Body for Life When you begin to apply the information that Bill Phillips advocates, you will be proving to yourself that astounding changes are within your grasp too. And, you will discover Body-for-LIFE is much more than a book about physical fitness - it's a gateway to a new and better life - a life of rewarding and fulfilling moments, perhaps more spectacular than you've ever dared to dream before. Within 12 weeks, you too are going to know - not believe, but know - that the transformation you've created with your body is merely an example of the power you have to transform everything else in your world. In language that is vivid and down-to-earth, Bill Phillips guides you, step by step, through the integrated Body-for-LIFE Program, which reveals: - How to lose fat and increase your strength by exercising less, not more.
- How to tap into an endless source of energy by living with the Power Mindset.
- How to create more time for everything meaningful in your life.
- How to trade hours of aerobics for minutes of weight training - with dramatic results.
- How to make continual progress by using the High-Point Technique.
- How to feed your muscles while starving fat with the Nutrition-for-LIFE Method.
- How thousands of ordinary people have now become extraordinary and how you can, too.
- How to gain control of your body and life, once and for all.
The principles of the Body-for-LIFE Program are surprisingly simple but remarkably powerful. So allow yourself to experience the force of the information in this book - allow yourself to take your mind, your body, your life to a higher point than you may have ever dreamed you could. All in as little as 12 weeks. Click here to visit the official Body for Life website The South Beach Diet The South Beach Diet is not low-carb. Nor is it low-fat. The South Beach Diet teaches you to rely on the right carbs and the right fats-the good ones-and enables you to live quite happily without the bad carbs and bad fats. As a result, you're going to get healthy and lose weight-somewhere between 8 and 13 pounds in the first two weeks alone. Here's how you'll do it:
Phase 1: Banishing Your Cravings Phase 2: Reintroducing Carbs Phase 3: A Diet for Life.
Phase 1: Banishing Your Cravings
What you'll eat: During Phase 1, you'll eat normal-size helpings of meat, chicken, turkey, fish, and shellfish. You'll have plenty of vegetables, eggs, cheese, and nuts. You'll have salads with real olive oil in the dressing. You'll have three balanced meals a day and it will be your job to eat so that your hunger is satisfied.
Nothing undermines a weight-loss plan more than the distressing sensation that you need more food. No sane eating program expects you to go through life feeling discomfort. You'll be urged to have snacks in the midmorning and mid-afternoon, whether you want to or not. You'll have dessert after dinner. You'll drink water, of course, plus coffee or tea if you wish.
What you won't eat: For the first 14 days you won't be having any bread, rice, potatoes, pasta, or baked goods. No fruit, even. Before you panic: You'll begin adding those things back into your diet again in two weeks. But for right now, they're off-limits. No candy, cake, cookies, ice cream, or sugar for two weeks, either. No beer or alcohol of any kind. After this phase, you'll be free to drink wine, which is beneficial for a variety of reasons. Not a drop during the first two weeks, however.
Now, if you're the kind of person who lives for pasta or bread or potatoes, or if you believe that you can't get through a day without feeding your sweet tooth (three or four times), let me tell you something: You're going to be shocked at how painlessly two weeks will pass without these foods. The first day or two may be challenging; but once you weather that, you'll be fine. It's not that you'll have to fight your urges-the cravings will virtually disappear during the first week. I say this with such confidence only because so many overweight people who have already succeeded on this program tell me so. The South Beach Diet may be new to you, but it has existed for several years-long enough to have helped hundreds of people lose weight easily and keep it off.
Phase 2: Reintroducing Carbs
How you'll change: After two weeks, you will be somewhere between 8 and 13 pounds lighter than you are today. Most of that weight will come off your midsection, so right away you'll notice the difference in your clothes. It will be easier to zip your jeans than it's been for some time. That blazer will close without a bulge.
But this will be just the noticeable difference. What you won't be able to see during those two weeks is how you'll have changed internally. You will have corrected the way your body reacts to the very foods that made you overweight.
There's a switch inside you that had been turned on. Now, simply by modifying your diet, you'll have turned it off. The physical cravings that ruled your eating habits will be gone, and they'll stay away for as long as you stick with the program. The weight loss doesn't happen because you're trying to eat less. It will happen because you'll be eating fewer of the foods that created those old bad urges-fewer of the foods that caused your body to store excessive fat.
What you'll eat now: As a result of that change, you will continue losing weight after the 14-day period ends; even though you will have started adding some of those banished foods back into your life. You'll still be on a diet, but if it's bread you love, you'll have bread. If it's pasta, you'll reintroduce that. Rice or cereal, too. Potatoes. Fruit will definitely be back. Chocolate? If it makes you feel good, sure.
You will have to pick and choose which of these indulgences you permit yourself. You won't be able to have all of them all the time. You'll learn to enjoy them a little differently than before-maybe a little less enthusiastically. But you will enjoy them again soon.
You'll remain in Phase 2 and continue losing weight until you reach your goal. How long it takes depends on how much you need to lose. People lose, on average, a pound or two a week in Phase 2. Once you hit your target, you'll switch to an even more liberal version of the program, which will help you to maintain your ideal weight.
Phase 3: A Diet For Life
This is the stage that lasts the rest of your life. When you get to this point, you'll notice that this plan feels less like a diet and more like a way of life. You'll be eating normal foods, after all, in normal-size portions. You can then feel free to forget all about the South Beach Diet, as long as you remember to live by its few basic rules.
The final change: As you're losing weight and altering how your body responds to food, a third change will be taking place. This one will significantly alter your blood chemistry, to the long-term benefit of your cardiovascular system. You will improve invisible factors that only cardiologists and heart patients worry about. Thanks to this final change, you will substantially increase your odds of living long and well-meaning you will maintain your health and vitality as you age.
You may start on the South Beach Diet hoping just to lose weight. If you adopt it and stay with it, you will surely accomplish that much-but you'll also do a lot more for yourself, all of it very good. I'm not exaggerating when I say that this diet can, as a fringe benefit, save your life.
Click here to visit the official South Beach Diet website |
The ZoneThe Zone Diet was created by Dr. Barry Sears, PhD. This is a low carbohydrate that claims to balance protein, carbohydrates and fats in a 40%-30%-30% ratio. It is designed to optimize the body's metabolic function by regulating blood sugar levels. By regulating insulin production in the Zone Diet claims to maximize fat loss and reduce the chances of cardiovascular disease. The Zone's eating plan is a combination of a small amount of low-fat protein, fats, and carbohydrates in the form of fiber-rich vegetables and fruits. Proteins should be eaten in every meal and snack. Carbohydrates should be twice the size of the protein portion. These include vegetables, beans, and whole-grains. "Unfavorable carbohydrates" such as brown rice, pasta, bananas, bagels, etc. should be eaten in smaller portions. The main problem with the zone diet is that the 40%-30%-30% ratio is very strict and hard to follow especially as the meals also have to be split into blocks within your own unique combination. As this plan is so complicated it has over the years been simplified. However, Barry Sears is quite adamant about having the correct amount so by doing a simplified version you are not really following the zone. The whole diet plan is low in calories (typically 800-1200) which is probably the most likely cause for weight loss rather than regulating insulin levels. Zone Diet: Reasons for Good amounts of fruits and low starch vegetables Low in saturated fats Restricts low nutrition carbohydrates Steady weight loss if followed exactly Zone Diet: Reasons against Restricted calorie intake means it is difficult to stay on it Eliminates some highly nutritious foods and is low in whole grain and calcium Expensive to follow if you purchase all the pre packaged zone products Time consuming as you should have six meals a day Zone Diet: Verdict The diet tricky at first to follow and most weight loss is due to the low calorie intake. The higher calorie versions of this diet are safe although all versions are low on some nutrients. It can be a worthwhile short-term diet for those dieters that enjoy a bit of routine in their diet. Click here to visit the official Zone Diet website Protein Power Plan Michael and Mary Eades published the Protein Power Diet in 1995. It is a high protein low carbohydrate diet similar to the Atkins Diet but with more scientific data and better researched. The Protein Power Diet comes with literature that includes calculations for discovering your ideal diet plan and how many carbohydrates and proteins you may consume based upon your height, weight, activity level and body fat percentage. High protein foods such as meats, poultry and fish are encouraged as is milk, cream and cheese. While following the Protein Power Diet you should stay away from high carbohydrate foods such as pasta and bread. It is similar to the Atkins diet and a list can be found here. The diet is followed in three stages: Stage one is 'Intervention', which has very low carbohydrate intake that is followed until you near your ideal weight. Stage two is 'Transition' where some carbohydrates are slowly reintroduced into your diet until your ideal weight is met. Stage three is 'Maintenance' the last stage of the diet when your carbohydrate intake is increased to keep you at your ideal weight. This diet has the same problems with ketosis that are found in the Atkins Diet. The Protein Power Diet also recommends set exercises which amount to weight lifting to keep up muscle mass and short, vigorous aerobic activity to simulate our caveman ancestors. Protein Power Plan: Reasons for Weight loss guaranteed if the plan is followed Initial weight loss is fast Does have some scientific basis Protein Power Plan: Reasons not to The initial loss is mainly water and returns very quickly Carbohydrates are excluded. Ketosis strains the liver The amount of protein relating to activity is lacking in scientific evidence Not a good plan as it cuts out many healthy foods and can be detrimental long term Protein Power Plan: Verdict The Protein Power Diet is very similar to the Atkins diet as both are very restrictive about carbohydrates. The Protein Power Diet is the harder of the two to follow, as you can not eat all you want and some people find that hunger is a problem on this diet. On the plus side fiber is not counted in the Protein Power Diet so the amount of carbohydrates you can eat each day is higher. Both the Protein Power Diet and the Atkins Diet share the same health concerns and neither should be followed but I am sure both will as they are easy to follow and weight loss is quick and easy Click here to visit the official Protein Power Plan diet website |