Diet, ETC.

I don’t have any interesting topic in mind. I just want to write something. Right now, I’m listening to High School Musical Soundtrack, while my whole family is watching The Buzz’s coverage of Cory’s Death (while according to Toni, Jolina is crying because her dog died, duh?). Well, I don’t want to join them watch the coverage simply because I can’t help myself but to feel heavy and cry, which I don’t want. I am very happy today and I don’t want to ruin that feelings. It’s not that I don’t care about Cory’s death, well in fact I do, and that is why I cried when I first heard the news. I just want to look at the good side that Cory and Ninoy are already together, happy up there. *sigh* so sweet right?

I just want to share the pictures when Ish, Kams and I went to trinoma for dinner. We passed by this (then) newly opened store of Team Manila. I don’t have any Team Manila stuff but I love their designs. They are just so cool. Well, everyone will agree, right?

It’s been a while since we saw each other, especially Ishi. I should say that she lost a noticeable amount of weight. I envied her. Hahaha! But not really. I have to lose weight too…or at least my tummy. I can say that I don’t lack physical activities because I do have enough of that. I do have Fitness First Membership since 2007. I just need DISCIPLINE to attend the gym 3 times a week and do the necessary exercise inside the gym. With regards to my eating habits, yeah, I do have a problem with that. Still, I need MORE DISCIPLINE.

I was browsing Women’s Health July Issue when I came across this article about six extreme diets existing on the weight loss world and the article pointed out things you to learn from these diet schemes. WH did not recommend to strictly follow the diet scheme but to keep in mind the scientific reasons behind each diet and to utilize this to plan a healthy diets that better suit our lifestyle.

1. The Reverse Diet Eat like a king in the morning, a prince at lunch and a pauper at dinner. This is a diet which requires you to binge (hehehe, not really. This means to eat your heaviest meal) during the start of the day and gradually decreasing the quantity towards the end of the day. What’s good about this diet is that you prevent adding calories into your body during the night time when your body is at more-or-less very inactive state, thus, decreasing the likelihood of calorie storage in your body.

2. One-Container-of-Food-a-Day Diet Nowadays, people are so busy and don’t have much time to do exercise or to enroll to a nearby gym or to do sports. I understand. But having no time to think about eating is also a trend (?). No way! What these people do is to pack food (nuts, granola bars, cornflakes), take note - not meal, in a container and munch on this WHENEVER they feel their hunger. Take note again, WHENEVER. But since they are busy people, feeling hungry is a waste of time. This diet works because the combination of protein and fat (in nuts) lessen your appetite and granola bars supply energy and the cereal is a good source of fiber. What I like in this diet is the nut portion - NUTS INDUCES EARLY SATIETY.

3. The Three-Day Diet This diet includes a very strict meal plan such as having just a hard-boiled egg and a piece of toast as a meal substitute for three days. Some follow this kind of diet twice a month and it is better to complement this with a light physical activity. This kind of diet works through the philosophy of portion control – eating just enough for you to address your hunger and enough to get the balance of nutrients your body needs. This specific diet plan which must be rigidly followed for it to work also leaves a little room for unnecessary eating, which prevent additional calories from entering your system.

4. Master Cleanse/Maple Syrup Diet Simple as eating and drinking nothing else but a special concoction called Master Cleanse for ten days straight. Master Cleanse concoction includes lemon/calamansi juice, grade B Maple syrup and cayenne pepper. However, there is a strong warning against “pigging out” or compensating right after the diet. This will bloat you back to your starting weight or even bigger. This kind of diet works obviously because water contains ZERO calories. And because you are not depositing calories into your body, energy will be extracted from stored calories in your body burning the “bilbil” and decreasing your weight. This diet is actually dangerous especially when the person is not guided by a medical expert or a nutritionist. But what to steal from this diet scheme is the idea that water contains ZERO calories and satisfy our hunger temporarily. Drink before you eat. This will prevent you from overeating. But just be sure you eat the nutritious stuffs first before you lose your appetite.

5. Cabbage Soup Diet This diet is done by one of my friends. Below is the recipe for cabbage soup.

The cabbage soup shall substitute for your three daily meals and suppose to make you lose weight because the diet is low in sodium and fat. Slightly similar to the Master Cleanse Diet, this cabbage soup diet utilizes liquid to satisfy your hunger with a very minimal calorie deposition into your body. But according to expert this diet is not sustainable and will just make you regain what you lose eventually. This diet is not intended for a long term weight lose plan because it eliminates a lot of food from our diet, meaning eliminating essential nutrients from your diet. The absence of carbohydrates in this diet also makes you more prone to dizziness, flatulence, lightheadedness, weakness and lack of focus.

6. The White Diet. The name of the diet must be changed to NON-WHITE Diet since this diet scheme includes eliminating the white stuffs (dairy, flour and sugar) from your plate. This NON-WHITE DIET works because it eliminates the simple carbohydrates from your diet and replace it with stuffs with more fiber. So instead of munching on rice and pasta, you shall choose brown rice, whole wheat pasta and bread. The effect of the fiber is to feel fuller for a longer period of time. Fiber also is not digested by our body so no calories added into your body.

Personally, I don’t want to implement a strict diet such as the 6 enumerated above because these diets tend to starve-slash-torture you, meaning you are more prone to temptation. And giving in means regaining all the weight you lost. Admittedly, I’m eating psychologically, meaning I eat not because I’m hungry but I THINK I’m hungry. Well, I know and I am aware that I need to DISCIPLINE myself to eat just the right food and right quantity of them. But instead of following such diet schemes, what I prefer is to modify my eating habits because this is more long term and more healthy of course, but takes a lot of DISCIPLINE.

It will also help if you have inspiration. This will give you additional push to reach your desired goal. One of my inspirations is Iza Calzado. The picture on top is the teen Iza while the picture that follows is the current Iza. Look how her body transformed. Isn’t that inspiring?

And another tip is to get additional help from commercially available food supplements such as TheraHerb Slim and Slender. TheraHerb Slim and Slender contains L-carnitine, Green Tea Extract and Garcina cambogia Extract. See its commercial below.