Fad diets come and go. Sometimes they come back again. People like to follow fad diets because they promise quick weight loss, the plan is easy, and you just have to do it for a short period of time. Plus, it’s fun to jump on the bandwagon along with friends who might be following the program, too.

Common characteristics of fad diets include nutritional deficiency, frequently relying on just one food or food group, recommended short term use, and lack of long-term benefits.

Medical authorities debunk fad diets because of their dubious nutritional value, low daily calories, and bland tastes. The diets can also lead to weight-cycling or yo yo di eting.

Some of the more well-known fad diets include:
1. cabbage soup diet
2. grapefruit diet
3. chicken soup diet
4. even the chocolate diet

There are fad diets based on dubious medical research, such as the blood type diet and the macrobiotic diet.

Some diet plans are linked to the part of the world where the food is eaten, for example, the Mediterranean diet.

Would you like to eat like a Russian pilot? Follow the Russian Air Force diet.

Dreaming of being a starlet? Use the Hollywood Celebrity Liquid Diet and drink yourself thin.

Drink green tea, add apple cider vinegar, and only consume raw food. They are all diet fads.

With a little creativity, these diets could contribute to a healthy diet as well as weight loss.

How can you make a fad diet into a healthy one?

Include the fad food as par of a nutritious meal. Have a grapefruit for breakfast along with oatmeal, a glass of milk, and a slice of toast, for example.

Soups are very nutritious, so why not have a pot simmering on the stove? Enjoy it for a snack, it sure beats high fat chips or sugar laden cookies.

Chicken or cabbage soup is a great part of a meal. Include a green salad with low calorie dressing and a piece of fruit for dessert.

Have soup or grapefruit on hand when the munchies strike. You’ll get filled up fast.

You could even have a small piece of chocolate when you’re eating an overall healthy diet.

Be sure to incorporate exercise into your daily activities. That’s another problem with fad diets. Most of the time physical activity is completely ignored. Increasing your exercise will help you lose more weight than any single diet plan on its own.

Want to follow a fad? Make it a healthy one.

Enjoy food this summer and yet maintain your body weight. Here are some useful tips, but please do remember that not only knowledge can work for you,you have to ACT on them.

1. CUT THE SIMPLE CARBS.
It is ominous that today most of the people are “carb junkies.” This is significantly applied on obese people because their body system fights with insulin sensitivity.
It is 100% true that carbohydrates are essential for our body, but if you are overweight than you should alter the ratio of high glycemic (simple carbs) to low glycemic (complex carbs).
The most important factor is that, you should reduce your sugar intake. If you maintain your ratio of complex carb to simple carbs, it will permit the body to regularize sugar levels. This will result in burning of fat and ultimately you will reduce your weight.

2. EAT SMALLER, MORE FREQUENT MEALS.
Eat five to six times a day. It will regulate your blood sugar level. Smaller and frequent eating habit will maintain your insulin balance and will nake you less hungry throughout the day and less tempted to snack on junk food.

3. CONSUME MORE FUNCTIONAL FATS.
Always prefer essential fatty acids, such as omega-3 and omega-6. Take both of these in the ratio of 1:1, which will allow you to calm down inflammation, regulate blood sugar level and balance your hormone level.
In time it will result in greater fat loss. Hence it is recommended to add flax oil and fish in your daily diet.
Do a Google search for flax oil. You may be suprised to see how important it is in your diet. Flax oil can be purchased in the natural health section of your local grocery store.

4. DRINK MORE WATER.
Water is a VITAL nutrient survival. Intake of abundant water will help you in following manner:
a)Curb your appetite & cravings for sweets.
b)Timely digestion of food.
c)Flushes your metabolic waste.
d)Water is fantastic for your skin.
So it is recommended to drink eight big glasses of water per day for weight loss.

5. INCREASE FIBER INTAKE.
Fiber also plays an important role in digestion process. Fiber will regulate your bowl movement and will assist in removing toxins and metabolic wastes. It will slower down digestion of carbohydrate, which maintains blood sugar level.

6. AVOID ALCOHOL AS MUCH AS POSSIBLE.
Alcohol is high in calories. One single gram of alcohol contains 7 calories. If you want to lose weight, you must avoid alcohol as much as you can, because it obstructs the fat burning motor in your body.
If you must drink, cut your alcohol with diet soda or better yet, water. Remember that alcohol dehydrates, so drink plenty of water between drinks. If you place a lime in your water, it will not only give you the feeling of having a fancy drink but will also make your water taste better.

With these tips you can enjoy your summer and follow your diet plans to achieve your weight loss target.

Most individuals don’t drink nearly enough water. Colas and coffee don’t count! Yes, you really should drink eight 8-ounce glasses of water a day. And maybe more, depending on your weight.Water is a natural appetite suppressant. If you drink a full glass of water before beginning your meal, your stomach simply doesn’t hold as much food.

No, you will not gain weight from drinking a lot of water. It’s when you don’t drink enough water throughout the day, your body gets dehydrated. When it does finally get water, it holds onto it and stores it for a future need. (That’s when we feel swollen, and bloated with water weight.) However, if you give your body enough water on a regular basis, it releases it naturally. Drinking enough water gives you the benefit of hydration and fullness.

Before taking actions in any problem we encounter, there should always be a plan first. That is, if we want to come up with positive results. You wouldn’t want to enter a battle without preparing how to defeat the enemy, would you? Attempting a task without planning is like building a house without a blueprint or playing against a basketball team without planed plays with your teammates. How could you expect a good outcome?

Weight loss is not at all different from the above mentioned plan-necessary situations. It also involves taking actions in proper ways that need to be perfectly planned in order to bring satisfying results. Here are the four key elements you will for making your weight loss plan a success.

Setting a Goal:

Okay, so your weight is somewhere around 20% above the considered normal for your height. You tend to eat more than 5 regular meals a day. You’re certain that you’re obese or at least overweight. Now, the question is, where do you want your weight to be? Setting a goal is the first step in planning for weightn loss. Know what you want to accomplish. This way, the road you are taking is clear. You can keep track of your journey and whether or not you are going along in the right direction. With a goal in mind, you are always motivated to finish a task, or in some cases, to start doing it.

Be Definite:

Setting a specific goal when planning for weight loss improves your chances of success. You just need to be clear and definite with what you want to happen. Vague aims such as ‘I’d like to be healthier’ or ‘I need to lose a few pounds’ tend to produce half-hearted efforts and poor results. Instead, state your goal distinctly: ‘I want to lose 1 to 2 pounds this week and every week’ or ‘I want to trim my waist line from 40″ down to 38″ by the end of the month’. If you need to, write it down and put it where you will always see and read it. This way, you’ll always be reminded of what you want and need to accomplish by the end of the month, the week or even the day.

Be Realistic:

In establishing a definite weight loss goal, make sure that it is possible to accomplish first. How can a goal like ‘I’ll lose 15 lbs. in just a week’ happen if all of the evidence presented by research suggests that you should only burn 1 to 2 lbs in a week? Goals need to be sensible so that they are within reason to be able to obtain. What happens when you set a goal and don’t reach it no matter how hard you tried because it wasn’t really achievable? You will only get depressed and disappointed which are two of the psychological causes of obesity. And the problem just becomes a vicious cycle with no end to it.

Strategizing:

After carefully defining a goal of what you want to achieve with your weight loss efforts and keeping it in mind, the next step is planning on how to accomplish it. Planning involves proper scheduling of activities to be done throughout the whole day for a certain period of time including exercises, meals, sleeping and waking. It comprises of the time these activities should be done, the duration and in the case of eating meals, the food to be consumed and what amounts. This way, inappropriate spur-of-the-moments decisions can be avoided. A proper and effective weight loss plan consists of quality time for performing such activities. That is, allow enough time to meet the objectives correctly. For example, sleep should be scheduled to last for around 7 to 8 hours a day so that you’ll be able to get enough rest. Lack of sleep may cause improper eating habits the next day.Again, plans should be relatively realistic. Include only time and activities you know for yourself you can accomplish for a given period of time.

Also, as you finish preparing your weight loss plan, you might want to write it down since you can’t always remember when you’re supposed to do each part of the plan. Post it in a place where you can always see and read it to remind you what your plans are for the day. Try your best not to skip anything in your scheduled plan so as not to ruin the effectivness of it.

Jim O’Neill is a certified personal fitness trainer and also holds a sports nutrition certification. He has been helping people successfully achieve their weight loss and fitness goals for over 15 years by staying on the cutting edge of weight loss and fitness technology. To learn more about how you can benefit from his easy to use weight loss and fitness programs go to: www.mrgymfitness.com/minicourse.php

If you take less in and put more out, you will lose weight. It’s as simple as that!

The key is to do it in a safe and effective manner which provides you motivation to maintain with lifestyle change, encourages adequate and appropriate nutritional intake and keeps your calories from going too low. If weight loss seems impossible and a true effort has been made to reduce caloric intake and expend more energy with exercise, there may be an underlying medical problem that needs addressing (insulin resistance, dysmetabolic syndrome, hypothyroidism, and others). Just remember to consult with a physician before starting on any weight loss plan, and consider the support of a dietician for education and long term behavioral change.

Diet plans can help, but it all comes back to the simple principle of in/out!