The idiot-proof diet is all about calorie shifting. That is, in this diet, you shift your food intake throughout the day instead of eating just 3 meals a day. The diet is popular because it’s actually very easy to follow and there are hardly any restrictions when it comes to the types of food you can eat.

mediaimage
The Idiot-Proof Diet

The idiot-proof diet is all about calorie shifting. That is, in this diet, you shift your food intake throughout the day instead of eating just 3 meals a day. The diet is popular because it’s actually very easy to follow and there are hardly any restrictions when it comes to the types of food you can eat.

The ‘calorie shifting’ model takes place because you eat every two and half hours. The theory is that because your body is consuming calories (energy) constantly throughout the day, it’s always in ‘burning calories’ mode instead of the ‘saving calories’ mode.

When you sign up for the diet, you get access to a diet handbook, an 11-day diet-plan and a diet calculator. You get to pick what foods you like to eat so don’t think that you’ll be tarving in this diet!

NutriSystem

The NutriSystem way of dieting is all about proper meal planning. People love this diet because it takes away the burden of trying to figure out what to eat during their dieting phase. You see, a lot of people actually get confused as to what they can eat when they want to lose weight. That’s not really surprising because there’s so much information out there and for every yay sayer, there is a nay sayer so it’s really tough to know what to eat.

However, with NurtiSystem, they do all the meal planning and portion controlling for you. You just need to sign up to any of their diet programs (e.g., Women’s Program, Men’s Program, Vegetarian Program, etc.) and order a multi-day (usually for 28 days) diet program.

After you choose your diet program, a menu is presented to you and you simply choose what you want to eat. The meals are then delivered to your doorstep at various intervals during your diet program.

The South Beach Diet

The South Beach Diet is popular because the name alone conjures bikini-clad bodies! Add to that the fact that it was founded by a cardiologist, Dr. Arthur Agatston, then you have a sort of ‘doctor recommended, doctor approved’ seal on the diet as well.

At first glance, the South Beach Diet looks a lot like the Atkins Diet in the sense that it restricts carbohydrates during the initial phase of the program (there are 3 phases). The first phase (14 days) encourages ‘normal eating’ in the sense that you can pretty much eat whatever you want but you must NOT eat bread, rice, potatoes, pasta, or baked goods. Fruit is also not allowed. No sugar. No alcohol.

The second phase allows you to SLOWLY introduce these items back into your diet but at lesser levels that you consumed them before of course. The third phase is more about general maintenance.

Weight Watchers

Probably one of the longest running diet programs out there is Weight Watchers. It believes in the overall approach where food, exercise, behavior and support are addressed.

Weight Watchers is known for advocating a point system for foods. Using this system, one calculates the calorie intake of the foods he or she eats. The number of points you can have in a day varies depending on your weight. The beauty of the program is that there are no gut-wrenching food restrictions so you never feel deprived of anything. However, the point system teaches you how to balance your meals so that even if you indulge on one food item, you don’t go overboard and consume too much in a day.

Guilty and frustrated from cheating on your diet plan? These diet plan saving tips will keep you on track!

mediaimage
It’s nine thirty at night and you have followed your new diet plan perfectly to a tee all day. A pizza advertisement comes on the commercial break of your favorite show and you notice it is close to your next mealtime.
Up to the kitchen you go to eat your next meal. When in the fridge pulling out your nicelyprepared diet plan meal, you notice some left over Fettuccini Alfredo your wife or roommate brought home. Sure looks good you think as you catch a little bit of saliva about to drip on your shirt!

“Just a little taste won’t hurt my diet plan,” you justify…

“ I’ve stuck to my diet plan all day……”

A little taste and before you know it you tell yourself the extra carbs and calories will be a good boost to your workout tomorrow!

An hour later your gut is stretching and Indigestion plagues you from cheating on your diet plan!!

“I should have stuck to my diet plan!” is going through your head as you lay down to have nightmares of a fat ass! “Tomorrow I’ll stick to my diet plan “, you chant in your head!But you fall from your diet plan only a day or two later!

The occasional stray from your diet plan can really add up!And billboards,tv’s, radios and people are everywhere pushing fast foods and junk to sabotage your diet plan!

Here are five diet plan saving tips to arm yourself against the onslaught of the Cheating War!

Diet Plan Tip #1 – Eat Slowly – Take your time when you sit down to eat.

The chances you will stuff yourself or overeat diminish and you will reach the point of satiety much more quickly if you eat slowly!

The more you are satisfied with what you have eaten the less likely you will continue to think of food. That chocolate Black Forest cake won’t be as tempting either!

Diet Plan Tip #2 – Have Delicious Meals That Fit Your Meal Plan Prepared Ahead Of Time.

Having meals prepared ahead of time makes it convenient to eat according to a plan and on schedule.

You can make it more convenient to stick to your diet plan than it is to eat that bag of candy by having your diet plan meals prepared and available when it is time to eat– and when you gethungry.

Diet Plan Tip #3 – Get Used To Eating For Your Purpose Instead Of For Your Taste Buds.

Satisfying your taste buds when you get the urge to gorge down a Big Mac will never develop a healthy, lean, muscular physique! Keep in mind you are eating to develop a lean, healthy muscular physique every time you open your mouth! The temporary taste satisfaction of a jelly-filled donut will be gone real fast but the empty calories you just devoured can defeat a whole day’s worth of bodybuilding effort!

Diet Plan Tip #4 – Be creative with your cooking to make sticking to your diet enjoyable.

Ideally, with proper preparation and some reciperesearch you can create delicious mouth watering meals that meet your diet plan criteria. Learn to cook. Employ spices from other parts of the world. India and China are twocountries with interesting choices to really spice up your diet plan. When you don’t have to force feed yourself with your nose plugged the chances are much higher you can stick to your diet plan more easily!

Diet Plan Tip #5 – Drink Water.

Drinking water between meals can help to reduce your hunger pains temporarily by giving a sense of fullness. For those of you that sabotage your diet plan munching here and there,keeping a water bottle with you wherever you go can really help.Just sip away when its oral satisfaction rather than hunger driving you.

Stress can stop your weight loss goals about as much as eating a family size bag of Nacho chips and a 2-Liter bottle of pop can.

My approach to weight loss was in gaining my health. Losing 300 pounds was not the first thing that occurred to me, but rather “what could I do to get healthy and eat right”. It was a very strange approach given that I was obviously clinically obese and immediately needed some quick weight loss.

I had no idea that our body used food in a very specific manor and that we could improve our energy levels by working with the body, not against it. There were some very specific rules to follow, so being the good student I followed them. It became a religion for me and as I preached it, I made many people quite crazy. I became an outcast because I had to prepare my food differently and would not eat with the gang at meal times. My food was prepared differently, eaten differently and eventually I even came to ask food servers to use different spatulas to flip my “veggie burger” from the grill.

I followed the rules and I increased my energy. I began eating better and my energy levels increased enough that my weight loss began and I started to become lean and healthy.

Then the stuff hit the fan

Well, it hit their fan, not mine.

Friends began to talk behind my back about wanting the old Rob back. In one instance, I was held down on a couch while cola was poured into my mouth against my will. They wanted their old funny, fat, life of the party friend back, not this health nut with all these food rules.

I think I first became aware of being stressed about food at a birthday party I was asked to attend. It was a time of celebration, but do you want to know what I was thinking?

“Do I or don’t I have a piece of cake?”

“This is totally processed, unnatural food. No fiber, no wholeness and it contained sugars, lard and all kinds of other crap”.

I had a whole bunch of thoughts about how this would affect my weight loss goals, my health and my eating habits.

I was weighing the thoughts of being socially acceptable against the health choice of having this one little piece of cake. I thought about losing them as friends if I did not accept the cake and weighed it against the impact this poor food choice was going to have on my body. I had already lost friends because of my food choices and I really did not want to lose more.

I’m sure you’ve been there yourself, having to make a decision based on your social status vs your health. It’s a very quick thought process, but you notice that your blood pressure goes up, your heart begins to beat faster, you begin to sweat… you know what I mean?

I ate the cake.

I felt like crap.

I felt like crap on many levels and I was stressing about this excessively. I felt bad that I had to make that choice in this manner. I felt bad because the sugar was surging into my blood and I felt bad because I “thought about this way too much”

At some point, you need to let go of it all.

There is energy in food; in the love and people around you that prepared the food and the circumstances in which it’s eaten. Never eat a meal when you are upset or sad because you should be enjoying the meal and taking in all the goodness in what the earth has brought to your body. Take in all that goodness and let go of all the stress.

Eat naturally as much as you can and increase the amount of whole foods in your diet. Make a choice to remove processed foods and beverages such as cola’s, fruit juices, coffee and traditional teas. Eat with a smile on your face and give thanks to everyone involved in bringing the meal, the nutrition and that energy into your body.

Then when the time is right, have fun and enjoy the health you’ve created.

There was a very dramatic shift in my life, my health and my weight loss when I made the choice to enjoy some foods again. I began to break my own rules and live my life. I began to have fun with food and fun came back into my life.