Diet Type or Calories Lost: What’s Best for Weight Loss?

October 3, 2010 | Leave a Comment

A 2009 study published in The New England Journal of Medicine examined longer-term dieting, and asked what was more important for losing weight: the composition of the diet (that is, the proportions of fat vs. protein) or caloric intake.

The study

Subjects (811 men and women) were randomly assigned to one of these 4 diets, all of which totaled at least 1,200 calories:

low fat/average proteinlow fat/high proteinhigh fat/average protein high fat/high protein

The participants were encouraged to exercise at least 90 minutes a day and they received counseling every 8 weeks over the 2-year period. Group sessions were provided 3 out of 4 weeks in the first 6-month period and 2 out of 4 weeks the remaining 18 months of the study.

The results

Regardless of which diet the subjects were on, their weight loss and decreases in waist circumference were the same for all 4 groups. Overall, the participants lost an average of 13 pounds the first 6 months and kept 9 pounds off after 2 years. The greatest weight loss was seen in the first 6 months, and all groups exhibited slow weight regain starting at 12 months. As a group, they all showed improvements in LDL (bad) cholesterol, triglyceride, and insulin levels.

Bottom line

As long as your diet is balanced and healthy overall, you can lose weight and keep a good amount of it off if you watch the calories. The researchers thought it significant that those who attended at least 2/3 of the counseling sessions lost an average of 22 pounds, compared to the participants who didn’t get counseling and lost an average of 9 pounds overall.

Cut calories inch by inch

Here are some ways to cut calories that won’t leave you hungry:

skim milk instead of creamer in your coffee (2 creamers = 45 calories; skim milk = negligible calories; plus, it adds calcium) butter spray instead of a pat of butter on your potato or bread (45 calories)1% milk instead of whole (50 calories)low-cal wheat bread instead of regular (~ 40 calories)

Even these little calorie-cutting adjustments can add up a lot.

Save 9 pounds effortlessly–over 2 years

Let’s say you did nothing else differently in your diet plan or exercise routine except for making 1 of the 45-calorie changes above. (Yes, just 1!) Since 3,500 calories equals about 1 pound of weight, over the course of 2 years (the length of the study above), you could, in theory, lose 9 pounds.

Don’t believe it? Here’s the math:

If you saved about 45 calories per day for 2 years (730 days), that would be: 730 x 45 = 32,850 calories saved over 2 years.The total number of “saved” calories (32,850) divided by the number of calories in 1 pound of weight (3,500) would be: 32,850/3,500 =  9.4, or about 9 pounds over 2 years!

Coincidentally, 9 pounds is what the subjects in this study lost, on average. Just think what you could do if you upped your physical activity, incorporated 3 of the calorie-cutting schemes above (3 x 45 = 135 calories saved per day), and started your own weight-loss support group!

To sum up

If you keep your diet low-fat overall (say, no more than 1/3 of calories from fat) and stay away from a lot of simple sugars, there are many versions of a healthy diet. Just don’t overload on protein or protein supplements if you don’t need them, since your body is going to treat them like surplus calories and convert them to fat.

View the original article here

Posted by Valen | Filed Under Weight loss diet 

Liquid Diet Weight Loss Tips

February 24, 2010 | Leave a Comment

Would you like to lose weight? Have you tried almost all diet programs and supplements and yet still not satisfied with the results? Well, liquid diet weight loss is the way to go.

Liquid diet weight loss is one of the easiest ways to get rid of those unnecessary fats. While its results might be a little rapid, improper ingredients or infrequent intake of it would surely ruin all your efforts to lose weight. To get the information on what works well for your aim to lose weight and how to maximize efforts has always been a smart choice. With liquid diet weight loss, you’ll surely get satisfying results with only a number of simple steps. This article will help you out with that. Read on.

First step is to choose a self-sustaining liquid solution. Most people would mistakenly assume that liquid diets must be low-calorie. This is wrong since it is unhealthy and would not be able to sustain the body. In most cases, low-calorie liquid diets would result to collapse, fatigue and unhealthy eating in the future. You need to pick a meal-replacement liquid with the nutrients and antioxidants needed and they are the ones that could be found in vegetable and fruits.

Second step that needs to be followed is that you must not combine with exercise. If your diet includes liquids, your body if being fueled properly would sustain itself through everyday activity. However, the energy being exerted once you exercise is exhausting on a liquid diet. Exercise periods of more than 30 minutes are all advised for those on meal replacement shakes. Once you engage in liquid dieting, weight loss is rapid and unless you are really overweight, exercise isn’t always necessary. A doctor needs to monitor progress if you engage in exercising on a low-calorie liquid diet.

Third step is to keep up a decent caloric intake. Calories are the last thing any dieter would want to ingest however the body needs a sensible amount in order to work properly. The juice fasting is not suggested for a long-term dieting as it would have few of the calories the human body would need in order to live. Liquid diet solutions must be able to carry more than 500 to sustain the human body. Liquid diet meals under 420 calories each are not suitable and could result to fatigue, anemia and muscle loss. It is being written that the average human body would need at least 1200 calories daily in order to function and work properly and also is able to lose weight still. So, if you have three liquid meals in one day, each meal should add up to at least 400 calories.

Lastly, you need to take a break and eat solid food. Liquid diets are not meant for long-term usage. You must not plan a staple diet around liquid meals. Also, you must be aware that there are nutrients your body would get from solid foods that don’t transfer well into liquid. Liquid diets must not be followed in more than three months.

Posted by Valen | Filed Under Weight loss diet 

Diet Willpower is Overrated! Lose More Weight by Cheating

February 21, 2010 | Leave a Comment

Diet willpower is often thought of as the necessary ingredient in successful weight loss but actually practicing the will to keep your calories low for weeks or even months on end can actually slow your weight loss.  Research and real life cases show that regular cheating on your diet will cause you to lose weight faster and keep the weight coming off week after week.

Keeping your calories low week in and week out requires willpower, there is no doubt about that.  You find yourself in many situations where you must, using your will, turn down your favorite foods and keep on track.  Yet when calories are kept low for a sustained period of time your body slows your metabolism making weight loss very difficult.

Here is what happens…

You restrict your calories.

A hormone in your body registers a red flag fearing you are in a famine.

In an attempt to keep you from starving your body slams the brakes on your metabolism so you don’t burn up your energy reserves, i.e. FAT.

So by restricting your calories you are actually causing your body to save body fat!  Not good.

Instead of focusing on diet willpower, focus on dieting smarter.  And the number one rule of dieting smart is to keep your metabolism high.

How do you keep your metabolism high while dieting?  The answer is simple, you cheat.  By holding strict to your diet plan for 6 days of the week and then having a scheduled “Cheat Day” on day 7 you boost your metabolism and reap the benefits of a fully functioning fat burning machine.

Now, I know you are thinking that you will just reverse all of your hard work by cheating but this is not what the research and real life case studies have shown and here is why.  While it is true that you will retain water weight after the cheat day this weight will quickly drop off during the 6 days you diet plus you will have the invaluable benefit of a metabolism working at full steam.

So stop leaning on diet willpower to lose those stubborn pounds and look into how adding a cheat day can actually accelerate your results.

Posted by Valen | Filed Under Weight loss diet 

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