Are Low Carb Diets Good for Everyone?
What’s a Low Carb Diet Really Mean?
When I hear low carb to me it means, “low sugar,” or “less processed foods.” If we’d all make an effort to avoid chips, cookies, cakes, high corn syrup drinks, and candy, then we’d be reducing our overall carbs and eating more healthfully at the same time. There is also no need to avoid foods that are grown and served as close to their natural state as possible such as fresh fruits and vegetables, nor must you avoid brown rice or even pasta.
It’s not pasta that makes us fat, it’s the creamy sauces and the loaves of bread, desserts, and drinks we have along with our spaghetti. It’s the combination and quantity of food, not just one food or category of nutrients. When I hear someone say they eat bacon non-stop but they refuse to eat a baked potato or fresh peeled orange it makes me want to scream. I’m not a nutrition expert (even the experts can’t agree at this point), but it does not take a genius to know that bacon is not a better choice over an apple. It just makes sense to eat the foods that grow in our soil first and to avoid the processed versions (think apples versus Apple Jack’s cereal).
For a good basic diet overall, eat as much as you like of wholesome, clean foods. Include healthy grains, rice, beans, salads, vegetables, fruits, nuts (in moderation). Use nut and vegetable oils for cooking. Cook at home once in awhile. Stop super sizing. Buy fresh produce when it’s available from your local farmers. Buy as close to home as possible, and walk to the store, if you can! What a concept.
Check the Serving Size on Processed Foods
If you want something pre-packaged read the label. How many servings does the label state? If more than one, multiply the numbers if you know you’ll eat the whole thing, or if you and your spouse will eat it all, then multiply by servings and divide by two. I’ve seen candy bars that say they serve 2.8 people! When’s the last time you split a candy bar?
I teach people to incorporate healthier eating into their lifestyles, not go on food plans dictated by some book or program which say what you can and cannot eat. Even those who can stay on the plan and do lose substantial amounts of weight, eventually eat something “off plan,” which leads to something else and finally to the mental shift, “Well, I’m off that plan. Better eat up!” What did that experience do for that person? Nothing, but probably they’ll end up a bit heavier than when they started.
Far better to learn how to eat within your usual lifestyle and create new habits that you then can live with, so even though Sunday is the big family party and you may (probably will) overeat, it won’t matter because Monday you’ll be back to your usual habits and patterns. That’s how people without a weight problem eat whatever they want — they just usually eat reasonably with the occasional deviation into unhealthy foods and quantities, rather usually eating an unhealthy diet and occasionally dieting like crazy to lose weight before a big event.
If you want a treat, have a treat, and no, it’s not a treat if you eat it every day. That’s a habit.
Start by Cutting Back Only 500 Calories
Get a reasonable idea of how many calories it requires to maintain your weight, i.e. if you are basically sedentary (get little or no movement regularly) then multiply your body weight by 12. Example, 200 X 12 = 2400. That would mean that if you did nothing but sit in a chair all day, you’d still need 2400 calories just to maintain your body weight! Start by cutting back the calories required to maintain your weight by 500, so our 200 pound fellow would be perfectly fine eating 1900 calories a day. I eat around 2200 calories on average every day (weekends I eat more than weekdays but it averages out to around 2200). I’m active, and I maintain my weight at around 135 pounds which on my 5’7″ frame is fine for me.
No matter where you begin, start by cutting back by just 500 calories, instead of trying so valiantly to stick to 1200 calorie eating plans that aren’t suitable for a 10-year old child. Remember, your activity increases your calorie requirements, so if you do get out of bed, you’ll likely need more calories than your base. Whether you prefer low carb, low fat, low calorie or any combination thereof, just start to reduce what you’re eating now, make substitutions where possible and create a healthier diet that fits, then add more daily exercise and you’ll reach your goal in no time. Stand up in your chair, sit down. Stand up, sit down. That’s exercise. It can be that simple.
So yes, the low carb approach can be right for everyone. We can all adopt the low carb approach when it means eating less processed foods and adding more fresh fruits and vegetables.
Kathryn Martyn, Master NLP Practitioner, EFT counselor, author of the free e-book: Changing Beliefs, Your First Step to Permanent Weight Loss, and owner of OneMoreBite-Weightloss.com.
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Mesotherapy vs. Cellulite For A Knockout
In the battle to look good, there’s a cosmetic treatment that is going a few rounds with cellulite and small fatty deposits. Mesotherapy is knocking out fat and rejuvenating skin in people who give it a try. Chances are you’re doing everything that you can to cut away cellulite and small fatty deposits. You’re watching what you eat. You’re using creams and lotions. But, nothing is working, right? Well, that’s because cellulite is the heavy-hitting problem facing men and women alike. It is one of the hardest cosmetic problems to get rid of!
Gweneth Lowe is the mother of two children. She has been in the ring with fat for about five years. She works out in a gym three times a week for an hour. Still, she could not get rid of the fat in her problem area. Her thighs. 10 sessions with mesotherapy has given her the relief she’s been working out for. Lowe says, "I’ve lost about three inches from my hips. My thighs have shrunk. I’m down to a dress size 6 and loving it!"
Lowe gained her weight and cellulite after having babies. However, doctors believe cellulite and small fatty deposits affects more than 90% of post-puberty women. Wow, I bet you can’t believe it affects so many people! We don’t have any accurate data on the number of men who suffer from it. Men just don’t complain about it as much as women. Cellulite and small fatty deposits are seen as a "ladies problem." You can find the extra fat most commonly on the butt, hips, and legs. Overweight people are not the only ones affected by it. Skinny people can have cellulite and small fatty deposits as well.
You’ll definitely know cellulite when you see it. It gives the surface of the skin a lumpy often-dimpled affect. Cellulite forms due to water retention in fat cells. The fat cells are surrounded by tissue. The tissue hardens forming a sclerosis. The result is the cottage cheese appearance on the outward layer of the skin. And fatty deposits form because of genetics. It’s not your fault you have them. Mesotherapy helps to get rid of the fat to sculpt your body where it’s needed.
More and more physicians are putting their money on mesotherapy as a viable means to fight cellulite and excess fat. Mesotherapy has been used in France for years. Dr. Michel Pistor invented it in 1952. However, the treatments popularity is just now coming to the forefront as a safe and effective cosmetic treatment. And it is used in dozens of countries by thousands of trained practitioners.
You may be wondering exactly how does mesotherapy work? It’s quite easy. Let’s look at the procedure.
The treatment sessions take only a few minutes. However, you may need several injections over the course of several weeks. Fortunately, the needle that is used is tiny. Doctors’ estimate that four to ten sessions is enough to block your ability to store fat and stimulates your ability to burn it up. The drugs are injected into the middle layer of the skin called the mesoderm. That’s where mesotherapy gets its name.
The drugs work together to break down fat faster than any other method. A licensed practitioner puts medication and vitamins into the middle layer of the skin using microinjections. The medicine helps to reshape the body. A single mesotherapy session can cost as much as $500 because of the amount of drugs that are used. The treatment uses drugs that are commonly used for asthma and high blood pressure.
Vitamins and supplements are also used to knock out the fat. Two drugs in particular are already approved by the FDA for use in other procedures. One of the medications is an asthma drug called aminophylline. A cardiac drug called Isopreteranol is also used on a widespread basis. Here’s two other commonly used medications that are injected into your system. They’re called phosphatidylcholine and sodium deoxycholate..
As I mentioned, you may have to go through at least three to five sessions before you see any results. The number of treatments depends on several factors including, the severity of the condition and the cause of the problem. Mesotherapy helps to improve the body in many ways. It improves blood flow to the area that’s being treated. It dissolves excess fat deposits, removes hardened tissue and improves lymphatic drainage.
Now that you know how mesotherapy works, you’re probably wondering how safe is it? It’s safe according to the doctors and researchers who have trained in it. However some doctors are concerned about the concoction of drugs that are used together to eat away at the cellulite and small fatty deposits. Some say that the Food and Drug Administration should approve all the drugs that are used for use together. So far, they are approved for use apart. And a medical doctor is licensed to use medications as he/she sees fit.
A second concern is what happens to the fatty acids if they are not burned off? Where are they going? The ideal situation is for the fatty acids to burn off. However, a problem could arise if the fatty acids go directly into other tissue. This could lead to damage in the other tissue increasing the risk for cardiovascular disease and diabetes. Fortunately, none of these concerns have materialized despite hundreds of millions of treatments done around the globe. No wonder- for people like Gweneth Lowe the benefits far outweigh the concerns. She says, "I’m just happy to get rid of the excess fat. I eat right. I see my doctor on a regular basis for checkups. I’m happy with the results." You could be too! Mesotherapy gives you a viable option if you want to get rid of cellulite and small fatty deposits.
About The Author
Dr. Barry Lycka is an internationally known cosmetic dermatologist and surgeon who practices in Edmonton, Alberta, Canada where he has worked from 1989. Recently, Dr. Lycka was chosen as Alberta’s Dream Makeover Doctor. For more information you can visit his website at BarryLyckaMD.com.
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