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

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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.

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If you are a sun-averse person do not despair. You may still achieve that bronzed look artificially. Tanning lotions can give you a more uniform, less streaky appearance – without the danger of ultraviolet ray exposure. The tan attained by today’s new generation sunless tanners is achieved when an ingredient called Dihydroxyacetone (DHA) contained in the lotion applied to the skin combines with the skin’s natural amino acids. Since the substance is based on an inert pigment that is only deposited in the outer “dead” layer of the skin, this is relatively safe. Of course, unlike in normal tanning there can be no damage if the product only reaches the outer layer of the epidermis. The worst that can happen is a contact allergy which is readily reversible upon discontinuing the lotion. This tan develops within 2-4 hours after application and lasts for several days. The shade of tan an individual develops will vary because the amino acid content of the skin varies from person to person.

If you must have a tan, whether acquired the natural or artificial way, you should not only be appearance-conscious as well by strictly observing the measures mentioned above. You not only prevent the wrinkles, freckles, and other skin damages associated with old age and prolonged sun exposure but, more importantly, you are preventing the more dreaded effects of sunlight – skin cancer.

Thanks to modern technology, the tan aficionado can now have an exotic, safe and healthy and preventive measures correctly, sunless tanners can have the best of both worlds — a tan that is both glorious and safe. Now you can seductively show off your beautiful body by wearing a two-piece bikini at the beach or a sexy lingerie at home.

Focus on having fun instead of filling up — and you’ll be able to stick to your diet. Stressing about the calorie content of cocktails and canapes? Don’t feel too guilty if you overeat at a party. Overeating in a day does not make you overweight. When you do it frequently, that’s when you gain weight.

Try a variety of food at the buffet table. Don’t forget to start with vegetables and fruits. They are lesser in calories and make you feel full because these are rich in fiber.

The more color you have in your diet, the better. But if it’s a stir fry or tempura, that doesn’t necessarily help.

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No pain, no gain? That’s not necessarily true with these aesthetics medical breakthroughs. People have truly started to be more health conscious more than ever. But with their continued efforts to want to look good. Actually, as one would say, when you look good, you feel good. Though as they say, beauty is in the eyes of the beholder, now, it’s literally on everyone’s minds. Before the turn of the century, people clamored and were enamored by the results achieved by silicone, which was used for breast implants and injections. The distressing issue, though, was its numerous ill effects that occurred many years after its introduction and instillation. This was followed by collagen of animal derivation, and though kinder in terms of complications, its many deleterious effects were also noted and thus, it fell out of grace. With new materials and better motivation to improve cosmetics and from all fronts, the next move in the medical field was to provide an armamentarium of age-defying procedures and solutions that may delay aging and a the same time consider safety and consistency in our profit-driven market and life.

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