Fitness To The Bone

I get a few questions a day about prepackaged diets like Nutrisystem and Medifast, probably because you see Nutrisystem commercials on TV and Medifast coupons on the internet and you think they must be a magic solution to weight loss. In today’s fast-paced world, many people often wonder if they should purchase prepackaged diets, which are diets that come ready-made and are all set to be heated and served. The main reason that prepackaged diets are considered is because it is an easy way to lose weight since all the work is done for you already. It is especially convenient and is basically a shortcut to dinner; however, you cannot control the ingredients or the quality of nutrients that are left within the meals.

However, the true question is whether these are worth the money that you are spending on them?

Not as Convenient as You May Think

While prepackaged diets may make sense for the dieter that leads a very busy lifestyle because they weigh heavily in the convenience factor, home cooked meals are much healthier and cost less money overall. Many believe that you can save time with the prepackaged diets, but a study from the UCLA showed that it only takes approximately 10 more minutes to have a healthy home cooked meal instead of a dinner that you simply heat up and serve.

Have Control Over the Ingredients

Plus, you’ll have a lot more nutrients in your home cooked meal as compared to many – not all – prepackaged diet meals. You can limit the amount of sodium (salt) that is in your food as well as other ingredients. In addition, by cooking from scratch at home, you can limit or eliminate completely the use of additives or preservatives while keeping the flavor intact. Since you have full control over the ingredients being used, you have the ability to eliminate any ingredients that you or someone in the family may be allergic to.

Research is Key

If you spend a little bit of your free time doing some research on quick and easy nutritious recipes, you will find that you can actually have dinner on the table in 30 minutes – and that’s from gathering the ingredients, beginning meal preparation, fixing the meal and getting it on the table ready to dig in. Simple, quick recipes and meals are fine despite what some of your high maintenance friends say. Gourmet meals do not have to be prepared every night of the week.

“I Don’t Have Enough Time.” Yes, you do – just improvise.

For those that lead a very active lifestyle and find it difficult to prepare home cooked meals every night of the week, you could try preparing several meals on a Sunday afternoon and place in the freezer. They can then be taken down, defrosted, heated and served for dinner while you are taking care of some other household duties.
Something to consider is that as you begin cooking more meals at home and learning recipes, you’ll soon discover that you are speeding up in the cooking process. Plus, you may even be able to start creating your own meals from complete scratch without a recipe at hand.

While the real answer to the question is dependent upon your own opinion, the money really isn’t worth it to most dieters.

Tags: diets, Medifast, Nutrisystem, package diets

There are a wide assortment of diets out there with one of those diets being the low carb diet. Many often wonder if the low carb diet is the best type of dieting for weight loss. Let’s have a short educational lesson about low carb diets.

What is a Low Carb Diet?

A low carb diet is a diet that focuses on the limitation of carbohydrates. There are usually not set limits for fat or calories. In addition, fat and protein are encouraged to come from vegetarian sources. A typical low carb diet will focus mainly on poultry, lean meats, eggs, fish as well as some non starchy veggies. Further, you should usually avoid foods such as starchy veggies, breads, pastas, sweets, fruits, beans as well as most grains.

Depending on the version of the low carb diet that you are following, some fruits, grains and vegetables are permitted. As a general rule, 50 to 150 grams of carbs are allowed on a daily basis.

Why are Low Carb Diets Effective?

Most studies that have been conducted and have shown to be in favor of the results of low carb diets show that weight loss can indeed be achieved partly due to the fact that a diet that consists of a large amount of protein but a limited amount of starches and sugars will help to curb your appetite. This means that you won’t eat nearly as much as you normally would prior to the low carb diet.

Low carb diets are known to improve cholesterol levels and has been shown in previous studies to cause more significant weight loss than other diets such as the Mediterranean diet or even a low-fat diet. Another reason that low carb diets are said to be effective in weight loss is simply due to the fact that carbs produce the creation of insulin, which is known to prevent fat breakdown in the body. The fat is then stored as extra fat normally around the belly area. However, with a reduction in carb consumption, insulin levels are lower resulting in fat having to be burned for energy.

Low Carb Diet Benefits

As with any diet, there are specific benefits related to it. Here is a look at just a few of the health benefits of low carb diets.

• Balanced cholesterol levels – an increase in good cholesterol.
• Reduction in high blood pressure.
• Lowered blood sugar levels.
• Weight loss.

Some Things to Consider While on a Low Carb Diet

There are some risks involved with low carb diets; however, they can be avoided. For example, some low carb diets may not allow you to get enough fiber into your system because of the limitation of veggies, fruits and grains. This could lead to constipation problems so you should try to at least get some fiber in your daily diet.
Some low carb diets are also high in saturated fats, which could cause an increased heart disease risk among various types of cancer. Therefore, try to ensure that you are consuming a little bit of saturated fats each day but not an excessive amount.

Tags: atkins diet, diets, low carb, no carb