3 Secrets Your Diet Book Won't Tell YouWritten by Amy S. Grant
Are you wondering why you’re not losing weight? If you’re like me, you’ve tried every fad diet imaginable, and nothing seems to work – at least not long-term. I’ve personally tried Weight Watchers (which worked great until my schedule changed and I was no longer able to attend meetings), Atkins (not easy to follow for someone who travels a lot and loves to dine out), and crazy fad diets like cabbage soup diet, grapefruit diet, juice fasts, and countless others. I was hungry all time, and I wasn’t able to sustain any substantial weight loss because there are three secrets that NONE of those diets told me.First, diets don’t work, PERIOD. Any plan that’s highly restrictive, structured or specialized is unrealistic for long-term maintenance. Plus, any diet that requires you to totally eliminate foods from your diet is a recipe for disaster. Personally, I don’t care for chocolate. However, when someone tells me I can’t or shouldn’t have chocolate, it’s amazing how I suddenly crave it! When someone takes away a choice, average person wants that choice back – even if it didn’t mean much when option was available in first place. Additionally, most diets don’t work for everyone, and you won’t know if a diet works unless you try it. Trying many diets without seeing results can lead to “dieter’s frustration” which, in many cases, just packs on more pounds. The second point that most diets fail to mention is that you must eat frequently to regulate your metabolism and burn fat. Extreme low-calorie and tiny “portion-control” diets put your body into starvation mode, which means your body clings to food because it doesn’t know when its next meal is coming. This explains how you can actually eat less food and consume less calories, and still not lose any weight. If your diet makes you feel hungry all time, that’s definitely not a good sign. The best nutrition plans require that you eat five or six small meals per day, no more than four hours apart.
| | Reducing Sugar in the DietWritten by Brian D. Johnston
You may publish this article in your newsletter, on your web site, or other publications, so long as article’s content is not altered and resource box is included. Add byline and active link. Notification of use of this article is appreciated, but not required. Total word count included resource box is 675.*** *** Sugar from milk and fruit sources, for instance, should not exceed 10% of total kcalories. Concentrated refined sugars (e.g., table sugar) should be limited as much as possible. The objective is to look for other names on food packaging that are sugars, including corn syrup, dextrose, sucrose, corn sweeteners, glucose, fructose, lactose, honey, molasses, maple sugar, maple syrup, sorbitol, mannitol, xylitol, maltose, or anything with ‘sugar’ in name, e.g., confectioner’s sugar, or invert sugar. The next step would be to reduce or replace simple sugars with these suggestions: Reduce sugar in recipes. Even with a vast reduction of up to 20% or more, many recipes taste same. With some recipes half sugar can be substituted with an equal portion of a sweet spice, such as cinnamon, fennel, cardamom, allspice, anise, and ginger. Many breakfast cereals contain high percentages of sugar. Look for those that do not have added sugar and top cereal with fruit if necessary and preferred. Substitute fruit juices for fruit drinks, soft drinks, punches, and other liquids that contain high amounts of sugar.If substituting sugars, be aware that there are two types of sweeteners or sugar substitutes. The first type is a class of nutritive sweeteners that absorb slower than sucrose, they do not promote dental caries, and they do contain kcalories. The second is a class of artificial sweeteners that do not contain kcalories, and they are safe for use for diabetics and calorie reduced diets. Using sugar substitutes (especially artificial sweeteners) should not give people license to consume large amounts of these products simply because they are low in kcalories. They also tend to be low in other nutrient values and it is unclear what medical conditions can arise from over-consumption. Hence, these products should not be a substitute for fresh fruits, vegetables, or other foods. However, if it is difficult to make it through day without a pudding, for example, choose one made with skim milk and a sweetener than a high-fat, high-sugar type.
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