July 8, 2009

Are You Looking For An Effective And Fun Way To Lose Belly Fat?


There is certainly no shortage of fat loss programs for people who want to lose weight. Just about everyone wants a popular fat loss program that can work and do the job effectively and with the least amount of fuss and pain. Different types of programs have varying degrees of success, the majority are effective for short-term weight loss.

Two of the more famous fat loss programs followed by a large number of people around the world are the Atkins Diet and the South Beach Diet. These two diets are fairly similar in that they both limit starchy or sugary foods. Most fruits and grains and alcohol are not permitted during the first phase of the diet. This is to train your body to stop craving high sugar carbs.

The South Beach fat loss program requires a two week induction stage where you learn to eliminate unhealthy foods and stick with healthier choices. Some people feel this diet’s weakness is that most of the early weight loss is due to water weight and therefore not a true fat loss. However, hunger pangs are fewer than with many other diets, as regular snacking is encouraged during this stage and permits many people to achieve greater weight loss than might otherwise be possible.

The Atkins fat loss program is much more restrictive in that nearly all carbs are forbidden for the duration of the diet and beyond. Atkins advocated the concept that the body should be a fat-burning machine, a process which is induced when the body must burn its own fat rather than through food sources provided by carbs. Controversial at best, this diet claims to be heart and cholesterol friendly, but seems counterintuitive given the high amounts of fat and protein allowed. Even so, there are lifetime adherents to this diet.

For followers of the Atkins diet, the carbohydrate restriction is for a lifetime. While the state of perpetual ketosis or internal fat-burning may be desirable at the beginning stages, it’s quite difficult to maintain this for the long haul. At least with the South Beach diet, once you’ve cleared the maintenance stage, you can re-introduce certain low-sugar carbohydrates back into your diet as long as you continue to stick with healthy food selections. One good thing is that under either diet, no calorie counting is necessary.

One type of popular fat loss program calls for internal cleansing and fasting to rid the body of toxins and allow for faster weight loss. Of these programs, the lemon juice diet is one of the more well known. Under this weight loss program, the individual is required to fast and can only drink a beverage made from lemon juice, maple syrup and cayenne pepper along with purified water for a period of up to ten days. Once the cleanse is completed, the individual can gradually incorporate solids back into the diet.

Certainly there are all kinds of popular fat loss programs out there that can deliver results. However, the question is whether they are the best choice to make when it comes to your long-term health. Maintaining a healthy balanced diet that offers proper nutrition and keeping an active lifestyle seems to be a much better alternative. As always, if in doubt, you are better off discussing any weight loss program with your doctor before jumping in.

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Filed under diet by Paul Mahon

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