Start By Cutting Out Sugars, Refined Carbohydrates, And Grains:

Refined carbohydrates remove most of the natural fiber and other nutrients, including white bread, white rice, pasta, and sugary drinks like soft drinks or fruit juices.

Start A 1,500-Calorie Plan And Cut Calories To 1,000 Per Week:

Generally, if you’re trying a weight loss program to lose weight healthily, it’s best to start by reducing your calorie intake. The first step is to determine how many calories you need each day. To do this, use a calorie calculator or add the food to your daily diet and multiply by 12 (this will be 1,200). 

Exercise Daily And Prioritize Cardiovascular Fitness Over Muscle Strength:

Exercise is the essential thing you can do to lose weight. It’s not enough to exercise, though—you also have to eat right and be consistent with your workouts. When it comes to exercising, some people think they have no time or energy for it because they’re busy with work or school. 

Exercise is something everyone can fit into their daily routine if they want to! If this sounds like you, try setting aside an hour or two after dinner each night and take a walk around your neighborhood while listening to music on your smartphone or iPod Touch (or whatever devices are trendy right now). You’ll find that this simple activity is enjoyable and significantly changes your mood toward feeling more energetic throughout the day!

Fish Oil Will Help Keep Your Heart And Brain Healthy:

Fish oil is a healthy fat that can help you lose weight, keep your brain and heart healthy, stay alert, and sleep better. Fish oil contains omega-3 fatty acids essential for brain function and keeping your heart pumping blood through your body. These fatty acids are also crucial for preventing inflammation in the arteries of your heart so they can help prevent strokes or other cardiovascular events like heart attacks.

Eat Lots Of Fruits, Vegetables, Whole Grains, Nuts, And Beans:

Fruits, vegetables, and whole grains are all antioxidants, which can help reduce inflammation in your body and potentially lower your risk of certain types of cancer. Whole grains also provide fiber—a nutrient that helps you feel full, control blood sugar levels and regulate bowel movements. 

Include Some Fat In Your Diet, But Don’t Go Overboard On Oily Foods:

Fat is a necessary part of the human diet, providing energy and essential fatty acids (such as omega-3s). It also helps your body absorb vitamins A, D, E, and K; produce hormones; and make neurotransmitters like serotonin. 

The problem with high intakes of saturated fats is that they can lead to higher blood cholesterol levels which can increase heart disease risk factors such as blood pressure or LDL (“bad”) cholesterol levels. 

Studies have shown that diets based on whole grains, fruits, and vegetables reduce the risk of developing Type 2 diabetes by 40% while reducing total cardiovascular event rates by 20% over ten years compared with those who ate fewer fruits & vegetables.

There Are Many Scientifically-Proven Ways To Lose Weight Without Going Through A Crash Diet Or Giving Up Valuable Foods You Love:

You can lose weight without going hungry as long as you’re eating enough calories for the amount of physical activity you do. You can also lose weight by eating lean proteins such as chicken breast and tuna fish and complex carbohydrates like whole grains and fruits. Additionally, incorporating women’s weight loss drinks into your routine can provide a convenient way to support your weight management goals.

Conclusion:

The reason you are having this challenging time is that the fat cells are producing harmful toxins that must be eliminated, which makes the fact that the fats accumulate and make you overweight. 

The post The Best Science-Based Steps To Lose Weight In Natural Way appeared first on Wellbeing Magazine.

Apple cider has been around for quite a long time already. These days, it comes in the form of beverage, vinegar, and pills, all of which come with an assortment of health benefits.

More people who wish to slim down are discovering apple cider’s ability to drop excess pounds. Usually, they take it in vinegar form, a popular salad dressing ingredient, and also a staple in many home remedies for various health and beauty issues.

Aside from consuming apple cider vinegar that can erode the enamel of the teeth and cause hyperacidity in some, taking apple cider pills is also a possibility. These weight loss supplements, according to their proponents, can help promote weight loss safely and effectively in different ways. They do so through the following.

Reduced Appetite

To attain weight loss properly, one must burn more calories than take by mouth. This is why eating less food, including especially unhealthy ones with lots of calories and fat, is a major role player when it comes to losing excess weight. Unfortunately, staying away from calorie-rich foods like pizza and cake is not an easy task. Also, many have a hard time resisting the urge to have seconds at the table during meals.

Taking a pill with apple cider vinegar is ideal about 30 minutes before meals. This can help fend off eating a lot of food due to reduced appetite.

Accelerated Metabolism

Many people blame their sluggish metabolism for their inability to lose weight properly. It makes perfect sense as the metabolism is responsible for burning fat.

Studies suggest that apple cider can speed up metabolism in different ways. Some say that it activates the genes responsible for converting fat into fuel. Others say apple cider is thermogenic, meaning it can increase the body’s core temperature, which then encourages a speedier metabolism. Exercising with a faster than normal metabolism allows for the burning of more calories.

Eliminated Toxins

Years and years of consumption of processed as well as fast foods can cause toxins and various impurities to collect inside the body. This may cause metabolic syndrome, a serious health-related problem that can increase a person’s risk of developing a lot of fatty tissue in the belly area. Diabetes, high blood pressure (hypertension), and heart disease have something to do with metabolic syndrome, too, doctors say.

Taking pills containing apple cider regularly may help flush out accumulated substances that the body does not need, promoting natural weight loss in the process.

Before taking any weight loss supplement, even something with natural ingredients only, consult with your primary care provider first. This is especially true if you have a known medical condition, or you are taking prescription drugs. You should do the same if you are a pregnant or breastfeeding woman.

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This alarming increase in the overall obesity rate is one of the reasons why lap band surgery in Sydney is one of the most in-demand services and the most searched keyword online. 

When a person is considered obese?

Based on medical standards, a person is considered obese if he has a BMI of more than 30 kilograms per square meter. One of the cornerstones of obesity treatment is a lifestyle change. However, as more and more people are having a hard time sticking to an active lifestyle, surgical procedures to fight obesity are gaining ground. One of the more common obesity surgical treatments is what we call gastric banding, more popularly referred to as lap-band surgery. 

Gastric banding: What is it?

LAGB or laparoscopic adjustable gastric banding is a kind of surgical procedure that includes the placement of a movable belt around the patient’s upper stomach part by a laparoscope. This band is silicone made and can be squinched by putting in saline to load up the band. The said band is also connected to a port located under the patient’s abdominal skin. The port is then utilized to remove or add more saline into the band. 

LAGB functions by restricting the patient’s stomach size and the amount of solid it can keep. It also decelerates the passage of food to one’s intestine. It then sends a signal to the brain from the patient’s gut to feel a sense of satiety and fullness even if he is consuming less food. 

Getting to know what lap bands are

Lap band is the name of a device made by Allergan Inc. used in gastric banding surgeries. This term is usually interchanged in the lay community with gastric banding. Currently, the Lap band comes in various models and sizes. Other reputed companies have also come up with their versions of bands like Ethicon’s REALIZE, Midband, and Heliogast. 

Who are eligible for lab band systems?

As a general rule, patients who are eligible for LAGB should have a BMI of more than 40 kilograms per square meter. This means they should have an ideal weight of more than 45 kilograms. If a person with a BMI of 35 to 40 kilograms per square meter has a weight-related problematic medical condition like diabetes and hypertension, he is still eligible for LAGB. 

If you search online for “lap band surgery Sydney,” you can see that a vast majority of programs and surgeons want to take note of a series of unsuccessful weight loss with conventional approaches. This is to highlight the need for a more aggressive and sophisticated approach to weight loss. LAGB should only be performed to patients over 18 years of age. As an added requirement, before any patient can undergo the procedure, they should manifest a full understanding of the entire process, along with the changes they need to introduce in their lifestyles. 

The Takeaway 

When the person has a hard time losing weight on his own, giving up should never be his option. Instead of accepting his weight as his fate, he should turn to experts who can guide him in his weight loss journey. 

The post Crucial Things You Need to Know about Lap-band Surgery appeared first on Wellbeing Magazine.

As we head into January, a time typically known for resolutions and fresh starts, a new study* has revealed the goals set by Britons which they then find hardest to achieve.

Weight loss tops the table at 32% closely followed by earning more money (30%) and saving money / investing more wisely (27%). Improving fitness (26%) and ‘looking after me’ (19%) complete the top five failed goals list.

The battle of the genders reveals slight skews. Women remain consistent with weight loss at number one, (39%) whereas 27% of men cite ‘Making more money’ as the hardest goal to achieve, just ahead of losing weight at 25%. Conversely 15% of respondents said there were no goals they set that they then found difficult to achieve!

Commissioned by The 1:1 Diet by Cambridge Weight Plan, the same survey revealed that more than three quarters of UK adults have set weight loss as a personal goal in the past and failed with 40 % per cent failing as many as five times or more. The study went on to identify the core triggers which lead people to fall off the weight-loss wagon.

From food temptations to not seeing results quick enough, the top 10 reasons dieters were most likely to fail to stick to their goal to lose weight were:

1. Being tempted by foods they love
2. Seeking comfort in food
3. Not seeing results quick enough
4. Cold winter and dark nights
5. A tiring day
6. A dislike for going to the gym
7. Others not being on the same weight loss journey
8. The diet was too difficult to follow
9. Alcohol
10. It was too expensive

As a nation, the survey indicated that Brits often set themselves up for failure, establishing unachievable goals from the start. More than 10 per cent expected to see visible results from their efforts in as little as 1-3 days, and 40 per cent said in order to be motivated to carry on, they’d have to see significant weight loss within a week.

Despite it being a traditional time for dieting, almost a quarter of UK residents are actually put off by making a fresh start in January as they felt there was too much pressure attached to the month.

Mark Gilbert, Nutritionist at The 1:1 Diet by Cambridge Weight Plan, said: “Many people will set the goal to lose weight in 2020 and the vast majority will fail. Falling off the diet wagon should not lead to the desire to lose weight being dropped as an ambition. Our research shows that January is often the most difficult month for dieting success and, without the right support, failure is inevitable for many. They may have unrealistic expectations, haven’t prepared effectively or, most commonly, chosen the wrong diet for their lifestyle or their personal metabolism – whatever the challenge it is important that Britons don’t give up so easily on their desire to lose weight and be fitter this year.”

Laila Rouass, star of Footballers’ Wives, who lost 1 stone 1lbs on The 1:1 Diet by Cambridge Weight Plan, added: “I’m an incredibly health conscious person and care about what I put into my body. I love going to the gym and have never really had a problem with my weight, but after having my daughter and with age, I found it harder to maintain my size and started to feel less confident in my own skin.

“I needed something to kickstart my weight loss journey and that’s when I discovered The 1:1 Diet by Cambridge Weight Plan. The one-to-one support provided by my amazing consultant made all the difference and the plan was so simple it fit into my busy lifestyle easily. Whilst I only wanted to lose a few pounds, achieving that has given me the confidence to start the business I always dreamt of, and I no longer want to shy away from the limelight.”

To find out more about The 1:1 Diet by Cambridge Weight Plan, please visit: www.one2onediet.com/find-a-consultant.

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While more than half of the male population of Britain are on a diet (55 per cent) more than a third (32 per cent) try to keep it a secret, according to a new survey*.

With World Obesity Day taking place today (11^th October) there’s now a call for the shame surrounding male dieting to end.

The research, commissioned by The 1:1 Diet by Cambridge Weight Plan, claims that 33 per cent of British men believe there is a stigma attached to men being on a diet.

The survey of more than a thousand males revealed the top motivators for men to diet are:

1. To improve their general health (35 per cent)
2. To improve self-esteem and body confidence (30 per cent)
3. To fit into their clothes better (20 per cent)
4. To improve their wellbeing and quality of life (15 per cent)

Mark Gilbert, Nutritionist at The 1:1 Diet by Cambridge Weight Plan, said: “With 12 per cent of men being on a constant diet and 17 per cent saying they do not want to talk about it, it is clear that a shift in attitudes is required if the nation is to truly tackle male obesity.

“We all feel the need to lose weight at times, be that a few pounds or a few stone. Being able to do so openly and with the support of others is key to success. With so many British men classed as obese, it is my firm belief that diet should not be considered a dirty word.”

In the same study, 46 per cent of respondents said having the support of experts, family and friends enabled them to be much more successful in achieving their weight loss goals. Partners lead the way in terms of influence at 25 per cent, with medical professionals and weight-loss experts following closely behind at 15 per cent.

Conversely, the four pitfalls many men fall foul of are beer, pizza, fish and chips and cake.

Celebrity dieters don’t influence British men with only four per cent saying their endorsement resonated, whereas 40 per cent of respondents confirmed that the simplicity of a diet was the most important factor to them.

To access the research commissioned by The 1:1 Diet by Cambridge Weight Plan, please visit www.one2onediet.com/

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Top ten reasons why you still might not be able to lose weight

1. LACK OF SLEEP. I know its sounds strange that a lack of sleep can have a huge impact on our waistline but it can. This can be done simply by altering levels of our hormones that regulate hunger. A recently study at the University of Chicago showed that people who slept only four hours a night for only two nights had an 18% decrease in leptin, the hormone that signals to your brain that you are full up, and a 28% increase in ghrelin the hormone that signals hunger. After getting so little sleep the participants of the study had a 24% increase in appetite and craved sugary, salty and starchy foods. Another study showed that people who sleep less than four hours a night had a 73 % chance of obesity compared to people who slept more. I love a study but know that there are two sides to all these statistics and this does not mean that all people who don’t sleep will put on weight but its worth noting and realising. Trying to create a relaxing time before you go to bed, listening to music or doing relaxation techniques might help.

2. CERTAIN MEDICATIONS. Obviously when you are prescribed medications you won’t be able to come off them without permission from your GP but it’s worth noting that medications can effect weight. These include: corticosteroids, which can increase your level of hunger and leave you bloated. Antidepressants can sometimes make you crave sugary starchy foods, beta blockers may effect weight, as well as drugs treating schnizophrenia and epilespy. There is nothing much you can do about being on the drug but you will need to work extra hard from the start of taking them to avoid weight gain. You may need professional help in order to shift the weight as weight loss will need to be tailored to your specific needs.

3. A SYMPTOM OF SOMETHING ELSE. Without putting you all in a panic, weight gain can be a sign of other illnesses (but this is that common). These can include PCOS, thyroid disorders, congestive heart failure, Cushings syndrome, Depression, Diabetes, Lupus and Metabolic syndrome. If you have unexplained weight gain it is a good idea to go and discuss this with your GP. If you are not on any new medications and your diet and lifestyle have not changed it is always best to double check.

4. HIGH LEVELS OF STRESS. If you are too stressed you will be producing high levels of cortisol, a stress hormone that pumps sugar into our blood so that we have enough energy for our fight or flight response. That increased sugar can get picked up by insulin and stored in our fat cells. Although some people who are stressed lose weight, more often than not, high stress will cause people to reach for the foods and drinks that create increased cortisol or insulin like caffeine and sugary starchy food. Much of the food craved will be carbohydrate which will make us calmer and increase serotonin. Dealing with the stress is really important and many people find mindfulness and similar courses very helpful in combating their daily stressors.

5. THYROID ISSUES. An under active thyroid is very common and can happen at any time, but usually hits us when are 40 plus. This condition can slow down the metabolism so if you have symptoms of fatigue, feeling cold, constipation, dry skin and inability to lose weight, get your thyroid checked by your GP. If you do have any under active thyroid you will be prescribed thyroxine which will make weight loss easier but in my experience it’s still not as easy as you would think and you may need advice and support as your levels are checked and monitored.

6. GUT FLORA. Our amazing microbiome is now so well researched we have an abundance of medical literature to plough through. It is now known that people who are overweight have low levels of good bacteria and other important bacteria in the gut .Intestinal bacteria may very well determine whether we are overweight or not. Gut bacteria alters the way we store fat, how we balance levels of glucose in the blood and how we respond to hormones that make us feel hungry or full ie leptin and grehlin. The wrong mix of micbrobes might set the stage from birth as to whether we are overweight or slim. Lean individuals tend to have a more diverse and better variety of gut flora. Studies show that formula fed babies and those delivered byC section have a higher risk of obesity and diabetes than those born vaginally.

7. ARE YOU MENOPAUSAL OR PERI MENOPAUSAL. After about 35 yrs old your hormones start to decline, by your mid 40’s they are really floundering. Fluctuating oestrogen levels, high cortisol and low thyroid status are all essentially reasons to store fat. It is key during the post 40 years to keep blood sugar as stable as possible. Weight gain in mid-life is often tied to estrogen levels. During perimenopause, it is the fluctuation of estrogen (and it’s relationship to other hormones such as progesterone) that can cause challenges for our body to maintain balance. When that happens, fat can become your body’s best friend. After menopause, the reduced estrogen levels overall can cause the body to store extra fat because fat cells can produce estrogen which offers the body a safety net. As the ovaries produce less estrogen, the body turns to other production sources such as the skin, organs and yes, our fat cells. Extra fat cells become insurance for your body to ensure that if the ovaries don’t come through, your body will still be okay, because the fat cells can step in. If you have other mitigating conditions such as bone loss or you are stressed or not eating enough healthy fats, then your body will struggle even further with your fluctuating hormones and will be even more likely to store excess fat as insurance.

8. NOT ENOUGH FAT. Fat fills you up, take it out of food and there is a high likelihood that sugar will be added. Essential fat or good fat is needed to make hormones and gives the mouth the full feeling of satiety that is so important. The right fat can actually help you reduce fat on your body. The revolution of the low fat diets that started in the 1970’s worked to a certain degree, but omitted essential fat and we are still recovering from that brain washing. I’m still seeing clients who think nuts and eggs are bad for you, and cheese is a mortal sin! One of the most important issues in weight loss is feeling full up and not hungry all the time, and fat helps that. Another crucial fact that is forgotten and buried in the midst of time is that calcium ie found in diary food reduces fat absorption. That’s possibly why when the trial of the Atkins diet found no significant increase in cholesterol. (Although long term Atkins is not healthy and is still.. a diet)

9. TOO MUCH ALCOHOL. Those two glasses of wine every night might be disguised in very large glasses and could probably be a lot more than you think. Don’t forget that alcohol as lovely as it is has a lot of sugar in it, which can effect your insulin levels. Check in with the size of glasses you have, and perhaps think about going back to the 1970’s smaller ones! So called average drinkers can tot up nearly 3,000 extra calories per month, that’s 36,000 per year on alcohol. Essentially every glass of wine you have is the equivalent of a slice of cake. So if you drink a bottle of wine a night that’s six slices of cake – a sober thought. I often tell my clients to see glasses of wine as glasses of white sugar, and this can sometimes work.

10. NOT DRINKING ENOUGH WATER. It is not a myth that often when we are dehydrated we eat instead of drinking water. If you are fully hydrated and drinking until your urine is nearly clear, straw coloured it is far more likely that you will feel full up and not start snacking. A glass of water before meals stimulates the sympathetic system to activate lipase to break down fat for energy use. For up to two hours this water also stimulates the intestines to release motilin, which tells the brain that water is available; thus quieting the stomach’s “hunger pang” cries for water. This hormone also acts as a laxative, so that with water’s lubricating effects, causes easy bowel movements. So when you are having so called hunger pangs, make sure you are not dehydrated first.

With these ten points in mind, is it any wonder that slimming clubs and corporations don’t work long term. They don’t work because they don’t look at you as an individual, they are just out to get money and get you hooked on losing that elusive 7lbs which brainwashes you to think the diet as worked. Months later the weight is back on, and more. It’s an ever additive cycle of tiny successes and huge fails which psychological does you no good. If you have been a serial yo yo dieter and would like to lose weight properly please call me to discuss your needs on 01323 737814/310532

The post Why can’t I lose weight? appeared first on Wellbeing Magazine.

Calorie counting and low fat diets only seem to work for a short space of time, and we now know low fat diets are not good for long term health. Calorie counting as well is not a justified way to lose weight long term – if all I had to do was stick within 1,500 calories a day, I’d save it all up and eat éclairs, wouldn’t you?! What calorie counting fails to do is to educate people in a way that they can eat great food for the rest of their lives. It also gets consumers fixated on the front of packaging forgetting to look at whats actually in the food they are buying. We tend to think of dieting as a modern phenomenon but in actual fact, we can go way back to the ancient Greeks and find a generation of people fascinated by food and diet. Throughout the centuries, there have been some extraordinary, weird and wacky ways of keeping off the pounds. Let’s travel back a bit in time and look at what was happening to our ancestors and conclude with the most recent craze the 5:2 intermittent fasting diet.

The Fruit and Vegetable Diet – around 500 BC

The ancient Greek mathematician Pythagoras and his followers, practised one of the first recorded diets, known as vegetarianism. Although ancient Greeks did have a penchant for the athletic look, Pythagoras’ abstinence from the heartier foods in life had little to do with becoming a perfect size ten. Vegetarianism was, in fact, the only way to ensure you were not eating your grandmother or another relative, whose soul could have transmigrated to your neighbour’s pig! (reincarnation was a popular belief in the Ancient world). The great mathematician was so passionate about his diet that he is said to have met his death defending a bean field.

The Jesus Diet  – 1 AD to 2000 AD
One of the oldest diets in history is the Jesus diet according to their website www.jesusdiet.com. The followers of this eating regime claim that almost all diseases and pains can be healed by fasting and prayer. You are only allowed to eat raw food (excluding meat) and eat twice a day at the most. These two meals have to be restricted to one or two pounds – although I can’t find anywhere in the Bible where it tells you this. Also they recommend a one day a week fast.

Bulimia or Ox-Hunger – The Middle Ages
Some say bulimia, curiously called Ox-Hunger long ago, first began in the Middle Ages. People at celebrations gorged on food and then induced purging through vomiting. Like the Romans, this early form of bulimia was not motivated by a desire to be slim for fashion’s sake. Instead, eating a lot is believed to have been a sign of wealth and status, and in certain countries even today, being thin or underweight is a sign of poverty not wealth.

Feverless consumption or hysteria – 1800s
This was thought to be a Victorian form of anorexia ‘hysteria’ sweeping through the middle classes and the aristocracy of Western Europe and North America during the second half of the 19th Century. Literally starving oneself was believed to be the fastest way to embody the Victorian fad of frailty, which was associated with spiritual purity and femininity. At that time, the aristocracy romanticised people who had tuberculosis, or consumption.

Cheyne’s lettuce diet
Medical doctor George Cheyne, little known today, was among the most quoted men in 18th Century Britain. A 450lb (that’s about 32 stone) obese man known for his Falstaffian appetite, he nevertheless advocated moderation to his neurotic clientele. This inventor of the all-lettuce diet was also a fellow sufferer who struggled with obesity and depression (so perhaps the lack of protein might have been an issue!). It’s amazing how lettuce is the first food we talk about when it comes to dieting!

20th Century Diets

The Mega-Bite Diet – 1910
Horace Fletcher, an american art dealer, earned his title ‘The Great Masticator’ – a reference to animals that ‘chew the cud’ – through his publication of a best-selling diet book. In it, he recommended chewing each mouthful at least 32 times until it became a thin, liquid paste, and that any food that couldn’t be broken down to a gruel consistency, had to be spat out. Fletcher claimed to lose 65 of his 217lbs through this remarkable method. The diet had a motto: “nature will castigate those who don’t masticate”. Although chewing and tasting food is important for digestion and would slow down mealtimes- this seems quite arduous to me and certainly not everyones taste!

The Hollywood 18-day Diet or Grapefruit Diet – 1920s to 2000s
The 1920s saw the emergence of glamorous flappers as the feminine ideal. In an effort to achieve this slim, hipless, flat-chested look, women tried the Hollywood 18-day, or Grapefruit Diet (which is still around today). The premise is to consume only 800 calories a day through eating barrels of ‘fat-burning’ grapefruits, so as to kick-start your metabolism. The only plus: You can have as much black coffee as you like. Please don’t try this!

The Tapeworm Diet – 1920s to date
Advertisements for tapeworm pills first emerged in the 1920s. Since then, a number of famous women are alleged to have tried this revolting eating plan. The tiny parasite lives in the intestine of the host, helping to consume the food. The result: You are hungry all the time but are still able to remain rail thin, however much you eat. One urban myth that circulated during the early 1980s claimed that a woman taking a ‘miracle diet pill’ lost such an alarming amount of weight in just a few weeks, her doctors decided to find out what was causing it; and when they opened the mysterious pills to investigate the contents, were greeted by the head of a tapeworm!

The Bland Diet – 1930s
This plan was advocated by American Presbyterian minister, Sylvester Graham, who was nicknamed ‘Dr Sawdust’. Bland foods such as crackers and dry bread were favoured over meat, spices and stimulants because, it was argued, that the spirit would grow strong only through denial of the flesh. He felt that resisting these luxurious foods would eventually encourage restraint in people’s sexual and social behaviour. Graham developed a band of supporters across the US but his diet soon lost popularity when devotees became too weak and ill. However, it’s interesting as we use the phrase ‘eat a bland diet’ if someone is recuperating after an operation or has just had a stomach bug.

Breatharian Diet – 1980s to 2000s
The Bretharian Institute of America  explains their philosophy in this statement:
“When humans reach the purest sense of harmony with the surrounding world, as well as a complete undersanding of each individual’s role as a function of God to create the universe, they will have reached a vibrational frequency on this material plane, where they no longer require food, water or sleep”
Ellen Greve, an Australian who practices this particular brand of madness, has 5000 disciples and charges more than £1000 per ticket for her seminars, where she attempts to liberate people from the “drudgery of food and drink”. As a food lover and devotee of good food, I will pass on this!

The Atkins Diet – 1970s to date
A whole host of celebrities, from Nigella Lawson to Renee Zellweger, have embraced this carb-shunning, protein-heavy diet, as did the public. The Atkins Diet Books hit the top spot in bestseller lists everywhere, although the diet suffered a minor blip when Dr Robert Atkins died after slipping on an icy pavement in New York in 2003. It remains popular, although the GI (Glycaemic Index) Diet seems to have now claimed the top spot.
When I did some research on how many diets there are today, I stopped when it reached over a hundred – but here are some of the most popular.

• Rosemary Conley
• South Beach Diet
• East Right for your Blood Type Diet
• Cambridge Diet
• GI/GL Diet
• The Grapefruit Diet
• The Atkins Diet
• The F Plan Diet
• Jenny Craig
• The Dukan Diet
• The Hay Diet
• Macrobiotic Diet
• The Scarsdale Diet
• 7lbs in 7 days etc
• Weightwatchers
• Cabbage soup Diet
• Lighterlife
• Surelim
• Slimfast

The 5:2 diet: what is it and how does it work?

Bringing us right up to date is this new way of eating, which has started a new craze of trying to prevent ageing and also lose weight at the same time.

With the 5:2 diet, you can eat whatever you like five days a week – so-called feeding days. On the two “fasting days” you eat 500 calories if you are a woman, or 600 calories if you are a man. It doesn’t matter which days are spent “feeding” and which “fasting”, as long as the fasting days are non-consecutive and you stick to the 5:2 ratio.
On fasting days you can consume your calories in one go, or spread them through the day – there is no medical research into whether filling up at breakfast or snacking throughout the day is more effective for weight loss.
A typical fasting-day breakfast of 300 calories might consist of two scrambled eggs with ham (good sources of protein), plenty of water, green tea or black coffee. For a typical 300-calorie lunch or dinner, try grilled fish or meat with vegetables.
On feeding days you can eat whatever you like. Most dieters, rather than feeling a need to gorge, found that they were happy to consume around 2,000 calories – the recommended daily intake for women (2,600 for men) – and did not crave high-fat foods.

Contrary to popular opinion, fasting can be a healthy way to lose weight. It can reduce levels of IGF-1 (insulin-like growth factor 1, which leads to accelerated ageing), switches on DNA repair genes and reduces blood pressure, cholesterol and glucose levels.

According to current medical opinion, the benefits of fasting are unproven. As a diet, it is not recommended for pregnant women or diabetics on medication. Anyone considering a diet that involves fasting is advised to consult their GP first, and to do it under medical supervision.

So my thoughts on this. Well my father was all over this 5:2 diet immediately he turned on to the Dr Michael Mosley Horizon documentary. In five weeks he and his partner had limited success. He initially lost some weight but put it on as soon as he starting eating normally. His blood pressure and cholesterol stayed the same. His partner lost overall only five pounds. What they missed was the social aspect of eating together and a glass of wine at the weekends. What we don’t know of course is Michael Mosley’s glucose, BP, cholesterol levels and IGF-1 markers. They may have been so high that this way of eating would have helped anyway.

So how do you lose weight?

Eat less and exercise more? Oh, if it were only that simple. You need to find a way of eating that you can continue for the rest of your life, and therefore can’t be labelled a ‘diet’. And it’s mostly about carbs not fat!! A tailor-made programme for your own personal needs is the way to go and not a diet in sight – as we know diets don’t work. As soon as you stop, you put the weight back on and this is why today’s diet industry is worth $40-$100 billion in the US (yes, it’s big business) and over £2 billion in the UK. Remember 95% of slimmers regain the weight. All to often I see the devastating impact losing ten stone with diet programmes can have, once the weight is regained. The feeling of failure is palpable in people. Unless you need to lose weight fast for example bariatric surgery this is not the road to take.

If you would like a sensible no nonsense approach to long term weight loss please contact me for more details about my Weight Loss Package. You will have individualised advice and support over four months.
Tel: 01323 737814. www.katearnoldnutrition.co.uk

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