A Quick Look at Some of Today’s Most Effective Diets

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.

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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.

Approaches to the treatment of obesity and A Free Weight Loss Formula

The general approach for treatment of obesity is to suggest a low calorie diet and increased physical activity. Ther are many weight loss programmes in the market. Some over-the-counter wellness products are also very popular these days as they claim to produce the results fast. But many of these products are not researched properly and medical community has expressed doubts about their effectiveness in long term.

Many weight loss programmes are based on low carbohydrate diet although its long term effect is not very much different than that of low calorie carbohydrate rich diet, according to a recent research. Low carbohydrate diet produces ketosis which causes low cholesterol levels and reduced body weight. However, there are differences of opinion in medical community as to whether the low carb diet is safe in long run.

Other systems of medicine like Ayurveda and Homeopathy also have their own approach for treatment of obesity. According to Ayurveda, obesity is recognized as a disease called “Medoroga”. Meda means fat and it is one of the seven Dhatu’s that are sequentially produced from food in the human body. Obesity is considered as a nutritional disorder mainly produced due to sedentary life style. Ayurveda puts more emphasis on prevention of the disease and adopting a healthy life style. The medicines for the treatment of obesity contain the substance known as Guggulu which is responsibe for reducing weight. Ayurveda uses natural products in the preparation of medicines and these medicines are generally safer than chemical based medicines and drugs. Also, the Ayurvedic medicines have a long history of use and hence, are more reliable.

Homeopathy has its own approach. It treats the patient, not the disease. It takes into account the constitution of a person for treatment of diseases. The constitution is the physical, emotional and intellectual make up of the person. Hence there are no ready made prescriptions for obesity which can produce uniform results. The patient should have enough patience to take Homeopathic medication otherwise no significant results can be produced.

Another approach that can help in curing obesity is that of Yoga. Yoga advocates a healthy life style with its specific techniques to clean the body from toxins and improve emotional and intellectual balance. It covers a broad spectrum of life. Besides physical aspects, it also covers emotional, intellectual and spiritual aspects of life which are mostly ignored by modern science when treating a patient. Certain types of pranayama (breathing techniques) greatly help in the cure of obesity. Meditation can reduce mental stress which is also a cause for tendency of over-eating.

A person should be kept motivated and focused on the goals in order to implement a particular weight loss programme. Hence behavioral therapy is also popular these days which suggests to set specific goals and have a reward other than food for achieving those goals. Regular recording of weight and activities is also important to track the progress.

An integrated approach is required which can address the issue more appropriately. A good weight loss plan should be based on a synthesis of different approaches for treatment of obesity. A weight loss formula is available at http://www.free-weight-loss-formula.com that incorporates the following steps:

Step1 – A Meditation technique to eliminate mental causes of obesity
Step2 – A simple but powerful fat burning exercise
Step3 – Pranayam (breathing techniques)
step4 – Balanced diet

It provides a step by step method which anyone can follow to reduce weight and get a perfect body shape. It incorporates the traditional wisdom about healthy life style. It is based on an integrated approach which addresses multiple causes of obesity. You are not required to purchase any expensive wellness product to implement it. In this way, you save money which you would otherwise have to spend on the treatment of obesity related problems.

Are Insurance Companies About To Ease Funding For Gastric Bypass Surgery?

Ask any bariatric surgeon whether or not gastric bypass surgery lowers a patient’s risk of early death and he will tell you without hesitation that it does. Indeed, he will undoubtedly be surprised that you have asked the question at all as surgeons have known for years that weight loss surgery extends a patient’s life.

but, put that same question to a number of insurance companies and you may well receive a different answer because, until now, despite the fact that there has been a lot of anecdotal evidence for what everyone knows to be the position, there has not been any hard, concrete scientific proof.

Today however the results of two studies have clearly shown in numerical terms that gastric bypass surgery has a significant effect on the death rates of those concerned.

In the first, a multi-center United States study involving 16,000 patients followed for 7 years, long-term death rates fell by as much as 40 percent. At the same time a second Swedish study involving some 4,000 patients showed a 29 percent fall in death rates.

For a long time now insurance companies have sought to put obstacles in the way of patients to stop them from submitting claims for weight loss surgery and this has been gaining momentum in recent years as the number of obesity operations being carried out has climbed dramatically and weight loss surgery has become more and more accepted with a number of celebrities such as Star Jones, Carnie Wilson, Al Rocker and others undergoing obesity surgery.

Insurance companies have however stuck strictly to the position that gastric bypass surgery ought only to be used as a last resort and that every possible attempt to lose weight using exercise and diet, including if necessary the use of medication, must be exhausted before weight loss surgery is considered. additionally, they have also stuck to the line that gastric bypass surgery should only finally be done if weight presents a risk to life.

For most people this stance by the insurance companies is seen as being totally ridiculous and a position which they have clearly adopted merely to save the insurance company money. Nevertheless, and despite this point of view, the insurance companies have gotten away with this for years now because it has not been possible to show in terms of facts and figures that gastric bypass surgery is not just a convenient and relatively easy way to lose weight but is the only option open to many obesity sufferers and an option that will not only improve their quality of life but literally extend their lives, in many cases quite significantly.

For years now overweight individuals have battled with their weight and, although some people have experienced very limited success, the vast majority of people (and certainly those who are faced with losing more than 80 pounds) have found that diet and exercise simply does not work. Despite this fact, they have had no choice and doctors have been forced to lead patients down this path because of the stance of the insurance companies.

It is to be hoped that now at long last the insurance companies will be forced to meet their responsibility in this area and at last put the needs of their policyholders before those of their shareholders.