Thursday, June 9, 2011

Dieting and losing weight

I really am trying to lose weight. Cancer is fattening - that is mhttp://www.blogger.com/img/blank.gify official verdict. Its none of your business on how much I weigh or what I want to lose, we'll just say I feel fat and that's all that matters.

As a result I was interested in the list of best rated diets that just came out. I found it intriguing that they ones that are better are based on changing your eating habits and paying attention to what you eat and how much and not eating their fake food. I mean fake food regarding the diets where you need to eat processed things they send you or you buy in the store. I also noticed that the more extreme diets are also on the bottom. The diets were evaluated on weight loss, weight maintenance and heart health. So the list, from best to worst, is:

1. Dash Diet - this is the heart healthy diet that Dr. Evil a/k/a Dr Ego told me about so I am prejudiced against it. And its a government diet developed by the NIH to fight high blood pressure.
2. Mediterranean TLC - good for your heart but not necessarily good for your waist line. You need to watch your scale too.
3. TLC Diet - Therapeutic Lifestyle Changes diet developed by the NIH. Another government diet.
4. Weight Watchers - I like theirs. If you haven't tried Weight Watchers and want to lose weight, I recommend it. Everything has a point value. You get to eat whatever you want up to your point level each day. So if you want a frozen pina colada and three salads each day you can. Top rated for losing weight. And rated the best weight loss diet.
5. Mayo Clinic - Healthy eating buy only moderately effective for weight loss.
6. Volumetrics - Lots of meal prep and you eat lots of veggies, fruit and soup.
7. Jenny Craig - the expensive prepackaged meals sent to you so no restaurants and no home made food. I would go crazy if I couldn't cook.
8. Ornish Diet - from a book, heart healthy but hard to follow fat restrictions.
9. Vegetarian - Not for rapid weight loss but good for eating healthy and that is why it is so far down the list
10. Slim Fast - A meal in a can or a power bar doesn't have the appeal to me.
11. Nutrisystems - More packaged food. The "return of the TV dinner"? Yuck.
12. Vegan - This surprised me. I would have thought it would be higher because its all about eating healthy but it can be hard to follow and get enough nutrition.
13. South Beach - So you can lose weight but not be good for your heart at the same time.
14. Eco-Atkins - The improved 'heart attack' diet that is hard to follow
15. Zone Diet - Hard to follow and lots of food prep.
16. Gycemic Index - Not good for weight loss, heart and is hard to follow.
17. Medifast - Good for short term weight loss only.
18. Raw Food - Not well rated for nutrition, safety, and is difficult to follow. I would have thought it was higher.
19. Atkins - The original 'heart attack' diet.
20. Paleo Diet - This is the one where you eat like a caveman and are supposedly healthy but apparently not because its on the bottom of the list.

I try to follow the basic Weight Watchers model by skipping fatty food and watching portion control. I have several WW cook books and can make lots of yummy things from them. My problem is snacking. At least I know what my problem is. I am trying to be better. I have lost some weight since I joined the gym but not much. However I have gained muscles. I'll keep trying.

1 comment:

az cancer center said...

Good diet options shared. It is really interesting to know so much information about diet options. I think you can control the fatty food items. That will help. Worth reading post. Nice sharing and keep posting.

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