Tag Archives: fitness

Atkins Diet Basics

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The popular name for the ‘Atkins Nutritional Approach’ is the ‘Atkins Diet’, which was the brainchild of Doctor Robert Atkins. He had gained a lot of weight while in medical school and after reading about a certain diet in the medical journal, he decided to improve it and release it under his own name.

Atkins, in his Atkins Diet, stated that he believed that the prevalent theories about weight gain were all wrong. First, he dismissed the idea that saturated fats were bad; instead he said it was it was carbohydrates that led to the weight problems Americans have. Atkins declared that our obsession with fat actually worsened the problem. He pointed to all the low-fat foods that were high in carbohydrates, which meant that people on a diet often ate foods that were worse for them than what they normally ate.

The Atkins diet moved the focus. Atkins said that by cutting out carbohydrates, people would burn their stored body fats. And, of course, if you lose the fat, you lose the weight. He said it was not only a question of eating less. Atkins held that a diet could actually help you burn calories and that The Atkins Diet supposedly burned more calories than were being consumed everyday. But the claims were contested.

Dr. Atkins also promulgated the positive influence this Atkins diet could have on people with type 2 diabetes. As opposed to type 1 diabetes, type 2 is often closely associated with diet and excess body weight. So, it should follow that any diet that helps decrease weight will help people with type 2 diabetes. The Atkins diet is low in carbohydrates, which must be avoided with type 2 diabetes regardless of caloric intake, so by means of this aspect of the diet Atkins claimed those who suffer type 2 diabetes would no longer need medication such as insulin. The medical world, in general, disagrees with Atkins on this point. They do agree, however, that a lower carbohydrate intake helps with type 2 diabetes, but there is no proof that carbohydrates cause the disease.

What are the steps one has to take to follow the Atkins diet? It is followed in four phases – Induction; On-Going Weight loss, Pre-maintenance and Lifetime Maintenance. Here is an overview of the most important phase – The Induction Phase.

The Induction phase is probably the most difficult of the phases in the Atkins diet. Atkins is rather flexible about how long it should last ” but recommends two weeks. During this time, carbohydrate consumption should be severely curtailed ” up to 20 grammes per day. The goal is to enter a fat burning metabolic process called ‘ketosis’ which is when the body, being starved of glucose, starts to convert previously stored fat into the fatty acids needed to power the body. Weight loss during this period is often extreme ” some Atkins dieters report losses of 5-10 lbs. a week or more.

The aims of the final three phases in the Atkins diet are to learn the ideal carbohydrate levels for the next two phases, which are continued weight loss and weight maintenance. Many millions of people are still losing the weight they want to on the Atkins Diet ” but beware the risks of taking in too much cholesterol and fat.

Do you want to lose those excess pounds rapidly? Well, take a free look at The Atkins Diet, by visiting our resource called The Atkins Diet Plan

MBT Shoes – Advantages Of This Fall Shoe Collection

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MBT Shoes the founding company that started the focused function movement in footwear. They produced the first shoes that were specifically made to promote fitness while walking. The value of pinpointing footwear for fitness was obvious.

People walk all day long. They may just go from car to office or class or work, but they do have to walk at some point. If they are using shoes that enhance the amount of walking so that it is actually doing more than before, it is good.

MBT has put extra value into something you do anyway. If you want to add some value to your daily routine without changing your daily routine, you could not find an easier way to do it. Just change your shoes and you get an added workout.

The shoes have a rocker on the sole that increases the effort you put into walking. It also shifts the effort to areas that generally need work. When you do your everyday walking in these shoes, you gain tone and strength without doing anything differently.

Reading the instructions that come with the shoes is a good idea. They can feel odd at first and working up to a whole day can take up to a week. Walking inside at first is probably good too. They do require your attention at first. Add time each day till you are comfortable

Some people find that they stumble a bit when they first wear these shoes. Since the sole is not at the same thickness as regular footwear, it takes some time to feel completely surefooted. That is one reason the graduated approach to wearing the shoe makes sense.

You may feel some stiffness or soreness after the first hour of use as well. That is because the shoe forces you to use muscles that are normally at rest when walking in other shoes. This is generally mild and eases almost immediately when you up your time wearing the shoes.

MBT shoes are one way that actually works to improve your fitness without changing anything else in your routine. The quality of the shoes is excellent and there are many of styles to choose from. That makes getting into shape not only a bit easier, but more fashionable as well. And if you are in uniform, they have black styles you can polish too.

When you do a lot of walking, it’s critical that you wear shoes that offer the best support for your feet. According to walking shoes reviews, you will be happy with the results when you select MBT shoes.

Preparing Low Carb

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Cooking is definitely an art form but cooking can get even more creative in thought and planning when you or someone in your family goes on a diet. The challenge comes when you have to match the needs of your whole family with that of a low carb dieter. Even for this seldom awkward problem of cooking, low carb recipes are Heaven sent.

Thanks to the many low carb recipes and other products on the market, it is now entirely possible to turn cooking low carb food into integral part of your life. There are so many handy things to use when you are cooking low carb recipes. Furthermore, the Internet provides access to many sites that feature low carb diet changes.

Some of these changes are easy to implement like using two different recipes to make one healthy low carb recipe. There are also counters that can help you find out if your choice of food items is keeping you within the limits of your low carb diet.

A shopping list of food that you can buy is also good for cooking low carb recipes. To complete your change to cooking low carb recipes you should have your kitchen mirror this lifestyle change. This way you will have all of the kitchen items that you need plus the staples for cooking low carb recipes already stocked up in your kitchen.

This does not have to be anything fancy, you understand. For the most part, as long as you stay away from foods which are high in carbs, and keep cooking low carb meals you will be okay.

This does not mean that you have to avoid carbs completely, only that you should limit the quantities when cooking low carb recipes to the absolute minimum. As I mentioned earlier, this can severely cramp your manner of preparing food. Low carb recipes aren’t easy to follow if you really love your pastas and bread.

However, with only a minimal change on your part, you can turn out meal after meal of low carb recipes. If you’re not the one on the low carb diet, then this can make you reluctant to try cooking low carb meals, but you’ll be surprised at the amount of really great tasting food that you can turn out when you start looking to low carb recipes.

Then again, if you’re not the one on the low carb diet you always have the option of adding a few high carb dishes to your menu along with the low carb dishes, and enjoy your meal in your way. This way everyone gets what they want and you have no problems with preparing low carb recipes or pandering to the dieter in your family!

Do you want to lose those excess pounds rapidly? Well, take a free look at Atkins low carb recipes, by visiting our resource called The Atkins Diet Plan

Low Carb Vegetables

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Any diet that requires you to go low carbohydrate and use only low carbohydrate vegetables is telling you that you need to search for vegetables that are low in carbohydrates. You need to use these vegetables in stead of your regular vegetables. There are many great tasting meals that you can make with low carb vegetables.

They can be used in your different diet recipes or used for salads. They are great by themselves as healthy snacks and you can also blend them for a nutritious drink. The many websites that give recipes for low carbohydrate cooking and meals might have some recipes that will allow you to use your low carbohydrate vegetables in meals.

How about producing a splendid meal using only low carb foods. You can keep a great side dish full of low carbohydrate vegetables that have been transformed into a tasty salad. This salad can be garnished with many interesting foods that are also low carbohydrate but taste great by themselves as well.

For example, you could make a salad from low carb vegetables that include boneless beef, top sirloin steak, fresh lemon juice, gourmet salad greens, medium plum tomatoes, ranch or blue cheese dressing. You have the choice of making a seasoning for this salad from dried oregano, garlic cloves and pepper.

As you can now see, there are quite a few ways that you can mix your low carbohydrate vegetables with many other foods in order to make delicious meals for you and others to enjoy. The main thing to bear in mind is not to put things like a heavy French dressing on your low carb vegetables. This will turn your nutritious low carb vegetables into something heavy.

There are instances in your low carb cooking when you can make use of only one of the low carb vegetables to give you a fantastic dish that looks mouth-watering. This type of low carb recipe will call for only a low carb vegetable like an aubergine. This vegetable is very versatile and you can use it in a variety of ways.

When you decide to eat low carb vegetables in this way, you take your cooking experience into another realm of good food. The many low carb meals that you can find on the Internet, will let you make great dishes with your low carb vegetables. After all, low carbohydrate just means eating other types of vegetables and showing your taste buds low carb meals.

Do you want to lose those excess pounds quickly? Well, take a free look at Low Carb Vegetables, by visiting our website called The Atkins Diet Plan

The Atkins Diet Part Two).

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Some people have to try to make your life miserable, if you let them. It was obvious to everyone that I looked and felt better, but some people just have to try to spoil it. I was told: lots of people have died of kidney or liver failure after being on Atkins I read it in the newspaper; you will have a heart attack, it’s not natural; your cholesterol will climb sky high and you will need your toes amputated or you will have a stroke; it will affect your eyesight. All sorts of rubbish. So, I went to see my GP, who admitted that he did not know anything about the Atkins diet, but he also added that he had heard nothing bad about it either. He sent me for a series of tests at the hospital and the results were all satisfactory. He was happy that I’d lost 18 lbs and so was I. Six weeks later, I went for another cholesterol check-up, because of the high fat levels in the diet and, although my cholesterol level was up very slightly, the doctor said there was no cause for concern at all.

The Atkins diet book warns that you might develop bad breath (halitosis). I don’t know whether I did or not – no-one said anything, but I started brushing my teeth four-five times a day just in case. I guess that’s another benefit of following the Atkins diet: increased oral hygiene. It also warns of constipation. I didn’t get that either, although I didn’t give up black coffee, which has always had a laxative effect on me. But surely you can’t suffer from constipation if you’re allowed to eat well over 1lb of greens a day? I hadn’t been eating that well before the diet! So my two main concerns were nebulous.

A couple of weeks later, I was getting bored not going out so much. I was still happy with the diet, but because I am single and am used to going out and drinking beer. So, I decided to go about this scientifically. One day, after work, I drank three pints of Guinness and felt great – the taste was wonderful. Before the diet, I would have drunk five or six pints. To my surprise and delight, the next morning the ketone stick told me that I was still ‘on the diet’. Over the following weeks, I really enjoyed experimenting to find out what would ‘work’ and what would not. I discovered that even a small amount of cider would ruin the Atkins diet; some beers and some lagers were all right; red and white wine were OK. Consuming alcohol does not knock you off the Atkins diet, but it slows down your rate of progress. Even slow progress is progress, I say. Better than giving up the diet or not going out.

Don’t listen to people who say ‘go on, just try a little bit’. They don’t understand or don’t want to understand how much they are setting you back. A body can hold two days worth of carbohydrates: one square of chocolate, one slice of bread, a bowl of cornflakes or one sugar in your coffee will cost you TWO days to clear out of your system. Just don’t let them do it to you. This is not a diet for stopping and starting whenever you you like. In fact I think that it probably could be dangerous to allow your ketone and other levels to fluctuate wildly. There are also high fat levels in the content of the Atkins diet, which is not dangerous if you stick to it, because you body consumes fat and cholesterol in the absence of carbohydrates.

The story ends at this point, with me having got down to under 16 stone and keeping it there, until very recently when I moved to the Far East to live. Once I get used to the food and have my own house and own kitchen, I will get down to 15 stone, I’m sure I will ” with very little effort.

Anyway, thank you, Mr. Blackwell, wherever you are, you changed my life and my understanding of food and thank you, Mr. Atkins too.

Are you interested in the Atkins Diet? Visit our site on Atkins dieting at: Atkins Dieting