein in your diet. I read a series of news articles today that talked about how the skeptics were wrong and the Atkins diet is a fad. I do not believe that this could possibly be true for several reasons. First, I hear as many people talking about Atkins and starting Atkins diets as I did 5 years ago. Secondly, a fad, especially with diets is not going to last more than one year tops and the Atkins diet has been around for twenty years at least. Thirdly I do not like the idea of Atkins being called a fad because most studies that I have seen show that people on the Atkins diet lose at least as much weight in the first six months as on any other diet…the problem seems to be that people have trouble staying on the diet as it seems to be artificial in what you eat, how long can you eat steak and fish and no carbs and feel to great.

The thing that the media loves is a company that is in the news going into bankruptcy but what we should really be looking at is what we can learn from the Atkins diet and looking to science as to why it seems to work at least in the short term. The reason that I am against the diet is that by it’s very nature it will be hard on your kidneys and over the long term even if the risk of heart disease is not increased there can not be any real health benefits besides some weight loss. I believe that a weight reduction diet should not just drop fat but make a person healthier as well that is why I always try to stress the importance of exercise.

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Breads and Vegetables evil or good?


Breads and Vegetables? What do these have in common? Not much. The reason that we want to consider these two staples of a diet is for opposite reasons.

Breads are a nightmare for many people trying to cut down on the carbs in their diet. There is good reason to cut the carbs as most people are taking in to many carbs in the first place. In saying that cutting down carbs is good I am not writing about a zero carb policy like with the Atkins diet but instead just talking about cutting a quarter or half of your carbs out and not replacing them and thus you will have cut your calorie intake quite substantially. Bread as any diabetic can tell you is a very addictive food. To most people the cutting of bread from their diet is one of the biggest sacrifices they can make and once it is out of your diet for a week or two you will feel better and will not have those cravings anymore. I know this from experience as I have a bagel every morning (equivalent to 5 slices of bread) and for a week I went without and felt badly in the morning but by the next week I was not missing it at all.

Vegetables are also carbs but are much better for you and in the typical North American diet most of us would be very short of the six or so servings that we should have. The advantages to increasing your vegetables are threefold. First vegetables are fairly high in Water and fiber which helps your body to keep everything running smooth. Secondly vegetables are a great source for most of your vitamins and minerals and thirdly vegetables are filling and will keep you from getting up after your mealto grab something sweet.

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Weight Loss Exercise

And My Favorite Diet Plan? Weight Watchers


OK I get to finally talk about which plan I support for weight control. Over the years I have seen all the diets come and go. My dad years back did the Mayo Clinic diet, my wife joined Jenny Craig, and I have a bookshelf full of books starting with Susan Powter’s ‘Stop The Insanity’, Atkins Diet books, the GI Diet, Dr Phil’s Diet books and even more that I can even think of without standing in front of the bookshelf.

So what’s my favorite? It’s Weight Watchers. My wife joined Weight Watchers a few years back before getting pregnant with our second and I was more than a little skeptical. Over the years we learned so much about our diets, exercise and the role that weights cardio, carbs, fats, protein, and water played in our lives that I was pretty sure we could do it ourselves. Lastly I was nervous about how my wife Michelle was going to do as Jenny Craig had not gone well and she was talking about gastro banding surgery¦.this is something that I am not a big fan of at all unless as a last resort.

Well I was apparently wrong. Weight Watchers has a very simple system for weight loss by giving a point value to every food based on the calories, fat and fiber. Weight Watchers also has people mark down in a journal all of the fats and water taken in as well as number of servings of fruit. One really important factor to me is that weight watchers does not ban certain foods but instead preaches portion control and the ideals of healthy eating. This means that you will not get bored of the food and stray off of your diet, in fact it never feels like a diet to us but just a responsible way of eating.

Although the weight loss that Michelle has experienced is not like on The Biggest Loser TV show it is consistent and it has been really great to see the results. One of the really great things about Weight Watchers is the support that they give, Michelle goes to a meeting every Saturday morning where she weighs in and then a leader talks about holiday eating or motivation or what to replace problem goods with and at the end of the meeting Michele will often come home with a great new recipe.

Our family is definitely a Weight Watchers family with her watching the way she eats every day but more importantly we have great meals that are easy to make and not to strict and the whole family eats the same meal for dinner instead of us having a diet meal and three regular meals.

There are Weight Watchers meetings in practically every city in North America and there is great online support as well with an extensive website and numerous internet message boards.


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