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Article: Do It Yourself Dieting Long(extreme low carb)
I'm not crazy about this one but the author had a whopping good weight
loss and reports: Not only did I lose 25 pounds in six weeks, but I've kept it off, despite the customary round of year-end eating, as well as three weeks on the road in dietary disaster zones like New York, Los Angeles and (gulp!) New Orleans. http://www.thestar.com/ Life Page, Health LinK Welcome to The Riverdale Diet Richard Ouzounian, Toronto Star What did I want a diet to be? I decided there were three obligatory features: Sensible: I didn't want to be told I had to eat foods in certain combinations or force my system into a state of ketosis. No thanks. Appealing: I wanted to come up with a plan that I could modify and stick to after the initial weight-loss period was over. Adaptable: Anything I did had to take into consideration the realities of everyday life: family, friends, travel. So what does it involve? It's very simple. For an initial two-week period, here's the drill: NO STARCH, NO SUGAR Let that sink in for a second. I'm asking you to forgo bread, pasta, potatoes and rice as well as cookies, cakes, pies and ice cream. The purpose of this initial purge is to wean you off the twin addictions to starch and sugar that cause so many weight problems. Like any addict, you've got to cleanse your system of the toxins before you can make a fresh start. The next step is to get behind this mantra: CALORIES IN, CALORIES OUT In other words, if you eat more calories than you burn up during the day, you're going to gain weight. It doesn't matter if they come from tofu or hot fudge. Any diet that tells you that you can eat "all you want" when it comes to protein or fat is leading you down a dangerous path. As you'll see further on, portion control is everything. And a final governing rule: EAT EARLY, EAT OFTEN Our system can metabolize food most easily in smaller doses. Three moderate sized meals a day (and two light snacks) is a surer way to lose weight than skipping a meal or two and then piling it on at dinner. Breakfast is a must. So is lunch. And you should eat dinner as early as possible. In an ideal world, four hours should pass from the time you finish your last meal of the day until you go to sleep. Starving yourself all day, binging at a late meal and then rolling into bed is a guaranteed way to pack on the pounds. So with all these things in mind, what kind of food do you actually get to eat? *Here's a quick overview of what I ate during the first two weeks of the diet.* Breakfast: You want to find a way of giving your system a satisfying mixture of protein and carbohydrates in as pleasing a form as possible. Here's my solution. Every day, I made a different omelet, using two egg whites, a cup of assorted chopped vegetables and one ounce of cheese. If you're not used to cooking in the morning, it may take a bit of adjustment, but it's worth it. You'll find you're able to keep going without mid-morning droop. And if it sounds boring to have the same thing every day, put that thought out of your mind. The choices are only as limited as your imagination. How about mushroom and onion and Swiss? Or tomato, green pepper and mozzarella? Salsa, zucchini and cheddar? It actually becomes something you look forward to. Some people feel the need for fruit juice in the morning. Try to reconsider that. It's always better to eat the actual fruit, but if you have must have juice, opt for tomato (or a combo like V-8). Yes, of course, to coffee or tea, but no sugar (artificial sweeteners are fine) and try to make any milk you use low-fat. Here's a quick overview of what I ate during the first two weeks of the diet. Breakfast: You want to find a way of giving your system a satisfying mixture of protein and carbohydrates in as pleasing a form as possible. Here's my solution. Every day, I made a different omelet, using two egg whites, a cup of assorted chopped vegetables and one ounce of cheese. If you're not used to cooking in the morning, it may take a bit of adjustment, but it's worth it. You'll find you're able to keep going without mid-morning droop. And if it sounds boring to have the same thing every day, put that thought out of your mind. The choices are only as limited as your imagination. How about mushroom and onion and Swiss? Or tomato, green pepper and mozzarella? Salsa, zucchini and cheddar? It actually becomes something you look forward to. Some people feel the need for fruit juice in the morning. Try to reconsider that. It's always better to eat the actual fruit, but if you have must have juice, opt for tomato (or a combo like V-8). Yes, of course, to coffee or tea, but no sugar (artificial sweeteners are fine) and try to make any milk you use low-fat. Mid-morning snack: If you find your stomach growling and lunch is still an hour or more away, then you can contemplate a small piece of fruit, an assortment of vegetables, or a small portion of cheese. (Those low-fat cheesesticks are good for this purpose.) Lunch: You'll start to find yourself planning your dinners to create enough leftover lean protein to have for lunch the next day. Try to keep yourself to 2-3 oz. of chicken, beef, pork - whatever is around. In an emergency, the frozen pre-cooked jumbo shrimp you can buy in most supermarkets come in handy as well, and there's always that old reliable: water-packed tuna. What you want to do is to take your protein portion, cut it into bite-size pieces, and mix it with at least 3 cups of chopped vegetables. I know that sounds like a lot of greenery, but it really isn't. Try not to concentrate on lettuce. There isn't much of nutritional value there, and you'll also find it doesn't provide you with much staying power. Baby spinach is a good choice, as are celery, carrots, radishes, tomatoes, peppers, broccoli ... well, you get the picture. How to dress your mixture becomes the big question. Most diet salad dressings taste awful and you don't want to start using real oil, not at 120 calories per tablespoon. I find an interesting solution is to use either a good quality barbecue sauce, or one of the many "Memories of..." products put out by Loblaws. You have to be careful to check the calorie and fat content on anything you're using (and yes, many have a small amount of sugar) but you'll generally find that a tablespoon or two of these sauces (which is all you need) will give you a maximum flavour kick for a minimal caloric cost. Mid-afternoon snack: same as for mid-morning, but don't have any fruit this late in the day. Dinner: This is where I find this diet really comes into its own, especially if you have a family. The trick is just to proceed with business as usual, only when it comes to your plate, leave off the starch, and add an extra green vegetable. I'm assuming that dinner is not going to be deep-fried, swimming in cream sauce, or something from the frozen food section riddled with trans-fats. But outside of those caveats, there's no reason the entire household can't sit down to the same meal. You just won't eat the starch or the dessert. And watch the portion size! Four ounces of protein is enough. With vegetables, on the other hand, go ahead and have as much as you like. What about alcohol? Remember that ultimately, it's nothing but empty calories, despite all the talk about the "nutritional" aspects of wine or beer. (I don't think anyone's ever had the nerve to make a dietary pitch for Bailey's.) Look, it won't kill you to lay off all forms of indulgence for a couple of weeks, so give it a try. This eating strategy also works well in restaurants or at dinner parties. You don't have to do a big number about "This isn't on my diet!" Shun the starch, eat the rest and if it looks like your host or hostess has made a major effort over a dessert, well, it won't kill you to have a few bites. That's an important feature of this diet. We're not working on some complex chemical arrangement where you have to be careful that you don't have more than x grams of carbohydrate or fat in a day or else you'll turn into the Michelin Tire Man. What you're trying to do is teach yourself to eat more sensibly for an entire lifetime. The initial embargo on starches and sugars is for two reasons: first, to let you see that you can live without them and second, to train you into appreciating other foods. It goes without saying that you shouldn't embark on any diet without talking to your doctor first. Being healthy should be your primary goal. If you happen to get more attractive in the process, look on that as an added bonus. Once you've gone through the initial two-week period, you may want to re-introduce some forbidden items back into your eating plan, but do it gradually and carefully. And always let your bathroom scale be your guide as to how things are going. Watch the size of your portions! There are 170 calories in a cup of cooked pasta and are you aware of how little that actually is? Start measuring everything! If you've come to like the way you feel and look after two weeks on this diet, then you better face up to the fact that the days of a bagel for breakfast, a sandwich and fries for lunch and a big bowl of spaghetti in the evening are over. What about dessert? We all know we'd be better off without it, but why not wait for the really good ones to come along? In the meantime, if you make them yourself, try substituting Splenda for sugar. It cuts the calories down enormously, and works amazingly well. It's also very true that dieting is only the first step in a new healthier lifestyle. The importance of exercise is vital, but there's going to be other people in weeks to come who'll tell you about that. Right now, I'd like you to try out The Riverdale Diet for 14 days to give yourself a running start on a New You for 2004. Just remember the three big mantras: No starch, no sugar. Calories in, calories out. Eat early, eat often. And may it work for you as well as it has worked (and continues to work) for me! -- Diva ***** The Best Man for the Job May Be A Woman |
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