The Paleo Diet

One of the biggest fads of our generation is getting back to basics. You see it in fashion, decorating, fitness and lifestyle. Over the years we have been bombarded with fads of every shape and size and while this back to basics mentality may be another one in many areas, one area it really does apply to is the way we eat.

If you are interested in a stricter eating plan that will produce dramatic results with minimal effort then you should consider the Paleo diet. The basic premise of this eating plan is that if your ancestors ate it, you can eat it! Naturally, this eliminates all of the obviously bad for you processed food of our generation. Our ancestors never heard of a hydrogenated vegetable oil compound or trans fatty acids.

Recent statistics show that for the first time in history, more people in current population are obese than are just over weight. While that is a startling fact, we can't help but understand why. We have fast food vendors on every corner, convenience foods filling our cabinets and television screens plastered on our foreheads. Simply put: We need to get back to basics. Rarely do we enjoy food in its purest form - every where you turn it's scattered, smothered and covered!

So what is this Paleo Diet and what can I eat? You can enjoy any lean meat, seafood, fruit, vegetable, nut or seed as well as dried fruit, diet sodas, coffee, tea and heart healthy oils. If this diet sounds like a fit for you, feel free to browse the Paleo Diet site for more information.

As always, contact me with any thoughts or questions!

Crash Not, Gain Not

Everyone knows that crash diets do not work and are bad for you - so why do we keep doing them? We drink only juice for 3 days to flush our system or we promise to never eat a piece of pasta again! How can you be sure if something is a crash diet or not? First anything that has an always or never concept is a crash diet. Also, anything that promises rabid results in a short amount of time is a crash diet. If you can't follow a certain eating plan for the rest of your life, as a life change, then it is not something you want any part of. 

You will find many sites on the internet claiming significant weight loss in just a few days, especially this time of year when resolutions are at their peak. However, this type of weight loss is always temporary. It is usually 90% water which will be put straight back on as soon as your body rehydrates, which it must do if you are not going to suffer severe health problems.

Crash diets promise to help you lose weight but what they don't tell you is that you'll not only gain the weight back once you've stopped the diet plan, you'll also gain some possibly significant health risks.

What are the effects of Crash diet?

Here are the effects that crash dieting can have on your body and on your health:

• Harder to lose fat: When you crash diet, your body goes into starvation mode and it stores your fat and burns your muscle. Your muscle burns calories, so when your fat is stored up, it makes it harder to lose weight when the muscle is lacking. Muscle also gives you lean long lines and fat gives you that dimpled effect.
  
• Lowered metabolism: Along with loss of muscle, the lack of calories in your diet results in a lowered metabolism. It is vital to eat five to six small meals per day so that your metabolism is kept fed. The starvation mode makes your metabolism go into an almost sleep-like state.
• Gallstones: Crash dieting has been linked to the development of gallstones. With the change involved with the lack of nutrients to your body, your bile slats and cholesterol get out of whack and you end up with the potential to develop gallstones.
  
• Psychological effect: Crash diets are extremely hard on your overall mental and emotional health. Not only do crash diets cause extreme food cravings, but they can also wreak havoc with your mood: you may find yourself feeling more irritable or depressed than usual when you are on a crash diet. Crash diets can also set people up for serious mental health disorders, particularly eating disorders like anorexia and bulimia.
• Harm vital organs: Crash diets are extremely dangerous for your vital organs, including your heart, kidneys, liver, and brain. In order to perform their daily functions, your vital organs rely on energy from your carbohydrate intake. During strict crash diets, carbohydrate and calorie intake is so low that your organs cannot get enough energy from these sources. As a result, your organs begin to burn muscle tissue in order to get adequate amounts of energy to perform vital functions. This can result in serious health problems.
• Dehydration: Everyone knows that your body requires lots of water, so when you deprive your body of food, you end up depriving your body of much needed water. Many foods are rich in water content, like fruits, and when they are lacking from your diet, dehydration can set in.
• Osteoporosis: Long-term crash dieters frequently suffer from osteoporosis, a disease that causes the bones in your body to become extremely brittle. This is because fast crash diets severely limit your intake of calcium. As a result, calcium begins to leach out of the bones in your body, leaving them particularly fragile. Many crash dieters suffer broken bones, particularly hips and wrists, as a result of their osteoporosis.
• Hair loss: Longterm crash dieting can result in hair loss. Due to the lack of vitamins and minerals that your body receives through a healthy diet, your hair can become terribly brittle and fall out. Food is rich in vitamins and minerals, and when you keep them away from your body, it effects your hair, nails, and even the color of your skin.

What should I do?

With a balanced eating plan, it's what you leave in that makes all the difference. For a balanced eating plan to be successful, you need to:

• Eat plenty of vegetables, legumes and fruits;
• Include lean meat, fish, poultry or alternatives;
• Include milks, yogurts, cheeses or alternatives;
• Drink plenty of water;
• Limit saturated fat and moderate total fat intake;
• Choose reduced fat varieties of foods where possible;
• Choose foods low in salt;
• Limit your alcohol intake, if you choose to drink;
• Consume only  small amounts of sugars and foods containing added sugars.

Starving yourself to lose weight is not enjoyable and takes the fun out of eating. Eating should be enjoyable not stressful. The only way to lose weight is to do it slowly, with a balanced diet focused on foods that are good for your body. See what plan I recommend here.

Forget crash diets and lose weight the right way!

thanks to Life Mojo for some of these startling facts!