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7 Day Sugar Free Diet

Thursday, July 8th, 2010

Seven Day Sugar Free Diet

The 7 Day Sugar Free Diet is an ebook that should help you to train your body (and mind, and taste buds) to stop craving sugar. Its focus is on real, wholesome, natural foods- not processed junk, that will provide your body with the nutrients it needs to stop its cravings. Simply substituting sugar free artificial sweeteners such as Sweet ‘n Low or Splenda is not healthy and will usually lead to more cravings (though Stevia is a naturally sweet herb that has many health benefits in addition to being a sweetener), but what your body really needs is nutrients.

I have not read this ebook and so I can not wholeheartedly endorse it- however, reading the promotional materials that are tied in to this book makes me think that the author is definitely on the right track. As I said, I have not read the 7 Day Sugar Free Diet (and that name is a little misleading because the eating plan is intended for a lifetime of healthy eating, though there is a 7 day plan included which the author claims will help you to lose several pounds quickly), but I have begun incorporating many whole foods and cutting out most processed foods. I’ve noticed myself that when I consume healthy fats from sources like whole milk, grass fed beef, and coconut oil, that sweets are not that important to me. I don’t think that I will ever lose my enjoyment of chocolate, ice cream, or coconut creme pie, but I no longer crave them and often find myself weighing the taste of the treat against my desire for it. But when I don’t have access to my healthy whole foods? One processed food breeds another.

While I personally recommend drinking whole milk (and while I won’t get into it here, that’s because I recommend raw, unhomogenized milk if you can find it from a safe, clean source), the author of this book recommends that you stay away from it. Given that the majority of Americans only have access to pasteurized or ultra-pasteurized homogenized milk, I agree with her. Pasteurization kills off the bad bacteria, but it also kills off the good bacteria (you know, the reason that yogurt is actually good for you? It’s in raw milk too), destroys many enzymes and vitamins, and the vitamins that producers replace the dead vitamins with are artificial and difficult to absorb. On top of this, skim, 1% and 2% milk have powdered milk added back into it to give the light milks more body- the powdered milk contains oxidized cholesterol which is bad for you. So in this instance, I do recommend following the no-milk advice by the author of the 7 Day Sugar Free Diet unless you have access to low heat pasteurized, non-homogenized milk.

Now that I’ve gone totally off track… if you have more questions about the 7 Day Sugar Free Diet, feel free to browse our forums for more answers and advice.

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7 Day Vegetarian Diet

Thursday, July 8th, 2010

The 7 Day Vegetarian Diet and Me:

The importance of meat in a diet has been debated by carnivores and herbivores for decades.  We meat eaters pretty much think most vegetarians are crazy hippies that don’t get enough protein, and the vegetarians think we just don’t care enough about animals.  It doesn’t really matter what side of the fence you are on, what matters is knowing and doing what is best for you when it comes to your health.   So today I put my bias aside and we cover the 7 Day Vegetarian Diet.

This 7 day diet isn’t just for vegetarians, in fact I know many meat lovers that have done short term vegetarian diets before because the increased amount of vegetables in their diet and the removal of many fats from meat can help you lose weight quickly. So instead of focusing on a long term plan to become a vegetarian this diet focuses on creating 7 days worth of healthy and balanced vegetarian meals that will satisfy your hunger and help you lose weight.

About the 7 Day Vegetarian Diet:

The information in this article is referenced from ivillage.co.uk where they have a 5 page guide to Dr. Wynnie Chan’s 7-day vegetarian diet plan. Instead of rewriting their entire article I am going to summarize some of the main points and highlight a few of the meals that sound most delicious to me. If you would like to read the entire article follow this link.

The 7 Day Vegetarian Diet, is not a strict meal plan, in fact it is quite relaxed.  To begin the diet you should peruse the list of menu items and sit down with a pen and decide which ones sound best to you and then “mix and match” meals that peak your interest. As long as you reach the recommended 1400 calories per day and eat items listed on the menu you are doing it correctly.

Like most well balanced and thought out diets the 7 day vegetarian diet suggests eating 3 meals and 2 snacks a day.  Many nutritionist believe it is easier to control portions and hunger with 5 small meals than it is with 2 or 3 large ones.

Outside of the foods suggested the author of the diet have room for some slip ups which she calls allowances.  So if you are really itching for a treat have one of the follow “allowances” per week.

  • 2 glasses of wine (93cals, 0g fat)
  • 48g chocolate bar (e.g. milk chocolate: 250cals, 15g fat; plain chocolate 245cals, 13g fat)
  • 70g slice of cake (e.g. fruit cake: 254cals, 11g fat; chocolate cake: 319cals, 20.1g fat; Swiss roll 193cal)

My Favorite 7 Day Vegetarian Diet Breakfast:

We all know breakfast is the most important meal of the day, but we tend to overlook it.  But here is one I think we will agree upon because it is quick and delicious.

1 bowl of instant porridge (made with 1/4 pint skimmed milk) topped with 60g fresh chopped strawberries, followed by a bowl of fig, melon and banana salad with crystallised ginger (mix 100g sliced banana, 55g halved figs, 100g chopped honeydew melon and 10g chopped crystallised ginger together; chill until ready to eat).(307cals, 2.5g fat)

My Favorite 7 Day Vegetarian Diet Lunch:

Most of us working full time jobs in the US are lucky to get 30 minutes in a crowded break room for lunch, so it is imperative that we have something easy to eat quickly that doesn’t cost a lot of money. The following lunch does exactly that.

1 bowl (300g) canned lentil soup, followed by 1 plain toasted bagel (70g) filled with 30g hummus and 40g grated carrots.(352cals, 5.8g fat)

My Favorite 7 Day Vegetarian Diet Dinner:

I am not a gourmet chef, but I love good food and don’t mind taking my time to cook it. So I picked something a little more over the top because after a long hard day of work I would like to open that bottle of wine and sit down with a fine dinner.

Vegetable moussaka, plus yoghurt dessert
1 portion of vegetable moussaka, followed by 1 pot (125g) of diet bio yoghurt with 120g stewed prunes. For the vegetable moussaka you’ll need 500g aubergines, thinly sliced, 120g corn oil, 225g onions, thinly sliced, 5g garlic, crushed, 225 chopped mushrooms, 280g cooked red split lentils, a handful of torn basil leaves, 2 bay leaves, 25g tomato puree, 250g tomatoes, sliced, 500g boiled potatoes, 500g white sauce made with skimmed milk, 2 small eggs and 150g grated mature cheddar cheese. Fry the aubergines with half of the oil and drain. Fry the onions and garlic in the remaining oil and add the mushrooms, lentils and tomato puree. Now add the bay leaves and basil leaves, season, cook for 5 minutes and spread onto the bottom of an ovenproof dish. Layer with aubergines, followed by the tomatoes and then the potatoes. Beat the eggs into the white sauce and pour over the potatoes; sprinkle over the cheese and bake at 180C/350F/gas mark 4 for 25-30 minutes. (Serves 4).(560cals, 21.2g fat)

My Favorite 7 Day Vegetarin Diet Snacks:

To me this is just to obvious. A snack is small and healthy and filling. Almonds will always be my snack of choice whether they are on the diet or not.

So there you have it. A brief intro to the 7 day vegetarian diet, would you try it?

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7 Day Vegetable Soup Diet

Wednesday, July 7th, 2010

Seven Day Vegetable Soup Diet

The 7 day vegetable soup diet is more popularly known as the 7 day cabbage soup diet, though technically, vegetable soup is more accurate since the cabbage only plays a single part in the soup recipe as a whole.

The key to the 7 day vegetable soup diet is, as the name implies, the vegetable soup. This is not because the soup contains some magical ingredient that will make the fat melt right out of you (though some have made that claim about the cabbage, but there is absolutely no proof of that), but rather because you can eat unlimited amounts of the soup for the full 7 days without having to worry about it packing on those extra calories.

The 7 day vegetable soup diet is very simple. It has a huge focus on vegetables and fruits, and does allow for the occasional starch (bananas, brown rice) and a few meat binges. The reason that this diet works, allowing dieters to lose 8-10 lbs on average, is that there are almost no carbohydrates allowed on this diet. Carbohydrates cause you to retain water, just as excess salt does (perhaps even worse), and so the heavy focus on vegetables will let your body flush itself out- with the help of lots of watery soup and 6-8 glasses of water a day.

Because so much of the diet is made up of vegetables, many people go on this diet as a kind of detox. This isn’t a detox in the traditional sense of the word, but with all that water and all those vegetables, you will likely get a bit of a cleanse from it. At least from the first few days, which are exclusively water, soup, vegetables, and fruits. After that, more foods are added in, such as the banana and skim milk day and the beef and tomatoes day.

Many people find it very difficult to stick to this 7 day diet because having the same vegetable soup every day becomes very monotonous and vegetables and fruits are not very filling and aren’t very satisfying for the long term. Remember, beans, tofu (made from soy beans) and other starches and proteins aren’t allowed on this diet. And because this isn’t a nutritionally complete diet, your body will begin to absolutely crave other foods. If you find yourself giving in, do not be hard on yourself. It’s not just a lack of will power- it’s simply that your body needs other foods than what is provided on this menu. But if you can stick it out, the brown rice and beef days near the end should help you with your cravings. And remember, the 7 day vegetable soup diet is for only 7 days.

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7 Meals A Day Diet

Wednesday, July 7th, 2010

Seven Meals A Day Diet

7 Meals A Day Diet: There are a number of fad diets, crash diets, and even lifestyle diets that are incredibly popular right now. Some of these involve all you can eat menus, some exclude a whole food group and some use only one or two of the food groups. Others call for sensible eating, and some call for what is often referred to as “grazing”.

There are several grazing diet methods, and the 7 meals a day diets are among them. I say diets because there is more than one method out there, and what it really breaks down to is eating once every 2-3 hours. Small portions if you don’t burn many calories, larger portions if you do (such as body builders, and people with active job).

All versions of the 7 meals a day diet share a basic concept, however. Simply eat a miniature version of a meal every 2 or 3 hours, or take larger meal components and split them up. For example, you could have a small salad with half a tuna sandwich two meals in a row (or split throughout the day), or you could have a larger salad at one meal and a whole tuna sandwich at another.

Of course, you’ll want to estimate how much protein, how many carbs, and generally how many calories that you want to consume in a given day. Keep in mind that if you reduce your calorie count too quickly that your body will lower its metabolism to compensate, though eating so often is supposed to keep your metabolism running at tip top pace. Small amounts of nuts, cheese, fruits, and veggies are very popular for small meals, but if you simply want to keep your metabolism running high between full sized meals, these make ideal snacks as well. Keep in mind that most commercial yogurts are actually very high in added sugars, and should be avoided if your intention is to lose weight (though some smaller brands offer healthier alternatives, and plain yogurt could always be used).

Body building sites recommend keeping your fat and protein high for the simple reason that fat is used immediately for energy. Carbohydrates however are stored as fat. If your intention is to lose weight, you’ll do well to minimize the carbohydrates in your diet no matter how often you eat.

If you have questions, visit our forum to find others who have tried the 7 meals a day diet.

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7 Day Soup Diet Recipe

Wednesday, July 7th, 2010

7 Day Soup Diet Recipe

Soup diets can be outlandish in what they ask you to consume, yet they are some of the most popular programs would be dieters like to follow.  I am sure at some point you or somebody you know has tried the old fashioned cabbage soup diet that asks you to eat nothing but, well, cabbage soup for 7 days. However with that crazy diet getting old many people are turning to new soup diets that offer more nutrition and less crazy lose weight fast schemes.

Soup diets can have there pros and cons like any diet.  A major Pro is that soup tastes good can be loaded with lean meats and vegetables, and can actually provide you with a pretty well rounded meal if you are eating the right types of soups.  A major con is that soup is often well over loaded with sodium and that can be quite the health risk if you are eating nothing but soup for the week.

Below is a popular 7 Day soup diet recipe that I found from RecipeZaar.com which in my opinion does a very good job of combining high valued foods to makes soups that will satisfy you and help you lose weight.

Ingredients:

  • 3 cups crushed plum tomatoes
  • 2 1/2 cups pasta sauce
  • 1/2 cup tomato paste (1 small can)
  • 6 green onions
  • 2 cups beef broth
  • 1 bunch celery & tops
  • 2 cups fresh green beans
  • 2 green bell peppers
  • 2 lbs carrots
  • 2 tablespoons chili powder
  • 1 tablespoon coarse salt
  • 2 tablespoons paprika
  • 1/8 teaspoon cayenne pepper
  • 2 tablespoons prepared mustard
  • 1 teaspoon ground black pepper

Cooking Instructions:

  1. In a very large stock pot, combine tomatoes, pasta sauce, tomato paste and beef broth.
  2. Over med/high heat, bring mixture to a boil.
  3. Reduce heat and simmer covered for 15 minutes.
  4. Wash and rough chop carrots, celery (including tops), and green peppers into 1 inch cubes.
  5. Wash, trim and cut green beans into 1 inch lengths.
  6. Chop green onion into 1/4 inch lengths.
  7. Add all vegetables to simmering pot.
  8. Stir to combine.
  9. Add chili powder, cayenne, mustard, salt, black pepper and paprika to soup mixture.
10

10.  Stir and simmer on low for 60 – 90 minutes.

Before you begin this 7 day diet or any diet for that matter you should consult your family doctor to understand the health risks and benefits involved in completing a diet.  The 7 Day soup diet like all diets has its pros and cons and if done in an inappropriate way can contribute to serious health risks.

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Food Doctor 7 Day Diet

Tuesday, July 6th, 2010

The Food Doctor 7 day diet is part of the Food Doctor over all health plan. While there is, indeed a Food Doctor 7 day dietincluded, it is intended to be a jump start to an over all healthy diet to be followed for a lifetime. The healthier eating plan will lead to better health over all, and a natural weight loss over time. The 7 day diet is not intended to be used for quick weight loss, rather, it is intended to help you detox your diet, so that your cravings for refined, processed foods will be greatly diminished.

Ian Marber (the Food doctor) focuses on reducing carbohydrates with a general meal plan consisting of 40% lean meat, 40% vegetables, and 20% complex carbohydrates for lunch, with a dinner consisting of 50% lean meat and 50% vegetables for dinner (no carbohydrates at all). While his principles do depend on eating fat to lost fat, he recommends eliminating saturated fats entirely and consuming only essential fats. I personally lean toward the Weston A Price/Nourishing Traditions view on fats, but the Food Doctor certainly seems to be the closest popular diet as far as healthy eating for life goes.

The Food Doctor 7 day diet which is used to jump start the Plan For Life diet eliminates all simple carbohydrates, saturated fat, and stimulants. That means no coffee (though perhaps the ayurvedically balanced coffee might be permitted?). There is a heavy emphasis on soups for this 7 day diet, both for snacks and at meals, and recipes are included in the book.

At one time, there was an online program that you could join. There still is, but it is now limited to the UK only. If you’re in the US, you can only buy the book and visit forums to discuss the Food Doctor diet.

If you’re one of the US dieters who can not join the online program, or if you’re not from the USA and simply want to discuss the Food Doctor 7 day diet, visit our forums for help and discussion.

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Cabbage Soup 7 Day Diet

Tuesday, July 6th, 2010

Cabbage Soup Seven Day Diet

The cabbage soup 7 day diet is one of the most popular short term diets and has been for several decades. While the 7 day cabbage soup diet can no longer be considered a fad diet, due to its long term popularity, it is definitely considered a crash diet. Because of its simplicity, there is very little to prepare. Because it is almost entirely based on vegetables, it’s very inexpensive to pursue. In fact, many people may choose to follow this diet simply to save money with losing weight only as a bonus! But what makes it so very popular is a combination of its effectiveness and the fact that you can eat as much as you want while on it.

Because the diet focuses almost entirely on vegetables and fruits, the caloric intake is very low on most days, no matter how much you eat. The soup itself is largely just water, cabbage, and onion, with other vegetables being permitted most days, and V8 juice and Lipton Onion Soup powder being among the seasonings that are allowed.

Though you may eat as much as you want on this diet, the soup itself, and the fruits and vegetables days are not very filling. And because this diet is not nutritionally complete, your body will very likely begin to rebel and start craving other foods. Fat and protein are essential to a healthy diet, but there is very little of that allowed on the diet. If you’re accustomed to processed foods, your taste buds may be craving starches and sugars, not to mention that many of the chemicals and additives in processed foods are addictive, which means that your body will be going through withdrawal while on this diet. This may actually be a good thing, and is likely why the cabbage soup 7 day diet is often referred to as a 7 day detox diet. In a technical sense, this isn’t really a detox diet, but purging your body of processed foods for 7 days (for this, you wouldn’t be using the V8 or the Lipton soup mix, though possibly organic versions would be alright) will essentially detox your body. Be careful, though, detoxing is not a pleasant experience, no matter how good you’ll feel afterwards!

If you need help or want encouragement, visit our forums to find others who have tried the cabbage soup 7 day diet.

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7 Day Soup Diet Plan

Tuesday, July 6th, 2010

If you are looking for a diet plan that is different, effective, and actually healthy for you, then you are in the right place because the 7 day soup diet plan just might be all of those things. Obviously, we need to investigate these findings, but let’s take a moment to do just that. We have thing to lose but some weight.

Most of the time when people are talking about the 7 day soup diet plan, they are really referring to the 7 day cabbage soup diet. So if you really want to learn about that diet plan, then please visit that page. But, we will review here below just to make things simple.

7 Day Soup Diet Plan

Day One

Day is is great because you can eat all that you want to. Isn’t this different? ell, not really. The catch is that you can eat all the fruit you want, but no bananas. You are to eat your soup and fruit for day one. Drink unsweetened teas and water because it is important.

Day Two

It is vegetable day! Get excited and enjoy natures medicine. It is your choice of raw or cooked vegetables. Go for the green, leafy ones if you can and try to stay away from dry beans, corn, and peas. Eat your soup and all the veggies that you can stand. Once you make it to dinner you can reward yourself with a bake potato. Yes, you can add butter, but it would be best if you didn’t. No fruits today.

Day Three:

This is another all you can eat day. Mix all the fruit, soup, and vegetables that you can eat and enjoy. Eight glasses of water are a must today.

Day Four:

Obviously, you need to drink your eight glasses of water. Eat your soup for the day and get your bananas and skim milk in. If you are not a skim milk drinker, then substitute with 1% milk. The bananas will taste like sweets after only eating vetegables and soup so much, so be sure to enjoy this day.

Day Five:

Today is the big meat day if there ever was one. You should eat 10 to 20 ounces of beef and up to six fresh tomatoes. You may not eat beef, so broiled or baked chicken will work here, but no skin on the chicken, please. Also, you may substitute fish for the beef or even  tofu if you are a vegetarian. But  include you soup on this day, the more the merrier.

Day Six:

Drink your water, eat your soup, vegetables, and get some more beef in your life. Again you can substitute as you need to make this work, but don’t eat any potatoes today.

Day Seven:

This is a great day cause it is the end of your 7 day diet journey. You can enjoy brown rice, unsweetened fruit juices and veggies. This is another all you can eat day, so love it. Have at least one bowl of soup on this day, but you should do two of them and drink your water.

If you follow this diet, then you will have achieve the results of the 7 day soup diet plan.

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The 7 Day Soup Diet

Monday, July 5th, 2010

The Seven Day Soup Diet

The 7 day soup diet is also known as the 7 day cabbage soup diet for the simple reason that this diet is based entirely on its special cabbage soup recipe. This is not to say that the entire diet is nothing but cabbage soup! In fact, many people do make the mistake of eating only the cabbage soup, and then can’t understand why they fail to complete the full 7 days. It’s very important to follow the entire diet, and to eat as much of the foods that are allowed each day as you want. Trying to exercise portion control is a recipe for failure when following this 7 day diet.

Each day on the diet allows you to eat unlimited amounts of something, with the exception of the banana day and the tomatoes. One day may be vegetables only (for a bit more fullness, try adding something like okra to your mix of veggies so that it will stick with you a bit longer than simply broccoli and green beans), one day may be fruit only, one day may be both fruit and vegetables. There’s even an unlimited beef day towards the end! But no matter what the menu calls for, you are allowed unlimited amounts of cabbage soup if prepared correctly, and this should keep you from feeling too deprived.

Despite the large amount of food that you can eat, you may still feel deprived. This is because this diet is not a complete diet. It will not provide all the nutrition that your body needs, and so you will probably have strong cravings- most likely for fats and proteins, though if your regular eating habit involves much processed foods, you may find yourself craving starches and sugars as well. If you find that you absolutely can not finish this diet, do not blame yourself. Will power may be involved, but will power is no match for a starving body. When you do not get the nutrients your body needs, it will double cross you in an attempt to get its needs met. Blaming yourself will only lead to poor dietary choices down the road, and a lack of willpower becomes a convenient excuse.  If you fall off the wagon, either move on to a safer long term eating habit, or hop back on and finish out the rest of the diet. The 7 day soup diet is not one to be followed for more than 7 days at a time, but if you can do it, you’re more or less guaranteed a good loss of 5-10 lbs for all your work.

If you need some help and encouragement, visit our forums to find others who have tried the 7 day soup diet.

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Seven Day Cabbage Soup Diet

Monday, July 5th, 2010

7 Day Cabbage Soup Diet

The seven day cabbage soup diet has been extremely popular for the last 20-30 years. One reason that this 7 day diet has become so popular is because, well, it’s effective. You can easily lose 10 lbs in 7 days simply by following this diet strictly. Another reason is simply because you can eat as much food as you want while on this diet. You won’t have much if any choice in what foods you eat, but the foods that you are allowed to have on each day is unlimited in amount with the exception of the bananas and the tomatoes.

What allows you to consume as much food as you want and still lose weight is the diet’s focus on very low carb intake and a focus on foods with a high water content. For example, you can eat as much cabbage soup as you want. The 7 day cabbage soup diet recipe is very straight forward and consists mostly of water, cabbage, onion, and sometimes carrots and tomatoes plus some spices. Different variations allow for different ingredients, but all the ingredients are based on vegetables and spices. Many people find this soup to be very bland if made according to the basic recipe, and many more find it to be quite tasty when they follow the variation that suggests using V8 and Lipton’s Onion Soup powder. The problem is that whether the soup is good or not in the beginning, most who follow this diet find themselves unable to finish the full 7 days, because as healthy as the soup is, and as healthy as the fruits and vegetables are, they do not contain the complete nutrition that your body needs. So even if you’re eating enough to keep you full, your body will still crave more food just to obtain the nutrients that it needs.

Sadly, many people who fall off the seven day cabbage soup diet before the seven days are finished blame themselves for a lack of willpower. If you choose to follow this diet and can not finish it, do NOT blame yourself! Your body needs nutrition that this diet can not provide, and while you may lose out on losing several pounds by falling off this diet before it’s over, it may be better for your health over all. Blaming yourself will only lead into bad dietary habits down the road. While cravings for sugary, starchy foods usually isn’t something that your body needs, you’ll need to listen to your body’s needs for optimal health, which in turn will lead to weight loss.

However, to drop a few pounds quickly, this diet will certainly do it for you in most cases. Most of the weight will be water weight, but the focus on vegetables may help you to start making healthier choices after the diet is over. If you need help, visit our forum to find others who have tried the seven day cabbage soup diet.

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