Find a diet that will help you shed the pounds — and keep them off.

Summer tends to bring out the insecure in us. We can’t it especially when we start seeing swimsuits in shopping display windows. So we do the next best thing: we crash diet. But losing weight shouldn’t mean losing judgment on what’s right and what’s not. Here are the pros and cons of three popular diets.

South Beach Diet

How does it work: The diet has three phases, and the first one aims to reverse insulin resistance, reduce cravings, and let you lose weight fast by banning starchy and carbohydrate-laden food. Phase 1 will ask you to avoid dairy, fruits including fruit juices, bread, and other baked goodies.

Foods to enjoy: All types of beans, asparagus, artichokes, broccoli, cauliflower, celery, cucumbers, eggplants, leafy greens, lean proteins like lean cuts tenderloin, skinless chicken, all types of fish and shellfish, peanut butter, pecans, almonds, walnuts, pistachios, olive oil, canola oil, flaxseed oil.

Pro: You can lose weight without counting calories, weighing food portions and missing any meal. It even allows snacks! And in the first two weeks you lose 8 to 13 pounds, mostly from your belly.

Con: Because you lose weight fast, you can gain it back just as fast if you don’t adhere strictly to the rules. Besides, the ideal weight loss per week is about 2 pounds to avoid any potential health hazards. It also doesn’t address dieters who have problems with dairy. You also need to be concerned about muscle loss. Consult your doctor as well if you have kidney problems.

Atkins Diet

(more…)

Most women have been on diets at some point in their lives. It’s common to meet up with a friend and start talking about the newest diet craze or miracle pill which promises to get rid of unwanted fats and result to a healthier you. In today’s society where the sizes are getting smaller and we’re getting more and more bombarded with visuals of how a woman ought to look like, it’s quite understandable to get frustrated when you try out a diet and not get the desired results. Good thing, then, that we are living in a day and age where information is disseminated on a wider scope, at a faster pace. This is certainly a plus for all of us who are searching for what works. After all, there is always a new take on ways we can achieve that healthier state — and one of those ways just happens to be the Hibernation Diet. In a nutshell, it utilizes the health benefits of honey (one to two spoonfuls per night), while relying on your liver to get your metabolism up and running while you sleep.

What happens when one of the top dieting principles we are familiar with gets challenged? For the longest time, we’ve heard people swear by the After Six Diet (one does not eat anything three hours before bedtime) and having intensive workouts as frequently as possible. And here’s another one: the classic Calorie Count Diet (which is, put simply, taking note of the calories of every food and beverage you consume and making sure that you do not exceed a targeted daily total calorie intake), a diet that goes by the principle of cutting back on the goods and is also more effective when coupled with exercise. Oftentimes, we hear of women who start losing weight then hit a plateau (weight doesn’t budge even though the regimen is being followed religiously) after some time.

(more…)

It’s definitely not “ecstasy” though its euphoric effects are so much better and safer. Neither is it “exhibitionism” but this “e” might induce you into doing just that. Everyone has it on his or her lips. Billboards of lean sexy bodies proclaim in out loud. Your doctor has probably prescribed it to you one time or another. It’s neither a pill nor a drug. From the outdoors to hole-in-the-wall spots to mega clubs, it is widely sold but not widely taken. It’s the only “e” that matters — exercise!

But of course, you’ve heard it before and you’re probably into it. But what really goes on in exercise? How should you exercise? Whether you’re a newbie who wants to get into an exercise program or a seasoned veteran wanting to change your programming, deciphering the exercise code is the key to truly understanding the workout.

Whether it be cardio, strength, flexibility, or a combination, the four (4) key factors in exercise are Frequency (F), Intensity (I), Time (T) and Mode (M) or simply known as FIT(M).

(more…)