October 17th, 2008 — Book Review
The Saint Tropez diet has gotten it’s fair share of press, most likely due to the fact that it’s another one of the diets that claims that eating the right food will make your body do all the work so you don’t have to. But is that claim rooted in scientific fact? The author makes that claim and produces some interesting research to back that up.
The main premise of the book is that by combining Omega 3 Fatty Acids with foods rich in Vitamin A you can jumpstart your body and get it to burn fat more efficiently. The only foods that aren’t allowed on the diet are breads and pasta, so if you are a fan of carbs, this one may be a bit difficult for you. It does promote eating more fruits and vegetables, avoiding bad fats like Omega 6 fats, and increasing the amount of healthy fat in your diet. Basically, the book is promoting the Mediterranean Diet in a little different way, which has been proven effective, at least when combined with exercise.
So far, so good, but we would have liked to have seen a few more studies into the benefits of combining Vitamin A with Omega 3’s and some long term results before we would be convinced on the strengths of this diet. The interesting thing is that exercise is not encouraged at all during many of the diet’s phases (it has four) and even after that point, only walking is encouraged. While this is great for some that don’t have much to lose, for most dieters it is going to take more of a concerted effort to lose weight.
The main downside to the diet is that the calories are very few, around 1400, which won’t work for many men or those that just need more calories to get through their day. While the food suggestions are solid, the book could have included more recipes and meal suggestions. There are a few, but certainly not enough to offer variety and a long term plan for changing eating habits.
While the book raises some very interesting principles, we weren’t completely sold on all the benefits. There is a lot of hype about this diet, and although many find it successful, we don’t think that it will work for everyone. There really is no substitute for making healthy food choices and getting enough exercise, no matter how good a diet claims to be. That said, the book is very interesting and the foods that are recommended are pretty healthy.
The Mediterranean diet in general has many benefits, so we really can’t give this one a solid thumb’s down either. It’s somewhere in between, and that’s not a good place to be. If you’re interested in learning more about how Omega 3 Fatty Acids work then it is certainly quite interesting. This isn’t a must read, but you may be able to pick up a few good tips from it.
Related Articles
Related Stores
July 13th, 2008 — 100 pushups, Meals, calories, diet, exercise, goals, healthy eating, motivation, nutrition, push up, push ups, pushup, pushups, weight loss, wellness
Welcome to the Sunday roundup. I hope everybody has had a good weekend so far and that you are all staying healthy and fit.
Check out my Trophy Jack Crevalle. Sf Boater is paying for fish stories with pictographic evidence. Tell everyone you know about my trophy catch. If it gets the most unique visitors out of the submission this month I will get a $50 Amazon gift card.
I will now redirect you to several great posts written by the Fitness Health Network from this week:
If you're still here after reading those posts it's time to present something new to read. The following posts were selected from the blogs of WL's readers. How do you make this list? Leave comments or link to my site in a relevant way.
You find several more health and a few in a variety of other topics in this list:
Many thanks to the following carnivals for hosting us this week:
Related Articles
Related Stores
June 19th, 2008 — Meals, alternative ideas, healthy eating, nutrition
All of us know that we need to start eating healthier and get more fruits and vegetables into our diets. The hard part is actually doing it. For many people, it's just hard to get past the taste. However, there are ways that you can easily add more servings of fruit or vegetables to your diet with little effort. We'll show you ways to cheat and still enjoy your food.
1. Start with salsa substitution.
If you eat a lot of dips, you're adding a whole bunch of useless calories into your daily rotation. Put away that dip and bring out the salsa. It contains numerous vegetables and fruit and the taste is terrific. Better yet, it's fat free and extremely low calorie. You can use salsa on just about anything to make it taste better and you're getting the benefit of adding more servings of these important foods to your diet with little effort.
You can use it with chips, or tortillas, on eggs or pretty much anything. If salsa is not really your thing, try experimenting with a couple of different brands or you can even try to make your own with vegetables you like. Fruit salsa is surprisingly good when combined with cottage cheese or other low fat dairy products. This is probably the easiest way to get more fruit and vegetables into your diet with little effort.
2. Add one more serving of vegetables or fruits with every meal.
At breakfast, have some low sodium tomato juice or a sliced apple. At lunch, you can add in some delicious corn or a pear. With dinner, try experimenting with a tossed salad with low fat dressing. This makes it easy to get at least three more servings of fruits or vegetables into your diet without any effort at all. What's more, these servings will help you fill up faster and avoid overeating other foods that are less healthy.
3. Retrain your palate.
Some of us simply just don't like fresh fruits or vegetables. The key here is to retrain your palate and make your brain think that you actually enjoy them. Start small and add low fat sauces or little things to make the vegetables taste better. For example, you can spread a little bit of peanut butter inside a stalk of celery. Suddenly, that tasteless stalk actually tastes good and you're getting the added benefit of more protein. This makes a great afternoon snack. Just don't overdo it on the peanut butter or you won't be getting any benefit.
Simple things can make vegetables and fruits a lot better. However, you can also try experimenting a little. Just because you don't like one fruit or vegetable doesn't mean you may not love another. Get creative and go outside your usual routine with new vegetables you've never tasted before. You can actually have a lot of fun by trying out all sorts of new foods and seeing which ones you enjoy.
Photo Credits: 1
Related Articles
Related Stores
