Friday, July 3, 2009

Fit FactorY: Losing Weight for the Summertime - the Ups and the Downs of Diets

It's summertime, which means you can't hide yourself under a stack of clothes anymore. Plus, there's always the trip to the beach that we all look forward to, which means swimsuits for us women, and trunks for the boys.

This is probably the season when people are all scouring for weight-loss tips and I attempted to read through a couple of the more popular weight loss diets out there.

1. The Atkins Diet focuses on controlling the levels of insulin in our bodies. "If we consume large amounts of refined carbohydrates our insulin levels will rise rapidly, and then fall rapidly. Rising insulin levels will trigger our bodies to store as much of the energy we eat as possible - it will also make it less likely that our bodies use stored fat as a source of energy". Those who follow the Atkins Diet will stock up on more proteins and avoid the bad carbs (like white bread). The disadvantages of this diet are vitamin deficiencies and constipation. Worst disadvantage: People on this diet regain all the weight they lose once they get back on the carbs.

2. The Zone Diet "aims for a nutritional balance of 40% carbohydrates, 30% fats, and 30% protein each time we eat". It has the following basic rules:
a. Eat a small portion of protein every meal.
b. Have 2 snacks a day, both of which have some protein.
c. Carbs portion of the meal/snack should be twice the protein portion. Stick to good carbs like lentils and beans.
d. Every meal/snack should have good fat (nuts, olive oil, fish oil)

Cons? It's an expensive diet to follow, and is very time-consuming and difficult for people to fit into their hectic lifestyle.

Bottom line is we can't have it all. For the risk of sounding resigned: here's one saying that I am itching to publish here at the FitFactorY.Com si com sa (sorry did I spell it right?). Most diets have their advantages and disadvantages, and it seems that there aren't really any terrific diet plans out there. Just so so plans you can try to follow in hopes that they will help you lose your needed weight.

Hopefully though, if you pair this with the right amount of exercise, you might really be successfully in your weight loss program.

Source:
http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/7379.php

3 comments:

  1. Personally I like Michael Pollan's "diet": Eat less food, mostly plants.

    ReplyDelete
  2. Thanks for commenting on my blog! Hope you will stop by to visit again sometime.
    Blessings, Jen at Oils For Wellness

    ReplyDelete
  3. @Charlotte: That diet does sound good, will read up on it further one of these days :)

    ReplyDelete