So I decided to go on the Grapefruit Diet. I always thought it was a real fad diet, but recent studies have made me change my mind.

The American Dietetic Association president-elect, Connie Diekman says that “There is no evidence that grapefruit has fat-burning enzymes nor is it a magic bullet for weight loss”

Dr. Fujioka, principal researcher at the Nutrition and Metabolic Research Center at Scripps Clinic, tends to differ: ‘For years people have talked about the grapefruit diet, and some even swear by it, but now, we have data that grapefruit helps weight loss,’

In his study, there were 100 participants. Some were instructed to eat graprefruit with every meal and others to drink the juice. They did not change their diet but increased their physical activity just a bit.

On the average, they lost 3.5 pounds with some people losing up to 10 lbs.

Not that I recommend the grapefruit diet or that it has been proven effective but  here is a sample of what it entails:

12 days on – 2 days off

Breakfast
1/2 Grapefruit or 4 oz. Grapefruit Juice (unsweetened)
2 Eggs (any style)
2 Slices Bacon

Lunch
1/2 Grapefruit or 4 oz. Grapefruit Juice (unsweetened)
Meat (any style, any amount)
Salad (any kind of dressing)

Dinner
1/2 Grapefruit or 4 oz. Grapefruit Juice (unsweetened)
Meat (any style, any amount) (fish may be substituted for meat)
Vegetables (any green, yellow, or red vegetables cooked in butter or any seasoning)

Bed Time Snack
1 glass tomato juice or 1 glass Skim milk

No snacking, cut down on coffee, drink lots of water and stay away from sweets, breads and starchy vegetables such as potatoes, beans and corn and peas vegetables.

Now, if you ask anybody who has been on a diet, having a regime like that, grapefruit or not, could help you shed some pounds due to the low calorie content. In fact the diet is very similar to the Atkins program. The problem is that following such a strict program gets boring and it is very difficult to maintain. There is also not enough variety of foods.

Be that as it may, taking into account the health benefits of grapefruit and the proven results as presented by Dr Fujioka, I don’t see anything wrong with adding grapefruit to one’s diet. Other researchers believe that certain properties in the grapefruit help reduce insulin levels and encourage fat loss so why not give grapefruit a chance.

I certainly lost the weight even though I cheated just a little. However since this diet is so rigid, it is not good for someone who needs to lose more than 8 or 10 pounds.

An excess of 10 pound of more requires a life change. Yes really.

There aren’t easy solutions. If you gained 40 pounds in the last few years is because you were eating more calories than you were burning. Going on a diet and then back to old habits only brings the weight back and usually, even more.

Changing one’s lifestyle to a healthier way of eating and exercising on a regular basis is on way to permanent weight loss.

In a recent study of 81 people, those who drank at least 8 ounces of vegetable juice in addition to a healthy diet, lost 4 pounds over 12 weeks, while those who followed the same diet but did not drink the juice only lost one pound.

Most of the participants in the study were women and showed excess belly fat. Their diet consisted of fruits, vegetables, lots of fiber, low fat dairy products and proteins low in fat. In addition, they were told to drink between one and 2 cups of vegetable low sodium juice such as V8 for 12 weeks.

Just look at the benefits:

V8 is not expensive and easy to carry
You increase vitamin C and potassium intake, while decreasing their overall carbohydrate intake.
You get the recommended 3 to 5 servings of vegetables daily.

The best way to handle a situation like this, is to forgive yourself and forget it ever happened. That’s right. Experts say that just because you cheated on one meal (even one entire day) your goal should be to get back on track. Just because you ate few extra calories one day, it doesn’t meant you are going to gain weight.

Here are a few pointers to get back on track:

1- Ask yourself what was the reason you “cheated” in the first place. Is it because your diet goals are unrealistic? Perhaps you are starving yourself in order to get to your target weight faster and you need to change portions or add more calories to your diet.

2- Forgive and forget. The sooner you forgive youself, the sooner you’ll forget about it. This is very important because it will take you to the next step.

3- Restart your plan as soon as possible. If you over-ate on one particular meal, or one particular day, eat a little lighter the next day.

These steps might seem like a no-brainer, but many people get discouraged because they binge one day, and they blow all the progress they had made so far.

Don’t let guilty feelings get to you. You are in control and it was your decision to start on the diet so now it will be your decision to go back on track.

Pour some coffee in a cup, then open a package of
Swiss Miss No Sugar Hot Chocolate mix to the coffee.
You can even add a dash of skim or low fat milk for extra flavor. Voila… heaven at 3 PM

Not only is it rich in calcium, you also get the benfits
of chocolate, some fiber and a lot of pleasure.
You can dump the Starbucks Caffe Mocha
which has 200 calories (SMALL) or the
Dunkin’s Mocha Swirl Latte Small 220 calories

Coffee : 2calories 0g fat 0 carbs 0.3gprotein
coffee = almost zero calories
swiss miss = 60 calories 1 gram fat 0 saturated fat
skim milk = about 20 calories in about 1/4 cup

Hey! That’s definitely worth trying isn’t it?

While it is true that smaller portions is the key to healthy eating,
according to a recent study, a small portion or a bite of something you crave and has made you gain weight in the past, it may only trigger a desire for more sugary snacks an hour later.

This might be because that chocolate bar may have been a comfort food in the past, something that was perhaps filling an emotional need instead of satisfying hunger.

The solution?

Take a small handfull of healthy trail mix instead. The small amount of sugar from the dried fruits and the oil and protein in the nuts is a more complete snack from a nutrition point of view.

Drink some water. Very often people confuse hunger and thirst.

If your craving is emotional, take a long walk. Exercise has been proven to curb cravings for chocoholics. The reason? Walking briskly releases endorphins (the anti-stress, feel-good hormones produced by your body when you exercise) Can’t walk because your are at the office? Take the stairs instead of the elevator, and do it fast.
By the time the oxygen reaches your brain, you will have forgotten about your sweet cravings.