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Get Slim With Atkins Diet Plan

The Atkins’ diet has been a craze for a couple of decades. Here’s how you can gain from it.

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All of you who are reading this article right now have definitely been on a diet at some point or the other of your lives. The battle of the bulge is an ongoing problem and we are always on the lookout for various means to win this war.

Along with exercise, our diet and nutrition also plays an important role in reducing our weight. Hence, this obsession persists in all of us to undertake some form of dieting. But going on a diet is definitely not an easy thing. What to eat and what to stay away from is always a perennial problem.

One of my friends told me that she ate the normal menu which she cooked for the family, but her weight loss recipe is “portion control.” This is a really simple diet plan. In this plan, you cut down on the portion of food you consume. For example, if you usually have two pieces of toast for breakfast, you should eat only one piece. If you normally eat two cups of rice for lunch, cut it down to one cup. In this way, you are automatically reducing your calorie intake by half.

Another popular method of dieting is to stop all intake of fatty foods and sugar. In this diet, you cut down on your oil, butter and ghee intake which automatically reduces your fat deposits.

While I was leafing through a magazine, I read about one of our Hollywood celebrities following the Atkins’ diet. This immediately aroused my curiosity about the diet. Though I have heard about the diet many times, I had no inside knowledge about it. So, I immediately set to work on it and found out certain basic facts’ about the Atkins diet which I want to share with my readers.

The Atkins’ diet made its first appearance in 1972 and was invented by its namesake, Dr Atkins. According to him, this method enables us to lose weight by inducing a change in metabolism. Our body burns both fat and carbohydrates to provide energy. If we reduce the intake of carbohydrates significantly, our body starts burning only fat to provide energy. This method is called “lipolysis”, which in turn induces ketosis. In ketosis, our body burns fat as fuel. Atkins also felt that ketosis will affect insulin production which will result in less fat being formed. And, once your body enters ketosis, your cravings for carbohydrates will reduce significantly which, in turn, will reduce your body weight.

The major difference between Atkins’ diet and other types of diet is that, while most diets restrict calorie, intake, the Atkins’ plan encourages us to eat more. While most of the diets recommend low fat, high carbohydrate intake, Atkins’ does just the opposite. Instead of carbohydrate and sugar, this diet wants us to consume plenty of fat and protein.

The core principle of the Atkins’ diet is that, by limiting carbohydrates, our body is forced to burn its stored fat, rather than carbs for fuel.

The Atkins’ diet has a four carbohydrates stage plan induction, ongoing weight loss, pre-maintenance and lifetime maintenance. With the help of these four stages, you can reduce as well as maintain your weight throughout your life.

Induction – phase 1: This phase lasts for two weeks, by the end of which you can obtain significant results. Another point is that, in this diet plan you can begin at any of the phase. But it is recommended to start with induction. As you cut back on your carbohydrates significantly in this phase, you will jump start your weight loss programme. In this phase, only 20 gm of carbohydrates are allowed and hence your weight loss is significant. As you drastically cut down on carbohydrates your body shifts into high gear and starts burning fat. This takes about 48 hours to occur and you may feel hungry and irritated for the first three-four days. But don’t worry, as soon as your fat starts getting converted to fuel, you will feel fit as a fiddle. Induction will strengthen your immune system and also improve our long-term health.

Ongoing Weight Loss (OWL) phase 2: In this phase, the weight loss pace slows down as you add nutrient-rich carbohydrates to your diet. During this period, you will boost your body’s ability to burn fats as well as understand your body better. You will find the right amount of carbohydrates which you can consume and still lose weight. Your body will also prepare itself for permanent weight management. The amount of carbohydrates which you can eat is increased to 25 gm per day for the first week and increased in five gm instalment for the next few weeks. If your weight loss is significant, you can increase your carbohydrate intake. A person has to be on OWL till he or she is within three-five kg of their goal weight.

Pre-maintenance – (phase 3): Pre-maintenance is a practice run for lifetime maintenance. In this phase, you are fast approaching your target. As long as you continue to lose weight, you can increase your weekly allotment of carbohydrates by another 10 gm. You will be in this phase till you reach your goal and stay on it for one month. The ultimate goal here is to achieve a state of balance called Atkins’ Carbohydrate Equilibrium (ACE). The ACE is your individual level of carbohydrate intake wherein you neither gain nor lose weight.

Lifetime maintenance phase 4: In this phase, you have to focus on your individual ACE and strive to stay within two kg of your ideal weight for the rest of your life. By following a sensible eating plan, you gain energy, better health and confidence in yourself.

By following these four phases, you not only achieve your dream weight but are also able to maintain it throughout your life. You can learn more about this diet by reading the book, Dr Atkins’ New Diet Revolution. But, as with any other diet, this plan also has its pros and cons. The good point is that this diet recommends exercise as a vital part of the weight loss programme. Another point to be noted is that you cannot start on carbohydrates after you lose weight as this will result in your gaining back all that you have lost.

Medical experts advise that people who have gout, kidney problems, diabetes or are pregnant women should not follow this diet plan. As this diet is very stringent, do consult your doctor/dietician for proper advice.

Your dietician will provide you with a proper menu chart as to what should be eaten, in what quantities, etc, based on your eating habits and general lifestyle.

Happy dieting and hoping to see slimmer and fitter readers.

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Canada Pharmacy Shares New Weight-Loss Drug

A weight-loss medication, Qnexa is awaiting permission from the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. It manifested remarkable effects in a current international trial. While it is in review, to buy Xenical is one of the best alternatives.

Dr. Louis Aronne, founder and director of the Comprehensive Weight Control Program at New York-Presbyterian Hospital/Weill Cornell Medical Center in New York City, was cautiously optimistic that Vivus did a good job responding to FDA safety concerns, and that the FDA will give the drug its nod of approval — with some caveats. Aronne was not involved in the trials but has been an adviser to Vivus and other companies developing weight-loss medications.

“We have learned our lessons with weight-loss drugs,” he said. “They need to be used in the right people under the right circumstances.” The heart risks need to be weighed against reductions in heart disease risk factors that come with weight loss, he explained.

“Qnexa is no riskier than bariatric surgery,” Aronne said, but it can be distributed more widely. He hopes for a compromise that allows the new compound to be prescribed but not misused. Taking safety into consideration, generic Xenical is surely on the top of the list.

“Once new medications are approved, local medical boards will need to enforce rules and make sure these medications are prescribed appropriately to the right candidates,” he said. “We don’t want to open up pill mills.”

Dr. Scott Kahan, an obesity expert at Johns Hopkins University in Baltimore and director of the National Center for Weight and Wellness in Washington, D.C., said, “Qnexa looks promising.”

“The weight-loss effects are striking and approaching the amount of weight loss over two years that we get with bariatric surgery,” Kahan said. “This is really impressive.” Canada pharmacy will surely have this on stock once it is approved and launched.

Weight loss, in the context of medicine, health or physical fitness, is a reduction of the total body mass, due to a mean loss of fluid, body fat or adipose tissue and/or lean mass, namely bone mineral deposits, muscle, tendon and other connective tissue. It can occur unintentionally due to an underlying disease or can arise from a conscious effort to improve an actual or perceived overweight or obese state.

Unintentional weight loss occurs in many diseases and conditions, including some very serious diseases such as cancer, AIDS, and a variety of other diseases.

Poor management of type 1 diabetes mellitus, also known as insulin-dependent diabetes mellitus (IDDM), leads to an excessive amount of glucose and an insufficient amount of insulin in the bloodstream. This triggers the release of triglycerides from adipose (fat) tissue and catabolism (breakdown) of amino acids in muscle tissue. This results in a loss of both fat and lean mass, leading to a significant reduction in total body weight. Untreated type 1 diabetes mellitus can produce weight loss. In addition to weight loss due to a reduction in fat and lean mass, fluid loss can be triggered by illnesses such as diabetes, certain medications, lack of fluid intake or other factors. Fluid loss in addition to reduction in fat and lean mass exacerbates the risk for cachexia.

Infections such as HIV may alter metabolism, leading to weight loss.

Hormonal disruptions, such as an overactive thyroid (hyperthyroidism), may also exhibit as weight loss.

One cutoff value of where unintentional weight loss is of significant concern is where there’s a weight loss of more than 5% in the past month, or at least 10% during the last 6 months.

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Improve Your Motivation To Lose Weight

Most people will know that there are too many weight loss products that fail to give you what they say they will. After so many attempts the motivation to lose weight begins to disappear.

However not all weight loss methods are useless and they practice healthy ways towards weight loss. So why is it that so few people manage to aquire the goal of weight loss?

One of the major issues that can make the difference between who succeeds and who fails is the ability keep your willpower strong.

All diets and weight loss products are useless if you don’t have the willpower to see them through. In all honesty most people who want to succeed end up losing the motivation before losing the weight.

The Motivation to lose weight seems to be strong in the beginning; however it does not take long for this to disappear. This is a common situation but can be avoided if done properly. It is just as important to work on the mind as it is to work on the body.

As soon as you start to get the feelings that you are starting to find things difficult, stop worrying about it. Accept that you are getting these feelings and that they are completely normal. Once you can learn to accept something you no longer have to fight against it.

I am not talking about giving up I am talking about knowing that you have these feelings in your head and there is nothing wrong with them. Go back to the feelings that you had at the start. Why you wanted to lose weight and how motivated you first felt. Write down all the reasons you had for wanting weight loss.

Was it so that you look and feel more attractive? Was it because you wanted to become healthier? Was it because you wanted more energy?

Whatever the reasons were write them all down and focus on those reasons. The motivation to lose weight can become stronger with practice. The more you think about motivation, and the less you think about how hard it is, the better off you will be.

The truth is that the more you think about something the bigger it gets. Have you ever had a problem where you find that the more you dwell on this problem the bigger and more stressful it seems to get?

What many people don’t realise is that this works both ways, focusing on good things on a regular basis will also result on those good things the better you will feel, motivation can be improved in this way too.

Start to think about what results you are going to get, how you are going to look, how others will see you, how you are going to feel; try to see these thoughts as pictures in your mind. This is called visualization and can be a very valuable tool.

Stay positive, stay determined, stay strong, stick with your goals, visualize, think of these things everyday and your motivation to lose weight will go from strength to strength.

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