Posts Tagged ‘food items’

Atkins Declares Bankruptcy – Is Low Carb Dead?

August 27th, 2007

As many of you have already heard, Atkins Nutritionals Inc. the company that turned low carb eating into a worldwide diet craze has filed for bankruptcy court protection.

Does this mean that people did not lose weight on the Atkins diet?

Of course not, carbohydrate restriction has been proven to accelerate weight loss in the short term. Notice the last two words…short term. There is a simple reason why Atkins filed bankruptcy, people love to jump on the latest diet craze and then jump off just as quickly as they jumped on. When buyer demand slows, so do revenues.

People did lose weight, and lot’s of it on the Atkins diet. The problem is that diets like the Atkins diet are hard to stick with long term. In fact, there has been little solid evidence to show that carbohydrate restriction can lead to permanent weight loss. What then is the key to permanent weight loss?

The key to permanent weight loss is to change your lifestyle. Your lifestyle is made up of the habits and routines that you have made a part of your life.You can achieve permanent weight loss by simply acquiring new “Positive Habits” that provide weight loss as a benefit.

What is a positive habit? A positive habit is simply a habit that produces positive benefits, actions and attitudes you want to acquire and make a part of your lifestyle. Why are positive habits so powerful. Because habits, by their very nature, are automatic. After a period of time they can become permanent.

So how do we go about adding new positive habits to our life? Its really quite easy. You simply begin repeating an action, attitude or thought process every day for at least 21 days. Research has shown that an action that is repeated for a minimum of 21 days is likely to become a permanent habit.

Remember that positive habits have positive benefits and you will reap those benefits for as long as you maintain that habit. So now that we know what positive habits are, and how to acquire them, lets look at some simple positive habits that will help you achieve permanent weight loss.

Habit #1 – When Dining Out, Control Food Preparation and Lose Weight

When you eat out, make it a habit to request how your food is prepared. You should never feel like you have to accept food items exactly as they are described on the menu. Most restaurants will happily prepare your meal in different ways if you just request it. You can ask that they bake or broil items which are usually fried.

Always remember to ask for salad dressing on the side. Salad dressing can be one of the biggest sources of fat in a persons diet. Studies have shown that females gets most of their fat from dairy products, margarine, mayonnaise, and salad dressing. By making it a habit to order salad dressing on the side, you can control the amount and type of dressing your put on your salads and reduce the amount of fat and calories that you consume. Try substituting olive oil or a low fat alternative like balsamic vinegar for bottled dressings. Olive oil contains healthy monosaturated fat and is a key ingredient in the healthy heart Mediterranean diet.

Remember that sometimes, small changes in your lifestyle can result in big changes to your life. According to the Encyclopedia of Foods: A Guide To Healthy Nutrition, simple changes to your food order as described above you can save 10 to 30 grams of fat and 100 to 300 calories per entree!

Think about how this positive habit can help you achieve a trim and fit body automatically! Remember, your new positive habits will result in a change in your lifestyle. The cumulative effects of these lifestyle changes are considerable, they hold the keys to achieving a permanent weight loss and a trim and fit body.

Habit #2 – Drink Green Tea …Burn Fat! Boost Your Metabolism!

If you want some help achieving that trim and fit body, make it a positive habit to drink green tea daily. Here are just of few of the benefits you will receive from this positive habit: The American Journal of Clinical Nutrition recently published research demonstrating that a substance found in green tea called catechin polyphenols increases your metabolism and also increases the rate at which your body burns calories. Burning more calories is your ticket to a leaner body.

Green tea is also loaded with antioxidants, which have been shown to protect you from cancer and many other diseases. Other studies have shown that green tea may help you control your appetite. Green tea is available in many restaurants and most grocery stores.

About The Author

Copyright 2005 Dan Robey

Dan Robey is the author of the Best-Selling book “The Power of Positive Habits” now published in 22 countries worldwide. To learn more and subscribe to a complementary e-course on Positive Habits go to: http://www.thepowerofpositivehabits.com

Written By: Dan Robey

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Low Carb Recipes – Surprisingly Doable

August 15th, 2007

The low carb diet movement has taken the world by storm. Nearly everyone has heard of it – who could avoid doing so? Variations of this reducing diet have been endorsed by celebrities and other popular figures. Advertisements for low carb food products and low carb recipes have been portrayed prominently in magazines and television, with the promise that you WILL lose weight even if you eat large food portions; you just have to make sure that the food you are eating has little or no carbohydrate content.

Perhaps one of the most surprising things is that low carb recipes are doable and once your system has gotten used to them, they are easy to follow. People are of the apprehension that it will be hard to make dishes because of the scarcity of ingredients. After all, we have become accustomed to using things like sugar, flour, bread, potatoes, etc. – all of which are a no-no for low carb dieters – in the dishes we eat.

But as the low carb diet movement started to become more popular and as the clamor for appropriate ingredients increased, the food industry rose up to the occasion and started introducing products to meet demand. Take for instance, sugar. Normal sugar is known to trigger certain mechanisms in the body that would make a person feel hungrier more often. Add this to the fact that sugar is full of empty calories that will only add to the ones that your body already is trying to burn. Now, however, dieters can take comfort in the fact that they can use artificial sweeteners – such as Splenda – that do not have the same effect on the body as sugar, but still impart the sweetness that so many of us want and crave.

Entrees or main dishes pose no problem since low carb diets usually promote the consumption of high-protein food products, such as meat. It is those appetizers, desserts, snack foods – and even beverages – that pose a problem. But with the introduction of substitute products, a dieter need not look at dishes like breaded chicken or chocolate cake with vain longing. Just look at the variety of low carb recipes online and offline, and you will see that there is a plethora of ingredients with the label “low carb” attached to them.

Want to make some brownies? No problem, just use low carb chocolate. Breaded pork chops or chicken can be enjoyed guilt-free if you use bread crumbs derived from low carb bread. Are you a pasta lover who cringes at the thought of having to give up lasagna and spaghetti? Then you will appreciate the fact that there are low carb pastas out on the market, enabling you to continue enjoying your favorite dishes – just make sure that the sauces and other ingredients you use are not laden with carbohydrates.

Low carb reducing diets, such as Atkins and South Beach, do not ask the dieter to totally give up food items that have carbohydrate content. The key is to control one’s carb intake in order to promote faster metabolism: burn more calories faster to lose weight faster. Fruits and vegetables are still an essential part of the diet, but it is important to know which types of fruits to avoid and to enjoy, especially if you are just starting your diet. For instance, you can enjoy grapefruit, peach or strawberry shakes, smoothies or juices without compunction; the same cannot be said for dishes that contain bananas, pears, or grapes.

If you find yourself running out of recipe ideas and you are determined to stick with a low carb diet plan, there are numerous books, web sites, and other resources that you can avail of in order to plan a daily or weekly menu. This is assuming that you like to cook for yourself or someone else on a low carb menu. On the other hand, if you are not the type who is fastidious about home cooking, then you will be glad to know that many restaurants serve food especially for the low carb consumer. There is also a variety of microwaveable and ready-to-eat meals that are suited for such reducing diets.

Before a person goes all out on a carbohydrate-controlled diet and starts hoarding and following low carb recipes, it is always a wise thing to get a professional medical opinion on whether such a diet is safe for him or her. Persons with certain health issues, such as kidney disease, should not embark on a low carb reducing diet. Barring that, almost any person can enjoy great-tasting – even gourmet – foods and drinks and still lose weight in the process.

About the author:

Carb-club.com provides you with information on all kinds of low carb recipes and diets like the Atkins diet, the South Beach diet, the Zone diet, and more. Come take a look at http://www.carb-club.com/

Written By: Trevor Mulholland

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