eMedex Weight Loss Guide

Most of the controversy surrounding the Atkins Diet comes from the weight loss program’s requirement of lower carbohydrate consumption. Many health experts denounced the program because of that requirement, saying that a good amount of carbohydrates are required to properly keep body functions running. Is the Atkins Diet really dangerous to your health?

Over three decades after the first publication of Dr Atkins’ diet, most physicians and experts remain skeptical, saying that the program requires more testing in order to be officially seen as an effective diet. Some are saying that the amount of carbohydrates allowed by the diet – as little as 40 g – is potentially harmful because the human body needs about 150 g for all functions to work properly.

The amount of protein that the diet contains also worries some scientists. Under the Atkins Diet, you’ll be taking out one entire dietary chunk and replacing it with proteins and fats. Some see this as increasing the risk factors for conditions like heart disease and stroke. Others see a risk for people with kidney or liver problems because they’ll be the organs that will handle all the additional protein.

Even mental ability is believed to be affected by the Atkins Diet. Glucose is a kind of sugar that the brain uses for fuel when it’s working. Although glucose can be had from meats and other proteins, it takes a lot longer to harvest glucose from them than it is from carbohydrates.

It’s true that the Atkins Diet can give you some pretty amazing and quick weight loss. However, most health experts would advise you to be wary about the diets you start, and to consult your physician before starting on any diet.

It’s that diet that got people all over the world swearing off bread and pasta by the millions. Although its most recent popularity surge happened between 2003 and 2004 when almost a tenth of the United States was on the weight loss program, the Atkins Diet has actually been around since the 1970’s.

Ever since Dr. Robert Atkins published his book in 1972, there’s been a love-it-or-hate-it response from the public. There were those who claimed that Atkins’ diet was the best that they’d ever seen, while there were also those who went as far as saying that it was potentially fatal. Because the weight loss diet uses a low-carbohydrate nutritional plan, there’s still a lot of heated debate about its effects, both good and bad.

The short explanation of the Atkins Diet is that you should refrain from eating almost all kinds of carbohydrates, while at the same time satisfying your hunger primarily with proteins like meats. This low-carbohydrate principle was the source of much of the Atkins Diet’s controversy, especially since Dr. Atkins promised that it would be more effective than low-fat diets for quick weight loss.

The weight loss program itself is done in four phases: induction, ongoing weight loss, pre-maintenance and lifetime maintenance. Each stage is less restrictive in terms of allowed food items than the one before it. The program also recommends that you return to an earlier phase should you begin regaining weight. Adherents say that the Atkins Diet is like marriage – it’s a lifelong commitment if you want it to work.

Are you interested in trying the Atkins Diet? Stay tuned here for more details on the science, the controversy and the myths behind this weight loss program.

Water is easily one of the most underrated substances in the world. As a substance, it’s known as the universal solvent and can destroy anything given enough time. For you, however, it could be the easiest solution for quick weight loss that you’ve ever seen.

Doctors all around agree that, for one reason or another, you don’t get enough water in the modern lifestyle. The recommended amount is at least 10 8-oz glasses of H2O every day, but you probably get only about four to six. Water is important for maintaining a delicate balance of fluids in your body, as well as for supporting most of the critical body processes. Not only is that deficit detrimental to your health, but you’re depriving yourself of a really good diet method – getting enough water.

One of the lesser known facts about dieting is that the sensation of thirst is often mistaken as hunger pangs. That feeling which prompts you to down a 300-calorie sandwich could have easily been solved by a 0-calorie glass of water. But it doesn’t end there. Drinking that 10-glass requirement throughout the day helps you regulate your eating because even water does make you feel temporarily full. If you need to hold off your hunger pangs, drive it away for now with a cold glass of water.

Although you do get water in carbonated drinks, coffee and the like, pure water is still the best for achieving natural weight loss. The additives add flavor, but they also add calories and fat – the very things you want to avoid – to your beverage. Other substances like caffeine are also diuretics, which prompt your body to flush water out, exacerbating that water deficit.

You’ve got absolutely nothing (but weight) to lose and everything (but weight) to gain. Give water a try, and you should see results within a couple of weeks or so.

In the past few years, it has become increasingly popular to be aware of the ingredients in the food that you buy and to know exactly what you’re eating. It’s a really healthy trend because you end up knowing just how much fat and how many calories you get from every serving of a certain food item, and that helps you get on with natural weight loss. If you’re still not sure about how to read the nutrition labels when you go to the grocery, here are a few tips to help you out and keep your weight loss program on track.

How Much is Too Much?

The common idea is that you should aim to have absolutely no fat in everything you eat. Nada. Zero. Zilch. In reality, though, you can afford to reach for just a little bit of fat when you go to the supermarket. After all, your body does need a certain amount of fat, and most food would taste downright bland without fat.

Although the ‘safe’ amount of fat will vary because of your metabolism and your level of activity, a good rule of thumb is to have a maximum of 5 grams fat per 100 grams of product. It’s a pretty good number, and is low enough not to result in drastic weight gain.

Reduced Fat vs. Low Fat

A lot of people still think that the two labels are the same or, at least, interchangeable. To make things less confusing, you should always just reach for the low fat variant of any food.

When something is branded as ‘low fat,’ it means that that product has no more than 3 grams of fat per serving. ‘Reduced fat,’ on the other hand, simply means that the product has at least 25% less fat per serving than the regular variant. When you’re talking about something that’s high-fat to begin with – chips, for example – you’ll still end up eating a lot of fat in ‘reduced fat’ products.

Many people think that quick weight loss is all about dieting yourself to death and depriving yourself of everything but steamed veggies. The truth is that you can still keep a fairly regular (read: a bit of oil and fat here and there) menu by incorporating fitness into an aspect of your lifestyle other than your eating habits. And the best way to do that is to take up sports.

Why Tennis?

First of all, tennis is a great cardiovascular activity. A match against an average tennis player should have you running all over your side of the court, and that’s no mean feat. Considering that you have to defend a space that’s 39 feet by 27 feet in size, you’re going to do a fair amount of running for a single match.

Even better is that tennis matches or a proper game between two evenly matched players will take at least half an hour. That’s about the amount of time it takes for your body to reach that optimum fat-burning phase during cardiovascular exercise. And because your physical exertion will definitely last more than half an hour, you’ll get the added benefit of the after-burn effect, or that window of time after exercise wherein you enjoy an enhanced metabolism.

While it’s true that dieting is effective for losing weight, sports can be just as effective a means for natural weight loss. With sports, you also have the advantage of toning your body and building up muscle while losing all that unsightly fat.