Quick Weight Loss

We all love eating out, and just because you’re losing weight doesn’t mean you have to miss out! Below you’ll find some excellent eating out tips to help you keep the calories down on those nights out.

What Are Fad Diets?

The phrase “fad diets” typically refers to diets that promote a restricted eating-plan which is unhealthy and/or lacking in sufficient calories. Certain liquid-only diets (fasts) are promoted as healthful diets but in reality are merely fad diets. Common examples of fad diets include, the Cabbage Soup Diet and the Grapefruit Diet. 4 Eating Out Tips:

1 Check the menu before you leave home

Most chains post their menus on their Web sites. For instance, Ruby Tuesday’s Smart Eating menu tells you the restaurant only uses canola oil and even provides nutritional information on its salad bar. You can decide before you ever hit the hostess stand what you’re going to order. Conversely, if you don’t see anything that’s healthy, pick another restaurant. 2 Ask how the food is prepared

For instance, cholesterol-free does not mean fat-free; the dish could still be filled with calorie-dense oil. Neither does “lite” necessarily mean light in calories or fat. 3 Triple the vegetables!

Often a side of vegetables in a restaurant is really like garnish — a carrot and a forkful of squash. When ordering, ask for three or four times the normal serving of veggies, and offer to pay extra. “I’ve never been charged,” says dietitian Jeff Novick, R.D., director of nutrition at the Pritikin Longevity Center & Spa in Aventura, Florida. “And I’ve never been disappointed. I get full, not fat.” 4 Don’t cut out the food you enjoy!

I like the occasional takeaway, but now I save up calories to have one or earn it. If I restricted myself to just fruit and veg I’d give up very quickly. I also found that I could still eat my favorite foods if I ‘tweak’ them a bit: low fat cheese, low fat spread instead of butter, light mozzarella etc. Also the best thing I did was get olive oil spray! 5 Do Fad Diets Work?

Depends what you mean by “work.” Any very-low-calorie diet will cause weight loss in most people. Since most fad diets are very low in calories they typically cause quite fast weight loss. However, quick weight loss may not be healthy and - in most cases - is not fat loss. It is usually mostly water-loss which is quickly regained when the dieter resumes normal eating. 6 Fad Diets Are Short Term Diet Plans

Most fad diets are typically short-term diet plans. Not only are they low in calories but their menus are likely to be monotonous and lacking in adequate nutrition. Some fad diets are designed to last no more than a few days - as if a 2 or 3 day diet program is likely to help solve a weight problem!! 7 Fad Diets With “Special” Fat-Burning or “Negative Calorie” Foods

Some fad diets claim to contain special “fat-burning” or “negative calorie” diet foods. Unfortunately, there is no clinical evidence that foods have these special properties. 8 Fad Diets Can Cause Weight Cycling

Fad dieting can sometimes lead to weight-cycling or yo-yo dieting - that is, weight loss, followed by regain, followed by weight loss then regain etc. New research suggests that such weight cycling may lead to obesity. 9 Conclusion: Avoid Fad Diets

Avoid fad diets and fad dieting. Instead, eat a balanced diet that includes foods from ALL food groups. Eating a balanced calorie-controlled diet is not only more appealing but also more likely to help you develop the sort of good eating habits that lead to permanent weight loss.