Atkins Diet

The Atkins Diet is one of the most popular diet trends around. It incorporates eating different types of low carb, high protein foods to regulate weight. The thing that sold me on the Atkins was the Induction Phase, where you eat nothing but protein enriched foods like eggs and bacon. Mmmmm bacon. So I did the Induction Phase and that’s about as far as I got because I lost 5 pounds but I felt lethargic and sick ALL THE TIME. Not just regular, oh I’m dieting so I have to find something wrong with it sick but really violently ill sick. I guess my body disliked “jump starting” as the Atkins diet puts it. Needless to say I stopped that diet immediately and funny, my sickness went away. Atkins, or what I call it Yakins, may be the right diet for some but definitely not for me.

Nutrisystem

I was lured in by the convenient meals and the promise of cake. Nutrisystem was pretty expensive to start out. I paid around $200 for my first “Basic Package” of meals. I was using the reasoning they claim on their site that you’ll save on groceries because you’ll have the meals instead. What they don’t tell you is that you’re still buying fresh vegetables and fruits to supplement your diet because the stuff they ship you in the boxes is sooooo tiny. (Also I was buying regular groceries for the Hubs because he didn’t want to diet with me.) The meals were tiny. Talk about an extreme portion control. The site claims the diet works on by utilizing the glycemic index but really it is extreme portion control and specific calorie intake.

At first the diet was new and exciting. Little color coded packages to eat with snacks and sweets for desert. It was fun for the first month and I lost about 5 pounds. So I ordered another month supply, this time picking my favorites out of the sampler pack I had the recent month. Then it lost its shiny new feeling and I’m out about $400. The food started getting really bland and I just didn’t feel like heating another thing out of a box. I wanted fresh and good tasting food. The meals were always the same kind of something in tomato sauce and it started getting repetitive. The stacks were good, but I always wanted more. The same with the bland meal packs, they always left me hungry. I thought that if I wanted to be hungry all the time I might as well eat fresh food in smaller portions and save myself some cashola.

All in all I lost a total of 9 pounds and as soon as I went off the meals, promptly gained it all back and 3 more pounds for good measure. I guess this diet would work if A) You lived alone or your partner does it with you, otherwise it’s just too expensive buying two sets of groceries and B) You have no taste buds and don’t mind the bland repetitiveness of the meals. Otherwise, save your money and invest in salads and low calorie foods and plan small portion meals throughout the day. You can accomplish the same thing without having it all pre-packaged for you.

iPad 2 AKA My White Whale

In June I found myself in such a dilemma. See, I have an affinity for romance novels especially the historical ones. I got the craving for a good romance trilogy and found a book by Amanda Quick at the local grocery store. Unfortunately it was the second in the trilogy and everyone knows you can’t start a trilogy in the second book so the first book hunt began. I searched the big box store (only because romance novels are way cheaper there) with no luck. I tried the local bookstore, again, no dice. Any and all grocery stores, no, no and no. Where have all the trashy love novels gone?

Digital. They went digital and now if you want a book, like right this second, because we are in the instant gratification age, you can get one but you have to have a device to read it with. The question is which one? I am desperately, irrevocably in love with my iPhone so my obvious choice was the iPad. Unfortunately it was extremely expensive so I hemmed and hawed about it for a month straight.

The Hubs finally gave up at my persistent melancholy and got me a white iPad2 for my anniversary gift. I have not been able to put it down. Since July I have read over 6 books on this thing. It’s like magic. I can eBay, check my email, look up unimportant things on the internet while watching tv. It never leaves my side. Therefore my Hubs has deemed it my white whale. I still love reading a real book but once you go iPad you’ll understand its appeal. It is slim and easy to cart around and I can get any book anytime in 10 seconds or less. I’m also addicted to Heartwild Solitaire and can I just say, Netflix is even more awesome on a screen bigger than 3x5 (sorry iPhone).

I did look at other devices but found the following lacked:
Kindle – had buttons to navigate and only black and white.
Nook – can only get nook books on it (might not be the cheapest book)
iPad – can get Kindle books, Nook books, Google Books, iBooks and shop for the cheapest one. Plus I can do so much more like check twitter, facebook, email and surf the internets.

The iPad won out completely and I’m so happy with my white whale.

HCG Diet

The HCG diet. I tried this diet for two months and lost 20 pounds. The diet consists of calorie reduction, portion control and supplements. The first three days you eat like a pig then you are constricted to a 500 calorie diet for the duration of the diet period. 26 days. You are also supposed to take HCG drops (three drops three times per day). Or you can up to pay big bucks and get HCG injected by your doctor. HCG is a hormone that is produced by women during pregnancy or during their menstruation time. The hormone and the extreme diet make you get results fast.

Who doesn’t want to see that they lost ten pounds in a week? Yeah, those drops may be the psychological factor but if you restrict anyone’s diet to just 500 calories a day anyone can lose weight even if you don’t exercise. Eventually though your body will get used to it and start storing anything over 500 calories as fat. It will also make you lethargic and mess up your hormones. This is what happened to me. On top of this drastic weight loss I was under tons of stress at work. So doing this diet was just one of the factors that lead me to being diagnosed with Adrenal Fatigue. Now I have to take even more hormones and an ungodly amount of vitamins and minerals a day to fix what HCG has done to my body (all under the instruction and careful monitoring of my doctor).

Though the effects of the HCG diet did, in fact, make me lose weight the cost was extremely high to my health. This is an abnormal response to the diet as my girlfriend has done it on and off with no complications and my chiropractor swears by the stuff and recommends it to her obese patients. I on the other had had gained back the weight I lost (but no more than what I started out with) and am on a regimented supplement plan by my doc. Finding out clearly that this diet was just not for me and may not be healthy for those that need an ongoing weight management plan. It will help you lose those pesky five pounds fast and is an ok diet for short period weight loss or a weight loss booster to get you into a more regimented long term plan. You may want to forgo the drops though and just stick with the 500 calorie diet.

You can learn more about the HCG diet here.

What's In What's Out

Every month I post what I feel is in and what is definitely out. (imagine out said in Heidi Klum project runway fashion).

AUGUST

In: Interesting nails. Either two color, glitter, design, or metal crackily.

Mmmm Bacon.

Geometricy.

Out: Leggings of any sort. Jeggings especially. (But really, were they really ever in style, I think not)

Oh my.




In capri style. Yuck.

This look screams "I gave up!"

Does your diet do it for ya?

It’s no surprise that I struggle with weight loss. I mean, come on what woman has not struggled with weight loss at one time or another in their life? And if you are one of those that says “it’s never been a problem I can eat all I want and not gain a pound” then you missy are at the wrong place and leave your address so I can shoot you. In the past I’ve tried extreme to mediocre diets ranging from the 500 cal HCG to, Atkins, Nutrisystem and Slim Fast. They all work!

For a little while, then you gain it all back with some and move on to the next diet. So I’m asking; what works for you? Is it a combo of two diets? Do you not worry about what you eat and just exercise everyday?

I work out three times a week for usually 30 to 60 minutes of combo of cardio, stretching, small weights (for the arms) or Yoga. But it’s the diet that gets me. I think I eat quite healthy. I make my own meals and don’t like sweets. I try to stay away from fast food and usually opt for a salad instead of burger but sure enough, if I stray away from a regimented diet then all hell breaks loose up in here and these jeans start getting tight again.

To follow will be my experiences and reviews of the diets listed above starting out with the HCG miracle diet where I lost over 15 pounds on.

Let me know of any interesting diets that have worked for you in the comments. I’d love to review them and see if they would work for me too.