November 11th, 2008 — Meals, calories, diet, exercise, food, goals, healthy eating
There has been a lot of buzz lately about calorie cycling and whether or not it is an effective means of losing weight. For some, it has enabled them to lose massive amounts of weight. For others, it may just not work. Let’s take a look at the theories behind calorie cycling and go further into depth on how this particular diet plan works.
First, the main theory behind calorie cycling is that dieting trains our bodies to need less calories. That means that as soon as you eat a little more, you may gain weight. Calorie cycling promotes changing up the amount of calories you eat every single day so that your body never really knows what is going on. For example, on a Monday you may eat 1500 calories, on Tuesday 2000 calories and on Wednesday 2500 calories, before dropping back down to 1500 on Thursday.
This diet is very popular due to the fact that you’re able to eat more and you don’t necessarily have to give up the food that you like. Exercise is also an important component of calorie cycling, but it will depend on the plan that you are following as to how much you’ll need to do. This is one of the more interesting diets out there and since some of the results are so dramatic, it has certainly become very popular.
The main concern over calorie cycling is the focus on being able to eat whatever you want, just as long as you are within your set calories for the day. While that sounds great in theory, over time it may lead to problems. Yes, it’s fine to stick within calorie guidelines, but some may be tempted to take that advice a little too far. It’s one thing to eat your set amount of calories, it’s another to get them from fried chicken.
Calorie cycling can be an effective means of losing weight, but it should not be viewed as your ticket to eat whatever you want. Smart food choices are essential, no matter what kind of diet you are on and food that is unhealthy is simply that – unhealthy. Eat a little fried chicken now and then, but only occasionally and in moderation. Otherwise, you won’t be doing your arteries any favors.
Unlike many fad diets, calorie cycling does appear to work well, at least over the short term. However, unless you introduce lifestyle changes and a healthy exercise plan into the mix, those results may be short lived. If you do decide to follow one of these diet plans, don’t lose sight of your goals beyond weight loss, such as better health and a greater level of fitness.
By keeping your eyes on these goals, as well as the numbers on the scale, you’ll be well on your way to permanent weight loss, and you’ll feel better too. Give calorie cycling a try, but don’t use it as a license to remain unhealthy.
Photo Credits: 1
Related Articles
Related Stores
July 3rd, 2008 — Book Review
Tomorrow is a holiday, which is why you are reading a book review today. I hope everyone has a fantastic weekend. Enjoy the fireworks and BBQs!
Dr. Shapiro's book The Guide to Picture Perfect Weight Loss combines several interesting factors into one plan to help readers lose weight. While you may not agree with some of his advice or suggestions, it certainly is an interesting read and a book that dieter's should at least consider. The author really focused on healthy lifestyle changes, so that earned him points right off the bat.
When it comes to losing weight, it's not about those initial quick results. If you're not making whole life changes, it's all too easy to fall back into bad habits and immediately your progress was for naught. We always appreciate it when authors step away from the fad diet craze and start focusing on ways that everyone, regardless of their current weight, can get healthy and stay that way.
Dr. Shapiro was hired to help the Fire Department in New York City lose weight and it's easy to see why he is well renowned in the diet industry. This book focuses on using pictures to help readers make smart food choices. It's all about replacing bad foods and developing those healthy eating habits that will keep you slim for the rest of your life. We really appreciated the fact that he illustrated proper serving sizes visually since many of us have a hard time picturing what a "serving" actually is.
The best part of the book lies in the suggestions for replacements for unhealthy foods. At times, it was pretty shocking to see exactly what you could eat instead of fast food. The sheer volume of healthy but tasty food compared with the small serving of fast food was remarkable and no one could ever claim that this was a diet that left them feeling hungry.
Since total deprivation does not work when it comes to losing weight, this book offered hundreds of alternatives that readers can immediately put into action so that they feel full and fulfilled. It may be tough at first to implement a few of these changes, particularly since fast food and unhealthy food as a whole tastes so good, but the author really did his job when it came to finding alternatives that are completely comparable. If you can break your addiction to fast food, you'll be surprised at just how much healthy food you could be eating.
It was virtually impossible to come up with any criticism for this book. It's well written, well thought out and most importantly, provided a new way to look at dieting. So many diet books are all the same and so many leave reader's feeling empty or worse, ripped off. By visually representing food changes, the author really took diet books to a whole new level and we can hope that the industry will follow suit.
Overall, this is a book that belongs on any dieter's bookshelf. Even those who are already at their goal weight can learn a lot from this book and walk away with a new appreciation of eating healthy.
Related Articles
Related Stores
