Category: Weight Loss Articles

The Skinny Vegan Diet

This diet plan is fancied by celebrity and every day people alike. It is supposed to help you lose weight so you can look like one of those thin girls in the magazine ads.

The diet is based on a book, Skinny B**** but we won’t say that word here. The name is over the top and so it the language in the book but we are more concerned with the meat and bones of this diet (there is plenty of the latter and none of the former). This is basically a vegan eating plan that detoxifies the body.

As a vegan eating plan, there are no animal fats allowed. You’ll have to leave the pig, cow, fish, and chicken at the door. According to the creators, animal products are ruining our organs and overloading our intestines.

Here are a few of the foods that are allowed on the Skinny Vegan diet plan:

· Organic fruits and vegetables

· Whole grains

· Organic oils

· Desserts made with raw sugar and unrefined ingredients

· Water, tea, and wine (sparingly)

They do allow some processed foods like soy ice cream and veggie fries but that’s it. Usually you eat when you are hungry or every few hours, but here, you wait until you are starving to know the feeling of true hunger.

There are more banned foods than foods you can eat. If you aren’t sure, anything that you are used to eating is probably not allowed.

The emphasis here is on cleaning out the body to reprogram it to accept healthier fare. Unfortunately, this diet doesn’t list nutritional information or go by any known guidelines for daily nutritional requirements. In fact, many vegans and vegetarians have issues with getting enough protein with the absence of meat. You will encounter the same issue here. Other vitamins are also probably missing from the mix here as well.

Think about it: you will lose weight because you are eating next to nothing when it comes to calories. The hunger factor is high with the lack of food choices. If you could stay on this diet for a month, you’d probably fall off the wagon after that. There are other diet plans that allow meat, fish, eggs, and dairy in moderation and you still lose weight.

The Skinny Vegan diet is definitely a fad. The meal plan lacks proper accounting of nutritional value to make proper food choices. Besides that, fish, dairy products, and lean meats contain vital nutrients you can’t get naturally from other sources. Look for something more satisfying to get healthy.

The Flat Belly Diet

The abdomen is one of major trouble spots on the body according to our mirrors and our bathing suits. Who wouldn’t want a sexy midriff to show off in the summer time? This diet is designed to help you lose that hard to reach belly fat without doing any crunches.

This diet was developed mainly for women. Getting a tight midsection is hard for women particularly after childbirth. Part of regaining your body is to lose the belly fat.

Here are some of the basics of this diet program. The Flat Belly diet hits both types of body fat: subcutaneous and visceral. Subcutaneus fat is the type that everyone sees on your body or over the top of your pants. Visceral fat accumulates on your organs and can cause health problems just like too much of the obvious fat.

Many women experience bloating issues. During the menstrual cycle it’s the worst. You’d think you swallowed a beach ball some days. Getting rid of excess gas and fluid is not easy without pills. The Flat Belly diet teaches you to deflate using food choices.

Begin your journey to a flatter belly with the 4-Day jumpstart program. Some people have lost as much as seven pounds during this introduction phase. Food choices include those that help reduce the bloat and Sassy Water which is a signature drink created for the plan to hydrate your body and soothe the GI tract. You’ll drink a recipe of Sassy Water every day.

During the jumpstart phase you’ll be told what foods to avoid that are causing you to have a bigger belly and bloating. The main culprit is salt. Salt, or sodium, is a natural substance found in the body. Too much of it and the tissues retain more water for balance.

Eating too many carbohydrates like donuts, bagels, and other processed sweets irritate the intestinal tract. Even raw veggies can do it. Cooked veggies take up less room in your system. Gum and gassy foods are also avoided. Any foods that make you swell up or swallow air work against you.

The guidelines are simple. You eat a total of four 400 calorie meals a day every four hours. One snack is allowed either in the morning or in the evening. Each meal has to include a measure of monounsaturated fats. Fruit smoothies with belly flattening ingredients are a great tasting snack.

The diet also advocates exercise. Exercise is one half of any eating program and keeps the body in shape. You don’t have to do crunches but there are other stomach trimming exercises to make those muscles strong to complement your new flatter belly.

This has become a popular diet plan. The foods you eat are nutritious for the entire body. Some vegetables are eliminated because of gassy properties but there are enough included to satisfy daily requirements.

Give this plan a try. At the least you will be getting healthier and losing weight. At most, you will have found a sort of Holy Grail for women who struggle with the belly fat pooch.

The Banana Diet

Just when you think you’ve heard it all, something else comes along. The Banana Diet gained popularity in Japan and has made its way to the western world. If you love bananas, this diet could be great for you.

Why bananas? Well, bananas are thought of as a wholesome food. It contains potassium which is needed by the body and most people don’t get enough of on a daily basis. Bananas can be filling, more filling than other fruits. It has a high water and fiber content which are also good things.

The problem here isn’t that bananas aren’t good but that a diet that revolves around them is suspect at best. The banana growing companies are happy because they are selling more bananas than ever. Here is the diet plan so you can decide for yourself.

Step One is to eat two bananas for breakfast with water. The water is supposed to be warm. The amount is not known but a glass (eight ounces) is probably good.

Step Two is to enjoy a snack mid morning if you feel the need. If you have a job, halfway through the morning is when most people start getting the munchies.

Step Three is to eat a sensible lunch and a sensible dinner. You can have practically whatever you want to eat. No snacks between meals though. Eat dinner before eight o’clock in the evening.

The last step is to go to bed and start again the next morning. No evening snacks are allowed. There isn’t even a water requirement. In fact, the only water you are asked to drink is with the bananas.

If you’ve ever been on a diet, you are probably thinking this one seems simple. You eat bananas and lose weight. Some people have lost weight, but were the bananas really the reason?

For people who are used to skipping breakfast, eating bananas in the morning helps to rev up that metabolism. This is nothing new since dieticians and health professionals have long said that breakfast is the most important meal of the day.

If you eat a greasy hamburger and fries for lunch or takeout every day, any weight loss could be reversed before too long even though you are eating bananas in the morning. Since this is a diet plan, you will try to eat healthier at those next two meals. Some won’t and herein lays a problem

With no other guidelines and the bananas being charged with doing the job that other nutrients are supposed to handle, this diet has many pitfalls. By all means eat your bananas if you like them, but be careful basing the entire health of your body on it.

The 4 Day Diet

From the title of the diet, it’s hard to know what you are in for here. Do you eat for four days and not after? Do you lose weight in four days? Keep reading and find out the secret behind this diet from the mind of Dr. Ian Smith.

You may have heard of Ian Smith before. He came up with the 50 Million Pound Challenge. He charged American citizens with the challenge to lose weight and fight the obesity epidemic. So far, many people have been encouraged to change their lifestyle.

The 4 Day diet plan works to reprogram your body for better eating. The plan consists of seven modules which last for four days each. Changing food choices is supposed to stop boredom from setting in like it does with many other eating plans that stress eating the same foods.

The strictest module is the first one. It’s reminiscent of the South Beach diet. This is the induction phase. Your body eats foods that are designed to detoxify your body. It’s like this: before you can start again you have to get rid of what’s in there already. The allowed foods and meals are detailed in the book.

The second module is when eating habits begin their transition. New foods are added like grains and vegetables. You know you are on a diet, but the point is not to deprive you but to teach you to become satisfied eating healthier.

The next module adds in the protein. Good health guidelines advocate eating lean meats, fish rich in omega-3 fatty acids, and dairy products like eggs and milk. Protein helps to build muscle fibers.

The fourth module lets you eat what you want. The program does stress moderation here, but even for four days eating pizza, burgers, fries, and sodas can be a temptation that could continue beyond the four days. Also, knowing that you only have four days to eat so well, you might go crazy and eat too much which would set back any weight loss up till that time.

Module five sees a return to a stricter eating plan. It could be to combat the effects of module four or just a reminder of how you should eat. Either way, it seems to work for many.

Module six and seven also has restrictions. This plan encompasses almost an entire month. The seven modules can be done over and over again until you lose as much weight as you need.

The plus is that you won’t get bored with the food and any ingredients you buy for meals will eventually get used. For the person not used to cooking, there is a fair amount to do here. For the most part this plan is designed to meet your nutritional needs. Constant switching could be a problem for some people.