Why Most Diets Don’t Work
Behind smoking, obesity is the second leading cause of preventable death. It is clearly a health problem that is reaching epidemic proportions. Ironically a drastic attempt at cutting calories usually does not work, because it puts the body into starvation mode where it wants to store away as much fat as it can.
An overall logical approach is to get your body to stop burning sugar and start burning the fat. The way to do this is to stop eating sugar or simple carbohydrates. Below are three good meal plans to lose weight. Each of them follow the same approach of offering lots of protein and little sugar.
The Dukan Diet
The Dukan diet is a daily food plan to lose weight fast. It was developed by a French nutrition specialist by the name of Dr. Pierre Dukan. His diet has become popular with many Hollywood stars as well as Kate Middleton. There are four phases to this diet.
I- The Attack phase: In this 10-day period, you eat only high-protein meals, but you can eat as much as you want. Your selection comes from 68 different items that include chicken, fish, eggs, and non-fat dairy products. You also need to eat 1 and a half tablespoons of oat bran every day and drink at least 1 and a half liters (about 50 ounces) of water each day.
II- The Cruise Phase: The duration of this phase typically last 3 days for every pound you want to lose. On odd days you eat protein only and on even days you include vegetables from a list of 32 different kinds. Avoid the starchy vegetables like corn, carrots, peas, and potatoes and increase your oat bran consumption to 2 tablespoons a day.
III – Consolidation Phase: After you have lost the desired weight, you being this phase. The purpose of the consolidation phase is not to lose more weight, but to prevent you from rebounding and putting on the pounds you took off in phases one and two. To determine how long this phase should last, take the number of pounds you lost and times it by five. That will give you the number of days you should be on phase 3. If you lost 10 pounds, then you will need to follow the consolidation phase for 50 days. On one day a week (preferably the same day each week) you only eat protein. On each of the other six days, you can eat as much protein as you want as well as vegetables (even the ones excluded in phase 2), 1 portion of a low-sugar fruit, 2 slices of whole-grain bread, 1 portion of hard cheese, and 1 to 2 servings of starchy foods. You can also have 1 to 2 celebration meals each week in which you eat whatever you want. Also, you continue to eat 2 tablespoons of oat bran each day.
IV- Stability Phase: This phase should last for the rest of your life. In addition to an extensive menu, there are 4 rules that you must follow in this phase.
- Eat 3 tablespoons of oat bran every day.
- One day each week eat only protein, like the attack phase.
- Drink plenty of water.
- Walk at least 20 minutes every day.
Sugar-free gum, artificial sweeteners, vinegar, and spices are allowed and a daily multivitamin is encouraged.
The Atkins Diet
Another healthy food plan to lose weight is the Atkins diet. Robert Atkins developed it by reading a research paper in the Journal of the American Medical Association and then applying and fine tuning the principles to his diet to resolve his own weight problem.
Phase 1: Induction. Eat as many eggs and as much meat as you want but limit the amount of oysters and mussels and avoid processed meat or pork that has been cured with sugar or has added nitrates. Acceptable cheeses include Swiss, cheddar, feta, mozzarella, Parmesan, blue cheese, and cream cheese. In addition to meat, try to eat at least 12 to 15 grams of carbohydrates from non-starchy vegetables. The unacceptable vegetables include potatoes, yams, squash, beets, corn, peas, and carrots. Stay in this phase until you have a lost a significant amount of weight and until you stop craving foods high in carbohydrates.
Phase 2: Ongoing Weight Loss (OWL). In this phase you can add nuts, seeds, berries, and tomato juice to the existing diet. Typically you stay in this phase until you have less than 10 pounds to lose.
Phase 3: Pre-Maintenance. In this phase you can add acorn squash, white potatoes, carrots, and yams to your diet as well as certain fruits like apples, bananas, cherries, grapes, peaches, plums, and watermelon. Brown rice, whole-wheat pasta, and oatmeal are also now acceptable.
Phase 4: Lifetime Maintenance. This is the final phase. It is very similar to phase 3 but you are allowed to eat bigger portions of the foods that were added in phase 3.
The Simeons Protocol or HCG Diet
The Simeons protocol was developed in the 1960′s by British endocrinologist Albert Simeons. It consists of a low calorie diet (approximately 500 calories a day) accompanied by a daily injection of a low dose of human choronic gonadotropin or HCG (between 125 and 200 units a day). If done for at least 23 days but no longer than 40 at one time, HCG will reset the hypothalamus in the brain, so it will no longer store fat. Many people have lost a pound a day and have kept it off. HCG is a prescription item in the U.S. and is not to be confused with homeopathic drops that contain no HCG and therefore do not require a prescription.
On the first two days, after you have taken your daily injection of HCG, eat as much as you can all day for two days. Then for at least the next 21 days and at the most 38, inject a dose of HCG each morning and follow the diet below:
Breakfast: Herbal tea and all the water you want throughout the day.
Lunch: 1 fruit, 1 cup of a vegetable listed below and 1 small portion of meat listed below.
Dinner: Same as lunch as long as it is not exactly the same (choose a different meat or vegetable).
Fruit: apple, half of a grapefruit, or a handful of strawberries.
Vegetable: asparagus, celery, cucumbers, tomatoes, chard, spinach, lettuce, or radishes.
Meat: white fish (halibut, sole, sea bass), chicken, or lean beef (may cook with spice, but no butter or oil).
You must eat your vegetable and meat at meal times, but you may eat the fruit as a snack before or after your meals. Eating fewer calories than this diet will not help you lose any more weight.
21 Day Period: After you have finished the HCG injections, you can eat as much as you want of any kind of meat or any vegetables, but do not eat any sugar or starch (bread, potatoes, pasta, rice) for 21 days. Then your brain should be reset and should want to burn incoming calories instead of storing them up as fat.
Conclusion
Many people want to know how to lose weight fast without working out. Although routine exercise that may merely consist of walking is necessary for good health, it is still possible to lose weight without it. Any of the above plans can be successful diet plans to lose weight for men and women. There are also a number of natural supplements that can help you lose weight as well.
photo credit: convivial.org