Diet Tips for Women on the Move

Staying on your diet can be a challenge for anyone, but for a busy working mom the challenges can be especially tough. A busy lifestyle can make it impossible to get to the gym for a daily workout, prepare your meals ahead of time, or even to remember to pack your lunch for work each day. Being in a rush can make it difficult to stick to your diet when it’s so easy to grab something at the drivethrough. Here’s a collection of hints and tips from other busy women that will help you stay on your diet despite all the temptations.

Don’t try to ’save time’ by eating on the run, or snacking at your desk while you work. No matter how rushed you are, take the time to eat like a civilized human being, to quote my mother. Set the table, put your food on a plate and have a meal. You’ll eat less and feel fuller – and not feel the urge to snack because you ‘haven’t eaten anything all day’.

Cook just what will be eaten. Ignore all those homemaker articles that suggest that you ‘cook for tomorrow’ to save time. Cook one portion per person at each meal. That way you’ll avoid the temptation to finish off the leftover – and teach your family healthy eating habits.

Get up early enough to eat breakfast at home. The morning rush to get ready may make it tempting to grab something on the way to work, or skip breakfast entirely. Don’t do it. You’ll end up eating up all that saved time – and a lot more calories – with midmorning trips to the snack machine, or fight off the blahs all morning long. Stock up on easy breakfast foods. A piece of fruit, a container of yogurt and a slice of toast are a healthy, balanced start for your day.

Most diets suggest that you drink at least eight 8 ounce glasses of water a day. If the thought of drinking a half gallon of water makes you queasy, there are ways to make it more appealing. Stock up on flavored bottled water in the fridge at work and keep one icy cold on your desk. At home, float mint sprigs or lemon slices in a crystal pitcher. There’s no added calories, but oh what a difference in presentation and flavor!

Trying to lose baby weight can be frustrating. You want to take it off as quickly as possible – but your body may not be cooperative. Keep in mind that your body is designed to nourish a child for up to a year after you give birth. Putting it on a starvation diet will kick it into survival gear, making it even harder to lose the extra weight. Instead of fighting your body’s natural tendency to store up nutrition for the baby, eat healthy portions and increase your activity level. And if you’re breastfeeding, remember that your body needs up to 1000 more calories a day than usual. Don’t skimp – you’ll just convince your body that it’s starving.

Employ the buddy system for moral support. Making a pact with a friend to exercise together makes it easier to stick to your resolution. Instead of meeting with friends for lunch, challenge friends to a tennis game, or take a brisk walk in the park together.

Remember that a healthy, active lifestyle and a nutritious diet are the true keys to losing weight permanently. By choosing a diet that makes sense for your lifestyle, you’ll make it easier on yourself to lose weight, and keep it off for good.
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The Zone Diet – What is it and Can it Help Me

The Zone Diet works on the principle that 100,000 years ago, we were meat eaters, and our metabolism is designed to handle the demands of a meat-based diet.

Madonna, Demi Moore, and Jennifer Aniston swear by the results of the Zone Diet, which was created by Barry Sears, PhD. The Zone Diet contains 40% carbohydrate, 30% protein, and 30% fat and is known as the 40-30-30 plan.

As the food industry evolved, more carbohydrates have been introduced into our daily diet, thus causing an imbalance in our metabolism to burn fat. The reason for our extra weight can also be attributed to the many grains and starches in our diet (pasta, rice, breads, and potatoes). The Zone Diet’s approach calls for a return to the diets of our ancestors where meat, fruits, and vegetables are the main dietary foods.

The Zone Diet suggests that you need the right ratio of carbohydrates to proteins and fats in order to control the insulin in the bloodstream. Too much of the hormone (insulin) can increase fat storage and inflammation in the body (conditions that are associated with obesity, type 2 diabetes and heart disease). Sears asserts that by using the Zone Diet, you are actually optimizing the body’s metabolic function. Through the regulation of blood sugar, you allow your body to burn excess body fat.

Although you are not prohibited from any particular food group, it is best to avoid food with high fat and carbohydrates such as grains, starches, and pastas. The ideal sources of carbs are fruits and vegetables and for monounsaturated fats olive oil, almonds, and avocados are recommended. The Zone Diet claims to use food as a drug for overall good health, weight loss and prevention or management of heart disease and diabetes.

Sears says that you can test to see whether you are ‘hormonally’ correct by eating following the Zone diet and see how you feel four hours later. To simplify the Zone Diet, fill one-third of a plate with low-fat protein, and then two-thirds with fruits and vegetables.

Celebrities and some health experts say that the Zone’s recommendations do not stray far from the USDA’s (United States Dietary Association) dietary guidelines and therefore are advocates of the Zone Diet. Others argue that the Zone Diet has flawed ratios but Sears argues that the Zone diet is a low-glycemic-load diet that has adequate protein. .

A critic of the Zone diet such as the AHA (American Heart Association) classifies the Zone Diet as high protein and does not recommend the Zone Diet for weight loss. They contend that the Zone Diet has not been proven effective in the long term for weight loss. The AHA issued an official recommendation warning against diets like the Zone Diet. They believe that the Zone Diet is hazardous as it restricts the intake of essential vitamins and minerals present in certain foods. The AHA also contends that the protein ratio in the Zone diet is too high even if the minimal fat ratio is good. Robert H. Ecker M.D of the A.H.A. finds the Zone Diet’s theory on insulin flawed and argues that there is no scientific proof that the hormone insulin plays a big role in weight regulation.
http://www.articlesbase.com/weight-loss-articles/the-zone-diet-what-is-it-and-can-it-help-me-764606.html