Acai berries...another fad diet that does not work!

An Internet search for acai berries is like browsing a list of spam emails. A majority of these so-called ‘balanced reviews’ that weigh the ‘pros and cons’ of acai berries are thinly veiled marketing ploys that involve getting you to give up your credit card details for a free trial of acai berry supplements which you’ll find extremely hard to cancel later. Against all of these expert opinions, you may think, what makes my diatribe any different? Well, I work as a nutrition counselor, advising people on wholesome food and fitness. That’s my 9 to 5. I’m also a loving mother of two kids, whom I try to teach to think logically about nutrition, and I’ve never advocated a single fad diet. I am also not trying to sell you anything, and this blog post will not lead to some place where you can purchase some dubious supplements like acai berry or any other product.

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The South Beach Diet is expensive to follow.

Despite how popular the South Beach Diet is, I would never recommend it to any of my clients who come in for nutrition consultations. In this article, I’ve compiled research on why the South Beach Diet is not a replacement for a healthy diet.

The South Beach Diet was developed by cardiologist Dr. Agatston in the 1980s as a strategy to help his patients reduce their risk of heart attack. The diet is based on the idea that good carbohydrates are those that score low on the glycemic index[2] and that the dieter could consequently ‘kill’ the hunger pangs that accompany high sugar intake. Though some of Dr. Agatston’s ideology is sound, like introducing oily fish and nuts, the extreme phases of the diet, i.e. lack of solid exercise and lack of evidence-based research make this diet a poor choice overall.

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The Atkins diet is a high protein diet that is harmful to the body.

As a nutritionist, it pains me to think that people keep subscribing to fad diets, which can greatly endanger your health and lead to the ballooning effect, i.e. when a person diets and then balloons back to his/her original weight weeks later. Plus, limiting your diet to only a few food groups can even harm your body. This has inspiredme to start a series to explain the real deal behind fad diets. Today, I’ll start with one of most popular fad diets: the Atkins diet.

The entire basis of  Atkins is that a low-carb diet allegedly puts humans into a state of fat-burning ketosis, which Dr. Atkins claimed could help people to burn 950 calories more per day. However, one of the world’s leading medical journals, “The Lancet” conducted a study which concluded that there was no such metabolic advantage[1], and that dieters were just eating fewer calories out of boredom [2].

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Time to lose that belly fat!

“I will lose weight” is one of the most popular New Year’s resolutions in the world. It’s also the one resolution most of us fail to keep.

Despite the odds, and what the scale may tell you, you are capable of losing that weight! Fat is only a temporary part of you, and you can lose it. In this post I’d like to dispel some weight loss myths as well as give you some essential tips and tricks so you can finally lose that belly flab.

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Buffet tables make you forget you're on a diet.

If everyone carried little comic thought bubbles above their heads near buffets, I wouldn’t be surprised to find these statements inside them.

“I didn’t eat lunch. That means more room for buffet dinner!”
“I’m on a diet – I guess I’ll eat salad with all that dressing first.”
“They might run out – let me get a big plate!”
“I’ll only eat the expensive stuff. Haha.”
“Oh good, buffet. I’ll diet tomorrow!”

It does seem rather unfair that you need to take 5,000 steps to burn through a single hot dog. Just think of what gorging yourself at the buffet table will do to your diet. Burning off what you ate at the buffet table will take many more times that – it could take hours upon hours of exercise. But how do you maintain your diet faced with a feast of epic proportions?

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Pilates mat exercise

Exercise plays an important role in my life. While running (and more recently, swimming) has been my passion since college, I have always tried to also incorporate some type of strength training exercise because it boosts your metabolism and burns fat. Running, as a cardiovascular exercise, is better for burning calories and maintaining a healthy heart.

I have tried many types of strength training exercises over the years such as free weights, yoga, weight machines, circuit training and calisthenics. Over the past eight months I have dropped all of those exercise and fallen in love with Pilates!

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Avocado is a good source of monounsaturated fats.

The misunderstood avocado is not a force of evil in the dieting world. Most people shy away from this fruit because it’s ‘so fattening,’ only seen next to a bowl ofnachos.. The fad diet books have warned us about its dual nature. “You can eat fruit, but shy away from the avocado or it will make you fat!”

Sure, the avocado is high in fat. It’s almost all fat. One avocado is about 360 calories and 30 grams of fat. However, it’s high in monounsaturated fat, and that kind of fat is good for your heart. –Plus, avocado’s health benefits include helping to control diabetes, fighting inflammation and protecting babies from birth defects.

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This may not be what you want to hear, but natural and healthy weight loss is the only way to maintain your weight…period. There are thousands of weight loss pills and diet programs that promise they are the ultimate solution for getting rid of excess weight, but most are short-term solutions and some do not really work at all. Taking pills is not the answer (sorry!).

Losing weight the natural way is the safest solution to weight problems. Here are some natural weight loss methods:

Eat lots of fruits and vegetables.

Proper Diet

Eating lots of fruits and vegetables and avoiding fatty foods is a good start.  Such foods clog up your internal system. Fruits and vegetables are rich in fiber and help in the elimination of unwanted toxins from your body.

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As I mentioned in my previous post, moderation and balance is important to maintain in life. You may have resolved to lose weight, but you need to do it safely and naturally. To get started. you obviously need to control the amount of food that you eat. One way of doing this is to eliminate large, heaping portions on your plate during meals. Eating too much at one time will be hard for the stomach to take and digestion problems may result. This rule goes for diet food, too. Smaller amounts are better for the body and can therefore can help speed up the body’s metabolism.

Eat Smaller Portions

Here are some tips to help change your habit of having big portions of food:

1. Use smaller plates at home. Small plates get easily filled up.

2. When you eat in restaurants where food servings are large, you can place a portion on your plate and have the rest wrapped or shared with your companions. Be conscious of what you are placing on your plate.

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