A flat stomach has been a timeless benchmark of beauty. It’s an idea inherent in people, so there is negligible wonder why everyone wants it.

Far more than just a cosmetic thing, a flat belly has important ramifications to one’s health. Having belly fat, on the other hand, can be very risky, more than having thigh or hip fat. Belly fat poses such dangers as cardiovascular disease, clogged arteries, diabetes, metabolic syndrome and so forth. It is even linked to inflammation.

There is no single panacea to getting the abdomen of one’s dreams. On the upside, belly fat is the first thing to come undone when weight loss sets in. Classified as visceral fat, belly fat is more metabolically active, thereby easier to slake off than excess weight beneath the skin or subcutaneous fat.

To lose belly fat, one has to uphold a balanced diet with calorie control, plus ample exercise, among other measures.

Dietitians oft-prescribe a diet rich in whole grains for those bent on losing belly fat. Whole grains have high fiber, which can slow one’s speed of digestion. With fiber, one feels full for a longer time and eventually avoids overeating.

Unlike refined grains e.g. white bread, whole grains minimize glucose in the blood, in turn improving insulin response. Ultimately, whole grains keeps the body from storing excess fats.

If one must feed on fat, then he or she must choose the mono-unsaturated kind. Like fiber, monounsaturated fat gives a feeling of fullness. It also expedites the body’s basal metabolic rate. Avocados, seeds, nuts, soybeans, chocolate, canola, and olive are its best-known sources. Then again, any kind of fat must be taken in moderation, lest it fattens somebody instead.

In general, it’s easy to lose belly fat by limiting daily intake to 1,600 calories. Also, one doesn’t need a complete diet info to know when to chuck the booze, which slows down the body’s metabolic rate.

Done with exercise, a healthy diet conveys a lasting impact on one’s health, let alone one’s belly. Crunches are not bad, but an hour of high-intensity, aerobic exercise daily is tops.

Likewise, sleeping well is recommended for those who want to lose belly fat. The levels of leptin, the hormone which regulates hunger, is typically low in the sleep-deprived.

Literally, the Atkins Diet runs against the grain. While most other diets largely rule out meat, the Atkins regimen completely goes the other way, prescribing low carb eating. It recommends fare low on grains and other carbohydrate-containing products, virtually flouting years of science. In turn, the diet vows it can slake unwanted weight off its followers, raise their metabolism, and decrease their hunger.

Dr. Robert Atkins, the diet’s proponent, sparked controversy when he first laid out low carb eating in his bestselling tome, New Diet Revolution. Initially dismissed as preposterous, the Atkins Diet grew to amass widespread acceptance and become one of the most influential fitness phenomena of all time. In answer to this upheaval, manufacturers of breads and pastas began churning out Atkins diet recipes of their offerings.

Such diet’s rationale hinges on the fact that the body tends to burn carbohydrate over fat for fuel. Without any carbohydrate to burn, the body is forced to derive energy from excess fat—weight loss then ensues.

When carbohydrate intake descends, the body’s insulin level goes down with it too. Carbohydrates, which break down into sugar upon digestion, bespeak insulin, the hormone responsible for stabilizing sugar levels in the bloodstream. Insulin is accountable for some stored fats in the body.

Granted, one’s cholesterol level may climb during the diet, but theoretically, the body offsets whatever gain there is in such. The loss of fats is bound to keep cholesterol at bay later on.

On the whole, Atkins diet recipes allow the dieter to eat pure protein and fat in almost-wild abandon. Meat, eggs, dairy products, fish, oil, mayonnaise, and their ilk are all but ubiquities in the Atkins diet. Low carb soup recipes are also recommended too.

An Atkins dieter undergoes four phases in the regimen. In latter years however, the regimen has whittled down into a 12-week diet.

Early into the program, Atkins diet recipes can be very inflexible. The induction phase of the Atkins diet severely curbs the intake of carbohydrate; only 20 grams of carbohydrates are allowable, most of which must come from vegetables. In an Atkins diet recipe, that is the equivalent of two measly cups of salad daily vis-à-vis a decadent feast of high protein and fats.

Though exacting in the beginning, the Atkins diet recipe becomes more indulgent with time, increasing the carbohydrate threshold as the weeks roll along. For the second stage, the Atkins diet envisions ongoing weight loss (OWL). If that is the case, the Atkins diet expands the carbohydrate threshold by at least five grams a week.

When the dieter is beginning to lose weight substantially, the pre-maintenance phase sets in. Ideally, the dieter is losing a pound weekly at this point. At this point, he or she is entitled to an additional ten grams of carbs a week, plus some low carb soup recipes.

The fourth phase is actually for life. Dieters are asked to maintain the amount of carbohydrate intake they have acclimatized to in stage three. If they regain weight, they must go through the program all over again.

Not that people would clamor that much for carbs—except for vegetarians, most omnivores would probably feel at home with the Atkins diet. If anything, Atkins diet recipes are easy to prepare. One can have Italian sausage frittata one day, tuna salad the next, cheeseburgers the next, etc. Others even prepare low carb soup recipes for that matter.

Exercise must figure in all stages of the diet, however. Atkins never explicitly recommended exercise in his first book, but in later editions, it has become part of the diet.

If you are looking for a way to lose fifteen pounds in two weeks, a high protein diet, a low carb diet, a fruit diet, a no fat diet, a blood type diet, a juice fast, a diet named after a place in Miami, a grapefruit diet, a cactus diet, a coffee and cigarette diet, a diet that includes sweets, a diet based on your body type, a diet based on an ancient religion or a diet based on your hair color, then this article is NOT for you.

Fad and crash diets, such as the ones described above are not only unhealthy but they also cause rebound weight gain. Also most diets, even though diet gurus write them, cause an initial weight loss but the ultimate result is that you gain all of the weight back the minute you go off the plan. If you don’t gain it back within a couple of diets, you are likely to gain it all back plus a bit more within a year.

Crash diets dehydrate you, low calorie diets put your body into starvation mode so you plateau so you can’t lose one more pound and high protein diets stress your kidneys and clog your arteries.

So how does one lose weight? There is only one answer to this question.

You need to expend more calories than you are taking in. Restricting certain foods, eating so-called fat burning foods, or dehydrating yourself with special pills or teas does not do it. It is simple math. The only way is to eat a little less and exercise a little more. Here is the equation below:

Eating Less + Exercising More = Weight Loss.

This is not a magical formula, it is just logic. It is also not a fast way to lose weight. As I have mentioned before, this is not an article about how to lose ten pounds in three days or 30 pounds in a month. It is about safe, healthy weight loss.

In order to lose weight quickly and safely and without putting yourself at risk for such health hazards as dehydration, kidney failure, malnutrition, exhaustion, nervous dysfunction, tooth loss, dull hair, wrinkles, cellulite, sudden heart failure or stroke and lose the weight so that it stays off, you should lose no more than approximately two pounds a week!

Although that might not sound like a large amount of weight to lose it actually is! If you lose 2 pounds a week that means you can achieve a weight loss of ten pounds a month! If you only have twenty pounds to lose then your weight loss is not only quite rapid, but you have the extra guarantee that it will stay off because you have followed a sensible exercise plan that did not involve starving, exhausting or depriving yourself. If you are willing to drop your impatience and desire for immediate gratification and stick to an exercise plan and healthy eating habits, then a Mediterranean Diet is for you. Remember being slim is only good if you are able to enjoy it!

Do You Need to Lose Weight?

Fascination with Fat

If you want to lose weight, you first need to assess whether you need to actually lose weight or are simply a fashion victim. Unfortunately this society is fascinated with fat – who has it and who doesn’t. As we are persuaded by so many images in the media that persuade us to believe that you can never be too thin, many of us are bad judges of our actual body weight.

If you are under the age of eighteen and reading this book, the first thing you need to do is consult with your parent about your plans to lose weight. Have her make an appointment with a physician so that he can indicate to you whether or not you are a candidate for weight loss.

If you are an adult, it is possible that you may not be overweight and are just trying to be, as Bridget Jones put it in Bridget Jones Diary “a stick insect with eyelashes.” It is also very possible that you know you need to lose weight but have no idea where to start.

If you are obese and you know it, then you have to check with a physician first to see how your health is before you embark on any exercise program or plan. The same is also true if you have any kind of medical condition but especially a thyroid condition or heart condition. Some physicians may not recommend a weight loss program for those who are over 40 as due to genetics and hormonal changes some people naturally just round out or gain weight in a way that simply cannot be changed. If your doctor tells you your spreading hips are due to menopause or genetics, believe him! It is not clever to fool with Mother Nature.

Low-carb diets have been in the market for quite some time now. Two of the most common these days are the Atkins and South Beach Diet.

Beginnings
Both were developed by medical doctors (cardiologists) who — according to reports — were trying to help Americans lose weight given their high carb diets.

Atkins Diet was the first to be developed and is thus, the more popular. It was developed by the late Dr. Robert C. Atkins as early as the 1972 but became more widely popular — despite the oppositions — in the 1990s.

Dr. Arthur Agatston, also a cardiologist but from Mount Sinai Cardiac Prevention Center in Miami Beach, Fla., is known as the father of the South Beach diet. His work came a lot later through his book: “The South Beach Diet: The Delicious, Doctor-Designed, Foolproof Plan for Fast and Healthy Weight Loss” published in 2003.

Similarities
Both popular diet plans advise dieters to avoid carbohydrates and follow stringent steps to ensure that the significant weight lost during the program does not come back.

Both start with the so-called induction phase where the body of the dieter is “trained” for the routine.

Both diet plans come with suggested food lists where dieters can mix and match foods to suit their tastes. Of course, like other diet plans, both plans advise dieters to stay away from food not included in the lists.

Among the “dont’s” in Dr. Atkins’ list are fruit, bread, pasta, grains, starchy vegetables, nuts, seeds, legumes, and some dairy products except cheese, cream, and butter.

Aside from fruit, bread, pasta and vegetables, South Beach dieters are also advised to stay away from potatoes, cereal, rice, and corn, especially for the first two weeks of the induction or introductory period. After this period, these can be slowly re-introduced into the body, albeit in smaller amounts.

Both diet plans have a lifetime “maintenance” phase where hopefully dieters will be so accustomed to either plan that they hardly recognize that they are dieting at all.

Differences
While both diet plans restrict carbohydrate intake, the South Beach diet is said to be more forgiving by not totally eliminating carbs. It distinguishes between “good” and “bad” carbs and even “good” and “bad” fats. South Beach encourages intake of “good” carbs and fats.

Low-sugar carbs with low glycemic index are “good” carbs under the South Beach plan. Food rich in fiber are also recommended.

Atkins’s diet routine helps the body to burn fat instead of carb. The goal is to help the dieter achieve good health. Atkins’s diet plan involves four phases while the South Beach plan has three phases.

In both plans, the introductory stage aims to condition the body for some changes to prepare for the program. In Atkins diet, the body is trained to burn fat instead of sugar to help curb the cravings for sugar and break addiction to some foods.

In South Beach diet, the initial phase involves cutting on high-carb foods, which can be gradually re-introduced in small amounts in the next phase. In this case, South Beach debunks myths that this approach prevents dieters from getting healthy mix from all food groups. Atkins dieters go through the next following phases: ongoing weight loss, pre-maintenance and lifetime maintenance. The last two phases of South Beach diet are called re-introduce the carb and diet for life.

What’s key in the maintenance phase in Atkins is to keep portions of food at small amounts. Atkins diet guarantees no hunger deprivation because its long-term goal is healthy diet. South Beach’s promise is a “change in the way of eating,” with the dieter not recognizing at all that he is on a diet.

Summarizing the Diets

Developed by cardiologist Dr. Robert C. Atkins in 1972, with his “Diet Revolution”, a high-protein, high-fat, low-carbohydrate diet.

The program focuses on a low-carbohydrate diet.

The Program has 4 phases:
1. induction phase (train the body to burn fats instead of carb)
2. ongoing weight loss
3. pre-maintenance
4. lifetime maintenance

South Beach Diet
Developed by cardiologist Dr. Arthur Agatston of Miami, Florida, who in 2003, published the book “The South Beach Diet: The Delicious, Doctor-Designed, Foolproof Plan for Fast and Healthy Weight Loss”.

The program distinguishes between “good” and “bad” carbohydrates, and “good” and “bad” fats. Take in “good” carbs and fats.

The program has 3 phases:
1. 2-week introductory or induction phase (strictly no carbs)
2. re-introduce the carbs
3. diet for life

Please check http://www.OnlineDietReview.com for more information.