Diet your Way – Part 2

In the previous article, I mentioned how dieting doesn’t have to be a complex process.
Its technical understand can be gruesome but the process is certainly straightforward. As if dieting wasn't simple enough, there's also flexibility built into it. It's made to order for the individual. We know that each person is different, both physically and psychologically. You can't give everyone the same exact diet and expect them to all respond in the same manner like machines. That's why I urge you to experiment with the diet. I've given you the basic principles. It's up to you to mold and shape the fine points to your own unique body, mind and goals. See how your body responds to different types of dieting techniques and pace yourself accordingly.
Any part of dieting can be modified to fit the needs of the individual as long as you stay in the fat burning mode. You may adjust the calories you're eating for the best results, but you should stick to the basics for 60 days.

Diet your Way – Part 1

Too often people think that the solution to a problem has to be complex. They measure the worth of a program by how difficult it is to follow. They believe that the worth of the diet program increases with its intensity. If they're counting every calorie like it's their last, memorizing point value charts and poring over recipe books, they figure they've really got something. They think that the only good diet is an impossible diet. Simplicity and practicality are to be avoided at all cost. They plan for failure. When it comes, they can actually be satisfied. Many people look at dieting, see it doesn't contain endless charts and a 50-page recipe section and figure it's just too easy to be on the level. Well, they're wrong. The true measure of a diet is whether it works, and the diet will work when given a chance with dedication and commitment. It’s definitely not trouble-free but you can customize it to your needs, if it brings you any results. In time, all we have done is fine tune the diet we were made to live on and bring it up to the highest nutritional and performance standards. Though the scientific principles behind its success may be a bit involved, the diet itself is quite easy to carry out. Bottom line, there's not a whole lot to it. Once you’ve figured out the lowest level of carbohydrates that works best for you, you’re well on your way.

Nutritional Supplements

The goal of any diet is to give you a sensible, lifelong program for weight maintenance and fitness. I've already told you how the diet decreases appetite, burns body fat, manipulates key hormones in the body to limit body fat levels, and provide a foundation for body toning and shaping. I've also told you about the importance of exercise in any strategy for shaping the body and maintaining a firm, fit look.

While diet and exercise are the two major components to any weight control program, there's one more piece in the puzzle that often goes overlooked or misunderstood: nutritional supplements. By nutritional supplements, I mean the necessary vitamins that are required to stay healthy. If you're going to go "all out" in your effort to reinvent your body, nutritional supplements can be beneficial. Even if your goals are more modest and you're simply looking to lose weight, keep it off and increase your chances for health and a long life, supplements can play a key role.

Caution: - Please consult your physician for your requirements on nutritional supplements.

Are You Eating Compulsively?

Many people eat as a way of dealing with anxiety. Once stress rears its ugly head, they're on their way to the refrigerator. Several studies have shown that overweight people are more responsive to emotional stimuli and that anxiety is frequently associated with increased food intake. Try to deal with stress by using relaxation, exercise or another positive approach. While food may trigger a hormonal response to make you feel better over the short term, eating to cope with anxiety can only be destructive and unhealthy over the long run.

External factors also such as people who may, either consciously or unconsciously, try to get you off your diet also add your bad eating habits. If you find yourself with a dinner date that's constantly trying to load you up with foods you don't want, you may want to make a change. The same applies to someone who may be critical of your diet or unsupportive around the dinner table. You need to stay in control of what you eat at all times. Try to be around people who support your diet program. At this stage, you need to be encouraged as much as possible.

When Do You Eat?

If you find yourself eating at 7 A.M., noon and 6 P.M. whether you're hungry or not you're probably doing yourself a disservice. You should eat when you're hungry, not by the clock. This may mean adjusting your meal schedule to eating at different times or simply eating several small meals during the day at times when hunger strikes as discussed earlier. If possible, you may want to change your lunch hour at work or snack briefly during the workday so you can eat when your stomach tells you to. Another factor you should keep in mind is that as the day progresses your metabolic rate slows down. So when you wake up, do not spend a lot of time before you consume your breakfast. This will jump start your engine and your metabolic rate will be at the maximum; thus helping your remain energetic and burn more calories throughout the day. In the evening, as your body comes to a rest, keep your dinners on a low calorie diet. Your body slows down during the night and a high calorie diet will only deter your program in losing weight.

How Quickly Are You Eating?

If you're the kind of person who gobbles down their food when they eat, you should realize you're doing yourself an injustice. I stress this to everyone that is on a diet program. When you eat, concrete on the food you eat. Focus your time on chewing and savoring your food, rather than entertaining yourself, Not only are you denying yourself full enjoyment of the food you're eating, but research has shown that bolting food keeps the body from recognizing "satiety signals" that let you know you've eaten enough, are no longer hungry and should stop. It takes time for the brain to get the signal that you're full, usually 15-20 minutes. If you eat more slowly, your body will tell you when you're full and your hunger will be more accurately assessed. Start your meals with a glass of water. If necessary, put your fork down after each mouthful to allow more time for chewing.

Keeping Track

Though you will find weight loss easier on your diet, you're still going to run into periods where the weight just seems glued on. You can't seem to take it off. At this point, many people panic. The fact is, these setbacks are very natural and you can't concern yourself with them too much.
In fact, the longer you're on any diet the harder it is to lose weight. There are several explanations for this. As you lose weight, you'll need fewer calories per day to function than when you were heavier. It's easy to see that an 1800-calorie diet will result in weight loss for a 110 Kg person but the same diet won't do much when you weigh 60 Kg. As you lose weight, you'll have to adjust calories to continue losing weight at the same level. Because the diet takes a more gradual approach to weight loss, this won't be as much of a problem for many people, but, still, at some point in the process you'll get to a level where it will become harder to lose. So keep track of your progress and increase your effort as your progress becomes minimal.