Fuss Project. Feeling fat and unattractive, try a new diet.

Feeling fat and unattractive, try a new diet.

Many women think that as the thrill of monogamy wanes and their partner’s spare tire waxes, they start to fantasize during sex that their spouse is someone else. My husband is now, with the passing of the great Paul Newman, The Hottest Man Alive as far as I’m concerned. But one night some weeks ago as I nestled against THMA, my afterglow was dimmed by a disturbing realization: I’d been imagining that I was someone else. And this was not my first time I have been doing it.

Lurking off to the bathroom, I flicked on the eco-friendly fluorescent lights: Bags hung under my darkcircled eyes and weird bumps were erupting on my forehead. I was twenty pounds overweight, my durty hair was scraped into a clump on top of my head, and I was dressed in a remarkably unflattering combination of a nursing top and maternity leggings (my 24-hour wardrobe since my daughter’s birth in July).

It wasn’t exactly news to me that I’d lost the thread but I’d fallen into an odd torpor that prevented action.. Which is funny, because I don’t usually tend toward depression. When the chips are down, I am more the berserker rage or hyperventilating anxiety type. I always say, Why sit at home feeling sad when you can walk over to a boutique and get into a senseless screaming match with a salesperson over some throw pillows, and then go back home feeling silly but also, better, oddly? Not that I’ve actually ever done that… but Todd, the store manager, if you’re reading this, your return policy sucks as bad as your attitude!

Anyway, I did not think this was a true depression. It was more that after years of big projects— graduate school, finding a job, snagging a boyfriend, getting married, buying a house, having children, and juggling work with it all—I was lost and exhausted on every level: physical, psychological, and spiritual. Okay, it’s time to bring sexy back, I told the greasy, gray apparition in the mirror.

If my life were a movie or even a stupid TV show, this is the point at which a team of producers, munchkins, or gay men would whisk me off in an Escalade and make over my life in a peppy montage of Pilates, hair-curling, salad-eating, and closet-cleaning. But as I am a woman, I knew I’d be doing this the old-fashioned way: with a self-help book.

AN EGG DIET. What You Eat on The Egg Diet.

It is rumoured that Adrian Brody ate nothing but hard boiled eggs for one month in order to lose weight for his role in "The Pianist". He lost 30 pounds in 6 weeks and his effort earned him an Academy Award. Because of this talk, a lot of people are curious if eating nothing but eggs is a good way to lose weight.

Here is what Brody ate in his own words: "I had 2 boiled eggs, and then I had nothing for about 5 hours, then a small piece of chicken, grilled, and then 4 or 5 hours later a small piece of fish and a few steamed vegetables."

He says about the experience:

"There is an emptiness that comes with really starving that I hadn't experienced ... I couldn't have acted that without knowing it. I've experienced loss, I've experienced sadness in my life, but I didn't know the desperation that comes with hunger."

What is The Egg Diet

The Egg Diet is a high-protein, low-carbohydrate diet. It is a variant of the Atkins diet but involves eating slightly more eggs.

What You Eat on The Egg Diet

Unlimited high protein foods like cheese, eggs, and meat. Fat or calories are not counted. Unlimited vegetables as long as they are not sweet or starchy. Lots of salad with tons of your favorite dressing is just fine, but a baked potato is off limits. In fact, all breads, sweets, pasta, and other starchy foods are off limits. Most processed food is also off limits because it is high in carbohydrates.

How The Egg Diet Helps You Lose Weight

Some people have successfully lost weight by following the Egg Diet. But despite this, there are still some serious outstanding health issues associated with high protein diets and some weight loss experts are not ready to approve the benefits of high protein low carb diets.

Weight Loss Diets

There's no such thing as a perfect weight loss diet. Almost all weight loss diets help us lose weight and teach us something about healthy weight control. But exercise is an important part of all weight loss programs, so set aside enough time for physical exercises.

How to Stick To a Diet and Enjoy Sweets

Even if you are on a diet, you can still eat your favourite confection and other empty calorie treats. Whether you love cookies, chocolate, chips or any other indulgence, with some basic knowledge, you can eat your favourite treats while still being successful at loosing weight and staying healthy!

HOW TO

1. Figure out how many calories worth of confection you will alow yourself a day. Around 200 or 300 calories on a regular day is reasonable.

3. Buy sugar free confection. Many health food stores sell these in bulk. But still you should not eat large amounts of these (they contain aspartame and artificial sweeteners which may cause cancer) but they do help satisfy small cravings.

2. When eating confection, use portion control. You can now buy Christies Thinsations cookies and snacks in 100 calorie packs. Not only are they all your favourite treats (Oreos, Chips Ahoy, graham crackers, bits and bites...) but they are packaged with one serving in each bag. Also, Cadbury Thins as well as KitKat and Aero Singles are chocolate bars that have very few calories.

4. Burn the extra calories. If you eat 200 calories worth of confection or other empty calories , then you will need to burn the extra calories that you consumed. In order to loose weight, you will need to burn more calories then the sum of the calories of everything that you ate, every day.

Burn Calories - NOTE-the amount of calories burned is based on a 130 pound adult. The calories burned are higher if you weigh more.

How to Keep to Your Diet and Don't Give Up

Writing down what you eat is one basic rule. A 2-nd rule is to read the food labels. Be convinced of your food items including a lot of fiber and little fat, that equates to a lot of fruits, vegetables, peas and beans and low fat dairy products.

1. Do not buy non-diet foods. If it is not in the house, you cannot eat it. If you need a treat and have earned it (by eating well or exercising, not having a bad day) go out and buy one cookie. Do not keep a bag of special treat cookies in the house, they only convince you that you deserve one when you do not. When you deserve one, have one. Or better yet, think of a way you can treat yourself that has nothing to do with food!
2. Eat a snack if you're starting to get hungry but have a few hours till dinner or lunch - especially important around 4 pm, when you are between lunch and dinner. If you wait and starve yourself you will be more likely to overeat or eat too fast at dinner.
3. Don't forget, if you eat bar peanuts compulsively, sit away from the bowl. You will be less likely to reach over someone else to get to them. Find interesting exercise. Join a cool gym that has fun classes, go somewhere beautiful to walk, enroll in a dance class with friends. Get friends to do it with you so that you have company and moral support and someone to hold you accountable, and maybe buy a dog if you really need someone to remind you to go outside twice a day.
4. Remember that if you are engaging in an activity that you usually snack during, find something to do with your hands instead of eating. Take up knitting, learn to sew, write those thank-you cards, anything to keep you from munching mindlessly while you are watching TV or something.
5. Eat more dense foods like carrots, cauliflower, broccoli, these foods will curb your cravings. These foods are very healthy for you, so you do not have to worry about gains. Do not eat them cooked, eat them raw. (cooking vegetables removes the density of it.)
6. Know that if you are really craving something, like candies, just eat a few. Do not try to satisfy the urge by eating everything else in the house. You will never feel as satisfied and will probably overeat. If you are compulsive, have a trusted friend dole out two to you and stick to it!
7. Be convinced of drinking plenty of water! Eight glasses every day! Sometimes when you are dehydrated you compensate by eating when really your body just needs water.

Exercises To Keep Your Body In Good Shape

* Do aerobic exercise 4 to 5 days a week. Aerobic activities, such as brisk walking, running, swimming and bike riding, burn calories and increase metabolism while you are working out. Several studies show that aerobic activities cause your metabolism to stay at an elevated level for a period of time after you have finished exercising.
* Work in strength-training exercise 2 to 3 days a week. Lifting weights and other strengthening activities, such as doing push-ups or crunches, on a regular basis will actually increase your resting metabolism all day. That is because these activities build muscle. And once more, muscle burns more calories than body fat. As a matter of fact, if you have more muscle, you burn more calories - even if you are sitting still.
* When it comes to supplements, I do not recommend them. The ingredients that are effective tend to increase metabolism only slightly and they can be risky. High doses of stimulants can make you jittery, and boost heart rate and blood pressure.
* The bottom line: The safest and most effective way to increase your metabolism is to eat an appropriate amount of food every 4 to 5 hours, incorporate a portion of lean protein into each meal, and exercise regularly.

Increase your metabolism and lose weight faster

You can go on a diet and workout so your body burns more calories.

In this installment we look at how you can increase your metabolism. Many dieters are quick to blame a slow metabolism process for their inability to lose weight. But do you control your metabolism? Yes and no.

Dieters often complain that they can not lose weight because they have a sluggish metabolism. Unfortunately, many corporations capitalize on this misconception by marketing products that promise to give consumers a so called “metabolic advantage” that helps melt away the pounds. Here is the true story:

What is metabolism?
Metabolism is the process that converts calories from food into energy. People often believe that a slim person’s metabolism is quick and a corpulent person’s metabolism is slow, but this is not usually the case. Metabolism alone doesn't determine your weight. Rather, weight is dependent on the balance of calories consumed versus the calories burned. Eat more calories than your body needs — you gain weight. Eat fewer calories than your body needs — you lose weight. Metabolism is just the body’s engine that burns calories and regulates your caloric needs.


3 ways your body burns calories:

* Basic body functions. Basal metabolic rate is the amount of calories you need to sustain vital functions — digestion, blood circulation, breathing, adjustment of hormone levels, cell growth and repair and so on . Typically, your basal metabolic rate makes up 66% to 75% of the total calories your body requires for a day.
* Digestion and absorption of food. About 10% of your day’s calories are burned digesting and absorbing the food you eat. Yes, you actually need calories to burn your calories.
* Exercise. Daily physical activity accounts for the rest of the calories burned.



What you can not control in your metabolism:

* Age: Metabolism slows about 5% for each decade after 40. That is because when we get older, we tend to lose muscle and gain body fat. Lean muscle mass is more metabolically active than fat tissue. So when you lose muscle mass, your metabolism decreases.
* Gender: Men generally have faster metabolisms than women because they are larger and have less body fat. Men’s basal metabolic rate is estimated to be 10% to 15% higher than women’s.
* Hypothyroidism: An underactive thyroid will decrease your metabolism and ultimately lead to weight gain. But a simple blood test can determine whether you have this condition or not. If you do, you can control it with the proper medication.
* Genetics: Some people are lucky enough to be born with high metabolisms — and others are not.

What you can control in your metabolism:
Diet

* Do not eat less than 1,000 calories a day. Your body and metabolism thrive on food. When you fast or crash diet, your metabolism will decrease in order to conserve energy. Imagine your metabolism as a blazing fire. If the fire burns consistently with the appropriate amount of high-quality wood, it will burn at a steady rate. But if it does not have enough wood, the fire goes out. If it has too much wood, it can get out control — just like your waistline!
* Eat every 4 or 5 hours. Our bodies work hard to digest and absorb the meals we eat, and your metabolism revs up in response. This is called the thermic effect of food. Take full advantage of this and schedule meals and snacks every 4 or 5 hours.
* Make breakfast a priority. Studies show that people who regularly eat a high-calorie breakfast within two hours of rising are more likely to control their weight. This may be because you are lifting your metabolic rate after it is been in a “resting phase” during the night.
* Eat protein with every meal: All meals create a thermic effect and will slightly increase your metabolism. But eating protein gives your body a bigger metabolic increasing than eating carbohydrates or fats. Moreover, eating enough protein will ensure you will maintain and build muscle mass. (Don't forget, the more muscle mass you have, the greater your metabolic rate). Make sure to incorporate lean protein into most every meal.

Best protein sources: fish, chicken breast, turkey breast, lean red meat, skim milk, nonfat yogurt, eggs and egg substitutes, tofu, beans, and lentils.

Meal Examples:

* Breakfast: bread with butter, 2 soft-boiled eggs, or eggs fried with bacon.
* Lunch: turkey burger on whole-grain bun and a salad
* Dinner: chicken or vegetable soup and salad
* Supper: little yoghurt or nothing

What is Metabolism and how it influences on losing weight

Metabolism is the set of chemical reactions that occur in living organisms for maintaining life. These processes allow our organisms to grow and reproduce, maintain their structures, and respond to their environments. Metabolism is usually divided into 2 categories. Catabolism breaks down large molecules, for example to harvest energy in cellular respiration. Anabolism, on the other hand, uses energy to construct components of cells such as proteins and nucleic acids.

The chemical reactions of metabolism are organized into metabolic pathways, in which one chemical is transformed into another by a sequence of enzymes. Enzymes are crucial to metabolism because they allow organisms to drive desirable but thermodynamically unfavorable reactions by coupling them to favorable ones. Enzymes also allow the regulation of metabolic pathways in response to changes in the cell's environment or signals from other cells.

The metabolism of an organism determines which substances it will find nutritious and which it will find poisonous. For example, some prokaryotes use hydrogen sulfide as a nutrient, yet this gas is poisonous to animals. The speed of metabolism, the metabolic rate, also influences how much food an organism will require.

A striking feature of metabolism is the similarity of the basic metabolic pathways between even vastly different species. For example, the set of carboxylic acids that are best known as the intermediates in the citric acid cycle are present in all organisms, being found in species as diverse as the unicellular bacteria Escherichia coli and huge multicellular organisms like elephants. These striking similarities in metabolism are most likely the result of the high efficiency of these pathways, and of their early appearance in evolutionary history.

Took from wikipedia.