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A lot of dieters encounter a weight loss plateau and want to know how to beat it. This is exactly what you’re going to learn to do here. Utilize these tips and you’ll be able to get over your current diet predicament easily. 

Most commonly, a diet/weight loss plateau occurs due to this reason:

You were doing a diet, seeing good results, and then it just stopped and no matter how much you followed through with the diet plan, no more weight could be lost. Though there are many explanations as to why this happened, here’s an unusual one which may hold much more weight than any other theory to date: 

Why the plateau happened: 

Your body simply returned back to it’s normal ways. Allow me to elaborate: Before you did the diet, odds are you were living a life where many things, including the food you ate and how you ate were based on a specific routine. You ate an X number of times during the day, usually around the same time/s. 

Then when you decided to go on a diet, you immediately switched to whatever the plan forced you to do. This means you forced your body to readjust to a whole new lifestyle of eating it likely wasn’t used to. 

At first these changes will usually yield results. You’ll see the weight start to drop. This is usually because the body still hasn’t had time to get used to the new way of eating, so while it’s adjusting, it’ll raise metabolism to keep up with this change, but as time goes on and the body becomes more and more used to the diet, the effects will start to lessen until you reach the plateau.

Eventually the body will basically put a stop to this diet’s effects and go back to the way it functioned before you started dieting. This is because your previous way of eating was the dominant regime your body was used to. The body eventually balances itself out and becomes “immune” to the effects of the diet and the only thing it’ll do is return to the way it functioned before you started dieting.

This means metabolism will “reset”, as will fat burning, your cravings for your old eating habits will return and only get stronger with time and and this will slowly begin to show on your results. This is why so many diets end up leading to a plateau. They force the body to do things it isn’t used to and when it does reset itself, the weight will come back. 

So if the problem with plateaus is that it’s caused by the body resetting itself, what then is the answer? 

How to get over the weight loss plateau:

Start doing what’s known as calorie shifting. This is a method of eating where you basically keep changing your eating routines on a daily basis to prevent the body from ever getting used to any kind of specific routine.

Remember, as we start diets, they will initially work because they will surprise the body and while it’s getting used to the routine, it will go along with it which is why you’ll get results. But remember this will happen at first. Then as it gets more and more used to it, it will begin to reset itself. We don’t want that. 

Enter calorie shifting. By changing your eating routines on a daily basis, you will prevent the body from ever getting used to any particular routine. This will not only cause initial weight loss, but prevent any plateau from ever happening. The results will be continuous, until you reach your weight loss goal.

This is a natural way of dieting which many people use without even realizing it. If you’ve ever met someone who eats a lot but is very slim, you can either trace the reason for that to them having great genes or using calorie shifting. Odds are many people who eat a lot but look very slim eat in very unstable ways. 

Obviously you’d want to make sure what it is you’re eating is healthy. Calorie shifting can work with pretty much any food you eat, even fast foods, but ideally you don’t just want a quick result, but also something that you can maintain permanently. This is why this technique is one of the best ways to beat the dreaded weight loss plateau.
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If you’re aiming to try calorie shifting, the best way to experience it’s fullest results is through a special guide which utilizes this technique. This is that guide. It’ll make the process of calorie shifting very simple to understand and do. All that it really comes down to is just choosing what you wish to eat and then following a specific meal plan for 11 days, which is the length of the diet.

How much can you lose with method of dieting? Results do vary, but 1 pound or more a day is the average result, if you do calorie shifting correctly. Here is the best way to do that.

I also realize that many of you reading this now may have your own personal story on how you beat the plateau and if that’s the case, please share it below!

 

 

 

 

 

The 17 day diet was and still is one of the most popular plans today. But does it really work? The answer is yes, but not everything that was advertised about it is true.

In fact some of it is misleading. It’s NOT 17 days and you should know this and some very important facts before you attempt to try it. 

The 17 day diet background info:

Even though it says 17 days, it’ll actually take you 68 days to complete this diet. The reason being is that it’s divided into 4 cycles, each 17 days long. Advertisers didn’t bother mentioning this because 17 sounds better than 68!  

Though it’s not really a bad thing, but it was never mentioned until people started looking into it. The diet is mostly low-carb and aims to change your eating routines every 17 days.

The purpose of this change is to trick the body into raising metabolism and avoiding a weight loss plateau from happening. This is called metabolic confusion. Although results vary, it is said you can lose 12 pounds every 17 days with this diet. 

How it works:

• There are a number of rules that go along with this plan: 
• You will need to drink a lot of water daily. 8 glasses is what’s suggested. 
• Never eat until you’re stuffed. Always leave a little room left. 
• You have to drink tea with lemon every morning for breakfast. 
• There are 4 cycles to this diet, each 17 days long. 
• There is also an optional workout DVD as well as a service that delivers the same meals shown in the diet book to your door. But it’s just recommended to stick to the book only if you want to try this diet. These are just optional choices.

Cycle 1:

This is called “Accelerate”. Here you officially begin the diet by following a specific meal plan laid out for you in the 17 day diet book. Most of the diet is low-carb and you’ll be eating a combination of lean meats and vegetables throughout this cycle, while sticking to the rules above. 

Dr. Moreno has set up this cycle such that when you eat a certain way for 17 days, your body will get used to this and when you go on to cycle 2, you will switch to a new meal plan. This will “activate” even more fat burning and keep metabolism high. You’ll be repeating this format each cycle, 4 times.

Sample food list:

Lean proteins: Chicken, salmon, turkey, eggs, flounder, tuna.

Vegetables: Peppers (all colors), broccoli. There are a lot available, but the key is to avoid any vegetable with starch.

Fruits: Berries, apples, grapefruit. 

Other: Yogurt. 

Cycle 2:

Known as “activate”. In this cycle you will now change your eating routines. In this case, you’ll be eating in a cycle 1 fashion every other day, while the days in between will be in a cycle 2 style.

This will keep mixing up what you eat and trick the body into never being able to adapt to any particular eating routine. This will make the metabolic confusion effect occur and help the weight loss results continue. Cycle 2 lasts for another 17 days.

Sample food list:

Lean proteins: Sirloin steak, pork chops, lean ground beef, lamb shakes, clams, shrimp, oysters. 

Vegetables: Potato, corn. The starch taboo is lifted for cycle 2. 

Beans: Soy beans, peas, black beans, lima beans, kidney beans. 

Carbs: Brown rice, oatmeal, quinoa (a special kind of rice), oat bran. 

Cycle 3:

Known as Achieve. In this cycle, you go back to following a specific meal plan. The good news is there is much more flexibility. There is no alternating like in Cycle 2. You just follow a specific meal plan laid out for you. 

Food list:

You can now eat pasta and other foods which do not contain gluten and all have high fiber. 

Bread: Whole wheat. 

Meat: Any choice from cycles 1 & 2. 

Fruits: Anything from cycle 1 with more choices such as bananas, pomegranate, cherries.

Vegetables: Any choices from cycles 1 & 2.

Cycle 4:

Known as Arrive. This is the final cycle of the diet, but rather than being another 17 days, it’s more of a long term plan to maintain your results. Here it’s very simple:

5 days out of the week, you eat the same way you would during cycle 3, while the other 2 days, you are allowed to eat anything you want. Think of them as cheat days.  

The purpose of this phase is to get you permanently used to eating healthy and also keep the metabolic confusion effect going. By eating the same way for 5 days and then completely changing it during your cheat days, you’ll continue to keep your body from ever adapting to any particular eating routine and thus keep the metabolic confusion effect happening, which means you’ll maintain weight loss results. 

Read about the #1 plan which rates higher than 17 Day Diet.

Pros of the 17 Day Diet:

• Has healthy food choices.
• Unusual, but effective way to diet.
• Uses metabolic confusion, a proven way to lose weight. This is also known as interval eating where you eat mixed meals in calories.
• Does get results. 
• You do get to eat more during this diet than most traditional plans. 

Cons:

• Doesn’t mention it’s 68 days long. 
• There isn’t much room for flexibility. 

17 Day Diet Score:

4 stars out of 5. Pretty solid diet. It does work. But it is limited in certain areas (below). 

The verdict on the 17 day diet:

It’s a good diet that for the most part doesn’t follow the traditional ways of dieting which is good. It does get results and if you stick to it, you’ll likely see them and be happy.

But it does have a few flaws and the biggest is that it’s approach to metabolic confusion is limited. Why is this such a big deal? Because if it was properly used, this diet would get even better results and you would be allowed much more variety of foods. 

You see metabolic confusion goes by many names, the most popular being calorie shifting or interval eating and in it’s purest form, you change how you eat day to day almost constantly which speeds up the process. Think of cycle 2 of the 17 day diet, but done in a daily scale. This is what interval is in essence, but there’s much more variety in what you can eat and if done right, you can lose 1 or more pounds every single day. This is something the #1 rated diet (EODD) does and correctly.

You can even eat what you like on certain days. And because interval eating’s only focus is on how you eat, not really what you eat, there is much more flexibility. Because the 17 day diet tries to add in the traditional healthy approach, it actually ends up having an opposite effect on the metabolic confusion (interval eating) effect. This is how it ends up looking with the 17 day diet:

 

If you want to truly experience the weight loss power of calorie shifting, then I would highly recommend trying this diet. It’s rated #1 on this website and can help you drop 20 pounds every few weeks and it is 4x SHORTER than the 17 day diet.

This doesn’t disqualify the 17 day diet by any means. It works and it’s definitely a very good plan. But at the same time, through the #1 rated diet, you can eat as much as you eat on certain days, not be limited to a certain group of foods and not have to go through 68 days of dieting to finish anything (this diet lasts 10-11 days).

 What do you think of the 17 day diet? Leave your comments below! 

A new dieting craze has swept the nation: Garcinia Cambogia Extract. But does it really work or is it just more hype like so many diet “miracles” before it?

The truth is this is a less than standard approach to weight loss, but it is nowhere near as good as it’s being made out to be. Here you’ll find out everything you need to know, plus something that really does meet the hype.

What exactly is Garcinia Cambogia Extract (GCE)? 

It is a fruit that comes from places like Indonesia and areas of India. Within this fruit is an ingredient that is believed to cause weight loss and even more importantly block fat from entering the body. This ingredient is called hydroxycitric acid and is really the biggest reason this fruit is being called a “weight loss miracle”, miracle being the hyped word. 

Not such a miracle: 

That part is more hype than real. The weight loss effect isn’t that grand. 4 pounds, in a month as said by Dr.OZ himself. Though he does recommend diet & exercise be added to this to boost results, the fact remains the results aren’t nearly as grand as advertising companies it out to be. 

In fact, this isn’t the first time GCE has been introduced to the western world and it has been tested a number of times. There are at least 3 known clinical trials where GCE has been tested and shown to provide pretty minimal results. 2 of them were based on human trials, while the third was on rats. In neither of those trials were there ever any major or noticeable results shown.

So if GCE is not the weight loss miracle it’s being out to be, is there really anything else? As a matter of fact yes: The fat blocker ingredient. It is said that GCE is able to help the body block new fat from entering the body. This means if you start eating this fruit or taking GCE pills, which are becoming very popular on the market, new fat you would otherwise gain from foods will not enter the body, will be digested and leave it, meaning no new fat will be added. This is certainly a major thing. 

However, one thing that is also VERY important to note is that fat you contained prior to taking GCE will not go away. GCE blocks new fat from entering the body. This means you’ll have to get rid of the current fat the old fashioned way, or through a better diet, like this one. 

Garcinia Cambogia Side Effects: 

Though rare, currently the ones which are noticed most are: 

• Nausea.
• Headaches.
• Constipation. 

Usually these occur when too much GCE is ingested. So if you plan on trying this pill/fruit out, be sure to stay within the confined limit.

Additionally, GCE is not recommend for:

Women who are:

• Breastfeeding. 
• Pregnant. 

People who have:

• Alzheimers. 
• Dimentia.

Certainly each person varies so if you have doubts, be sure to check with your doctor. That’s your best bet.

Pros:

• Helps block fat.
• Endorsed by Dr.OZ.

Cons: 

• Weight loss results are minuscule.
• Not for every person (see side effects section above). 
• Can get pretty expensive to take if you plan on using it for months. 

Garcinia Cambogia Extract Score.

2 stars out of 5. It does work, but is more hyped than real. 

Here’s a diet that isn’t hyped but works great.

What we learned from Garcinia Cambogia Extract:

The only real perk of this product is it’s fat blocker (which is still debatable), but even if it’s true, is it really worth spending money over and over on this product? Remember even Dr.OZ said so himself, this has very little results and should be done with diet & exercise.

And if this is the case, then you can attribute any real weight loss results to the diet & exercise, not GCE. The only thing you can really say GCE does is prevent future weight gain, but if you keep doing diet & exercising, you really won’t need GCE to being with. 

You’ll just be wasting your money. Each bottle costs anywhere from $20-$40. Usually you get a months supply but this does add in the long run. And for such tiny results, is that really worth it?

Ever since it came out, blogs, ads have been spamming this product calling it an absolute miracle, but if you look into it closely, they are just doing this to sell it to you, and as the facts stand now, this product is more hype than real. It does work, but again nowhere near as well as it’s being made out to be. It reminds me raspberry ketones, which too were very hyped.

If serious weight loss is what you’re looking for, GCE in my opinion is not the answer. This is. Products like GCE come out every year and all promise pretty much the same things. But most of them have been proven to be much less than they claim to be. And there is no doubt in the future more products like this will keep coming out, aiming at your wallet. 

I would say save your money, do what works and don’t let these products get to you. At the very least let time pass before you make a decision on them because as time goes on, more and more information is revealed about it and in many cases, it has been shown many products which started very popular died out sooner or later and/or were proven to be false. 

People who diet often wonder how to feel fuller. After all, since most traditional diets have a lot of limitations on what/how much you can/cannot eat, hunger is going to be a major obstacle to cross.

But there are ways to feel fuller, especially when dieting and the answer is eating high satiety foods. What are high satiety foods? They are basically foods which has a high satisfaction value when eaten, meaning the higher the satiety, the longer you feel full.

Now every food has a high satiety value labeled with it. These labels are numbers. The higher the number, the higher the satiety. But there are foods which contain a small amount of calories, and a high level of satiety. This means if you eat these foods, you’ll be eating less calories, but feeling fuller each time. And in the long run, this will equate to weight loss without the side effects.

Here is an example of 4 foods which have the same amount of calories (240 per serving), but a completely different satiety value:

• Oatmeal: 209
• French Fries: 116
• Cooked potato: 323
• Doughnut: 69

Measuring these foods up, if you ate oatmeal for breakfast, you’d feel and be nearly 3 times fuller than if you ate a doughnut. And eating a cooked potato is much more satisfying than eating french fries. Same amount of calories, yet a completely different span of satisfaction. 

Obviously the types of foods you eat which are classified as carbs, proteins, fats also matter, but when making food choices especially based on weight loss, the higher the satiety value, the better your results will be. If calories in vs calories out is the biggest indicator of weight loss, then using this approach to dieting may be the permanent solution you are looking for. 

Performing diets while eating high satiety foods:

Ideally, when performing a diet, if you can maintain a 100% high satiety diet, you should be able to see results rather quickly, especially if those foods are low in calories. Obviously to do this, you would need to have a list at your disposal! There are literally 100’s of high satiety foods around, but here are just some examples to get you started: 

High satiety food list examples:

Fruits:

Blueberries, tangerines, plums, prunes, blackberries, cherries, pineapple, strawberries, oranges, grapes, pears, peaches. 

Meat/protein:

Bacon strips, shrimp, flounder, turkey, ham, beans, baked beans, pinto beans, catfish, sea bass, lean chicken, eggs (hard boiled, scrambled).

Nuts:

Walnuts, hazelnuts, almonds, peanuts.

Vegetables: 

Lettuce, peas, beets, celery, artichoke, onions, parsley, cucumber, eggplant, tomatoes, spinach.

These are just a few examples to help you get going if you wish to do a high satiety diet. Make sure to never used any kind of toppings when making meat or fish. Stick to lean meat and eat snacks in between such as nuts or servings of fruits. The rule of thumb when eating these foods is: Keep it as basic as possible, meaning if you’re making fish, just make it as standard as possible without adding any kinds of condiments on it or marinating it. 

An accelerated high satiety diet:

While the standard way of doing a high satiety diet is good, some people prefer to have faster results. One such way is through a dieting approach called calorie shifting, in which every meal you have has a different amount of calories and you keep changing up your eating routines. This process creates an effect which raises your metabolism & fat burning. This accelerates the weight loss effect. What happens is this:

• You will be eating high satiety foods, which you already know have few calories, but a higher satisfaction feeling. This will cause the initial weight loss.
• The calorie shifting effect will take it much further.

Under calorie shifting, you can usually lose 1 or more pounds a day, but when the high satiety foods are added to the mix, the results go much further. How much further? 15 pounds in 10 days if used through this diet. 

Certainly you can try this on your own, but a specialized calorie shifting + high satiety diet is highly recommended to experience optimal results and for that, there is no diet better than this. It’s actually the #1 rated diet on this website and through it there are nearly 200 high satiety foods available. 

What about long term results? 

Believe it or not, but results from this form of dieting do last long term, if done right, and the diet recommended above does show you how to do this. If you prefer to do it on your own, it’s better to try just the regular approach. Calorie shifting is great, but it’s better, especially if you’re a first timer to use some sort of guide to ensure success. 

Either way, if you’re still wondering how to feel fuller when dieting or just in general, know high satiety foods are the answer to this! And as you saw in the food list above, there are many choices in addition to many regular everyday foods that have the high satisfaction component. 

The Aztec diet is a plan that was created by Dr. Bob Arnot. It utilizes a number of weight loss approaches, but the most important is the chia seed. So is it worth a shot? You be the judge.

The Azetec diet explained:

It is said to mirror the Aztec approach to eating which is basically a paleolithic type regime (+ grains). You eat low carb foods for the most part and drink healthy smoothies, but add in chia seeds to every meal to help curb hunger. Chia seeds are a super food and an excellent supplement to this diet. Without the chia seed, the Aztec diet is really nothing more than a standard approach to weight loss. 

The basic thesis of the Aztec diet is that the current western diet is responsible for a host of terrible conditions and diseases. Not to say this hasn’t been proven/said before in other diets, but basically Dr. Arnot goes in-depth into this and how the Aztec diet and particularly the chia seed can help restore the body’s health. The whole premise of this plan is to help you detoxify your body via eating right and thus changing your eating habits to a more healthy alternative.

How it works:

There are 3 primary phases to the Aztec diet. The total length of the diet is 2 weeks.

Phase 1: The chia challenge. Meant to help the body “cleanse itself”of bad carbs. How much weight you lose in this phase varies.

Phase 2: Accelerate. You basically start eating healthy foods (listed below) and help this become your normal routine on a daily basis. 

Phase 3: You are shown how to incorporate the Aztec diet into your lifestyle. This is meant to be a long term/permanent phase.

Here is a sample menu from the Aztec diet:

Quinoa, beans, chia seeds, fish, turkey, corn (questionable), bulgar (grains), and fruits. 

These are the major foods which comprise the Aztec diet. 

Breaking down the chia seed. Is it really that special? 

It certainly is. In fact one can say the chia seed is the heart of this diet. When eaten, the chia seed is said to expand several times it’s size in your stomach, thereby helping you feel fuller, longer. It’s basically a super high satiety food, meaning, there aren’t a lot of calories in chia seeds, but it still feels like you ate a huge meal. 

In addition to that, chia seeds hold excellent nutritional properties such as high concentrations of omega 3’s which greatly help with blood circulation. There are other health benefits, but in general the high satiety and omega 3’s are what define the chia seed. 

In fact, most people who become interested in the Aztec diet do so because of the chia seed in the first place. In reality you can remove the entire diet, still eat the chia seeds and get results. They are expensive, but you can get for a decent price in places like Amazon. 

Pros:

• Utilizes chia seeds.
• Healthy approach to weight loss. 
• Endorses healthy eating and fitness lifestyle.

Cons:

• Not really that great without the chia seed.
• Chia seeds are not for everyone. If you are pregnant. nursing or taking medication for high blood pressure, consult with your doctor before taking chia seeds as they lower blood pressure.

Aztec Diet Score

2.5 stars out of 5. Good healthy diet, but difficult to adopt for life. 

Aztec diet alternative:

This diet isn’t simple to do and it really just tries to use the popularity of chia seeds. However, it’s still healthy, but there are easier solutions, such as the 3 week diet, the #1 rated diet:

 

Why the 3 Week Diet works so well.

Is the Aztec Diet for you?

It certainly can be. But if you already have a history of not being able to stick to diets that will basically force you to commit to them, then most likely the Aztec diet will end up going the same route for you. This is actually a very good diet, founded on good intentions and healthy eating approaches, but it’s something a lot of people may have issues maintaining for the long run.

You can certainly try this diet out for short term results and see how it works out for you, and certainly you can try to do it long term. You may very well be able to do it and if that’s the case, more power to you. If not, at least try to incorporate the chia seed into your current eating regiment and stick to these principals and you should be fine. The chia seeds are what really stand out in this plan. Everything else is really…secondary.

Even though this diet got 2.5 stars, the biggest factor was it’s lack of flexibility. Everything else is pretty much solid, especially in the health department. Ideally most people want a diet that offers them short/long term solutions without really forcing them to make major changes in their life. Certainly that’s difficult to do, but one diet comes closer than any other in that regard. Here it is. 

People should always strive to make the best changes possible to their health and the Aztec diet is certainly one of the many ways to make it happen, but it isn’t a quick fix. It’s a long term diet. If you are ready to commit to it, go for it. If not, here is an alternative option that’s much easier to do and doesn’t require major changes to your current lifestyle. 

But I’d like to hear from you. What do you think of the Aztec diet?