Glycemic Index Diet

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When one gets deeper and deeper into the world of Dieting, one starts hearing terminology, many of which sounds more from the world of the armed forces, drop out.  GI is one of those. GI is a short form for the term Glycemic Index which is a means of measuring the impact of food in the levels of blood sugar. On consuming foods with higher GI the blood sugar levels rise up very quickly in the body. While on the other hand, for the people who are on a GI diet shall control the blood sugar levels for longer durations of time. 

There are two basic disadvantages of over-consumption of high GI foods:
1. High GI foods provide energy but this energy is not long lasting and is followed by an energy lull. The person gets hungry and desires to eat more.
2. On consuming high GI foods body gets instant energy in the blood. The body then does not make use of stored energy in the form of fats and in turn leading to difficulties in losing weight.

The GI diet helps in weight loss in many ways. On eating meals with low GI the dieter feels less hungry which means the person is able to control his food cravings. The dieter is able to fulfill needs of the body as desire for snacking and over eating reduces to a great extent. Dieters on a GI diet eat meals which contain low GI and keep away from high GI foods. Nevertheless combining higher GI food with lower GI foods keeps complete GI level of the meal balanced. Low GI necessarily doesn’t mean low fat so dieters should keep a check on their fat content regularly.

For all those on a GI diet there is no restriction on any kind of food the only secret of success here is consuming more low GI foods than high GI foods. Try to control their tendency to over eat and can be achieved through the GI diet. It is essential to keep a check on the portion sizes of the meals and try keeping them at a low as far as possible.

Here are some practical suggestions for living through a low GI diet:

Staples: Dieter don’t have to sacrifice any staples and can consume Pasta, sweet potatoes, white long grain rice, linseed breads which low GI staples. 

Snacks: The aim of low GI diet is to make one feel less hungry so that their snacking reduces. If one feels like nibbling some snacks in between they can have snacks in restricted quantities.

Keep this in mind while you consider your diet plans.

The joys of Dieting: Cabbage Soup Diet

Now this is something I am not sure I want to try everyday! Cabbage Soup Diet.

Cabbage soup diet is a very famous quick weight loss diet. The diet primarily focuses on consuming cabbage soup along with some low- calorie foods for losing weight quickly within short period of time. Since the choices for food in this diet are quite limited some factors like boredom, insufficient nutrition are unavoidable.

The diet plan doesn’t comprise of any recommendations of exercises, no alterations in bad habits it is just a strict list of items to eat every day of the week. Another thing is that foods prescribed in the diet have to be eaten at home only because such foods won’t be available in the hotel menus. This diet promises dieter to shed atleast 10 pounds within a week’s time as dieters are limited to one week at a time in this diet plan. For those wanting to lose more weight are recommended to hold on before plunging into the next week of this super-low calorie diet.

This 7-day cabbage soup diet plan allows the dieter to eat everything till the time dieter can adhere to small list of foods allowed on alternate days in addition to two daily bowls of fat free cabbage soup. Other foods in the list are vegetables, fruits, skimmed milk and meat. Drink plenty of water and try to avoid alcohol while on diet.

Let us look at a sample cabbage soup diet plan:
Day 1: Cabbage soup along with plenty of fruits except bananas. Drink cranberry juice, water, sugarless tea or black coffee.
Day 2: Cabbage soup again with all vegetables which are low on calorie except beans, peas or corn and also baked potato with butter.
Day 3: Cabbage soup along with a combination of above mentioned fruits and vegetables.
Day 4: Cabbage soup with up to 8 bananas and drink two glasses of skimmed milk.
Day 5: Cabbage soup along with 20 ounce of beef, fish or chicken, about 6 fresh tomatoes and about 6-8 glasses of water.
Day 6: Cabbage soup with 3 beef steaks and unlimited amount of vegetables.
Day 7: Cabbage soup with 2 cups of brown rice, sugarless fruit juices and unlimited number of vegetables.

The cabbage soup recipe may vary slightly among different versions of the cabbage soup diet.

Basically it is made out of cabbage along with assorted vegetables like onions and tomatoes with flavors added by onion soup mix, tomato juice and bouillon.

What in the world is a South Beach Diet?

The south beach diet, ironically, was created by Arthur Agatston, M.D. a cardiac physician. This diet was designed to help his patients suffering from insulin resistance syndrome as other diet programs devised to lower risks of heart disease were not effective. Thus Arthur developed a new diet plan with elements of some diets like the Zone and Protein Power to discover this effective formula for south beach diet.

South beach diet is successful because it identifies the difference between good and bad carbs. Dieters following this plan can eat a variety of food as the south beach diet doesn’t restrict any specific food.

This diet plan gained popularity for its ability to make people lose weight the healthy way. In this south beach diet the person is able to choose between good and bad carb foods. This encourages dieters to consume more fruits and whole grain breads and making it more balanced in comparison to other diet programs.

The south beach diet caters for the effect food consumed has on blood sugar levels. The Glycemic index is used to measure the difference between good and bad carbs. The entire diet program is divided into three stages and limitations of eating get relaxed as dieter approaches end of the diet. Dieter shall witness considerable weight loss during the initial phases of the program more than the second half. This is an advantage from point of view of the dieter as it becomes easier for them to hold on for longer time. More strict limitations apply only during the first two weeks. Even though there are limitations the dieter doesn’t usually feel hungry, as a matter of fact he/she can eat six meals a day with each meal satisfying the real hunger and not more. Best foods to include are ones rich in fats and having lowest Glycemic Index controlling blood sugar levels. A big no to rice, pasta, potatoes, bread and fruits in the first two weeks.

The second stage permits dieter to eat foods rich in healthy carbs. Fruits and whole grains are permitted with meals having lesser restrictions and more variety to choose from compared to the first stage.

The third stage brings about a diet plan which the dieters have to stick to life long. More foods are permitted but difference is that food craving shall reduce drastically by this time. Thus helping maintain weight lost during the diet.

A look beyond Celebrity diets

Celebrity and their diets have always been a popular topic for discussion among all of us. When we talk about maintaining the perfect figure we look up to these celebrities for their heavenly bodies. Though most of us envy such a wonderful body but seldom realize that to bring the body to that perfect shape involves a lot of hardwork with regular exercises and a well planned diet. Celebrity diets have always been talk of the town and almost every one of us tries to reach that level of fitness. Though in recent times, Celebrity diets are being peddled by a lot of con artists who rarely know what it means!

Is there a definition of Celebrity diets? No.. but here is a lose try - Celebrity diets are referred to those diets which are apparently used by or highly advised by Hot Hollywood stars, singers and celebrities. Most of the glamour industry magazines concentrate on speculating on which celebrity is eating what. There may be variations in these celebrity diets but the thing which is common to all these diets is that they all make a guarantee to make the person lose weight quickly. Bear in mind these are targeted a people who want to resemble their favourite actor or actress. Celebrity diets include meals which are high in protein. They also include a lot of fiber in their diets. Fiber rich foods are easily digestible and give body the strength required without adding calories.

Is it easy? Considering the hype, it does appear so, but have a look deeper and think if how “sustainable” it is… Jennifer Aniston follows the Zone diet loosely in that she says cheating is necessary at times. Jenifer Lopez survives on eating eight mini meals. Mandy Moore consumes only coleslaw in place of mayonnaise and cheese. Demi Moore a famous Hollywood star drinks herbal tea to suppress her appetite along with a lot of protein in her diet. Tori Spelling likes the taste, variety and convenience of the celebrity diet. 

Some celebrities like Julia Roberts, allegedly, eat food on blue plates while at home as it is believed to be less stimulating for the appetite. Jennifer Hudson on the other hand gives all the credit to her strict diet regime of cranberry juice and down fat, high protein diet which helped her shed 25 pounds. Above we saw numerous examples of how celebrities maintain their fitness.

Whilst this is possible, bear in mind, that there are far too many unreliable peddlers of this- to make it easy! Even if it is possible, the sustainability is a big question- and before you jump into this, be sure to have a strict regimen over a few months that you will follow – if you want to make it successful. Setting targets for themselves and accordingly monitor their performance over the timeframe is a good way to go.

So if you are convinced you want to turn into a Julia Roberts, or Jennifer Aniston, be clear to set clear goals & then all the best… may the best figure turn out on you.

The ABC of Atkins Diet

As a newbie in dieting, I struggled to find out a quick synopsis of the various diets possible. This article is a quick view of the Atkins Diet Plan –and a quick perspective of what it promises.

The Atkins Diet plan has its origin back in 1960s and was created by Dr. Robert Atkins. Most people get confused and puzzled about the working of Atkins Diet. So here we explain about the working of Atkins diet.

Initial two weeks is the induction period during which dieters are permitted to only consume 20 grams of carbohydrates a day. Their diet contains unlimited meat, poultry, seafood, oil, cheese, butter and sausages. The 20 grams carbohydrate limit is usually derived from amounts of carb in dressings, sauces, dressings, cheese and other vegetables. In the course of the two weeks the dieters have restrictions on consumption of milk, grains, cereals, fruits, breads or "high glycemic index” vegetables like potatoes, corn, peas and carrots. On completion of two weeks the dieters can add around 5 gms for their consumption on weekly basis. Usually the diet must maintain a level of 40-90 gms of carbohydrates on a long term basis. On following the Dr. Atkins’ diet plan a person are expected to achieve four primary goals:

1. Weight loss: Dieters following Atkins diet have experienced weight loss and inches quite quickly. Once the optimum bodyweight is achieved maintenance is of utmost importance for any health related program.

2. Ensures maintenance of weight loss: Atkins diet helps the person to maintain the weight loss unlike other diet programs. Most of us would have tried dieting and working hard to shed those extra pounds but the moment we loosen the dieting belts we gain back the entire weight (and possibly some more as I do). Hunger is one of the main factors for most of the dieters to go off track with their diet. The ability of tolerance of hunger depends on person-to-person and depriving oneself from food isn’t fun. While in Atkins diet, hunger is kept away as dieter consumes fats and proteins to keep the stomach full.

3. Achieve Good health: The dieters following Atkins diet can expect to achieve good health and undergo healthy changes in their body. Nutritional needs are met through delicious, stomach filling and healthy foods and also avoiding carbs and sugar which most of the foods are filled with. The result is more energy for the dieter through weight loss and eradication of bad consequences of dysfunctional blood sugar and insulin metabolism.

4. Protection against diseases: On following the Atkins’ diet plan a dieter lays the groundwork for prevention of disease and give them a healthy lifestyle to lead.

As in the case of many other dieting methods, this also has its fair share of detractors. You can form your own opinion based on the other ideas you can collect (and more articles that I am writing) that could be of help.

Happy Dieting till then..

Technorati Tags: Atkins Diet,Types of Diets