Crash or fad diets, quick-loss diets, rapid weight loss diets, and flash or quick-fix diets are just some of the many popular names for weight loss programs and plans that promise to help you achieve weight loss fast and with long-term results.
But are they really efficient? And do they really work for everyone?
To achieve satisfactory results and without seriously affecting your health, you should follow an appropriate diet plan based on your body’s unique nutritional needs.
Listed below are some of the most popular diets that work fast and that actually help people to lose weight. Choose the one that suits you best.
But are they really efficient? And do they really work for everyone?
To achieve satisfactory results and without seriously affecting your health, you should follow an appropriate diet plan based on your body’s unique nutritional needs.
Listed below are some of the most popular diets that work fast and that actually help people to lose weight. Choose the one that suits you best.
1. Low-Carb Diet
The low-carb diet focuses on low carbohydrate content foods and promises to lose weight quickly.
This diet involves eating foods that are low in carbs and fats but rich in minerals and vitamins such as:
- broccoli
- spinach
- tomatoes
- herbs
- strawberries
- chicken breast
- sea bass
- milk, etc.
With this diet approach, 10 percent of your daily calorie intake comes from carbohydrates, 60 percent comes from fat, and 30 percent from protein. You should consume lean proteins and healthy mono and poly-unsaturated fats, such as olive oil, flax oil, fish oil, nuts, seeds, and peanut butter.
There are, however, many different types of low-carb diets, each allowing different kinds and amounts of carbohydrates. In general, they all restrict similar foods such as grains (flour, pasta, and bread), beans, certain fruits, and starchy vegetables.
2. Zone Diet
Zone diet promises to lose 1 to 2 ponds a week. It works on balancing the daily intake of carbohydrates, fats, and proteins, and considers portion control as one of the most important keys to lose weight.This type of diet is focused on maintaining your insulin levels stable or “in the zone”, that is to say not too high and not too low, which allows you to lose weight and keep your energy high.
Enter The Zone: A Dietary Road map Hardcover – May 12, 1995
The Zone diet consists of consuming 40 percent carbohydrates, 30 percent fat, and 30 percent proteins.
A zone calculator is used to determine the exact amount of carbohydrates, fat and protein that you can consume in a 24 – hour period.
As far as portion control is concerned, “the only measuring tools you need are your hand and your eye”, says Zone diet creator Barry Sears.
At the beginning you might use a kitchen scale, but than you should get used to estimating and “eyeballing” portion sizes by yourself.
The Zone diet recommended daily allowance of calories is 1200 calories for women and 1500 calories for men.
3. Volumetrics Diet
This diet focuses on satiety or on the feeling of fullness and satisfaction after you have finished eating.It is based on eating low-density foods, which are low in calories but high in volume. These foods can fill up your stomach and make you feel fuller faster and for a longer period of time.
The Volumetrics diet actually works on lowering energy intake without reducing the amount of food you eat.
Foods with high water content, such as watermelons or grapes, promote a feeling of satisfaction and fullness even with low number of calories per bite, and they allow you to eat larger portions. They help you keep hunger at bay.
High-energy-dense foods instead contain plenty of calories and are low in fiber and water. They take up relatively little stomach space and they don’t create feelings of satiety until you’ve overeaten.
According to the Volumetrics Eating Plan food is divided into 4 categories:
Category 1 (very low-energy-dense foods):
Most water and fiber rich foods such as fresh fruits and non-starchy vegetables, nonfat diary products, and broth-based soups;
Category 2 (low-energy-dense foods):
Starchy fruits and veggies, grains, pasta, rice, beans, breakfast cereal, fish, low-fat meat, legumes, and low-fat mixed dishes;
Category 3 (medium-energy-dense foods):
Meat, cheese, pizza, French fries, salad dressing, bread, pretzels, ice cream, and cake;
Category 4 (high-energy-dense foods):
Crackers, chips, chocolate candies, cookies, nuts, butter, and oil;
To lose weight, you should stick to first two categories, reduce portion sizes in category 3, and keep category 4 foods to a minimum.
4. South Beach Diet
The South Beach Diet claims that you can lose 8 to 13 pounds within the first two weeks, and then continue dropping 1 to 2 pounds a week. The number of pounds you lose will depend on your starting weight.This diet plan allows you to choose from a wide variety of items and it does not involve counting calories, fat grams, carbohydrates, or measuring portion sizes. It comprises three meals a day, two snacks and one high-protein desert.
The South Beach Diet is focused on replacing bad carbs and bad fats with good carbs and good fats. Eating these foods in moderation will help you lose weight and prevent you from gaining it back again.
The South Beach Diet Supercharged: Faster Weight Loss and Better Health for Life Mass Market Paperback – December 29, 2009
The diet program consists of three phases.
- In the first phase carbohydrates are almost completely eliminated.
- During the second phase, they are increased to 27 percent,
- The third phase raises the carbohydrate consumption to 28 percent of your total daily calorie intake. To maintain weight, you should follow the third phase plan for the rest of your life.
5. Atkins Diet
According to the Atkins Diet Plan, you can lose up to 15 pounds within two weeks.
This diet restricts carbohydrates such as bread, potatoes, rice, chocolate, chips, cereals and sugar, and allows eating high protein foods (meat, poultry, fish and eggs) and high-fat foods (cream, butter, cheese).
“When fat is used as fuel, as it is on a low-carbohydrate diet, it gets mobilized. It does not accumulate, so weight and cholesterol drop”, says Atkins.
The Atkins Diet consists of 4 phases: the induction phase, the ongoing weight loss phase, the pre-maintenance phase and the lifetime maintenance phase.
New Atkins for a New You: The Ultimate Diet for Shedding Weight and Feeling Great. Paperback – March 2, 2010
In the first phase you are allowed only 20 grams of carbohydrates per day, 12 to 15 of which must come from vegetables high in fiber.
In the second phase carbohydrates are gradually increased to 35 grams per day.
In the third phase you can increase your carbohydrate consumption by 10 grams each week, as long as you continue to maintain your weight.
In the forth or the life time maintenance phase allows you to eat more foods than in the first 3 phases, while still limiting the amount of carbohydrates.
Alcoholic drinks are strictly prohibited during the induction stage. Moderate amounts of alcohol are allowed only during the maintenance phase.
Alcoholic drinks are strictly prohibited during the induction stage. Moderate amounts of alcohol are allowed only during the maintenance phase.
6. Cabbage Soup Diet
The Cabbage Soup Diet can be considered a fad diet as it consists of consuming cabbage soup for one whole week. It is certainly a diet that works fast.It lasts only seven days and it is extremely low in calories and high in fiber. The followers of this diet claim that they can lose as much as 10 pounds in only one week and that no exercise is required.
This diet program involves the addition of certain foods every day.
1. The first day you can consume all fruits, except bananas;
2. The second day you are allowed to eat raw or cooked vegetables of your choice;
3. The third day you can eat all fruits and vegetables that you want, with the exclusion of bananas and potatoes;
4. The forth day you can eat as many as 8 bananas;
5. The fifth day you can couple the cabbage soup with beef and tomatoes;
6. The sixth day you are allowed you to include beef and vegetables, but no potatoes;
7. On the final day you can eat your cabbage soup with rice, fruit juices and vegetables;
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