The Low Carb Diet Prevails!

Low-carb diet beats other diets in study.

In one of the longest and largest studies conducted, the low carb and the Mediterranean style eating habits resulted in more people losing more weight than the more traditional ‘low fat’ diets.

Like a lot of people, I was surprised to see the result that the low-carb diet even actually improved the cholesterol more so than the other two types of diet… big surprise there.

I think it should also be noted that all three of the eating style approaches (low carb, Mediterranean, low fat) all achieved weight loss along with improving the cholesterol numbers.

This study is unlike most in two areas… in the fact that it has lasted about two years… which is much longer than most studies… and that an impressive 85% of the participants stuck with the diets.

The actual research for this study was done was done in Israel with 322 participants. The participants got their primary meal for lunch at a centralized cafeteria. At the cafeteria, the three eating styles’ food was identified by colored dots.

When it came to the breakfast and the dinner meals each of the participants were coached on how to stick to their particular eating plans and were asked to keep records of what they ate.

The low-fat diet consisted of no more than 30 percent of calories from fat. It restricted calories and cholesterol and focused on low-fat grains, vegetables and fruits as options. The Mediterranean diet had similar calorie, fat and cholesterol restrictions, with emphasis poultry, fish, olive oil and nuts.

The low-carb diet on the other hand, set the limits for carbohydrates, but did not for calories or fat. It urged the dieters to choose vegetarian sources of fat and protiens.

Although most of the participants were men, both genders got about the same amounts of exercise.

Let’s look at some of the numbers:

Average weight loss after two years:

Low-Carb = 10.3
Mediterranean = 10.0
Low Fat = 6.5

Still, even to me is the surprising measures of their cholesterol. If you’ve done any type of dieting research over the past couple of years, you would know that the critics haven’t been overly kind to the low-carb Atkins style diet concerning the impact of the diet on one’s cholestrol levels… this study would seem to disprove those fears.

In fact, within this study the low-carb approach appeared to facilitate the most improvement in multiple cholesterol measures, including the ratio of total cholesterol to HDL, the “good” cholesterol. For example, someone with total cholesterol of 200 and an HDL of 50 would have a ratio of 4 to 1. The optimum ratio is 3.5 to 1, according to the American Heart Association.

Although the heart association does not recommend the low-carb Atkins diet, Dr. Robert Eckel, the association’s past president who is a professor of medicine at the University of Colorado-Denver indicates a low-carb approach is consistent with heart association guidelines so long as there are limitations on the kinds of saturated fats often consumed by people on the Atkins diet.

And the last part of that statement is really a key factor to keep this in perspective. One of pitfalls for people on a low-carb eating regime is the saturated fats that are consumed. But all in all many experts agree that this study (which will be published in the New England Journal of Medicine) was highly credible.

Fitness Goals for Brides

The countdown begins as soon as you decide on the date of the wedding and start planning. The ceremony is 365 days away so you think to yourself, ‘I have plenty of time to lose this weight’. It’s true! You do have plenty of time. But, if you don’t begin planning right away, you will find that each day that passes, it will be harder and harder to reach your goal. Think about it, you want to lose 20 lbs. in 365 days.

Don’t tell yourself it’s easy and that you can do in the last eight weeks before the wedding. Your procrastination might have led you to even gain a few more pounds by that point with all of the stress of the planning you’ve been doing.

Therefore, my first point is PLANNING. Set a realistic goal such as losing one pound of body fat every 1-2 weeks. This is very realistic. You can achieve this by creating a caloric deficit each day. You can do this by decreasing the number of calories taken in and by increasing the number of calories burned.

If you eat 400 calories less and burn 300 calories more per day, you have just created a 700 calorie per day deficit. Fitness Goals For Brides Over a 7 day period, that is 3500 calories which is equal to one pound of body fat. A 700 calorie per day deficit is not hard to achieve. Just have some Splenda and skim milk in your latte and that’s probably good for 250 calories right there. 30 minutes at a moderate pace on the Elliptical Crosstrainer is good for another 300+ calories.

My second point that will ensure your success is CREATING A LOG of your nutrition and exercise. This will create accountability and keep you on track. Whether you are working out with a Personal Trainer, or are taking on the fat-loss game alone, the journal is important. Not only does the journal open up your eyes to the quantities and food choices that you are making, it also makes you accountable to yourself or the Personal trainer that is helping you reach your fitness goals.

You don’t have to carry the journal under your arm all day long. What I recommend to all of my clients is to leave it on your nightstand next to your bed and spend 10 minutes recapping everything you ate that day. Once you’re finished, take a look at the day and think to yourself how you’d like to do it differently the next day. Or, what could you change to improve your comsumption the next day. This is also a good time to plan where you’re going to be and what food will be available where you are.

That will help you make smart choices that day and not get caught up starving at the McDonald’s drive-thru. Also, doing this at night before falling asleep, will actually help you relax as it will distract your mind from all other things that went on during the day. Additionally, it will put your subconscious mind to work throughout the night on how to improve your food intake the next day. Remember, start early and stick to your plan because you know those last couple of weeks prior to the wedding will be full of stress and last minute headaches that will demand your attention.

If you’re almost at your fitness goal by that point, you’ll really want to finish losing that last pound or two instead of just giving into the stress eating and anxiety. For more details, please check out Fitness For Brides. There you will find a very detailed manual to walk you through the challenge you are about to embark on. It will give you nutritional guidance as well as workout plans and strategies. Good luck and Congratulations!