Dukan Diet:
This is what everyone is talking about right now! The great thing about this diet is that it’s broken up into 4 phases.
• The first phase “the attack” phase is purely a protein diet. You’re not even meant to cook the meat with oils, so it is quite hardcore. But the bottom line is this will make you shed fat.
• Our body relies on carbohydrates as the primary source of energy, so when the carbohydrates stores are used up our body turns to fat. By removing carbohydrates from the diet we are forces to burn up fat, thus resulting in fat loss.
• However, if you cut carbohydrates out for much more than 2 weeks, the serotonin (this is a neurochemical which is in charge of making you feel happy) in your brain will drop. When our serotonin levels drop we naturally crave carbohydrates and sweets to quickly boost serotonin!
• The great thing about this diet is that the first phase only lasts for a week or so, which means you drop the weight and then your diet progressively becomes more balanced. And by the fourth stage you’re eating well, you will have dropped weight and it would be easy to implement the guidelines into your lifestyle permanently.
Flat Belly Diet:
• This is a diet, which is all about reduced calorie intake. It’s also pro mono-unsaturated fats (MUSF). It’s said that good fats actually help you lose weight.
• The thing that I don’t agree with is that this diet seems to be based purely on including MUSFs in your diet to promote a flat belly.
• There is a much bigger picture. We need to exercise, and have a balance of protein, complex carbohydrates and yes, good fats to have a healthy weight. Protein is what keeps us full for longer so it’s imperative to have complete protein in any weight loss program.
No Carbs Diet:
• This is one popular “quick” weight loss diet! And to be completely honest, it will work, initially! Like I mentioned earlier: Our body relies on carbohydrates as the primary source of energy, so when the carbohydrates stores are used up our body turns to fat.
• The issue is that, although this diet does result in weight loss, if we don’t keep carbs in the diet our moods drop (as a result of low serotonin levels) which can lead to craving carbs and sweets, which often results in a “binge” and you’re right back where you started!
• We do need carbs for energy production and brain health so if you go on a “No Carb” diet please don’t do it for too long!
• Plus, carbs are often a source of fibre so they help to keep you regular, another issue with high protein low carb diets.
The key is balance.
It’s fine to cut down on carbs at night-time, watch how much sugar and alcohol you’re having, go on a mini cleanse or detox. You will get results. They may not happen as quickly as a dramatic weight loss diet. But these results are long term and you’ll learn things you can implement into your lifestyle forever. Listen to your body!
Lola’s weight-loss ‘thumbs up’:
• Start the day with Lemon Juice in warm water: kick starts the metabolism.
• Put aside 15 minutes of exercise before you eat breakfast. This speeds up the metabolism, so when you sit down to eat after exercising, you will be burning the food off at a faster rate.
• Have an energy-dense complete protein breakfast. That will give you the energy you need to power you through the day and prevent any sugar slumps.
• Eat your colours. During a weight-loss period, you’ll be exercising a lot more and thus producing more free radical damage than you usually would. Free radical damage is the precursor to degenerative illnesses. Eating your colours – fruit and vegetables – will provide you with the antioxidants to combat any free radical damage. Aim for 5 colours in a meal!
• Green Tea also contains powerful antioxidants, one of which is epigallocatechin gallate- or EGCG- which has been found to stimulate the metabolism and accelerate weight loss!
• Coconut: despite being a fat, it is linked to weight loss because it is considered to be the world’s only low-calorie fat. Plus, it’s linked to speeding up the metabolism. Studies show that if you consume coconut, your metabolism is sped up for the next 24 hours! Try young coconut water – an absolute ripper! Coconuts are also a great source of electrolytes, which is great as you will lose electrolytes through sweat during exercise.
• Chilli and ginger both speed up our metabolism so try putting these into your meals as well!
• If you can’t resist the late night munchies, try and exercise first thing the next morning on an empty tummy, as your body will dip into the previous night’s meal for its energy.
Lola’s weight-loss ‘thumbs down’:
• Skipping breakfast. A big “no no”! You need this to sustain your energy levels and keep your blood sugar levels balanced throughout the day so you’re less likely to binge.
• Cutting out the carbohydrates! Loads of people think that cutting out carbohydrates is a great way to lose weight. Although this might provide a short term result, our body uses carbohydrates as a primary source of energy and we need them to function properly. So after about 23 weeks of cutting carbohydrates out of your diet, it is common for people to binge because they’re missing a vital macronutrient in their diet.
• When to eat carbs? It’s best to eat early in the day rather than later in the day as this allows more time to burn them off!
• Try not to eat a large meal late at night.
• Avoid high GI (glycemic index) meals at dinnertime. This means foods really high in carbohydrates like white bread, spuds, white pastas etc.
