Alli Diet Pills
Another pill that has recently come on the market is Alli. It works by blocking your stomach and intestines from digesting about 20% of the fat you eat. You have to go on a low fat diet when you start taking Alli. In addition you can’t eat more than 15 grams of fat at any one time. You can’t save up your fat allotment for the day, or several days, in order to splurge. If you break either of these rules, you suffer ‘treatment effects’ which include unexpected diarrhea and stomach cramps. Alli actually recommends that you wear dark pants and bring a change of clothing with you for the first week of the program. And stay close to the bathroom. Alli claims that in scientific studies participants have lost 50% more when taking Alli then just staying on a low calorie, low fat diet.
The advantages include having a little help to get you started on your diet and losing weight a bit faster. The disadvantage includes the expense, and in the case of Alli, the treatment effects. Alli is not a diet program you can cheat on and then return to without suffering ill effects. Some participants have reported treatment effects for several weeks after they stopped the program. Others have said they get treatment effects even when they make sure their fat consumption is within limits.
Can you really lose weight just by thinking about it? Well studies have shown that athletes can improve their game through the technique of visualizing the correct sequence of muscle movements. During the process of visualization it seems that even though the muscles don’t move, the brain sends electrical impulses that mimic the impulses sent when the action is physically carried through. Practicing by thinking about it.
People who want to lose weight are often their own worst enemy. Looking in the mirror they chide themselves for their flabby thighs or stomach over hanging the belt. They don’t see that they’ve lost weight, they just see how much more weight they should lose. This mind set just re-enforces their poor self image. Then when a cookie beckons, they figure why not, they’re fat and flabby anyway.
Want to know a better thought process? Think of your body the way you want it to be. If you have a picture of your former thinner self, use it as a guideline. That’s the real you. Whenever you’re tempted by a double chocolate brownie think of the thin you.
You can use your mind to control your eating habits. If you’re tempted to eat, just delay gratification for 15 minutes. In most cases when the time has passed, so has the craving.
Visualization can be used as a substitute for eating. Think of a place where you feel safe and happy. Perhaps it’s the beach with the waves rhythmically pounding the shore, the sand underfoot, and the sun glistening off the water. Smell the salt air and feel the cool breeze ruffling your hair. When you feel an eating binge coming on, close your eyes and picture your safe place. You are turning your attention away from the momentary satisfaction of eating to the longer term satisfaction of losing weight by focusing on a pleasant memory.
Remind yourself you are in control of your food, not the other way around. Give yourself permission to have whatever you want. Deprivation as a diet doesn’t work. It’s like when someone says DON’T think of a pink elephant, the first thing you think of is — the pink elephant. If you tell yourself: I can’t have pizza, I can’t have pizza, I can’t have pizza, the more you’ll want the pizza. Give yourself permission to have the pizza, but just a small taste. Thank about what you like best about the pizza. Savor the crispy crust, the tang of the tomato sauce and the flavor of the cheese, then stop eating. You’ve had the taste of pizza, you don’t have to eat the entire portion.
Is the Atkins Diet For You?
The Atkins Diet is the grand daddy of the quick weight loss diets. It’s based on severely limiting carbohydrates. Carbs are processed by the body to become sugar or glucose. Glucose is used by the body for energy. If the carbs consumed for the day aren’t enough, the body transforms the fat it has stored back into glucose for energy. Carbs also cause the blood sugar to spike which signals the body to produce insulin to remove the sugar from the bloodstream. This causes the blood sugar to drop which results in a craving for more carbs to raise it back up. That’s the basis of the Atkin’s Diet. Severely limit carbohydrates in the daily diet and the body has to fall back on its fat storage for energy.
The initial two week kick start program only allows 20 grams of carbs per day. The carbs from fiber are netted – subtracted from the total carb count. So for example, while ¼ cup of blueberries has a total carb count of 5.1 grams, only 4.1 grams are counted because 1 gram is from fiber.
Protein such as fish, chicken, beef, and pork contains 0 grams. The diet allows cheese and eggs. Seafood is tricky, some, like shrimp, have 0 grams and others like oysters, pack a walloping 12.5 grams per 6 oz. You can have limited amounts of green vegetables such as spinach, kale, broccoli, asparagus, and cabbage. Fruit is not allowed. To give you examples of carb counts, an apple has a net 16 grams of carbs, a slice of wheat bread has 12 carbs. Alcohol in any form is not allowed during the kickoff stage. An exercise period of 30 minutes per day is mandatory.
After the initial two weeks, carbs are gradually and slowly added back to the diet, fruits and vegetables first. Some vegetables like sweet potatoes (19) and corn (14 per 1/3 cup) contain too many carbs to ever become a regular part of the diet. The maximum level of carbs at this stage should be between 30 to 35. The objective is to continue losing weight but at a lesser rate than the initial two week period. If the weight loss stops the number of carbs being consumed has to decrease again.
The maintenance diet is at a level of carbs where you’ve stopped losing weight and don’t gain weight. It maxes out at about 40 grams of carbs per day. A turkey sandwich with mayo and sliced tomatoes is about 30 grams of carbs. A medium pear has 21 and one cup of 2% milk has 11.
Sugar, processed foods, flour and starches, such as potatoes and rice are pretty much off limits forever on the Atkins Diet. Most fruits have to be eaten in moderation if at all and certain vegetables as well.
Do Low Calorie Diets Work?
The average person needs to eat about 2000 calories per day to maintain their weight. Of course this varies based on how much the person weighs, their metabolism and activity levels, but it is a bench mark. There are two ways to lose weight on a low calorie program, either cut back the number of calories consumed or increase activity levels to burn off more calories.
A pound of fat requires that 3500 calories either be burned or not consumed. A calorie is the amount of energy in food. 500 calories would have to be cut from the average person’s daily diet to lose one pound of fat per week. A restricted low calorie program is usually between 1200 to 1500 calories per day. A medium apple has 70 calories, an 8 oz. steak about 425. One tablespoon of fat, oil, or butter has 120 calories. As a general rule fat and oil has more calories than any other type of food. Vegetables and fruits have the least amount of calories.
Increasing the amount of exercise per day can result in weight loss. If you walk for 30 minutes daily you’ll burn off 250 calories. The good news is that exercising at a brisk pace, say walking, for 20 minutes will increase your metabolism from 10 to 15% for two to four hours afterward. A brisk pace means that you can still talk while walking. If you can whistle or sing, you’re going too slow and if you can’t catch your breath enough to hold up your end of the conversation, you’re going too fast.
Combining a low calorie program with an exercise program will allow you to burn off the fat faster.
The advantages of a low calorie program is that you can eat a wide variety of food. There are no restrictions on what you can eat, just how much you can eat. If you absolutely have to have a piece of cheesecake you can eat it as long as you include it in your daily calorie consumption.
The disadvantages include sometimes being hungry.
Severely cutting back calories doesn’t accelerate weight loss, in fact it has the opposite effect. Your body is conditioned to react to starvation, which is what you’re doing when you decrease calories below 1000 per day, by lowering your metabolism. So you can cut back and your body will just compensate. The bad news is if you go back to a normal diet it takes your body a while to realize you’re not starving and increase your metabolism back to normal levels.
Prepackaged Food Programs
You’ve probably heard of most of them like Jenny Craig, promoted by Kirstie Allie. You will receive prepackaged foods for breakfast, lunch and dinner. Some programs also include snacks. You may add fresh diary and produce. The meals are balanced to provide all the nutrients you need and are low fat and low calorie so you lose weight.
A variation of the prepackaged food program are the meal replacement programs. You consume a prepared drink or snack bar to replace breakfast and lunch and consume a normal low fat dinner.
The advantages of the prepackaged food programs is that you don’t have to think. You know what you can have. There are no decisions to be made. No carb counting. No calorie counting. The products have simplified diet programs.
The disadvantages include the expense of the program. The prepackaged meals are not cheap. Another disadvantage, at least in the beginning, is the shock of the small portions. Some participants recommend adding additional steamed veggies to bulk up the menu. If you prepare the meals for your family you might find it tempting to make dinner for them and then you have only your prepackaged dinner. A final disadvantage is that once you go off the program you may quickly return to your old eating habits because you aren’t used to making healthy eating choices.
