When it comes to losing fat there are many diets to choose from. There are thousands of diets that combine food choices in such a way to reduce caloric intake and cause fat loss. Most diets work, however not every diet works for every person. One of the goals of dieting is to find a diet that you can follow. Hopefully, you’ll find a lifestyle diet that will be easy to stick to once the excess fat is gone. Picking a diet that restricts you too much will be difficult to follow and will increase your chances of failure.

Here at “Think Sim” we believe that any diet without coffee is going to be a miserable disaster. I’d rather be 20 pounds overweight sipping on a hot mug of freshly roasted coffee than lean with only memories of coffees consumed long ago. With that said, I decided to seek out a diet that puts coffee first. To my knowledge none exist. It is then our duty to create a diet or modify an existing diet so we coffee drinkers can lose the fat and not abandon our favorite beverage. Although we strive to drink coffee in our diets, coffee by itself shouldn’t be the basis of that diet. Most of our energy should still come from food.

Caffeine as a Fat-Loss Supplement

In addition to coffee’s role in the most popular diets, let’s briefly address how caffeine by itself can be used to lose fat. There are many fat loss supplements at the nutrition store where the primary ingredient is caffeine. Supplements with names such as Metabolife, Ripped Fuel, and Beta Lean HP all use a combination of caffeine and ephedra (Ma Huang). This combination has been effective at promoting fat loss while preserving muscle. Although there are some critics of ephedra-based supplements regarding safety, this article isn’t going to go into that debate. For more information on this topic read Muscle Growth and Fat Loss by Stimulating the Я-Agonist System – The Role of Ephedrine, Caffeine, and Aspirin by Michael C. Prevost Ph.D.

The Role of Coffee in Other Diets

Before we build or modify our own diet let’s divide the major diets into 4 groups and examine how they feel about coffee. There are other diets and there are diets that fit into multiple categories. This overview is not meant to be complete and is only intended to serve as a starting point to building a coffee-friendly diet.

1. Low-Fat/High-Carb Diet
2. Isocaloric Diet
3. Low-Carb Diet
4. Macrobiotic/Holistic

The low-fat/high-carb diet includes the Pritkin Diet, Dean Orish’s diet, and countless others. Because coffee is fat-free, this diet is the most coffee friendly. However one of the reasons fat-free diets sometimes fail is the belief that removing the fat makes one immune to excess calories. A mocha made with fat-free milk may be without fat, but it is loaded with sugars and is calorically dense. If you like the sweeter coffee choices, be aware that although the drink may be fat-free you can jeopardize your diet with too many empty calories.

By far the most popular isocaloric diet is The Zone. An isocaloric diet is one where the calories from fat, protein and carbs are equal or close to equal. In the case of The Zone that ratio is 40-30-30 (40% carbs, 30% protein, and 30% fat). Isocaloric diets pay very close attention to the quality of carbohydrates. One of the key elements of this diet to avoid sugars. A simplistic overview is that by avoiding sugars the body can become more effective at burning stored body fat. But does Dr. Sears like coffee? No. Caffeine even in absense of calories can affect blood sugar. More on this later.

The low-carb diet made famous by Dr. Atkins restricts carbohydrate intake to the point where the body goes into a state known as ketosis. In the absense of carbs the body becomes very efficent at burning fat. Like the Zone diet, this diet is concerned with blood sugar and insulin levels; therefore, coffee is forbidden.

The last group is the Macrobiotic and Holistic diets. These diets deal with food combining, and Chinese medicines/enzyme therapy. You may be be able to guess how these diets feel about coffee. They don’t like caffeine because it is an aggressive stimulant. Often, they recommend ginseng tea or grain coffee as a substitute for real coffee. No thanks.

Coffee and Insulin

Both The Zone and Dr. Atkins frown on coffee because it can negatively affect blood sugar, which will affect the body’s ability to burn fat. How can a zero calorie beverage affect blood sugar? According to the Canadian Diabetes Association: Drinking caffeine in large amounts as coffee over a short period of time has been shown to raise blood sugar. Caffeine does this by enhancing the effect of two hormones (adrenaline and glucagon). These two hormones release stored sugar from the liver resulting in high blood sugar. And what happens when blood sugar levels are increased? From the Running Planet article The Glycemic Index – How to use it to Increase Your Energy And Lose Weight: This results in large amounts of insulin being dumped into your blood stream. Remember that the job of insulin is to regulate your blood sugar. It needs to do something with the excess glucose (sugar). The easiest thing for insulin to do with it is to store it in your body as fat. Simply put: coffee can affect your blood sugar which could interfere with the body’s ability to burn fat.

These fears of coffee may be over-stated. Even though the authors of these 2 diets do not favor coffee, there is plenty of anecdotal evidence to suggest that either of these diets can be successful despite the continued consumption of coffee. And there is some non-ancedotal research, which indicates that exercise helps stabilize blood sugar after ingesting caffeine. Our goal, as defined above, is to get lean while continuing to enjoy coffee. So let’s address the problems coffee could pose to a diet, and find a solution.

Step 1 – Clean Up Your Coffee

Coffee by itself is perfect. It has zero calories, zero carbs, and zero fat. It even has properties that assist with fat loss. Coffee by itself isn’t the problem. Lattes, mochas, iced espresso blended with sugar, whipped cream, ice cream, flavored syrups, alcohol, and caramel are just a few of things we add into our coffee. Coffee is derived from the old Arabic word “qahwah” which means “gives strength”. Consuming popular coffee drinks today that are as calorically-dense as desserts has the effect of giving coffee a bad name, and changing the meaning of coffee from gives strength to gives girth.

In order to succeed on our diet, we must get back to basics. Regular coffee and straight shots of espresso are fine. As for milk, that depends upon your specific diet. An Atkins diet may allow half and half, whereas a low-fat diet would insist upon skim milk. If you must use sweeteners, at least make an effort to cut down: go from 2 packets to 1 packet.

Step 2 – Reduce Your Coffee Intake

If too much coffee can affect blood sugar then it only makes sense to reduce your caffeine intake. However, you don’t want to reduce your coffee intake at the same time you are reducing your caloric intake unless you have super willpower. Less calories and less caffeine usually means a reduction in energy which could lead to binge eating. A smarter move is to reduce your coffee intake for a week prior to the diet. Once the diet starts, you can slightly increase your coffee levels. It’s good to have a clear head when you’ve got an empty stomach.

Another idea is to space out your coffee intake. Instead of drinking 4 mugs of coffee back to back, consider spreading those 4 mugs throughout the day. One at 6am, 10am, 1pm, and 5pm. As long as you don’t consume too much, caffeine can be an appetite suppressant. Spreading that effect throughout the day will not only reduce your chances of increased blood sugar, but it will also help you cope with the reduced caloric levels.

Reducing your coffee intake is important, but it can be painful. Cutting back on caffeine can cause headaches and constipation. A good article on reducing caffeine intake is Accelerated Detox by Rachel Elliot.

Step 3 – Avoid Eating Simple Carbs with Coffee

Now if you’re on a low-carb diet, you’ll want to avoid simple carbs completely. However, it is a wise idea not to eat simple carbs on any diet while drinking your coffee. You know the simple carbs I’m referring to: the bagels, croissants, and scones that you see in every coffee shop. Going back to the insulin argument: if caffeine could affect blood sugar negatively then the last thing you want to do is combine it with something that is certain to cause an insulin spike.

Step 4 – Exercise

It’s common sense that exercise helps one lose fat on almost any diet. In the words of the The Illinois Department of Human Servies exercise …helps the body use insulin more efficiently, and this lowers blood sugar. If exercise can help us stablize our blood sugar then maybe we don’t have to get rid of our coffee in order to get lean. So lift some weights, do some aerobic activity, and keep drinking coffee. If you don’t have access to a gym, you can perform body-weight exercises such as the push-up and the Hindu Squat.

The 4 Diets Revisited

People are often more fanatical about their diet choice than their religion. So far be it from me to slam or endorse any particular diet. Each of the four groups mentioned restrict food selection and the result is often a caloric reduction, which translates to fat loss. What happens behind the curtains may be different, but a combination of healthy eating and exercise has always been the secret to getting lean. Using the above steps we can keep our relationship with coffee while dieting. Even a macrobiotic diet will be successful if your only deviation is pitching the herbal coffee in favor of the real stuff.

Everybody Is Different

It is possible to try the above steps with your chosen diet and not succeed. If you find that you must decide between coffee and getting lean, that’s a personal decision you should discuss with your doctor and roaster. In addition to weight training and power walking, this author followed a modified Zone Diet using the above 4 steps. The result was a body fat reduction from 18% to 9% in 4 months.

Related articles: Caffeine in food and beverages, caffeine in drugs

The key factor in Zone Diet is the hormonal balance you achieve while eating each skillfully prepared meal. With a food plan comprising an accurate balanced ratio of carbohydrates (40%), fat (30%) and proteins (30%); you actually get to eat foods, which control your body’s insulin production. This means that no meal or snack is forbidden in the Zone Diet and yet you can lose weight or fat while Zone dieting.

For those emphasizing weight loss, or for the matter, for those who want to steer clear of cardiovascular sickness, diabetes and other chronic ailments, eating food that follow recommended recipes and staying in the Zone is a must.

Zone Dieting means following recipes with a low-carbohydrate diet plan, where proteins do not dominate the carbohydrates. This allows dieters to get more energy from carbohydrates rather from proteins or fats. The Zone Diet, unlike other diets, insists dieters to keep a close watch on the calorie consumption while eating: a meal not exceeding 500 calories and a snack not exceeding 100 calories is ideal for staying in the Zone.

Weight loss is not the only reason to be in the Zone. There are numerous additional benefits linked with the the Zone Diet, such as enhanced health, improved energy, improved mental clarity. The number of Americans with Type II diabetes is increasing at an alarming rate. The Zone diet is perfect for someone with Type II diabetes. Being a high protein, low carbohydrate diet program the Zone Diet was implemented to reduce both hunger and compulsion to eat. Most Zone Diet meal procedures are customized to each individual, based on sex, activity level and proportion of body fat. Every meal or snack is calculated around the 40-30-30 ratio so that the body can give optimal performance.

The Zone Diet encourages foods such as fresh vegetables, fruits and nuts, leafy green vegetables, sufficient protein consumption, and eight glasses of water everyday. However, Zone Diet prefers mono-unsaturated fats for saturated fats, says a big no to both processed foods and meals that contain too much salt.

How Zone Diet makes weight loss possible: Consuming too many carbohydrates produces too much insulin, a hormone that tells the body to pile up nutrients. The overload of insulin prompts the body to convert those carbohydrates into fat and store them in your gut, thighs, buttocks or other areas. But protein which has the contradictory effect stirs up the hormone glucagon, which tells the body to let go carbohydrates that are stocked up in the liver. When those carbohydrates are freed, the brain tells the body that its energy supplies are fulfilled and you ought to stop eating. Consequently, limiting the type of carbohydrates you eat and balancing them with 3-4 ounces of low-fat protein at every meal will keep insulin and glucagon balanced, controlling your hunger with smaller number of calories. End result: You’ll experience fat loss and lose weight. This is how the Zone Diet functions.

The objective of this informational resource is to provide visitors with tips on Zone Dieting, weight loss and guide those who seek advice on eating the right food with proper facts and reviews. Please use the menu on the left to select links which will help you seek the appropriate information.

Official site: http://www.zonedietinfo.com

MY WEIGHT BOOK FIRST “PERSONAL BOOK” FORMAT, CONCEIVED BY FRENCH MD WITH 32 EXPERTS, OFFERS INDIVIDUAL ANALYSIS OF WEIGHT CONTROL ISSUES AND PERSONAL SOLUTIONS FOR LOSS AND LIFELONG MAINTENANCE

“You have gained weight in a personal way. You will lose weight well, quickly and long-lastingly in a manner just as personal,” says Dr. Pierre Dukan, MD, in MY WEIGHT BOOK, the first “personal” book in existence. Dr. Dukan was joined by 32 specialists in areas of study such as weight and–Stress, Nutritional Therapy, Physical Activity, Tobacco Weaning, Menopause, Early Childhood, Pregnancy, Anti-ageing, and other aspects of personal experience. These experts joined Dr. Dukan in an effort to fight obesity on a world wide scale.

Pierre Dukan evolved his method and total plan over thirty years of practice in France. Many patients came to him with weight control problems that affected their health. But no matter what diet methods they employed, after the initial loss, they regained their weight and more. Working with each patient individually, he came to understand weight gain is as individual as a person’s life experience, heredity, food preferences, and emotional circumstances. Ongoing stresses—from family, a job, or the general angst of a modern life with few natural releases—often led to the immediate satisfaction of eating.

As his patients came to understand their own motivations and behavior, he was able to work with them so they could lose their weight without deprivation and, most importantly, keep it off. As requests for his work grew, he decided to come up with a book and a format that would offer an individual approach to as many people who wanted it. The figure is 1 million readers in France and, millions more in Italy, Korea, Russia, and Portugal. It was noted in France, that Dr. Dukan’s book was good in relation to other plans in loss of weight, but significantly more effective in keeping it off.

The breakthrough in his personal approach is mirrored in the “Personal” book, a format now available for women in the U.S. A reader goes on-line at www.myweightbook.com and decides they want MY WEIGHT BOOK, pays and receives a password and the essential questionnaire. She answers 154 questions, which detail the personal factors that led to her weight gain and the strengths that will help her regain control. These questions are the basis for the book that is put together for her specific weight control plan. Her copy is printed individually and reaches her in ten days. And because Dr. Dukan feels support is essential, he includes personal instructions to encourage dieters. They soon find there is no deprivation and fight against a starving body with this diet, less of a struggle. Weight control is an obtainable goal.

Dr. Dukan’s MY WEIGHT BOOK has four basic phases; attack, cruising, stabilization, counterattack. The attack phase is extremely short, it can go from two to seven days for the obese. It also can vary according to age, sex, weight to be lost, history of overweight, facility to lose, heredity etc. The reader chooses from 72 foods rich in proteins, seven meats, twenty-four fish. These foods are like a full refrigerator from which the user eats as much as she wants, at any hour and in any combination. In this period confidence sets in as weight is lost. It’s also important because the loss combines elimination of grease and water. This phase encourages and strongly reinforces motivation.

The cruising phase, improves the attack mode with 28 green vegetables. These are added in alternation to the food proteins and according to a rate which varies with the parameters of the individual’s needs. It lasts until the Right Weight is obtained, the weight ideal for the person calculated according to many parameters.

Consolidation of the weight lasts ten days for each two pounds lost. That’s 50 days for ten pounds. In this phase, fruits are added, as well as cheese, and starches. If all consolidates well, weight is maintained in the period of definitive stabilization. This establishes practices to be included for life, such as a protein only Thursday, to act as a safeguard for the other six days.

Dr. Dukan’s unique format, the personal book, means for the first time his readers are holding a book intended only for them. No two copies of MY WEIGHT BOOK are the same, just as no two readers are the same. Yet all readers can use it to obtain not just weight loss, but weight control for life.

Read more:

• Pierre Dukan’s PROTAL Plan diet
• Pierre Dukan Protal – Nutrition Facts
• Pierre DUKAN, M.D. – new weight loss book Q & A
• The First Customized Diet Book by P. Dukan M.D.
• Pierre Dukan, M.D. – Exclusive Interview

Weight Loss and Diet Q& A:
Pierre Dukan on the “Book of My Weight”

Official site http://www.pierre-dukan.com

Dr. Dukan, could you tell us about your new weight loss program and diet book that you are calling the “Book of My Weight”?
I’d be delighted to. The objective of this book is to give every person who is overweight – a weight loss solution with a scientific analysis outlining the reasons for their excess weight and provide them with a solution and plan to correct it. I want to allow everyone who is overweight a chance of hope. I want to offer everyone who is overweight – something not proposed before. It is a plan to lose weight which includes “The Book of My Weight”, a unique program and analysis that offers each and every unique individual – their best chance for NOT regaining their excess weight back again in the future.I created this system with a team of specialists I assembled just for this purpose. The program and the team focus on each book and each reader. The weight book is central and the reader must fully understand that no one can lose any excess pounds for them. While t is possible to make an individual lose weight artificially by temporarily muzzling them, to really lose weight and to get out of the “fat person” category, a person must “play their own leading role” in the battle of excess weight.

The “Book of My Weight” structure and strategy was conceived, created and produced by a team of experts, “to research, to explain and to give each reader their very own, personal formula and ideal method of losing and maintaining their “Just Weight” permanently”.

• The Book of My Weight sounds like a revolutionary book?

The advent of printing was an incredible revolution. But this novel type of book is the exact reverse. In this regard, it is no longer a case of an author writing for the largest possible audience but that of a team of professionals – writing on a given subject for one sole reader. And today, the subject is overweight.The book consists of 154 questions designed by 32 specialists from weight-related disciplines creating a unique investigative tool. The 154 answers (and their billions of possible combinations) are treated in record time by a powerful computer system that deciphers and analyzes each unique individual’s relationship to their weight.The result is a synthesis that allows for the completion of a graph designed to classify all the interconnected reasons leading to the particular weight of a particular individual. In reference to the genetic code as well as digital-prints, I named this the “WEIGHT CODE”.We use this information as the material to first elaborate an all-out analysis. Then, to compile a guide-book containing everything a person needs to know – to lose weight as quickly as possible with the least amount of frustration and to stabilize to the desired weight as slowly and durably as possible.

Advanced technology, computer science and artificial intelligence are some of the means to reach our goal. We favor affective, emotional, social and psychological relations like the dimension of pleasure and instinct. For example, how does a person deal with or compensate for stress? How do they build self-esteem or self-image and with that, their view of beauty or seduction? It’s important to understand how a person deals with their own history and the way they live the story of their own weight.

• Doctor Dukan, could you explain the “Weight Book Diet Strategy”?

It’s not a diet but rather a global methodology which uses several successive diets. The methodology is composed of the following four phases:1. An attack phase, short and powerful. This can be compared to launching a rocket that in turn, in a few days, obtains the necessary results to deeply reinforce a person’s motivation, or “thrust” so to speak.
2. A cruising phase or orbiting phase, which lasts until the attainment of what I call the Just Weight.
3. Just Weight is different for every person. This weight is the easiest weight to attain and also to maintain. However, if you don’t choose your Just Weight properly, you can spend a lifetime trying to reach it.
4. Then there’s the stabilization phase, the After Weight Loss, which stands firmly at the heart of the battle against weight gain, overweight and obesity.

Until recently, doctors and patients agreed on weight loss objectives. As soon as weight loss was attained, everybody acted like the problem was solved, and now one could just pick up one’s life where it was left off.

That’s all very nice, but after a dieting things are never as they used to be. A body that has lost weight doesn’t forget it and it learns to resist. This means stabilization often requires even more effort when you take up the weight battle again.

• Are you questioning our way of living!

Absolutely! Gaining weight is not a disease.
Gaining weight is a natural way of reacting to an artificial way of living.
Dieting, however, is anti-natural. No animal in the world has ever gone on a diet. Whales sometimes commit suicide collectively by beaching, but no form of life at any given period of time, ever arbitrarily considered reducing its food intake.

The major reasons for excess weight lie in our modern-day lifestyle. Contrary to what one might believe – the price one pays for easy access to comfort, abundance and hyper-consumerism – is a rough, tough and stressful lifestyle, rich in superficial pleasure but poor in natural, vital sources of satisfaction.

In our rich and modern societies we often eat to obtain gratification, to feel pleasure, or to be appeased. We seldom eat to simply nourish ourselves.

• Can you develop this idea more?

Putting food in your mouth, while watching television, are the two best ways to gain weight. One adds fuel to the weight mechanism while the other reduces your energy expenditure.  Many paths that one could choose leading to simple and natural happiness are seemingly obstructed or blocked. We can observe how food, television and games are now being consumed as happiness substitutes.

• Are contemporary foods too rich or fatty? If so, how?

Yes, our bodies are not equipped to support such rich food. 70% of what we eat is industrially produced. Food manufacturers are in a perpetual race to market attractive products that appeal to our palate, which means that they are often too sweet, too greasy and too salty. Our organism, the human body, was originally conceived to survive in a world with a higher degree of scarcity. We are structurally unable to assimilate our current levels of food abundance – which is further combined with the eradication of almost all of our physical effort.

• What diet solution or system you suggest?

First of all, TEMPORARILY LOSING WEIGHT and PERMANENTLY LOSING WEIGHT are two totally different things. Most people, including many health professionals confuse these two topics.You can lose weight by following a diet. Any diet… Even the most extravagant or absurd diet you can find.
But losing weight permanently is an entirely different approach. It also starts off by losing some pounds. But to can talk about weight loss with the condition that the loss was acquired through a durable and healthy solution. This necessitates a phase of rehabilitation and a modification of the causes leading to the weight gain.

It is necessary for the person who has attained their Just Weight to understand this and to act intelligently and accordingly to decrease their chances of gaining weight.

Understanding the difference between these two processes makes it possible for everyone to develop a new strategy. I believe that someone with 40 pounds to lose is like someone who is drowning. You wouldn’t offer swimming lessons to a drowning man. You would pull him out of the water as fast as possible. Then you could take the necessary time to teach him to swim.

So, I repeat:
First, lose weight quickly. Then, find and attain Just Weight and Stabilize slowly – over a long period of time.

To lose weight you need a Backbone, Landmarks, and Reference Points. The only landmarks that make sense are the ones that are in harmony with our species and which emanate from our very origins and our specific manner of feeding ourselves.

In order to do that, we go back to the Genesis. The human lineage follows the great apes’ lineage. But there was an important mutation in our genetic code between, shall we say, the most modern of the great apes and the first humans.

Some of these mutations are connected to eating and feeding. Apes are vegetarians, whereas man is a hunter-gatherer. Or to be more precise, men hunt protein – game, fowl, and fish – while women traditionally gather varieties of vegetables.

To confront obesity, I’m proposing that we get back to a more natural way of eating and feeding ourselves – losing weight by eating protein-rich foods and vegetables.

To succeed with this difficult undertaking, I adapt a nutritional code of conduct to the specific profile of each user, to one’s weight history, heredity, tastes, and physical activity…

Then I add the “six magic words”: EAT AS MUCH AS YOU WANT!

Armed with an array of nutritious, tasty, appealing and satisfying foods – I request and even insist that my patients eat without limitation in regards to quantities, mixes, and schedules.

This is not a promotion gimmick. I honestly think that since everybody only has one stomach – the more it is filled with human food, the less room there is for greasy, salty, fattening artificial foods. So, the more you are able to eat in this manner – the more weight you will be likely to lose.

• Is primitive man the marker you use to locate a human being’s real needs?

Yes, exactly. Original or primitive man is the one that I find the most naturally human. He is the fruit of genetics and of the environment at a precise moment in the evolution of our species, totally pure of any cultural necessity or influence at that period in time,  Nutrition is one of the great issues of our natural life, but only one. The other issues concerning our evolution have had to adapt to successive cultural changes and civilizations too.We live at a time when culture and technology are at the service of mankind. Every woman and every man alive today, has seen the quality of their existence improved, by those who have preceded us. Our needs and aspirations are better satisfied, our illnesses better cured and our lives are more prolonged.But in order to benefit from these gifts, this Manna, the individual has to step back and bow to the society that has made it available. As a result, he must also accept the economic rules of growth. And the artificial necessity to be a better consumer this season than in the season preceding it…But all human being are governed by instinctive and biological needs. And these needs (on condition that they are met and satisfied) are the only ones which truly have power to maintain our biological and psychological balance, the stability of our emotions or put another way, our “happiness and fulfillment”.Consumerism amuses and entertains us and can even give us a kind of a high. But consumption doesn’t have the physiological or cerebral ability to make a person happy. And when a person doesn’t feel happy, “they desperately try to grab a bit of pleasure out of life and get intensely attached to any event that puts some life back inside of them at whatever cost”.Most often the simplest and easiest first gesture consists of putting food in one’s mouth disregarding any future consequences for weight, health or personal well being.

• What about obesity and the future?

I am optimistic. More and more, leaders from many countries are alarmed with the situation. Excess weight is a reliable marker for measuring general wellness and weight increase is a sure sign of difficulties in other areas of life. I believe that more and more voices will speak up, to refuse to accept or allow that the essentials, the “basics of human life” continue to be threatened by the superfluous.Doctors will likely play an increasingly important role in this collective awareness. They are the clinical witnesses to the absurdity and the toxicity of certain modern-day lifestyles. Depression, spasmophilia, anxiety, asthenia, obesity, the use of psychotropic drugs and societal violence – all are loud, clear signals that point to an individual lack of the human essentials. And anti-depressants and tranquilizers won’t treat the core of these problems. They may reduce the collective pain and suffering temporarily but they won’t increase the pleasure or sustainability of living.

• What “Future” do you see for the “Book of My Weight”?

This new approach is radically innovative. The price is quite reasonable for the majority of people who are gaining weight today so the “Book of My Weight” is capable of effectively addressing societal and individual dietary needs. The “Book of My Weight” provides individuals a durable, sustainable weight loss solution and system as well as a proven weight control program and weight loss plan.

• The Book of My Weight – In Closing

I personally feel that the information contained in each and every individuals unique “Weight Book” will provide, (perhaps for the first time since the global appearance of mass obesity), a halt to the systematically unchecked march toward obesity, now occurring in numerous countries throughout the world. Thank you.

Burn the fat, feed the muscle (BFFM) is written by natural (i.e. no steroids) bodybuilder Tom Venuto.

The book contains an valuable information, yet is presented in a very readable style, and is brimming with hard facts, and real-life experience.

UPDATE: Author Tom Venuto now has a “deluxe version” of the program that includes advanced information on the mechanics of muscle building and fat loss.

What’s In Burn the Fat?

It’s all here – eating plans, nutrition, exercise and weight training programs. How to accurately measure and chart your progress, the importance of goal setting. Each with superb background and detail, scientific evidence, and personal experience.

You will refer to the book again, and again, and again – each time finding more information the deeper you look.

What’s refreshing is that it is real ‘no-bull’ information. How many diet books have you read, that were filled with hype, lots of white space, and left you feeling confused?

What is helpful about BFFM is that it does not contain a single ‘prescription’ for weight loss – but provides a baseline for you to keep on adjusting until you get the results you want.

Editor’s Personal Recommendation

“I first read BFFM towards over 2 years – but I still refer to it now. At first it seemed overwhelming – there was so much information. However over time I began to implement more and more of the principles in the book, and actually achieved my own drop in fat (from about 32% down to 19%).

What I liked about the book was that it didn’t claim to be the “breakthrough” diet – but rather provided a baseline to start off at – and enabled me to customize everything until I had something that worked. Essential reading for anyone who wants to burn fat.”

DON’T buy Burn the Fat if you…

…want ‘quick and easy’. This program takes dedication. Like most things that actually succeed, it requires some time investment, and a real commitment to follow the principles in the BFFM book.

And if you haven’t figured out by now — long term fat loss (and muscle gain) is by no means ‘quick and easy’. BUT COMPLETE TRANSFORMATION IS POSSIBLE !! Set your goals high and learn the RIGHT way to burn fat.

Read more about 

Let’s face it, we can only burn so many calories during the time spent training at the gym. In a fat burning program, it is very important to pay attention to the time that you spend away from the gym; the other 23 hours during the day. Is your body using that time to burn calories or store calories?

The main reason people are overweight is because their basal metabolic rate (BMR) is lower than it should be. BMR is the rate at which your body burns calories to perform its normal functions of digestion, circulation, breathing, etc. This means that they burn fewer calories 24 hours a day. Obviously, over a period of months, this adds up to stored fat.

Read more about metabolism and fat burning blog of Tom Venuto – renown nutritionist and fitness trainer; author of the book – “Burn The Fat and Feed the Muscle“.

Here are some ways to increase your metabolism so that your body burns calories all day and night long…

• Eat smaller, more frequent meals. Don’t starve yourself! This is an inevitable path to losing lean muscle tissue, which is responsible for burning calories. The more muscle you have, the stronger your metabolism will be, and thus the more calories you will burn throughout the day. That’s why some people who are quite lean and muscular can eat and eat and eat, without gaining bodyfat.
• Performing moderate to high intensity resistance training and high intensity interval training (HIIT) will build the muscle needed to strengthen your metabolism. A common result of performing HIIT is that your body will be on a metabolism “high” for hours after your training session, making calorie burning easier than ever.
• Eat whole, nutrient dense foods. Whole foods are called “nutrient dense” because we don’t need to eat as much of them (less calories!), yet they contain more useful nutrition – and they require more energy to digest which means more calories burned.
• Look for ways to be active. Park as far from the store as you can rather than looking for the closest parking spot. Use the stairs rather than the elevator, etc. Look for the “hard” way to do things!

Read more about dieting tips and what is important about dieting in general – nutrition facts and how calories from different resource are treated.

Overweight refers to an excess of body weight, but not necessarily body fat. Obesity means an excessively high proportion of body fat. Health professionals use a measurement called body mass index (BMI) to classify an adult’s weight as healthy, overweight, or obese. BMI describes body weight relative to height and is correlated with total body fat content in most adults.

To get your approximate BMI, multiply your weight in pounds by 703, then divide the result by your height in inches, and divide that result by your height in inches a second time. (Or you can use our interactive BMI calculator at here.)

A BMI from 18.5 up to 25 is considered in the healthy range, from 25 up to 30 is overweight, and 30 or higher is obese. Generally, the higher a person’s BMI, the greater the risk for health problems, according to the National Heart, Lung and Blood Institute (NHLBI). However, there are some exceptions. For example, very muscular people, like body builders, may have a BMI greater than 25 or even 30, but this reflects increased muscle rather than fat. “It is excess body fat that leads to the health problems such as type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, and high cholesterol,” says Eric Colman, M.D., of the FDA’s Division of Metabolic and Endocrine Drug Products.

In addition to a high BMI, having excess abdominal body fat is a health risk. Men with a waist of more than 40 inches around and women with a waist of 35 inches or more are at risk for health problems.

Obesity, once thought by many to be a moral failing, is now often classified as a disease. The NHLBI calls it a complex chronic disease involving social, behavioral, cultural, physiological, metabolic, and genetic factors. Although experts may have different theories on how and why people become overweight, they generally agree that the key to losing weight is a simple message: Eat less and move more. Your body needs to burn more calories than you take in.

The BMI ranges shown at left are for adults. They are not exact ranges of healthy and unhealthy weights. However, they show that health risk increases at higher levels of overweight and obesity. Even within the healthy BMI range, weight gains can carry health risks for adults.

Directions: Find your weight on the bottom of the graph. Go straight up from that point until you come to the line that matches your height. Then look to find your weight group.

Healthy Weight: BMI from 18.5 up to 25 refers to healthy weight.

Overweight: BMI from 25 up to 30 refers to overweight.

Obese: BMI 30 or higher refers to obesity. Obese persons are also overweight.

Successful ‘Losers’

Although many people who lose weight may eventually gain it back, it’s a myth that this happens to everyone, says Rena Wing, Ph.D., a professor of psychiatry at Brown Medical School in Providence, R.I. Wing, the co-developer of a research study known as the National Weight Control Registry, has worked to deflate this myth.

Tucked away in the registry’s database is information about the weight-control behaviors of more than 3,000 American adults who have lost an average of 60 pounds and have kept it off for an average of six years.

How do they do it?

These successful weight losers report four common behaviors, says Wing. They eat a low-calorie, low-fat diet, they monitor themselves by weighing in frequently, they are very physically active, and they eat breakfast. Eating breakfast every day is contrary to the typical pattern for the average overweight person who is trying to diet, says Wing. “They get up in the morning and say ‘I’m going to start my diet today,’ and they eat little or no breakfast and a light lunch. Then they get hungry and consume most of their calories late in the day. Successful weight losers have managed to change this pattern.”

Six years after their weight loss, most of the registry’s successful losers still report eating a low-calorie, low-fat diet. They also exercise for about an hour or more a day, expending about 2,800 calories per week on a variety of activities.

Wing also reports that more than 70 percent of the registry’s weight losers became overweight before age 18.

Although Barbara Croft of Columbus, Ohio, was not an overweight child, she gained weight once she left home and started cooking for herself. Replacing the plain and simple meals she had as a child with pizza, sodas, and meat and vegetables laden with sauces, the 5-foot-5-inch Croft worked her way up to 350 pounds. “I always ate from all the food groups–I just ate huge portions and I ate in between meals,” says Croft.

When she was diagnosed with type 2 diabetes in February 1999, Croft got scared. “I worried about the health consequences–about going blind. I already have a little numbness in my feet.”

Croft went on a diet and lost 200 pounds in 19 months. She has continued to keep it off for more than three years. “This is the third time I’ve lost over 100 pounds,” says the 52-year-old, 150-pound Croft, “but this is the longest I’ve been able to keep the weight off.” In her two previous weight losses, Croft ate nutritious meals, but didn’t exercise. This time, she started walking for exercise, but could only walk about a block at first. “My husband went with me because he was afraid I wouldn’t make it,” she says. Now, Croft walks on a treadmill for 50 minutes a day–25 minutes each morning and night.

She still eats balanced meals, but restricts her portions. And she always eats breakfast. “I have Egg Beaters, two pieces of low-calorie bread, fruit, decaf coffee, and 8 ounces of water.” Croft dines out almost every night, typically eating half her dinner of grilled chicken or salmon and a vegetable or salad. She sends the other half back so she isn’t tempted to overeat.

“Losing the weight was easy–maintaining it is much harder,” says Croft.

Croft had tried commercial weight-loss programs in the past, but this last time she did it on her own. “You have to find out what works for you,” she says.

Croft’s diabetes is under control now without medication. And she says her knees don’t hurt anymore, she can buy clothes in a regular store, and she started traveling again now that she can fit into an airplane seat.

Setting a Goal

The first step to weight loss is setting a realistic goal. By using a BMI chart and consulting with your health care provider, you can determine what is a healthy weight for you.

Studies show that you can improve your health with just a small amount of weight loss. “We know that physical activity in combination with reduced calorie consumption can lead to the 5 to 10 percent weight loss necessary to achieve remission of the obesity-associated complications,” says William Dietz, M.D., Ph.D., director of the Division of Nutrition and Physical Activity at the CDC. “Even these moderate weight losses can improve blood pressure and help control diabetes and high cholesterol in obese or overweight adults.”

To reach your goal safely, plan to lose weight gradually. A weight loss of one-half to two pounds a week is usually safe, according to the Dietary Guidelines for Americans 2000. This can be achieved by decreasing the calories eaten or increasing the calories used by 250 to 1,000 calories per day, depending on current calorie intake. (Some people with serious health problems due to obesity may lose weight more rapidly under a doctor’s supervision.) If you plan to lose more than 15 to 20 pounds, have any health problems, or take medication on a regular basis, see your health care professional before you begin a weight-loss program.

Changing Eating Habits

Dieting may conjure up visions of eating little but lettuce and sprouts–but you can enjoy all foods as part of a healthy diet as long as you don’t overdo it. To be successful at losing weight, you need to change your lifestyle–not just go on a diet, experts say. This requires cutting back on the number of calories you eat by eating smaller amounts of foods and choosing foods lower in calories. It also means being more physically active.

Consider limiting portion sizes, especially of foods high in calories, such as cookies, cakes and other sweets; fried foods, like fried chicken and french fries; and fats, oils, and spreads. Reducing dietary fat alone–without reducing calories–will not produce weight loss, according to the NHLBI’s guidelines on treating overweight and obesity in adults.

Use the Food Guide Pyramid developed by the U.S. Department of Agriculture and HHS to help you choose a healthful assortment of foods. Include bright-colored (red, yellow, green, and orange) vegetables and fruits, grains (especially whole grains), low-fat or fat-free milk, and fish, lean meat, poultry, or beans. Choose foods naturally high in fiber, such as fruits, vegetables, legumes (such as beans and lentils), and whole grains. The high fiber content of many of these foods may help you to feel full with fewer calories. To be sure that a food is whole grain, check the ingredient list on the food label–the first ingredient should be whole wheat or whole grain.

All calorie sources are not created equal. Carbohydrate and protein have about four calories per gram, but all fats, including oils like olive and canola oil, have more than twice that amount (nine calories per gram).

Keep your intake of saturated fat, trans fat, and cholesterol as low as possible. All of these fats raise LDL (or “bad

cholesterol”), which increases your risk for coronary heart disease. Foods high in saturated fats include high-fat dairy products (like cheese, whole milk, cream, butter, and regular ice cream), fatty fresh and processed meats, the skin and fat of poultry, lard, palm oil, and coconut oil. Trans fat can often be found in processed foods made with partially hydrogenated vegetable oils such as vegetable shortenings, some margarines (for example, stick margarines that are hard), crackers, cookies, candies, snack foods, fried foods and baked goods.

If you drink alcoholic beverages, do so in moderation (no more than one drink a day for women, and no more than two drinks a day for men). Alcoholic beverages supply calories but few nutrients. A 12-ounce regular beer contains about 150 calories, a 5-ounce glass of wine about 100 calories, and 1.5 ounces of 80-proof distilled spirits about 100 calories.

Limit your use of beverages and foods that are high in added sugars–those added to foods in processing or preparation, not the naturally occurring sugars in foods such as fruit or milk. Foods high in added sugars provide calories, but may have few of the other beneficial nutrients, such as fiber, vitamins, and minerals, that your body needs. A food high in added sugars will list a sugar as the first or second ingredient on the ingredient list. Some examples of added sugars are corn syrup, high fructose corn syrup, maltose, dextrose, honey, fruit juice concentrates, and maple syrup. In the United States, foods high in added sugars include non-diet soft drinks, sweetened beverages, including teas, fruit drinks, and fruitades, sweets and candies, and cakes and cookies.

Using the Food Label

Under regulations from the FDA and the U. S. Department of Agriculture, the food label, found on almost all processed foods, offers more complete, useful and accurate nutrition information than ever before. Even when restricting calories and portions, you should use the Nutrition Facts panel on the food label to make sure you get all the essential nutrients for good health.

When concerned about reducing calories or controlling your weight, one of the first places you should look on the Nutrition Facts panel is the serving size and the number of servings per package, which are listed at the top. The serving size affects the calories, the amounts of each nutrient, and the percent Daily Values (%DV) for the nutrients listed on the panel.

“To be sure you know how many calories you’re consuming, you need to compare what you are actually eating to the serving size on the label,” says Naomi Kulakow, coordinator for education and outreach in the FDA’s Center for Food Safety and Applied Nutrition. For example, if there is one cup in a serving and the package contains two servings, you need to double the calories and other nutrient numbers if you eat the whole package. Many items sold as single portions–like a 20-ounce soft drink, a 3-ounce bag of chips, and a large bagel–actually provide two or more servings.

In addition to calories and serving sizes, there are other parts of the Nutrition Facts panel, such as the list of nutrients, that can help you make healthy food choices while you lose weight. The nutrients listed first are the ones that some people eat more of than they need. Eating too much fat, saturated fat, trans fat, cholesterol, or sodium may increase your risk for chronic diseases like heart disease, diabetes, some cancers, or high blood pressure. “These are nutrients you should try to limit in your diet,” says Kulakow. “The goal is to stay below 100 percent of the Daily Value for each of them for the day.”

The Nutrition Facts panel also shows how much dietary fiber, vitamin A, vitamin C, calcium, and iron are contained in a serving. These are the nutrients you want to get at least 100 percent of the Daily Value every day for good health.

The %DV is the quickest way to determine how a serving of food fits in with recommendations for a healthful diet, says Kulakow. To tell if a food is high or low in a nutrient, “just glance at the %DV–5 percent of the Daily Value or less is low, and 20 percent or more is high,” she says.

You can also use the %DV to compare similar products or to help you balance food choices throughout the day. “For example, if you eat a favorite food that’s high in fat at one meal, balance it with low-fat foods at other times of the day,” says Kulakow. Or use the %DV when comparing foods and claims, for example, to find out which frozen dinner is lower in saturated fat–particularly when it involves a comparative nutrient claim, such as reduced-fat. “You don’t need to know the precise definition of ‘low’ or ‘reduced,’” says Kulakow. “Just look at the Percent Daily Value and see which product is higher or lower in the nutrient you are interested in.”

The %DVs are based on a 2,000-calorie daily diet. But even if you eat more or less than 2,000 calories, the %DV still gives you a frame of reference to gauge your calorie and nutrient intake.

“Too often, people use the food label only when they want to restrict calories and fat–but not as a tool to help them increase the nutrients they need to get in adequate or greater amounts,” says Kulakow. While restricting calories is important for weight loss, getting adequate amounts of fiber, calcium, and other key nutrients is also critical to good health.

Kulakow advises caution when choosing foods that are labeled “fat-free” and “low-fat.” Fat-free doesn’t mean calorie-free. To make a food tastier, sometimes extra sugars are added, which adds calories. So dieters should always check the Nutrition Facts panel to get complete information, says Kulakow.

Read more about Nutrition facts.

Increasing Physical Activity

Most health experts recommend a combination of a reduced-calorie diet and increased physical activity for weight loss.

In addition to helping to control weight, physical activity decreases the risk of dying from coronary heart disease and reduces the risk of developing diabetes, hypertension, and certain cancers. Researchers also have found that daily physical activity may help a person lose weight by partially lessening the slow-down in metabolism that occurs during weight loss.

Exercise does not have to be strenuous to be beneficial. And some studies show that short sessions of exercise several times a day are just as effective at burning calories and improving health as one long session.

To lose weight and to maintain a healthy weight after weight loss, many adults will likely need to do more than 30 minutes of moderate to intensive physical activity daily.

Prescription Weight-Loss Drugs

For obese people who have difficulty losing weight through diet and exercise alone, there are a number of FDA-approved prescription drugs that may help. “On average, individuals who use weight-loss drugs lose about 5 percent to 10 percent of their original weight, though some will lose less and some more,” says the FDA’s Colman.

All of the prescription weight-loss drugs work by suppressing the appetite except for Xenical (orlistat). Approved by the FDA in 1999, Xenical is the first in a new class of anti-obesity drugs known as lipase inhibitors. Lipase is the enzyme that breaks down dietary fat for use by the body. Xenical interferes with lipase function, decreasing dietary fat absorption by 30 percent. Because the undigested fats are not absorbed, fewer calories are available to the body. This may help in controlling weight. The main side effects of Xenical are cramping, diarrhea, flatulence, intestinal discomfort, and leakage of oily stool.

Meridia (sibutramine), approved by the FDA in 1997, increases the levels of certain brain chemicals that help reduce appetite. Because it may increase blood pressure and heart rate, Meridia should not be used by people with uncontrolled high blood pressure, a history of heart disease, congestive heart failure, irregular heartbeat, or stroke. Other common side effects of Meridia include headache, dry mouth, constipation and insomnia.

Other anti-obesity prescription drugs that were approved by the FDA many years ago based on very short-term, limited data include: Bontril (phendimetrazine tartrate), Desoxyn (methamphetamine) and Ionamin and Adipex-P (phentermine). They are “speed”-like drugs that should not be used by people with heart disease, high blood pressure, an overactive thyroid gland, or glaucoma. These drugs are approved only for short-term use, such as a few weeks.

“There is no magic pill for obesity,” says David Orloff, M.D., director of the FDA’s Division of Metabolic and Endocrine Drug Products. “The best effect you’re going to get is with a concerted long-term regimen of diet and exercise. If you choose to take a drug along with this effort, it may provide additional help.”

Prescription weight-loss drugs are approved only for those with a BMI of 30 and above, or 27 and above if they have other risk factors, such as high blood pressure or diabetes.

People should contact a doctor before using any kind of drug, including a weight-loss drug.

Over-the-Counter Drugs

Until recently, weight-control drugs containing the active ingredient phenylpropanolamine (also used as a nasal decongestant) were available over-the-counter (OTC). However, based on evidence linking this ingredient to an increased risk of bleeding in the brain (hemorrhagic stroke), the FDA asked drug manufacturers to discontinue marketing products containing phenylpropanolamine. In addition, the FDA issued a public health advisory in November 2000, warning consumers to stop using products containing this ingredient.

The FDA is proposing to classify phenylpropanolamine as “not generally recognized as safe” and is proceeding with regulatory actions that will likely remove this ingredient from the market. Although cough-cold products were reformulated using other nasal decongestant ingredients, there is no currently available active ingredient that is generally recognized as safe and effective for use in an OTC weight-control drug product.

Beware of Unproven Claims

Some dietary supplement makers claim their products work for weight loss. These products are not approved by the FDA before they are marketed. Under existing laws, manufacturers have the responsibility for ensuring that their dietary supplement products are safe and effective.

Many weight-loss products claim to be “natural” or “herbal,” but this does not necessarily mean that they’re safe. These ingredients may interact with drugs or may be dangerous for people with certain medical conditions. If you are unsure about a product’s claims or the safety of any weight-loss product, check with your doctor before using it.

Worth the Effort

“Losing weight requires major lifestyle changes, including diet and nutrition, exercise, behavior modification, and–when appropriate–intervention with drug therapy,” says Judith S. Stern, Sc.D., professor of nutrition and internal medicine at the University of California, Davis, and vice president of the American Obesity Association. “But it is always worth making the effort to improve your health.”

Few weeks ago I read an article about quick weight loss; I read it twice then I went to get a coffee. When I came back – I read it once more. Why did I read it three times?

“Articles, books, adds about dieting…”

What I saw inside was indeed related to dieting and weight loss. It also contained links to various articles concerning weight loss, fitness and general wellness programs as expected. The fact that infuriated me and made me write this post was that everything inside was said to be easy and free: free dieting, free weight loss programs, easy way to lose fat, east way to get fit and be healthy and it went on and on.

“Real knowledge – the key to dieting success”

Judging for my dieting experiences so far – it was never easy, never! Long ago I lost track of the number of diets, weight loss programs and fitness regimes that I have tried. Every time I did one these …programs, it took away something from me.

My frustration made me recall many of the diets I did – my failures or successes and how I understood the truth about things. Don’t get me wrong – there is no universal truth; you need to find out your own – your own truth about your way of eating, your way to stay healthy, to be thin, slim, fit and all that.

“How can I stay fit? How can I lose weight? How can stay fit always?

At that point the right question is “how”. The answer to it is as simple as it gets. The only important thing is that the answer is different to different people.

My answer to the “how” was trial and error. That is “how” I did it, how I lost 22 kg and become the man closest to the one I saw in my mind’s eye.

It was not easy – everything else but easy! And the fact is you all know how it is done. You have the knowledge for it

How to do it?

1. First – find your healthy food – which foods are healthy for you, what agrees with your body and what does notI used combination to find out which foods are most suited. In simple words what agrees with body and what does not. Then I cut off the bad foods from my diet. By the way, now there is a blood test that can give you the results more quickly than me.
2. Second – eat more often. The second step was to break your eating in at least 4 times a day. That was the most difficult part for me. For years I was used to eat one or two times a day (rarely three). And I ate in huge quantities with full disregard for quality.
3. Third - exercise. We are meant to move. Walk if you cannot do anything else. The fitness is important. Exercise makes you feel more alive, grants you better sleep at night and more stamina during the day.

To be continued…

The pace of life gets faster and faster, and people try to cram more and more into every minute of the day. As things get more hectic, sleep tends to get short shrift. It’s seen as wasted time, lost forever.

“For healthy people, there’s a big temptation to voluntarily restrict sleep, to stay up an hour or two or get up an hour or two earlier,” said Dr. Greg Belenky, director of the Sleep and Performance Research Center at Washington State University Spokane.

“But you’re really reducing your productivity and exposing yourself to risk,” Belenky added.

That’s a message doctors are trying to spread to Americans, including the estimated 40 million people who struggle with some type of sleep disorder each year.

History

Before Thomas Edison invented the light bulb in 1880, people slept an average of 10 hours a night. These days, Americans average 6.9 hours of sleep on weeknights and 7.5 hours a night on weekends, according to the National Sleep Foundation.

What experts say

“The group of people getting optimal sleep is getting smaller and smaller,” said Dr. Chris Drake, senior scientist at the Henry Ford Hospital Sleep Disorders and Research Center in Detroit. “When a person’s sleep drops to six hours or less, that’s when a lot of things become very problematic.”

While experts recommend seven to eight hours of sleep each night, the amount needed for an individual can vary.

But lack of sleep affects a person in one of two ways, Belenky said. First, sleeplessness influences the day-to-day performance of tasks.

“The performance effects are seen immediately,“ he said. “You short-change yourself of sleep, and you see the effects immediately. You can make a bad decision. You can miss something. Have a moment’s inattention, and you’re off the road.”

The longer-term effects of sleep deprivation involve a person’s health. Doctors have linked lack of sleep to weight gain, diabetes, high blood pressure, heart problems, depression and substance abuse.

“Hormones that process appetite begin to get disorganized,” said Drake, who’s also an assistant professor of psychiatry and behavioral neuroscience at the Wayne State University School of Medicine. There’s a decrease in the amount of leptin, an appetite-suppressing hormone, when a person gets too little sleep. At the same time, ghrelin — a hormone that stimulates appetite — increases with a lack of sleep.

Too little sleep also interferes with the body’s ability to regulate glucose and can cause inflammation leading to heart problems and a rise in blood pressure. “There’s a stress response to being in a sleep loss,” Belenky said.

The types of people not getting enough sleep also break down into two groups. First, there are those who make the conscious choice to go without enough sleep.

“It’s sort of part of the culture,” Belenky said. “People pride themselves on getting little sleep. You’ll hear people bragging, ‘I only need six hours a night.’ So there’s a macho element here.”

On the other hand, there are people who are suffering from sleep disorders. These disorders include:

• Insomnia, an inability to go to sleep or stay asleep.
• Sleep apnea, or breathing interruptions during sleep that cause people to wake up repeatedly.
• Restless legs syndrome, a tingling or prickly sensation in the legs that causes a person to need to move them, interrupting sleep.

Someone suffering from any of these problems should visit their doctor or see a sleep specialist, Belenky said.

Sleep apnea, the most prevalent sleep disorder, can have particularly serious long-term effects if left untreated. “You’re waking up out of sleep to breathe. You can’t sleep and breathe at the same time,” Drake said. “It’s a risk factor for developing major cardiovascular health effects.”

Some people who have trouble sleeping will resort to mild sedatives like Ambien and Lunesta.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration recently asked the makers of these sedative-hypnotic drugs to strengthen their warning labels. This action followed reports of dangerous allergic reactions, as well as a host of bizarre behavioral side effects that include sleep-driving, making phone calls, and preparing and eating food or having sex while asleep.

Drake and Belenky both consider sleeping pills to be fine for the short term if taken properly.

“Sleeping pills are a temporary solution,” Belenky said. “If you’re upset about something or have situational insomnia, or you’re trying to sleep at the wrong time of day because you’ve traveled across time zones, they are effective.”

But, both doctors noted the pills will do nothing to help a chronic sleep problem. “They don’t address the pathology of their sleeplessness,” Drake said.

Tips and tricks

The U.S. National Institutes of Health offers these tips for getting a good night’s sleep:

• Stick to a regular sleep schedule.
• Avoid exercising closer than five or six hours before bedtime.
• Avoid caffeine, nicotine and alcohol before bed.
• Avoid large meals and beverages late at night.
• Don’t take naps after 3 p.m.
• Relax before bed, taking time to unwind with a hot bath, a good book or soothing music.
• If you’re still awake after more than 20 minutes in bed, get up and do something relaxing until you feel sleepy. Anxiety over not being able to sleep can make it harder to fall asleep.

More information

To learn more, visit the National Sleep Foundation.

Indeed, it has been proven that 100 calories coming from sugar, oil or seafood are not treated the same by our bodies. Calories are coming from 3 distinct nutriments.

Carbohydrates

Refined sugars and its pairs, sweets, candies… are almost pure carbohydrates, rich and quickly assimilated by our bodies. Starches, even if they don’t taste as sugary, are extremely rich in carbohydrates. Starches includes breads, crackers, cereals, pasta, potatoes, lentils, beans… Bananas, grapes and cherries are among the fruits with the most carbohydrates. Obviously wine and all alcohols are not your friends there.
Carbohydrates provide 4 calories per grams directly assimilated.

Lipids

Lipids are definitely your enemies. There are 2 main sources of lipids: animal and vegetal. You’ll find them typically in their almost pure stage in delicatessens, pate, sausages and so on, but also in the meat, like lamb, goose and duck. Beef is normally way leaner. Vegetal lipids are mainly found in oils (olive, sunflowers, peanuts etc).
Lipids provide 9 calories per grams that get assimilated slightly slower than carbohydrates.

Proteins

Proteins are mainly coming from animals and most specifically their meat. Horse meat contains the most protein. Beef meat, although slightly fattier, are extremely good sources of proteins. Again, lamb, pork, goose and duck have too much lipids to be considered a good source of protein. All the seafood, fishes, shrimp, crab, scallops are very lean and with a good amount of proteins. Eggs are good although, ideally, you should eat only the white…yuck
Proteins provide 4 calories per grams that get assimilated very slowly (at least 3 hours).

Let’s do some maths

Because of the protein molecules size, our body needs to spend some energy to digest them. Typically, to extract 100 calories out of proteins, our body has to spend 30 calories (vs 12 calories for the lipids and 7 calories for the carbohydrates). Also, take into consideration that only 50% of the proteins are really assimilable, the rest is pure waste. So a 100g beef steak will provide only 200 calories (100g * 4 cal * 50%) that will require 60 calories to get assimilated…hence your net calories intake will be only 140 calories….which is the equivalent of a spoon of olive oil that we’re pouring so easily onto our salads…

Calories intakes (100g)
Calories assimilated (100g)
Calories diet efficiency (100g)

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