Sunday, March 22, 2009

10 Most Popular Diets - Have You Been on One ..?

10 Most Popular Diets - Have You Been on One ..?

If you are anything like me, you too might be guilty of eating just a little too much at one time or another and with theswimsuit season here, I thought it was time to find a diet that really worked. So far I am considering these 10 popular diets Internet is buzzing about. But have you tried any of them? Do they really work?

1. The Slimming World Diet …

What It Is: From what I’ve read about this diet, in order to start losing weight we need to split our week into Original days, and Green days. On original days, our meals should consist of a lot of protein, but the meals themselves should be rather small.

And on green days, we are allowed to eat unlimited amounts of “green” food, such as fruit and veggies. If only one felt full after chewing on carrots and salary sticks all day long …

What I Think: I don’t think I could stay on this diet long. A day, maybe :)) Maybe two, but I don’t really see myself eating very little food one day and then veggies ( which I don’t like) and fruit the whole day afterwards.


2. The Atkins Diet …

What It Is: In this diet the meals are supposed to be very protein and fat heavy, and carbohydrates should be very limited. Apparently this diet works on the concept that by eating protein/fatty foods, we will consume less calories in total!

What I Think: Now that sounds like a great idea! Protein and fat heavy foods read in my dictionary as lots of steaks, roasted chicken, pork ribs and grilled salmon. And that’s not bad at all! If only I haven’t stumbled upon some very negative reviews …


3. The GI Diet …

What It Is: Here is what I found out about this mysterious GI diet: high foods (corn flakes, baked potato, watermelon, croissant, white bread, extruded cereals (eg, Rice Krispies), straight glucose), which means that they will keep us fuller for longer.

According to these diet, we should eat these foods, and avoid foods that have a low GI (most fruit and vegetables (except potatoes, watermelon), grainy breads, pasta, legumes/pulses, milk, products extremely low in carbohydrates (fish, eggs, meat, nuts, oils), brown rice). They say it reduces cravings and general calorie consumption.

What I Think: First of all I wonder if this diet will ever be able to reduce my daily chocolate cravings.. And secondly, I don’t think it’s a good idea to eliminate such foods as eggs, fish, nuts, milk and oils (???) from our daily diet. These are the backbone of any healthy diet, aren’t they?


4. Slim Fast …

What It Is: Along with any other meal replacement, this diet should work (and it’d better!!!), because we are supposed to replace two meals a day with a shake, usually breakfast and lunch. For tea, we can have 600 calories, and we are allowed fruit or certain cereal bars as snacks too.

What I Think: I don’t know how long I’ll be able to stick to “2 shakes a day” program, but it all does make sense, so if the weight loss happens during the first 2 weeks (I honestly can’t see myself going on like that longer. Do you think you will?), it might be a great diet just to lose that couple of pounds.


5. Detox Diets …

What It Is: These diets suggest that we detox first and then cut out anything that the body may not like, such as anything with preservatives or that may have been treated with pestacides. This mainly leaves organic fruit and vegetables, rice, fish and meat to eat, but these foods are usually filling, right?

What I Think: Although this diet sounds very healthy, I don’t think I have it in me (time and money, that is) to cook 3 organic meals a day… Although I think detoxing is a great way to lose some weight. I heard many celebrities detox and go on fruit and veggie diet a couple of days prior to the big red carpet events. So, this must be really working, if you need to shed off just a little.


6. Food Combining Diet …

What It Is: This is a plan that tells you what foods can and cannot be eaten together. It’s main rule is that protein rich foods should be eaten separately from carbohydrate heavy foods, as both take a long time to be fully digested and this leads to bloating and fat storage.

What I Think: This diet does sound interesting and the main part is that it allows having any food, which is always great. But I wonder if it really works… Have you tried it, did it work for you?


7. The Weight Watchers Diet …

What It Is: There are books, there is a website, there are actual group gatherings, but the diet itself is very simple. It consists of giving every type of food a number of points. Each slimmer is assigned an amount of points that they can consume each day, determined by how much weight they want to lose, and can eat anything as long as they do not exceed this points level.

What I Think: I haven’t tried this diet yet, but I heard so much about it I think it’s time to finallytry it. Although I hear it has some downhills as well.


8. Low Fat Diet …

What It Is: This is as the name suggests, girls - where high fat foods are cut out of the diet in place low fat alternatives. This lowers the calories consumed, and leads to weight loss.

What I Think: Easier said than done. I don’t know if this one would work for me. Low fat means no chocolate or sweets. I am out. But if you are not as chocolate dependable as me, you might actually want to try it.


9. Dietary Supplements …

What It Is: Tablets which are usually taken a few hours before eating that claim to either speed up metabolism or starve off hunger. These are taken for a month or so at a time.

What I think: If you ask me, a diet that requires taking pills doesn’t seem to be a good idea. It’s just doesn’t seem to be natural or healthy. Please correct me if I am wrong.


10. Rosemary Conley’s hips and thighs diet …

What It Is: This diet suggests how much of each type of food should be eaten, recommending high amounts of fruit and vegetables and low amounts of fatty foods. It also suggests an exercise plan that is easily fitted around hectic lifestyles. Finally, a diet with an exercise plan - now we are talking :)

What I Think: Any diet that has an exercise plan gets my voice! I can’t believe other popular programs do not have this important part and what can be a more natural way to lose weight than following a diet and an exercise routine?

reference: allwomenstalk.com

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