It's 2009. Almost February. You are still trying to keep up with your new year's resolutions, aren't you?
You want to lose serious weight fast, learn to eat healthier, and how to exercise, but don't have time to read
every diet book out there. Well, Health.com has saved us time. They have put together a list that encapsulates the best tips from some of the top diet plans out there—for free—so you can
start putting the helpful advice into action ASAP. Swimsuit time is just around the corner and so are all the weddings you've been invited to.
Skinny Bitch
:
Best Tip: Read the ingredients. Don’t eat anything you can’t pronounce.
The Biggest Loser Calorie Counter
: Best Tip: Try circuit training. The effective, total-body workouts will
help you lose weight and inches, as well as boost your metabolism,
strengthen your bones, and may even make you more resistant to stress.
French Women Don't Get Fat
: Best Tip: Add “petit” and “peu” to your French vocabulary; you can have a little of everything if you stick to small portions.
The Beck Diet Solution: Train Your Brain to Think Like a Thin Person
Best Tip: Differentiate between
cravings and hunger. If you can tell the difference between wanting to
eat and needing to eat, you can cut out unnecessary calories.
The Thrive Diet
: Best Tip: Eat less processed food. Sticking to whole, fiber-rich foods will help you lose weight.
You: On A Diet: The Owner's Manual for Waist Management
: Best Tip: Pick a range for your ideal weight instead of fixating on a
particular number. You’ll feel guilt-free when faced with the small
fluctuations that occur naturally day-to-day.
Dr. Phil's The Ultimate Weight Solution Food Guide
: Best Tip: Reduce your exposure to unhealthy foods and to the cues that cause you to eat. You can’t eat what isn’t there! (in other words, stop buying junk or fast food when you know it is not worth your money)
The advice above also includes a "Worse Advice from Top Diet Plans" (according to
Health.com) but some of those "worse tips"...I actually agree with...with some flexibility. For
instance:
The Thrive Diet: Worst Tip???: Eat raw. Didn’t the raw food trend already come and go?
My answer to that question is NO NO NO. I mean does the girl in the picture above look like she is gonna give up that celery stick? The raw food 'trend' should not be labeled as one in my opinion. Every BODY needs whole raw unprocessed foods. I am not saying that one must eat ONLY raw foods, but I think it is so important for us to eat a greater amounts of fruits and veggies in their raw state. Fiber, Nutrients, Detox, Energy. Need I say more? Check out Dr. RitaMarie's Recipe E-books if you are new to raw foods. They will come in handy.
Skinny Bitch: Worst Tip???: You must eat vegan. The dairy- and animal-products-free lifestyle is just too extreme for many dieters.
Well, I don't think anyone must absolutely follow a vegan diet, but being a vegan since 2004 and feeling great makes me a lil' biased. So I will let you decide. I think you should try it for a month at least. See if it makes a difference in the way you are feeling physically and the way that you think about animals. Here is a link to a great vegetarian starter kit which is always in my sidebar. Also, you should read World Peace Diet
by Dr. Will Tuttle and see if that won't turn you into a vegan :)
You: On A Diet: The Owner's Manual for Waist Management
: Worst Tip???: Eat the exact same thing for lunch—and breakfast too if you
can stand it—every day. The lack of variety may bore you to the point
of giving up on your diet.
I am not so sure this is a bad idea. If you were to eat the same thing everyday for breakfast and lunch which includes a colorful array of mixed vegetables, fruits, and grains... how could it bore you? You get satisfaction every time you eat. You look forward to your bowl of oats in the morning, your blueberry on mixed greens salad for lunch. And whenever you do have other (healthy) foods, your taste buds will be soooo stoked. You will learn to appreciate your taste buds and the cravings for the unhealthy junk will most likely be obsolete; vanished. Also, you might be just like my guy who actually LOVE's eating the same thing everyday for breakfast: Bowl of oatmeal, slice of HealthNut lightly buttered, with a whole banana and a cup of fresh squeezed juice, sometimes a small apple.
The Biggest Loser Calorie Counter:: Worst Tip??: Start your own competition à la Biggest Loser, complete with
group meetings and registration fees. If you’re into the kitsch, go for
it, but without producers, camera crew, and a six-figure salary, it’s
not worth the trouble.
I think the underlying point here is to create a support system of people who can encourage one another to stick to their healthier diets and lifestyles. Beyond the registration fees and winning a lump sum of money in this silly tip, is the notion that humans are by nature compassionate beings who will oftentimes do a better job of achieving their goals with the help of a community (even if it is only you, your best friend, and your sister on the healthy transformation mission) For the record, I've never seen an episode of The Biggest Loser, so I might be completely off here.
The Beck Diet Solution: Train Your Brain to Think Like a Thin Person Worst Tip??: Just say, “Oh well.” If
you’re really dreading going to the gym, or just dying to have a few
more fries, are you really going to be able to just say, “Oh well,” and
stick to the rules of your diet?
Here's is what I take from this tip. Do NOT get so down on yourself when you give in to a temptation, craving, or the sweet pressure in Grandma's kitchen for pan dulce or homemade buttery tortillas. Just DO NOT let it happen as frequently as you let it before. It's all about finding a comfortable balance for you and staying focused. No person, book, or TV show can tell you exactly what you should be eating and when. A magazine, blog, not even a doctor, can know your body the way you do OR are learning to.
I think it's safe to say that people can begin to suffer from serious mental illnesses (i.e. depression) all because of their supposed dieting failures. Many people start to feel like they have no control over their bodies and lose touch with the reality that they DO indeed have the will power to switch from bad eating habits to GREAT ones. Many people (men, women, and sadly children) have turned the comfort, joy, & energy food brings us into an addiction. The problems escalates. Pounds & toxins added to the body makes a person less likely to work out, to feel their bodies. I think it is natural for a person to want to lose excess weight gain. Your body can not handle being sick anymore. It wants and needs to be free. You are your body. You want to be free.
And If you don't feel like exercising today or tomorrow, you may be lacking some key nutrients. Eat more greens. Drink more water. Nothing from a box. Nothing from a bag. Unless of course you picked up some nuts, seeds, or dried fruit (in moderation). Tell me if I am missing something...is there anything else that is TRULY healthy that comes from a bag or a box? I dare you to come up with something 
Good food makes us happy. Healthier food makes us happier. Bring awareness to your plate. Be a lucid eater.
RECIPES
