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Get Slim With Atkins Diet Plan

The Atkins’ diet has been a craze for a couple of decades. Here’s how you can gain from it.

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All of you who are reading this article right now have definitely been on a diet at some point or the other of your lives. The battle of the bulge is an ongoing problem and we are always on the lookout for various means to win this war.

Along with exercise, our diet and nutrition also plays an important role in reducing our weight. Hence, this obsession persists in all of us to undertake some form of dieting. But going on a diet is definitely not an easy thing. What to eat and what to stay away from is always a perennial problem.

One of my friends told me that she ate the normal menu which she cooked for the family, but her weight loss recipe is “portion control.” This is a really simple diet plan. In this plan, you cut down on the portion of food you consume. For example, if you usually have two pieces of toast for breakfast, you should eat only one piece. If you normally eat two cups of rice for lunch, cut it down to one cup. In this way, you are automatically reducing your calorie intake by half.

Another popular method of dieting is to stop all intake of fatty foods and sugar. In this diet, you cut down on your oil, butter and ghee intake which automatically reduces your fat deposits.

While I was leafing through a magazine, I read about one of our Hollywood celebrities following the Atkins’ diet. This immediately aroused my curiosity about the diet. Though I have heard about the diet many times, I had no inside knowledge about it. So, I immediately set to work on it and found out certain basic facts’ about the Atkins diet which I want to share with my readers.

The Atkins’ diet made its first appearance in 1972 and was invented by its namesake, Dr Atkins. According to him, this method enables us to lose weight by inducing a change in metabolism. Our body burns both fat and carbohydrates to provide energy. If we reduce the intake of carbohydrates significantly, our body starts burning only fat to provide energy. This method is called “lipolysis”, which in turn induces ketosis. In ketosis, our body burns fat as fuel. Atkins also felt that ketosis will affect insulin production which will result in less fat being formed. And, once your body enters ketosis, your cravings for carbohydrates will reduce significantly which, in turn, will reduce your body weight.

The major difference between Atkins’ diet and other types of diet is that, while most diets restrict calorie, intake, the Atkins’ plan encourages us to eat more. While most of the diets recommend low fat, high carbohydrate intake, Atkins’ does just the opposite. Instead of carbohydrate and sugar, this diet wants us to consume plenty of fat and protein.

The core principle of the Atkins’ diet is that, by limiting carbohydrates, our body is forced to burn its stored fat, rather than carbs for fuel.

The Atkins’ diet has a four carbohydrates stage plan induction, ongoing weight loss, pre-maintenance and lifetime maintenance. With the help of these four stages, you can reduce as well as maintain your weight throughout your life.

Induction – phase 1: This phase lasts for two weeks, by the end of which you can obtain significant results. Another point is that, in this diet plan you can begin at any of the phase. But it is recommended to start with induction. As you cut back on your carbohydrates significantly in this phase, you will jump start your weight loss programme. In this phase, only 20 gm of carbohydrates are allowed and hence your weight loss is significant. As you drastically cut down on carbohydrates your body shifts into high gear and starts burning fat. This takes about 48 hours to occur and you may feel hungry and irritated for the first three-four days. But don’t worry, as soon as your fat starts getting converted to fuel, you will feel fit as a fiddle. Induction will strengthen your immune system and also improve our long-term health.

Ongoing Weight Loss (OWL) phase 2: In this phase, the weight loss pace slows down as you add nutrient-rich carbohydrates to your diet. During this period, you will boost your body’s ability to burn fats as well as understand your body better. You will find the right amount of carbohydrates which you can consume and still lose weight. Your body will also prepare itself for permanent weight management. The amount of carbohydrates which you can eat is increased to 25 gm per day for the first week and increased in five gm instalment for the next few weeks. If your weight loss is significant, you can increase your carbohydrate intake. A person has to be on OWL till he or she is within three-five kg of their goal weight.

Pre-maintenance – (phase 3): Pre-maintenance is a practice run for lifetime maintenance. In this phase, you are fast approaching your target. As long as you continue to lose weight, you can increase your weekly allotment of carbohydrates by another 10 gm. You will be in this phase till you reach your goal and stay on it for one month. The ultimate goal here is to achieve a state of balance called Atkins’ Carbohydrate Equilibrium (ACE). The ACE is your individual level of carbohydrate intake wherein you neither gain nor lose weight.

Lifetime maintenance phase 4: In this phase, you have to focus on your individual ACE and strive to stay within two kg of your ideal weight for the rest of your life. By following a sensible eating plan, you gain energy, better health and confidence in yourself.

By following these four phases, you not only achieve your dream weight but are also able to maintain it throughout your life. You can learn more about this diet by reading the book, Dr Atkins’ New Diet Revolution. But, as with any other diet, this plan also has its pros and cons. The good point is that this diet recommends exercise as a vital part of the weight loss programme. Another point to be noted is that you cannot start on carbohydrates after you lose weight as this will result in your gaining back all that you have lost.

Medical experts advise that people who have gout, kidney problems, diabetes or are pregnant women should not follow this diet plan. As this diet is very stringent, do consult your doctor/dietician for proper advice.

Your dietician will provide you with a proper menu chart as to what should be eaten, in what quantities, etc, based on your eating habits and general lifestyle.

Happy dieting and hoping to see slimmer and fitter readers.

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Can You Have Permanent Weight Loss Success With A Hypnosis Cd?

Scientific research at Tufts-New England Medical Center has provided irrefutable evidence that all diets work if you can stick to them. Atkins – low carb; The Zone – low glycemic index; Ornish – low fat; Weight Watchers – low calorie.

But researchers have also proven beyond a doubt that very few people can stick to any diet because of his or her appetite. So to be successful with a diet, appetite suppression is required.

Webster’s Dictionary defines “Appetite” as: “The desire for gratification of some want, craving, or passion.” So “appetite” is eating and drinking for relaxation and pleasure.

It’s a mistake to confuse hunger with appetite. Hunger is defined as “The body’s call for nourishment.” In other words, when the body needs fuel, that’s when you feel bona fide hunger. By that differentiation, it is not possible for anyone to “be hungry” if they are overweight.

However, it is possible for you to have feelings that you interpret as “hunger.” And the stomach contracting in expectation of being fed causes those feelings.

When you were a little baby and you got upset, your mother would put a bottle into your mouth to calm you down. You would get distracted, become relaxed and often fall asleep. That scenario was repeated thousands of times so that your unconscious mind was programmed: When something goes into your mouth, you get relaxation and pleasure from it.

Now that you are fully grown, if you feel tense or anxious, you crave something in your mouth for relaxation and pleasure – food!

People Also Get Cravings and Urges Because Of Conditioning.

When you connect consuming food with any other behavior, the other action will trigger cravings for food and a compulsion to eat. This is called a conditioned response. For example: If you eat when you watch a movie, you will automatically get an urge to eat each time you go to the movies.

What About Compulsive Overeaters Who Eat Because Of Emotional Reasons?

We define a compulsion as an “irresistible impulse.” One of the presuppositions of NLP is: All behaviors are driven by a positive intention. In other words, our unconscious mind will only motivate us into behaviors that benefit or protect us in some way. In NLP terms, we say that being fat is a behavior when it provides a positive outcome or intention.

By now you are probably wondering what the possible positive outcomes of being fat could possibly be. The list of possibilities is as long as the list of people who have an appetite that is out of control. But I’ll give you a classic example: A person gets their heart broken in a relationship. So to protect the self from getting the heart broken again, the unconscious motivates the self to become fat to keep the self out of relationships and prevent another broken heart.

A big secret to suppressing your appetite is called reframing. With an NLP six-step weight loss reframe, we respect the fact that the subconscious is pushing us to consume our food for relaxation and pleasure. And if we are eating compulsively because being fat is protecting us, we respect that also.

In an NLP six-step reframe we compromise with our unconscious. In the case of eating for relaxation and pleasure, we ask our subconscious to assume the responsibility for making us substitute other behaviors. The alternate behaviors must be as effective and available at providing the same relaxation and pleasure. But they must also be more consciously acceptable to us. When the subconscious is motivating us into alternate behaviors that provide the relaxation and pleasure that we require – we lose our appetite on this score.

If you are a compulsive overeater we do an additional reframe. We ask your unconscious mind to assume the responsibility for substituting new behaviors in place of being fat. These new behaviors must be as effective and available at providing the same benefits and protections. But they must be actions that are more consciously acceptable to you. When your subconscious is motivating you into alternate behaviors that provide the same outcomes that you require, you lose the strong urge to overeat.

As far as feeling cravings because of conditioning (conditioned responses), we utilize various NLP and hypnotic techniques that erase or “extinguish” those conditioned responses. That breaks the connection between the behaviors, and eliminates the urges and feelings of compulsion.

Once your appetite has been eliminated and all of your compulsions to overeat have been dealt with, you can easily stick to any type of healthful diet indefinitely so that it becomes a permanent lifestyle change.

Weight control and compulsive eating can be a complex topic. I can only broach the surface of it in this article. You can locate additional articles on this topic in the hypnosis article library on my website.

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How do you lose weight the right way?

The more people I meet that are overweight, the more I realize just how frustrated they are with their current situation. Most people have tried repeatedly to lose weight and are still stuck or potential heavier. There are certain things when losing weight that need to be done on a consistent basis if you want to have any chance at weight loss and shedding those extra pounds. The need for losing the weight The fact is that overweight people are more prone for high blood pressure, diabetes and heart problems. There is also the risk for having joint problems, personality disorder, inferiority complex, depression etc. There is a real need to work consistently towards weight loss, as the risk is way to important. The following lists are things that you should incorporate into your daily schedule. This over time will help you lose weight Get the help of the doctor to set goals No job can be accomplished in one go. Any work approached step by step will become easy, be it weight loss or weight gain. It is imperative to set goals while working on weight reduction. The goals set must be sensible and achievable. Setting a goal to reduce 3-5 kg per month may be possible and becomes a sensible goal. Trying to lose 20 kg per month is unrealistic. It is always better to get the help of the health professionals to set and achieve goals. Regardless of sex if you are active you will need just about 2500 calories per day in energy in. Inactive men and women will need about 2000 calories. If you eat 200 to 300 calories less everyday losing 1 pound per week is possible. Exercise Exercise for at least 30 minutes every day is a must for weight loss. The exercise can be anything like walking, jogging, swimming, yoga, aerobic dancing etc. but the exercise must be done regularly and continuously for a minimum of thirty minutes. The idea is nothing but using more energy than one eats. This way one will use the energy stored in the form of fat. If you can ensure that the exercise makes you sweat then you are on the right track. Eating less sugar and less fat Eating sugar and fat in excess really does nothing more then add more fat to the fat cells. If the body has no need to use the sugar and fat as energy it will store it for later use, which never comes. Every day pay attention to what you are eating and the contents of how much sugar and fat there is. If you can consciously limit sugar and fat everyday, you will be on your way to losing weight Eating wide variety of food Think about consuming a variety of fruits and vegetables every week. I know you don’t like them, well that is an issue you need to get over. High quantities of fruits and vegetables will go a long way at not only providing the nutrients your body needs, but they are very good for metabolism and help raise it so you can keep your weight loss moving forward and eventually balanced. Fad diets Fad diets are not the answer. Put all your diet books on the shelf and simply start eating better and doing more exercise. Do this consistently and your weight loss will be successful. By just following the points discussed above weight loss can be successful safely.

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