1. Soup Diet
2. Mediterranean Meal Plan
3. The Biggest Loser Diet
4. The Weekend Diet
5. The Anti-Aging Diet

We’ll have some id depth information about each one in the coming weeks.

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After requests from a few readers we are compiling online resources for weight loss without spending money. We’ll be linking to what we find over the next few months.

Blogs that offer lower fat/lower calorie versions of classic recipes are especially helpful.

Edited to add: Even if you only have one or two recipes on a blog about something else, go ahead and share them.

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Three Quick And Easy Workout Tips to Get Your Body Moving
We spend a lot of time on the site talking about diets and eating. So, let’s take a quick break to look at some ways to lose weight via activity. We are not believers in working out for an hour every day. We don’t have lives that allow it, and don’t think most people do. Fortunately, you don’t have to live in the gym to feel and look better. So, let’s get started with easy things you can do to target improve your health by getting your body moving and burning some extra calories…

The Top Reason People Fail To Lose Weight
There are as many reasons people cannot lose weight as there are people trying to do it. The key is finding your root cause, confronting it, and overcoming it. Towards that goal, let’s take a look at the most common cause of failure, lack of consistent motivation…

Quick and Easy Ways to Reduce Your Calorie Intake
Not ready for a full diet plan? That’s fine. You can drop a few pounds by just cutting out a few unnecessary calories. For the math-oriented (not us!), if you cut out 100 calories from your diet every day, you could lose 1 pound a month, with very little effort. Pretty cool. Here’s how to do it..

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For the next week I’m going to spend some time looking through all of the products and information I have to figure out how to get started. Then I’ll be posting updates via our Twitter account – twitter.com/katensteph. I will also try to post a weekly update of what happened and how I’m doing.

In the past this blog has been about information, now I’m adding a little bit of personal experience. You’ll get the good and the bad.

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In addition to the basic 40% carb/30% protein/30% fat calorie split the Zone Diet recommends that you:

• Drink 8 or more glasses of water every day to fend off dehydration and stay fuller longer
• Eat 5 times every day, 3 meals and 2 snacks, never with more than 5 hours between eating to balance insulin and keep you from overeating
• Exercise moderately to your ability to assist weight loss efforts and increase general health
• Keep all meals at or below 500 calories and snacks under 100 calories.
• Limit starch-filled carbohydrates to a minimum and eat only low fat protein sources

While some of the compoments of the Zone Diet may seem comolicated, the strictness actually makes it easier to follow on your own. If you spend some time researching the foods you want to try, you can develop a Zone friendly eating plan and recipes without paying a monthly fee for it. Once you get thr hang of cookng and portion control the plan will come naturally.

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The basics of The Step Diet are pretty simple. The plan is designed to last 12 weeks, and combines decreasing your calorie intake with increasing your activity level. Sounds good, right? Well, the best part is you don’t have to be a nutiritionist or join a health club. The first “step” is to take a week-long inventory of your eating and activity habits. This helps to develop guidelines for the amount of food and number of steps you usually take in a day.

Once you’ve got that information you are ready to start stepping it up, so to speak. You can eat anything you want, just decrease the portion size by 25%. That can  accomplished by literally taking 25% off your plate, or by replacing a food item with something that has 25% less calories and fat. On the activity side you add 500 steps to your routine – with a total minimum of 2000 steps per day. The steps don’t only have to be walking, you can convert any activity to a number of steps. There are charts in the Step Diet book, but you can use something like this to start.

Each week you continue to add 500 steps until you’ve reached the plan’s goal of 10,000 steps per day. These steps don’t have to be completed in one session, so don’t worry about having to carve out a huge chunk of your day. Adding 500 steps a week only increases your activity time by 3-5 minutes, which makes it easy to incorporate into your lifestyle. If you have a day where your food intake increases a lot, just add more steps proportionally.

If the Step Diet sounds too easy to work, it really isn’t. The plan is really just the basic advise most weight loss experts give. You have to eat a bit less and exercise a bit more. The Step Diet just presents it in a way that is simple and possible for almost anyone. The gradual increase in steps will ease you into the program, and is great for folks who are very sedentary. Plus steps are easy. You can walk around your house if it’s cold, and bring your kids or dog along in nice weather.

the thing we like best about the Step Diet is that you don’t really need to buy the book. All you really need is your will to succeed, and ideally a pedometer to help count your steps. There won’t be any dramatic weight loss in 3 days like some plans promise, but you will be stronger and healthier after 12 weeks if you stick to it. That’s a great way to turn your life around.

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At first the South Beach diet works like other popular low carb plans. But it changes over time, widening the types of food you can eat. Let’s take a look at the two stages:

South Beach Diet Phase 1 Foods

• Meats: Lean cuts of beef, pork and lamb with visible fat trimmed, skinless poultry, all fish a shellfish.
• Vegetables: most green vegetables, beans and legumes. Can be fresh frozen or canned with no added sugar.
• Dairy: Low fat or skim milk and soy milk. American, cheddar and low fat cottage cheese.
• Sweets (yes, sweets!): Sugar free gum, gelatin and popsicles. Chocolate and cocoa powder without added sugar.

This list is representative but certainly not exhaustive. However, the phase one food list for the South Beach Diet is very limited. It is designed to purge your system of the excessive carbohydrates ans sugars we usually eat. That’s why no bread, fruits and alcohol. After two weeks on this eating plan you’ll likely have lost some weight, and be really bored. That’s when you move to phase 2. This step up is what makes the South Beach diet work differently than all the other low carn diets out there.

South Beach Diet Phase 2 Foods
At phase 2 you can add additional foods to your diet

• Fruits: Most fruits and berries can be eated like apples, oranges, pears, strawberries, kiwis, mangoes, grapes etc. Exceptions are bananas, fruit jiuces, canned fruit, raisins and watermelon.
• Dairy: Low fat and fat free fruit flavored and plain yogurts.
• Starches (limited): Whole grain bagels, breads and cereals. Whole wheat pastas and pita. Sweet potatoes, popcorn, brown and wild rice.
• Sweets: Bittersweet and semisweet chocolate. Fat free and sugar free pudding
• Red wine

Adding these foods to your diet makes following South Beach more sustainable in the long term. Phase 2 continues as long as you want it to.

You may be asking youself how the South Beach diet folks picked the list of foods. Selections for the two phases are chosen based on foods glycemic index. That’s just a fancy way of saying they measure the carbohydrates in foods and how much eating them will raise your insulin levels. Some research shows that foods low in the glycemic index help control appetite and delay hunger. That’s how the South Beach Diet works.

Note about costs and the South Beach Diet. Signing up to the official website is expensive. But that works for some people. Paying for a membership makes them keep to the diet. However, there are  tons of websites with recipes and help, beyond the official website. And you can purchase one of the many South Beach diet books to help as well. We recommend starting with About.com’s South Beach Diet Q&A.

At the end of the day, if you follow the South Beach diet you will lose weight in a healthy, slow way. No miracles, no magic to be found. Just good healthy foods that make the South Beach Diet work.

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Having a child is often the most wonderful thing that can happen to you. But soon after the delivery you are going to want your old body back. But how to do it? When celebrities give birth they seem to be back in shape within weeks. Heidi Klum appeared in a lingerie fashion show three months after giving birth. Jessica Alba, Ashlee Simpson and many others show up on television and in photographs looking thin and toned within just a few weeks. Why can’t you do that? Well, they have a lot of help. A celebrity will have a team of personal chefs, nurses, nannies, dietitians and personal trainers to get them back into shape as soon as possible. You probably only have yourself and no time to eat or exercise. See the problem? You can’t compare yourself to these women; you will never be able to match what they accomplish. Don’t compare yourself to other new mothers you know, either. Everyone’s body is different and you can only do the best you can do.

The average woman will gain 25-35 pounds during a pregnancy. With no effort you may lose 10-15 of those pounds right away. So here you are with 15 or so extra pounds that you don’t want, and no idea how to lose it. Some women will lose most if not all of that in three to six months from breast feeding and ordinary life. But some won’t. If not, here are some tips to help you drop those unwanted pounds without damaging you health or the happiness of your new family.

Give yourself time to recover and adjust to your new life

It takes more than 9 months to get ready to give birth, don’t expect to be back to normal right away. Don’t start restricting your eating or working out until you know you can handle it. Just being a new mom will require all of your strength and attention. Try not to think about your weight for a while. See where your body gets to after three to five months. At that point you can assess your health and figure out what’s reasonable for you to change in order to lose weight.

Be active but don’t push it

Until your first post-pregnancy check up with your doctor, you really shouldn’t be exercising. But that doesn’t mean you shouldn’t be active. When you feel up to it, get up and move. You’ll probably have tons of friends and relatives who want to see the new baby, use that to your advantage. Just lugging around all that baby equipment is going to start strengthening your muscles. If you can get someone to watch the baby, send yourself for a fair-paced 20 minute walk. That will do wonders for your physical and mental health. Once you’ve got the okay from your doctor, start adding some short workouts into your schedule. 15 minutes of yoga or stretching. 30 minutes swimming. 45 minute walks. All of these are gentle on your body but will make you feel stronger and more relaxed. Do what feels healthy and safe when you have time.

Eat the right things

The most important part of that phrase is eat. You have to eat. Your body needs fuel to recover from pregnancy and you need it to deal with the life changes that come from having a baby. A lot of new moms don’t find the time to eat. They and their families suffer for it. Of course you might not have time to cook the full healthy meals you want. That’s all right. Just keep good foods on hand. Have lots of fresh fruit and vegetables. Get friends or family to make you healthy dishes instead of fat and calorie rich ones. Don’t worry about sitting down for a full meal. Get a little bit of food whenever you can, making sure you’re getting the calories you need for yourself (plus extra if you are breast feeding). And don’t forget to drink lots of water throughout the day.

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Check out these tips to change your family’s eating habits for the better.

Know Where Your Extra Calories Come From

First things first. You have to get a sense of where your problems areas are. Try to keep track of what everyone eats for a few days. Don’t worry too much about details; just get a sense of it. Is the problem what you cook? What you order? What you drink? Huge desserts? Who is eating the most/the least, the best? Know your enemies and use the rest of these tips to fight them.

Whole Grain Foods are Your Friend

Processed or refined grains (cereal pasta) and other foods made with white flour have a high glycemic index, low fiber content, and less vitamins and minerals as those made from whole grains. Switching to whole grain foods (whole grain pasta, brown rice, and whole grain cereals) are a quick and healthy way to make your family’s diet more nutritious. Find brands that taste good and are easy to prepare. We love brown basmati rice.

Fruits and Vegetables are the Best

Most people don’t eat the recommended amount of fruits and vegetables. That usually means we’re eating too much of other things. But beyond maintaining a healthy weight, fruits and vegetables are necessary for growing children. Fresh fruits and vegetables can be expensive, so stock up on frozen varieties and typically skip the cans. Fruits and veggies have lots of fiber and tons of important vitamins and minerals we all need. And because they’re low in fat you can eat more fruits and vegetables to help you to feel full to avoid overeating.

Sodas and Fruit Drinks are NOT Your Friend

While they are tasty and fun, soda and fruit drinks have very low nutritional value and a lot of empty calories. At about 150 calories per 12 ounce serving, your family could gain an extra pound about every 3 weeks from drinking one can of soda a day.

Cutting back or eliminating soda, fruit drinks, and even fruit juice, can be a good way to get rid of a lot of extra calories and leave room for more nutritious foods. Save them for special occasions.

Eat Healthy When Eating Out

Sure, with some planning its kind of easy to have healthy eating habits at home. If there’s only good stuff in the refrigerator and cupboards, that’s what you get. But once you and your family leave the house things get harder. Help your kids learn good habits by finding the healthiest options in restaurants – fast food and otherwise. Actually read the nutritional content of the foods in your favorite restaurants. Sometimes what they call healthy really isn’t.

If you follow these tips you can make a change in the way your family eats. This will help you reach your weight loss goals, and keep your whole family healthy and happy.

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