Exercise and the South Beach Diet

Image via Wikipedia

Although the South Beach Diet is one of the easiest ways to safely lose weight fast, there is a case to be made for adding exercise to your regime to enhance your results.

If you are like me, I hate going to the gym to exercise but studies show that those who sustain weight loss over time are those who exercise regularly. The benefit of exercise is that it helps you feel better, and exercise is shown to prevent heart and other disease to help you live longer.

So how do I incorporate exercise into my weight loss program?

The founder of the South Beach Diet, Dr. Agatston recommends interval and core body training. Studies show that you can burn more calories in 20 minutes of interval walking than by walking continuously for 1 hour.

Agatston claims interval training will speed up metabolism, increase the rate of weight loss and improve your general health. He states that interval training allows dieters to achieve maximum results with a minimum time commitment.

Interval training is simply alternating periods of high intensity exercise with periods of recovery. The easiest forms of interval training can be done at home or outdoors. No need to go to a gym. You can do interval training on a bike or treadmill or during a swim. Dr Agatston's first choice for interval training is walking as it is available to everyone and no equipment or machines are required.

So instead of walking at a continuous pace for say an hour, you would change things up by alternating short bursts of intense walking for say a minute followed by a recovery period with slower walking after each intense period. Just keep alternating for 20 minutes to start and add time as you become more fit. You can use interval training with all phases of the South Beach Diet to enhance your results.

Also when you do any form of exercise it is strongly recommended that you drink lots of water before during and after to keep your body properly hydrated.

This type of interval training is not only for the very fit, it is also very good for those of us who have never exercised before. If this is you just remember to go at a very easy pace until you feel confident moving forward with more intense sessions. This type of training is used to get cardiac patients back in shape so just about anybody can do this.

For maximum results you should alternate days of cardio and core exercises because if you try to do both on the same day, you may suffer muscle fatigue.

The online version of the South Beach Diet and the books outline more cardio and core specific exercise programs that have proven results if you are interested.

A word of caution: Consult with your doctor before you embark on a new exercise program especially if you have been inactive at all.

Richard Gibb is the owner of http://www.southbeachdietexposed.com/onlinediet.html Source of Southbeach Diet Phase One and Two information, plans and tips

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Rick_Gibb 

Related articles

• South Beach Diet Review (justslimming.com)
• Diet Books for UK Dieters (justslimming.com)
• Exercises for Male Breast Reduction (brighthub.com)
• Steve Joyce: Baby Boomer Weight Got You Singing the Blues? Check Out the Yum Recipes in South Beach Diet Phase 1! | SandwichINK.com (sandwichink.com)
• Not All Weight Loss Programs Suck (healthlifestyleforever.com)
• How to Burn the Most Fat During Your Workout (brighthub.com)
• Diet Recipes for Healthy Living (justslimming.com)
• In exercise, go fast, easy, slow (healthsass.blogspot.com)
• Could You Live on the 'Jennifer Aniston Diet?' (abcnews.go.com)
• How to Plan a Stationary Bike Exercise Program (brighthub.com)

South Beach Diet Plan Review

Image by Ed Yourdon via Flickr

The South Beach Diet was created by Dr. Arthur Agatson who is a cardiologist. The initial goal of the diet was to create a way for his heart patients to lower their blood pressure, and to stave off heart disease. He created a diet that was intended to not only purify the blood for heart patients, but to also lower insulin levels in the blood. A side effect of this diet, or way of living is that patients blood sugar stabilized, they didn't have raging hunger cycles, and they ate healthier foods. Therefore, they lost weight.

The diet wasn't created to be a diet per se, but a new way of life. Most people think of the word "diet" as referring to a way of losing weight. In the medical community, the word "diet" refers the food that you take into your body, whether you lose weight or not. With this in mind, the South Beach Diet aims to keep one's sugar levels from spiking up and down, and this creating the cycle of hunger. It also aims to create healthy blood for your heart by encouraging a diet of low glycemic fruits, vegetables, lean meats, and fish. There are three stages to the diet. Here's a look at all 3 stages.

The first stage is the most brutal. This is the detox stage. You will have to stop eating all refined sugars. You actually won't be able to eat natural sugars either. The only sweetener you can have is Splenda, or Splenda like blends. You can't have grains either. No bread, rice, or pasta. You can only eat meat, low glycemic fruits and vegetables, dairy products, nuts, and sugar free snacks. You may drink tea, coffee, water, and sugar free drinks as well. This is actually not bad, although your first few days, especially if you ate crappy before, you might feel grumpy or anxious. However, you will lose weight, almost on a daily basis. A lot of this will be water weight, so drink lots of water. You might feel that you will die without sugar. However, if you make it past this phase, and you eat something with sugar, you will gag. You will be detoxed of sugar, and you will find the junk you loved before repulsive if you eat it.

The second phase introduces grains back, along with unrefined sweeteners such as honey. If you can survive phase one, phase two will be a breeze. You will eat meals with whole grain pastas, and brown rice. The best part is that you will be amazed at the delicious meals that you will fix that are tasty and good for you. By the way, you will be amazed at how much food you will eat, and still lose weight. This diet isn't based on calorie restriction. You eat until you are full. However, because you aren't having the sugar spikes, you won't be so hungry. Then you will find that you will naturally eat a little less. Plus, because you will eat 3 meals, plus two appetizer sized snacks, you won't have the opportunity to get hungry. You might even giggle with glee at being able to eat, and still lose weight.

The third phase is the maintenance phase. You will be able to sneak in some of the old stuff if you want to. But you'll stick to the main diet. You might love the way you look and feel, and not want to stop the diet. The South Beach Diet does work if it's followed correctly. However, if you stop it, you'll gain the weight back. It's in your best interest to read all literature related to the diet. There have been some food changes since it was created 10 years ago. But it would be worth your while to give this diet a try.

Ready for a new and improved you? To learn more about the South Beach Diet visit our website. There you'll find detailed information about many diets including the Nutrisystem diet program.

Article Source: http://EzineArticles.com/?expert=Dorthy_Weatherbush

Related articles

• South Beach Diet Review (justslimming.com)
• Could You Live on the 'Jennifer Aniston Diet?' (abcnews.go.com)
• Diet Books for UK Dieters (justslimming.com)
• Not All Weight Loss Programs Suck (healthlifestyleforever.com)
• Steve Joyce: Baby Boomer Weight Got You Singing the Blues? Check Out the Yum Recipes in South Beach Diet Phase 1! | SandwichINK.com (sandwichink.com)
• Who Else Has Stopped Buying Diet Books? (diet-blog.com)
• Weight Loss: How I Finally Lost Those Last 10 Pounds (blogher.com)
• Food Choices for Low Carb Diets (justslimming.com)
• Medifast Coupon (chris.pirillo.com)
• How Safe is the Cambridge Diet Plan (justslimming.com)

The Atkins Low Carb Nutritional Principles

Image via Wikipedia The Atkins low carb diet is one of the hottest diet fads in the world today. Just like the South Beach Diet, the Atkins low carb diet also swept many parts of the world through the introduction of its function and contributions to the diet industry. So today, it is no doubt that the Atkins low carb diet is acclaimed for its popularity and the great health benefits that it gives to the people. 

However, for those who are not really aware about the Atkins low carb diet, here are some of the Atkins low carb nutritional principles that are vital for the formation of the core of the Atkins low carb nutritional approach. It is also interesting to know that these Atkins low carb principles are supported by a solid foundation of medical and nutritional scientific research. 

Essentially, the first nutritional principle of the Atkins low carb approach is to lose weight. This is the primary reason that both men and women follow the Atkins low carb plan. With this principle, it is noted that many people who have followed the Atkins low carb approach to weight loss readily take off inches and pounds. And it is though nice to know that for those who have truly hard-core metabolic resistance to weight loss, the Atkins low carb plan has offered many ways to surpass the barriers that hinder a successful diet result. 

Secondly, the Atkins low carb plan is intended for the people to maintain their weight loss. With this principle, the Atkins low carb nutritional approach leaves most other weight control programs in the dust. Since hunger is considered to be one of the expected consequences for dieting, with this second principle, the Atkins low carb plan refuses to welcome hunger as a way of life. It is in fact noted those who follow the Atkins low carb plan eventually find their effective individual range of carbohydrate intake, which is then considered as the tool that grants the dieters to maintain a healthy weight for the rest of their lives. 

Finally, the last principle of this diet holds that those who follow the diet program will attain good health. With the Atkins low carb plan, many dieters have noted that the change is amazing. Perhaps, it is for the reason that in this diet you will meet your nutritional needs by taking healthy, wholesome foods and eliminating junk foods to your diet. As an outcome, you will then notice the pounds being lost from your body. People who follow this diet plan start feeling good long before they reach their weight loss goals. The Atkins low carb nutritional principle is then goes as simple as that.

Related articles

• Atkins Diet:Do or Avoid? (justslimming.com)
• The New Improved Atkins Diet: The Eco-Atkins diet (fyiliving.com)
• Low carb diets for beginners (justslimming.com)
• Food Choices for Low Carb Diets (justslimming.com)
• 'Livin' La Vida Low-Carb Show' Episode 404: T.L. Hines Beats Lymphoma, Rebecca Latham Uses Low-Carb For 'Better Health' (livinlavidalowcarb.com)
• Top 10 Low-Carb Movers & Shakers Of 2010 (livinlavidalowcarb.com)
• 'Livin' La Vida Low-Carb Show' Episode 389: Registered Nurse Jackie Eberstein Busts The Lingering Atkins Myths (livinlavidalowcarb.com)
• An Updated Guide for Low-Carb Dieters (well.blogs.nytimes.com)
• Atkins Diet Used in a Study That Found Low-Carb Diets Improved Heart Health as Reported in Annals of Internal Medicine (prnewswire.com)
• Vital Signs: Nutrition: Risky Additions to a Low-Carb Diet (nytimes.com)