ThinkSlim

The Switchover Diet

Now you know I don't hold with diets much as a permanent way of losing weight (I like my weight loss coaching clients to gradually change their lifestyle habits rather than using a temporary prop).

On the other hand, I know many of you are still looking for the perfect diet solution anyway so I don't mind talking about the better diets out there if I think they will help.

I came across a guy this week who is  doing well with a novel approach which might work for you if you're looking for a solution. No idea what the site is (should have taken a note of it, sorry!) but here is the strategy...

Changing to a new diet at the start of each week.

Now that might seem a bit strange but there is actually a lot of merit in it. There are all these advantages compared to a traditional diet

a) you never have time to get bored
b) if you dislike a diet, it doesn't matter you only have to suffer it for a week
c) your body doesn't get time to acclimatise to a diet so it doesn't lose its effectiveness
d) you are less likely to be eating an unbalanced diet - what one diet lacks another might make up for
e) you can make sure that you get to eat the foods you love now and again by picking the right diets
f) you can  have fun choosing your diets
g) you can have that early enthusiasm about a diet EVERY week and be more likely to stick to your plan
h) you can confuse your friends whenever they invite you to dinner!

So how would this work?  Just pick a list of diets to work through and work through each one for one week only.

For example you could try

Week One - The Kimkins diet (the best of the low carb diets)
Week Two - Dr Phil
Week Three - The Perricone Diet (for great skin)
Week Four - A Juice fast
Week Five - South Beach Diet
Week Six - The Step Diet
Week Seven - The Chocolate Diet
Week Eight - Volumetrics

as many diets as you can lay your hands on just for a week at a time. After a while you can select only those which suit you for the longer haul still leaving quite a bit of variety in there.

And whenever a new diet comes out you can try it ...for a week!

Fat Friends

Recent research from New England (a study of 12,000 people) shows that when your friends get fatter it's likely that you will too.

It's not just a general trend in the population towards putting on weight - if your friends keep themselves in trim you're more likely to stay slim as well.

It makes sense in a lot of ways - after all if you are always eating out with your friends and they all have dessert and multiple drinks - what do you do? You'll likely go with the trend. And you don't feel too conspicuous putting on weight if everyone in your social group is carrying extra pounds too. There's safety in numbers.

Of course if your friends socialize at the gym and eat a light lunch together that's what you're going to do too. And you'll feel more ashamed if you're the only one who can't squeeze into a regular pair of jeans and have to go into the size for larger folk than when others in your group of friends are looking at the plus size rails too.

But the question is, do you choose your friends subconsciously so that you can eat too much or do you eat too much because of who your friends are? And do your friends sabotage (subconsciously or not) your attempts to lose weight so that they still have the comfort of being surrounded by equally large buddies? It could go very deep this one ...

The latest diet advice: don't hang around with fat people - Independent Online Edition > Health

technorati tags:fat+friends, weight+loss+tips, diet+sabotage

We are Getting Fatter because We Can!

Great read from the Times Online about the effects of the modern world on our waistlines (and our children).

We eat convenient, unhealthy ready prepared food and drive even short distances because we can afford it. We see anything with enough fat and sugar as a delicious treat.

And we feed our kids junk because junk is available and makes them smile whereas we all know the reaction we get with a Brussel Sprout or cabbage. (My kids know I feed them the good stuff because I love them and want them to be healthy - but they still love me more when I give them chocolate and Coca Cola.)

Even the French are apparently starting to eat ready-meals in front of the TV and will have as much obesity as everywhere else by 2020.

What is really sad is that it is a kind of dumbing down of good food - truly delicious eating is never found in a micro-waved ready meal unless you have never known anything any better.

My weight-loss tip: shun the modern world -Times Online

technorati tags:what+makes+us+fat, obesity+problems, healthy+eating

6 Vital Tips to Lose The Last 5lbs

The last 5lbs in any weight loss goal are often the hardest - they come up when you have already made a huge effort to lose the rest and you are pretty fed up with the whole idea of losing weight.

Plus the more weight you lose the fewer calories your body needs - you have lost the effect of having to lug around an extra 30lbs in weight all day long and so it really is harder.

And to cap it all, bodies will also "protest" more at giving up the last 5lbs - while the first five will slide off pretty easily.

So how do you do it?

1. Stop telling yourself it's the last 5lbs

Because you know and fear the last 5lbs and no doubt you've found it hard with previous attempts to reach a weight loss goal, try treating this as not "the last 5lbs" but as "only 5lbs".

You know you can lose 5lbs so it will put you in a more positive frame of mind and you will be ready to make the effort.

2. Change Your Routine

This is not the time for same old, same old food or exercise routines. Inject some new life into your food and your activities. Try a new sport, new recipes, new sandwich fillings, new places to walk - anything to get out of the rut. Treat it like a new weight loss program to renew your motivation.

3. Think of the Result

Unfortunately the last 5lbs often hang around the spot where you least want them - the place you are prone to piling on weight the most. Just imagine the reward of removing those 5lbs from your thighs or stomach or wherever you want to lose them and use the image of yourself looking just great to spur you on to making that last effort. 

4. One Pound at a Time

Don't worry about 5lbs - just go all out to lose one pound and treat that one pound loss with great joy and celebration. Reward every pound lost (not with food). If you know you can lose one pound you know you can lose five. Treat every pound as something special and you'll get there.

5. Stay Balanced

While going all out to lose each of those last pounds don't go too far the other way and try and starve or exercise them into submission. Yes, increase your exercise intensity. Yes, be extra vigilant with your diet. But eating too few calories or exercising too hard will lead to your body hanging onto to that last 5lbs for dear life.

6. Don't slide backwards

It's pretty common (and heartbreaking) to know that most people struggling with the last 5lbs are actually starting to slide back into old habits and putting weight back on again. Keep a check on your habits. If you want to maintain your new slim figure some of those changes you made to lose weight have to become permanent.

Of course, it helps if you lose weight with that attitude to begin with - but if you haven't done that, start to think about what you will do to maintain your weight NOW before it is too late.

Problems with Alli

The more people who take Alli the over the counter diet drug the more it falls from grace. The main problems initially reported were with loose stools - and the manufacturers are quite up front about this being a side effect.

But many others have reported feeling tired, nauseated and achy after taking Alli for a short time.

And, according to the comments on this article in the Chicago Tribune, Alli has even been reported as having a link to cancer. Who knows whether that is true - but that's the whole point of new drugs - who knows what the effects will be in 20 years time?

On the other hand we have a pretty good idea of the podsitive benefits of a good diet and moderate exercise...

Problems with Alli | Chicago Tribune

technorati tags:problems+with+alli, weight+loss+drug+alli, diet+pills

Obesity : This Takes the Biscuit

Newsbiscuit talks about the link between obesity, overeating and lack of exercise. If you haven't got the news yet and you're still wondering why you or your kids have weight problems read this tongue in cheek report.

In many ways this is not funny because there really are so many people I meet in my profession as a weight loss coach who believe that they are destined to be fat forever but have never wondered about what makes them fat in the first place or looked at what they are putting into their mouths day after day and how little they are moving their bodies.

Except for those with a diagnosed medical condition (and if you suspect this is the case are you being treated for it or using the possibility of it as an excuse?) it always boils down to what they are doing to themselves, how they live their life.

But many just don't get it - they continue to look for the magic diet pill patch or potion or the diet that will end all diets.

You know it's very sad when all that is between you and looking good and feeling good is  what you are in the habit of doing to yourself. Take a closer look at your habits this week and see what they are doing to YOU!

NewsBiscuit: Childhood obesity linked to 'eating too much'

technorati tags:obesity, diet, lose+weight, food+habits