Grapefruit Diet Plan: Lose Weight Fast

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The Grapefruit diet started way back in the 1930s, though back then it was called the Hollywood Diet. This diet is still very popular today and many people swear by it for fast weight loss.

This diet claims that the grapefruit contains special fat-burning enzymes that become active when the fruit is eaten along with a small portion of other foods at each and every meal.

For years medical professionals and nutritionists have said this was hype, that the grapefruit has no fat burning capability and that this was just another fad diet plan, like so many others on the market.

Today many medical experts still state that there is no evidence that the grapefruit is a magic bullet for weight loss, in fact Connie Diekman of the American Dietetic Association has stated that these types of diets perpetuate yo yo dieting, which, is on again and off again dieting, and a misunderstanding of what it means to lose weight in a healthy manner and on a permanent basis.

While the grapefruit diet has been downed by experts, not everyone agrees. The fact is that the citrus in grapefruit improves insulin levels and therefore lessens hunger. This fruit is also low in calories, satisfies hunger and is really a beneficial addition to any healthy meal plan.

Researchers at Scripps Clinic determined that grapefruit did help with weight loss because participants who ate half a grapefruit with each meal in a 12 week study lost an average of 3.8 pounds.

NOTE: There are some medications that can have adverse effects with grapefruit, check with your doctor.

The Grapefruit Diet plan

You must eat grapefruit at every meal. You have the choice of eating 1/2 a grapefruit or drinking 8 ounces of unsweetened grapefruit juice.

The grapefruit diet does not permit complex carbs (pasta, corn, potatoes, breads), but most vegetables are allowed and with butter.

The Rules

Drink eight 8 ounce glasses of water per day.

Eat ½ fresh grapefruit at each meal or drink 8 ounces of unsweetened grapefruit juice.

Maximum of 1 cup of coffee per day because caffeine affects insulin balance that prohibits the fat burning process.

No snacking between meals, and stick to exact meal times.

Eat liberally until full and satisfied.

Eat as much as you want of meats, salads and vegetables.

Do not eliminate anything from the strict diet plan. Make sure to eat the bacon at breakfast and the salads as this eating plan is designed to burn fat.

Generous amounts of butter, salad dressing as well as meat and fish cooked in any manner is fine.

Exercise is not a good idea because the calorie limit is so low.

This diet plan should only be used for 12 days at a time. Take at least a 2 to 3 day break should you want to continue on with the plan after 12 days.

The Grapefruit Diet Meal Plan

Eat grapefruit at each and every meal. Absolutely no complex carbs are allowed, sugar, pasta, bread, potatoes, etc.

Most vegetables are encouraged and should be prepared with lots of butter. Use salad dressing as you wish and prepare meats and fish in any manner, including fried.

The only snack allowed is the one after dinner, at bedtime. Follow this plan for 12 days at a time only.

Breakfast

1/2 fresh grapefruit OR 8 oz. unsweetened grapefruit juice
2 eggs any style
2 slices of bacon

Lunch

1/2 fresh grapefruit OR 8 oz. unsweetened grapefruit juice
Unlimited amounts of any type of meat
Salad with Dressing

Dinner

1/2 fresh grapefruit OR 8 oz. unsweetened grapefruit juice
Meat or fish, cooked in any manner
Salad with dressing
1 cup of coffee or tea, no sugar

Bedtime Snack

8oz. glass of tomato juice or 8 oz. cup of skim milk.

Filed Under: Weight Loss Tips

Should You Work to Build Muscle During Pregnancy?

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Pregnancy is an exciting time in a woman's life and she'll often want to improve her health, but is it the right time to build muscle during pregnancy? The answer can be very individual and depends on where you were before you conceived.

You can definitely succeed at building muscle during pregnancy, but whether that's a good idea depends on you and your doctor's advice. For women who are very active before pregnancy, it's often possible to continue a lot of the same fitness activities.

But if you don't start out your pregnancy in good shape, this isn't usually the time to begin a heavy duty fitness program. You'll always want to consult with your doctor before you begin an exercise program during pregnancy.

If your doctor gives you the okay to begin strength training, you'll want to start slow. For example, you'll want to use light weights and start with one set of 10-12 reps. You can perform this exercise two or three times per week.

When you're working out to build muscle outside of pregnancy, you might push yourself harder. But during pregnancy, it's not a good idea to push yourself too far. Instead, focus on toning up and gaining strength to help with a healthy pregnancy, labor, and delivery.

As your pregnancy develops, you may find that certain strength training exercises are impossible because of your comfort level or an expanding belly. When this happens, try modifying exercises or switching to an alternative form.

At any time during your pregnancy you should avoid exercises where you lie on your back. Instead try to work those muscles through standing exercises or just forget about them until after your baby arrives.

Strength training to build muscle during pregnancy can be beneficial. It burns fat and helps you to keep from gaining too much excess weight. It also helps you to firm up your frame and prevents problems with aches and pains as your pregnancy progresses.

Working on strength and endurance can also make the delivery and recovery process go more smoothly. And when the baby comes you'll have a stronger body to handle all of its new responsibilities. You'll find that it's easier to lose weight and get back into pre-baby shape as well.

But is this the time to go from couch potato to bodybuilder? No. If your doctor recommends strength training, it's okay to work to build muscle during your pregnancy but you should make sure not to overdo your exercise program.

Filed Under: Building Muscle

Alternative Solutions For Emotional Overeating

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Emotional overeating can make a person feel imprisoned – it can seem like there is no way out of the cycle of feeling sad, angry, anxious and so forth, and then eating to alleviate the emotional pain. There are treatments that are available, though – some of them conventional and some of them alternative.

Conventional therapy, surgery, and medication have all been utilized at one time or another for the treatment of emotional overeating. There are, however, some alternative therapies that are worth exploring. Here are some of them.

Hypnosis

Because emotional overeating begins in the mind, hypnosis is said to be effective because it addresses the mind directly with the power of suggestion. Hypnosis is not the mumbo-jumbo stuff of cartoons and swinging pocket watches; it's a clinical practice and many practitioners have used it with success to treat emotional overeating.

Meditation

The intent of meditation as a treatment for emotional overeating is to “tune in” to the emotional thought center that is driving your cravings and/or binge eating. Meditation, sometimes taking a form called “mindfulness,” is the opposite of mindLESSness, which is what often happens in emotional overeating. The person does not really think about what he or she is doing; it's mindless eating.

Herbal Supplements

It seems like every time you turn around there's a new herbal supplement promising to help you lose weight. But there are some herbs that can help with the issue of emotional overeating. Here are some of them.

* Hoodia – This much-publicized herb is said to be effective at appetite suppression and boosting energy. Its effects tend to be subtle, and it also has a good safety record.

* Vitex – This hormone-balancing herb for women may help those whose emotional overeating is influenced by hormone fluctuations.

* Ginseng – This ancient herb is said to help sugar cravings and curb the compulsion to overeat in response to one's emotions. Both American and Asian ginseng are purported to be equally effective.

Acupuncture

Acupuncturists are often asked if acupuncture can help with weight loss. The answer, in general, is yes – but not always. However, the good news is that acupuncture tends to be more successful with treating emotional overeating than just overeating. This may be due to acupuncture's alleged ability to release endorphins and boost metabolism – making the client feel better emotionally, effectively curtailing the emotional overeating.

Nutrition

Interestingly, having the right balance of vitamins and minerals may affect emotional overeating – it's not too much of a stretch to speculate that nutritional deficiencies could play a part in this kind of overeating. So make sure you're not eating a lot of artificial, processed, pre-packaged foods; opt for fresh, whole foods as a general rule. It's also a good idea to take a vitamin and mineral supplement that is formulated for your gender and life situation.

Filed Under: Weight Loss Tips

Protein Sources for Building Muscle as a Vegetarian or Vegan

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When building muscle as a vegetarian or vegan, it's essential that you get enough protein for your muscles to get the building blocks they need to grow. But it's absolutely possible to find high quality sources of protein while avoiding meat and other animal products.

You may have heard people tell you that you'll have to compromise your eating standards in order to gain muscle, but this simply isn't true. Protein is found in all living things, so your plant-based diet can be filled with it.

Whole grains such as quinoa, whole grain rice, and steel cut oats are chock full of protein. You can also get healthy fats and protein from a wide variety of nuts such as almonds, walnuts, cashews, and pecans.

You may not think so to look at it, but broccoli and cauliflower have a high percentage of protein that gets passed on to you when you eat it. The same is true for lentils and beans that pack a powerful protein punch.

It's also important to include foods such as yams that provide protein and vitamins. And avocados are a wonderful source of protein and healthy fats. All of these foods can help you to build muscle mass.

Another superfood that benefits everyone but can be particularly good if you're a vegan or vegetarian is coconut. Coconut milk is a great alternative to dairy and coconut oil helps to strengthen your body on many levels.

While the most common protein supplement is whey powder, you'll want to avoid it as a vegan. It's derived from milk products. Instead, you can look for protein powder made with hemp or soy. This is in powder form and can be used like any other supplement.

There's also a type of protein powder that comes from rice. You may find that you want to add a protein supplement to your daily routine when you begin weight training to build muscle. Your body will need much more protein to get any kind of bulk.

Even people who eat animal products often add protein powder to their diets. This simply gives the body enough protein to recover from strenuous exercise and to build the bulk you're looking for from your exercise program.

The vegetarian and vegan lifestyle is very beneficial for your overall health. In no way will building muscle as a vegetarian or vegan be impossible or even difficult if you make sure you eat a lot of proteins from plant sources.

Filed Under: Building Muscle

The Different Types of Weight Loss Surgery

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If you have trouble with emotional overeating, you may have considered weight loss surgery of some sort. But how do you know if it's for you? What kinds of surgery options are available? Here are some ideas as to the more common surgical options currently available and some of the better-known pros and cons associated with them.

1. Lap-Band

This is a type of restrictive weight loss surgery, and it is adjustable. A silicon doughnut or ring is placed around the top of the stomach, leaving a small pouch above the ring. This is where the food goes first, and the pouch, being so small, fills up quickly. The person feels full on less food, in other words. Slowly, the food makes its way from the pouch into the main stomach.

The doctor or surgeon may, from time to time, inject saline into the ring in order to inflate it, thus decreasing the pouch's capacity even further. The opposite can be done as well.

Pros:

* It's adjustable, as noted above – fluid can be removed or injected into the ring.
* The digestive process is not compromised; food is digested “the usual way.”
* The surgical procedure is usually done laproscopically, meaning it's minimally invasive.

Cons:

* Additional surgery may be required in the case of twisting of the access port or perforation of the stomach.
* Weight loss tends to be rather slow and gradual, and not as dramatic as some other options.
* Repeated follow-up visits with your doctor are required.

2. Gastric Bypass

This is what's known as a malabsorptive technique. In gastric bypass surgery, a small pouch is created at the top of the stomach using “staples” rather than a ring. Then part of the small intestine is re-routed to connect to this pouch, essentially creating a permanently smaller stomach. It is called “bypass” surgery because food bypasses the rest of the stomach and the original small intestine connection, called the duodenum.

Pros:

* Weight loss tends to be significant and permanent.
* Mild side effects, such as heartburn, tend to be resolved easily.

Cons:

* Compromised nutrient absorption is a significant concern, and patients are generally required to take many supplements to prevent nutritional deficiency.
* Dumping syndrome, or a too-fast emptying of stomach contents, is a potentially difficult side effect.
* It's harder for doctors to view the stomach and intestine via endoscopy, meaning cancer and other problems may go undetected.

These are just two of the more common types of weight loss surgery. The bottom line is, weight loss surgery can help with the weight gain and excessive caloric intake associated with emotional overeating, but it does not address the underlying emotional issues. If you do choose some sort of surgery to treat emotional overeating, it's a good idea to make sure it's part of a “whole person” treatment plan that includes counseling and emotional therapy.

Filed Under: Weight Loss Tips

Powering Through Muscle Building Plateaus

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When you encounter muscle building plateaus, it can be very frustrating to feel like your hard exercise program isn't paying off. But there are some things you can do to power through those plateaus and start to see progress again.

First, you may need to change what you're doing. A workout routine stays effective for about four weeks before your body stops responding to it. If you have the habit of doing the same exercise routine day after day, you may need to make some changes.

Start adding new exercises and eliminate one or two. Just making minor changes can jumpstart your body into showing improvements again. While it can be hard to change up your routine, you'll find it very effective for fighting muscle building plateaus.

Often people don't challenge their muscles enough. If you're experiencing a plateau, try lifting heavier weights for fewer reps. This is more effective at building muscle than lifting lighter weights for more reps.

In addition, you don't want to spend all day at the gym. You can actually over train your body and cause a plateau to occur. If you work out for more than an hour you deprive muscles of oxygen and they can't grow properly.

You also need to make sure you're giving your body adequate rest. If you don't take days off from your workout, you don't give your body time to actually recover and build new muscle. It may seem counterintuitive to rest, but it's essential to muscle growth.

Besides taking days off from the gym, you also need to get plenty of sleep each night. Many people are sleep deprived. Not only does this promote the gain of fat it also prevents muscles from being built. Sleep is the time of day when your body repairs muscles and they grow.

If you're depriving your body of sleep, you may have a plateau. If you're getting fewer than eight hours of sleep each night you may find that increasing your sleep is enough to help you get back to muscle building.

Finally, you need to make sure you're eating enough food. If you don't get enough calories, you won't be supplying your body with the raw materials to make more muscle. It's necessary to eat about five meals a day when you're working out regularly.

You also want to make sure you're eating whole foods that contain protein, complex carbohydrates, and healthy fats. By making these simple changes you can power through muscle building plateaus and start to see progress again.

Filed Under: Building Muscle

The Best Foods for Building Muscle

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Apart from your workout, what you eat is the most important aspect of building muscle. If you're giving your body the nutrients it needs, you'll lose fat and build muscle much faster.

On the other hand, if your body doesn't get what it needs, it won't be able to build the muscles you want. A lot of workout effort can be wasted if it's not backed up by a proper diet.

Here are some of the best foods for building muscles.

==> Whole Eggs

Whole eggs contain proteins that are easier for your body to process than any other kind of protein. That includes beef, chicken and milk.

In addition, whole eggs contain a whole host of other vitamins and nutrients, including Vitamins D and B12, zinc and iron.

Don't worry about eating cholesterol in the egg yolk. Research study after research study has proven that cholesterol in food has little effect on the cholesterol in blood vessels.

==> Whole Wheat Pasta

It's unhealthy to cut out all carbohydrates from your diet. In order for your body to have the energy to work out and to build muscles, it needs to have healthy glucose that it can turn into useable energy.

Protein provides the body with the building blocks, while healthy carbohydrates give the body the energy to build those blocks.

Avoid carbohydrates based in white wheat. They burn too fast and cause energy spikes and crashes. Instead, opt for whole wheat carbohydrates like whole wheat pasta. Get organic if you can.

==> Fresh Salmon

Salmon contains a very high concentration of much-needed omega-3 fatty acids. This helps brain functioning and concentration while also facilitating muscle growth.

The omega-3 fatty acids in salmon will speed up muscle growth after a workout, which translates to more muscles being built faster.

==> Almonds and Other Nuts

Raw almonds and other nuts contain a lot of proteins that can help build muscle. They're easy to carry around as a snack and are actually healthy, unlike many other snacks.

Nuts contain Vitamin E, potassium, zinc, magnesium and many other essential minerals and vitamins. They also contain digestion-helping fibers.

When buying nuts, avoid anything that's deep fried in oils or covered in salt. If possible, try to buy plain raw nuts with minimal processing.

==> Eat Beef

Beef is perhaps the best kind of meat for muscle builders to eat.

It contains high amounts of creatine, which gives your body a huge boost of energy for working out. Anyone who's taken a creatine supplement can attest to creatine's explosive energy.

By eating beef regularly, you'll be providing your body with this much-needed source of energy.

These are some of the best foods for muscle building. By providing your body with all the nutrients, proteins, vitamins and minerals it needs, you'll build muscles at a much faster pace.

Filed Under: Weight Loss Tips

Naturally Boost Your Muscle Growth Hormone

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Hormones are the substances in the body that are responsible for all of its processes, and muscle growth hormone helps you to actually grow stronger and bulkier muscles. In order to increase the amount of your growth hormone, you need to follow a few simple rules.

Your body naturally produces growth hormone to help with muscle recovery and repairing muscles after a tough workout. It also helps you to have more energy and it can even enhance your sex life Â? so what's not to love?

The most important step toward increasing your growth hormone levels is actually exercising. During strength training exercise you literally tear muscle tissue. This stimulates growth hormone to go into action repairing and rebuilding those cells.

The more you train, the more growth you'll have and the easier it will be to perform tougher and tougher exercises. But exercise isn't the only way you can increase your muscle growth hormone levels.

Your nutrition is critical for building growth hormone. You need to make sure that you're eating plenty of healthy fats. Hormones are actually considered lipid molecules very similar in structure to cholesterol. In order to produce them, you need to have healthy fat in your diet.

Make sure you get olive oil, flaxseed oil, and fish oil as part of your diet. This will give your body the raw materials it needs to build hormone molecules and make more growth hormone. You'll also need to eat plenty of protein to provide your body with the necessary amino acids.

Taking protein supplements can help add protein to your diet if you're having trouble getting enough. A protein shake made from whey protein is the best source of protein you can consume. You can also look for egg protein or soy protein if you prefer.

Sleep is another important aspect of producing growth hormone. Three fourths of your growth hormone is produced while you're sleeping. And it's mainly produced when you reach the deep sleep stage called REM.

If you're sleep deprived, you won't be able to produce growth hormone and your muscle growth will be stalled. You need to get at least eight hours of sleep each night. And if you can, it's even better to get ten hours of sleep.

Making sure that you get proper rest doesn't seem like it would help you to build muscle, but in fact it's one of the keys to doing so. If you want to increase the amount of muscle growth hormone you produce naturally, exercise, nutrition, and rest are the most important steps.

Filed Under: Building Muscle

5 Fast Weight Loss Tips

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There are many fad diets that promise super fast weight loss. Usually these are very extreme and
bizarre eating plans that really do not provide lasting results because no human being can stick
with eating that way for the long term.

One great example of such extremes is the Cabbage Soup Diet that promises ten pounds of weight
loss in 10 days while eating only cabbage soup and meat. In reality, no one can eat that way for
life and so once the diet is over most just go back to eating as they did before the diet and
regain all the weight and more.

Below are healthier and better ways to lose weight fast and keep it off long term.

Fast Weight Loss Tips

1. Lower your daily caloric intake by 250 calories. It's surprising how easy this is when you take a look at what you eat throughout the day. One way to accomplish this is to eliminate the fancy coffee drink every morning, many of the Frapuccinos at Starbucks have more than 400 calories each.

Evaluate the snacks you eat. An apple has 50 calories, 4 cookies, no matter which ones, come with more than 140 calories and a lot of fat.

There are also many negative calorie foods that actually use more calories to burn than they come with. Some examples are cherry tomatoes, lettuce, spinach, zuchinni, berries and many more. You can eat these foods in unlimited amounts and leave the fattening Oreos in the bag.

2. Visualization is a great technique to achieve your weight loss goals. Imagine how you would look as a thin person, the clothes you can wear and buy and how much lighter you would feel.
Picture yourself as you want to be, and then take action to get there.

3. Drink more water to lose weight faster. Water makes you feel fuller so you eat less. It fortifies and energizes the body. Many times people over eat because they mistake thirst for hunger.

4. Fruits, and, especially, vegetables are great for losing weight fast. High fiber vegetables are very filling and they are very low in calories so you can really eat as much of them as you want and lose weight fast. Fruits and veggies also provide all the nutritional benefits you need to keep energy levels up throughout the day, this helps in keeping snacking to a minimum.

Berries are a great choice for snacks because they are high in fiber and low in calories and they are sweet and delicious.

5. Lose weight really fast by being active. Sitting at a desk all day slows metabolism and inhibits weight loss. Get up every hour and walk around a little bit. If you want to lose weight really fast then do some type of cardio for 30 minutes a day at least 4 times per week.

When exercise is combined with a low calorie diet weight loss happens at very fast rates and it's healthy and can bring long term results.

Conclusion
The above five fast weight loss tips are a great way to get started with losing weight and losing it quickly.

Filed Under: Weight Loss Tips

Muscle Toning Workouts You Can Perform at Home

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If you want to build muscle, but you don't want to spend time or money at a commercial gym there are many muscle toning workouts you can perform at home. In fact, a home routine can be very effective in reaching your fitness goals.

Some of the old-fashioned exercises that use your own body weight can be very effective. For example, performing sit-ups, pushups, and pull-ups can be very effective at toning up the upper body and core.

You can also purchase inexpensive dumbbell sets to help you perform strength training at home. Using dumbbells to bench press or perform bicep and triceps curls can be very effective at building muscle tone. You just want to make sure you're lifting the heaviest weight you can handle.

For the lower body, there are many muscle toning workouts that can help you to build strength and lean muscle. The simple wall sit can help you to build muscles of the thigh including your quads and hamstrings.

To perform this, stand with your back straight against the wall and put your feet shoulder width apart. Then slide down and when your knees are bent at a 90 degree angle, hold for up to 20 seconds. Then slowly raise back up against the wall.

You can also perform squats. You'll get toning from simply using your own body weight. But if you want to increase resistance you can hold a medicine ball or barbell while performing squats. You'll feel a big difference even with just a small amount of weight.

For calves, you can perform toe raises. Stand on a step with the balls of your feet and let the heels of your feet hang off of the surface. Raise up on your toes to contract your calf muscles and hold the position for a few seconds.

Then lower your body and allow your heels to extend below the surface of the step for a few seconds. This helps to work the muscles in the front of your lower leg. When doing these exercises move slowly and in a controlled fashion.

With many toning exercises, you can add weight and get more from the movements. You'll want to be able to lift as much weight as you can while still performing slow and controlled movements.

For your home gym you'll want to invest in some equipment including a step, dumbbells, and a mat for performing exercises on the floor. You may also want to invest in a bar that can be used for pull-ups and chin-ups. Muscle toning workouts can be just as effective at home if you have the proper equipment and use the proper form.

Filed Under: Building Muscle
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