Come the 2nd of January many people will be starting their annual diets, no more chocolate, crisps, nuts or the dreaded Christmas pudding. However many will fail within the first week and even more within the first month. Many people simply don’t understand the diet that they are going onto and in the end, set their goals too high, this ends up in failure.

Therefore choosing the right diet can be just as important as actually carrying it through!

Over the next few weeks we at Weight-loss-Now will be giving you our experience of different diets, hopeful giving you a better understanding of their good and bad points.

The Atkins Diet or the Atkins Nutritional Approach first arrived in Britain in 1972 by an American Dr Robert Atkins; the thinking behind this diet is to cut or limit the amount of Carbohydrates that the body takes in.

This is a high protein, high fat diet which will suit any meat lover.

However it has come in for some bad press over the years due to the amount of fat and protein that the body has to absorb, some people say that it is unhealthy and dangerous as your body in not getting enough of the carbohydrates it requires to function properly and you may find it harder to concentrate and focus properly and may cause constipation and mood swings. This diet has not been around that long so no long term studies into any dangers are conclusive yet.

How does the Atkins diet work?

Our bodies need energy to do everyday tasks from breathing to taking a shower as we are doing a task our bodies are gathering energy from carbohydrates and fat, the carbohydrates are the first to be burnt as energy so the fat has nowhere to go (well we all know where it goes), so the thinking of Dr Robert Atkins is to drastically cut down on the carbohydrates and burn the fat first.

This diet does work and in the first couple of weeks people are expected to lose as much as 10 pounds per week.

I personally like this diet, I have used it and lost nearly two stone in the past, if you love eating fish, chicken and the odd fried breakfast then you will enjoy this diet.

As with all diets it is recommended that you speak to your GP before attempting any food cut down.

At this time of year we all love to spoil ourselves especially when we are doing the Christmas shopping we like to go out for lunch or be taken out for dinner. Then when we get home there’s the large tin of chocolates, mince pies and crackers and cheese and that’s not to mention the festive drinking. All this extra eating and drinking will take its toll on your body, we know this, but one thing is for certain we don’t like people saying to us “are you putting on weight?” that just depresses us more, so we eat more.

As Christmas day arrives the festive eating and drinking will continue in-fact how many people will, after their big Christmas Dinner fall into their favourite seat undo the top button of their trousers and relax. This is very common in Britain today, so you are not alone. This is probably the first time the thoughts of a diet come into the head, as you sit there watching the traditional Wizard of Oz or Chitty Chitty Bang Bang.

As the day’s move towards the New Year the thought of diets still play on your mind as you sit in your house eating your way through bags of nuts, crisps and the occasional take away. Again you are not alone in thinking about your diet, millions of people will be sitting thinking the same but let’s be honest WHO starts their diet at this time of year there is far too much temptation around you.

Diets are normally saved for the resolutions along with the no smoking, drinking less and saving money, if you are serious about losing weight there are various diets that you can look at, over the next few weeks weight-loss-now will be looking at the good and bad points of various diets.

Nowadays with all the TV, radio and news paper advertising we are constantly being bombarded with eateries telling us to eat here, eat there and then there are the places doing specials and 2 meals for the price of 1. When you leave your home and head out to the local shopping centre you cannot help but notice the aroma of cooking from around the four corners of the world.

As kids we were taken out to a restaurant for our birthday or a special occasion, and every month we would have a treat, something from the local chip shop or if we were really lucky a Chinese, it gave us as family something to look forward to. Now that was going back a few years ago I have to admit.

Like I said you cannot go down the local shopping centre without passing at least five restaurants all selling burgers, pizzas, kebabs and noodles, most filled with families all enjoying their lunch/dinner. As we pass the shops we can see families munching into large portions of fish and chips, burgers and some enjoying foods from other exotic countries.

Everyone loves going out for their dinner but as parents we have a legal responsibility to look after our children’s health. In a recent survey it was estimated that one in six children under the age of 18, eat a ready meal or a take away every day. This could lead to serious health problems for our children in later life, problems such as:

• High salt levels and lack of exercise this will increase their risk of stroke.
• Obesity will affect many of our children causing them to suffer from heart problems, diabetes and joint problems.
• Suffer from many different types of cancer, including liver, kidney and stomach.

Think about what you are doing to your kid’s health the next time you decide to take them out for a three course meal, look for the healthier options on the menu and your kids will thank you for it in years to come.

With the Christmas holiday party time looming many of the young woman across the land will be trying their best to fit into that ‘hot’ party dress. Many will be trying diets that will cut out carbohydrates, cut out fat and even some will be eating just fruit and only fruit.

There are so many different weight loss techniques on the market at any one time – so which is best?

Many fad diets ‘promise’ women that they will lose those extra pounds in a matter of days, they even had testimonials from other women claiming “I lost 30lbs in only 1 week”, so you read on and after another 5 or so more testimonials from other women claiming they lost 10 – 20lbs you actually start to get excited about this fabulous new diet.

It’s only when you reach the end of the page, you realise what you have been dreading, they are now looking for your credit card details but the soft hooks are in and your so tempted to try this latest diet fad and it is only £49.99. What are you to do – you need to lose weight for Christmas?

Here are a few helpful weight loss solutions that don’t cost the earth…

You may have heard some people talking about weight loss suppressants, this works by fooling your body into feeling full. Weight loss suppressants have seen some attention on the media that’s why there are so many available on the market today. Please be very careful when choosing which appetite suppressant to take as some may contain only natural ingredients while others may contain ingredients that have been banned in other parts of the world.

For that quick fix, try a body wrap, these will not only lose those extra inches on your ‘fatty’ areas but will also help you skin to look great. Water retention does make you gain weight and a body wrap will (depending on which one you choose) help draw the toxins and fluids out your body thus helping you lose those extra inches.

Exercise is still the best method of natural safe weight loss. Start by walking to the shops for the paper instead of the taking the car, taking the kids or the family dog out for a walk or go down the park with the kids to play.

At the end of the day losing weight is a balancing act between cutting down on the number of calories taken and the calories burned through physical exercise.

Being a Dad, I know just how tough it is to keep my boy’s hand out of the cookie jar or reach for a chocolate bar instead of an apple. His lack of enthusiasm about going down the park and kicking a ball about is frightening plus its only recently that he got back on his bike – a bike that has sat idle, shining like a new shilling, since he received it last christmas day. So, when I read headlines about weight loss camps for children doubling their intake – it doesn’t suprise me in the slightest, but it does get me thinking…

The fact that parents (and plenty of them) are willing to fork out between £3,500 and £8,000 to send their kids to a British ‘fat camp’ for the majority of the summer holidays shows just how desperate these families have become.

It’s easy to say fast food, television, computers and electronic console games are destroying our childrens health. But chew over this fact for a bit : By the time a child is ready to start primary school, one in six of them will be overweight and parents mistake obesity in their child for what is lightly termed as ‘puppy fat’. What is also worth considering is that ‘families on poor income’ have a higher risk of raising an obese child and this rate is growing, rapidly.

Education seems to be the key, more information about eating fruit and veg, proper excercise and more parental interaction with their kids is a positive start. Look, if we don’t start trying to communicate and educate our children about weight gain – even at very early years – we are going to see more ‘fat camps’ spread all over the UK.

Being overweight or obese is a major problem not only in Britain but across the globe. But its not just us humans that have massive weight problems, it seems we are passing it down to our pets as well. Pet obesity has increased dramatically in the last few years, with as many as 60% of all pets in Britain & America being treated for obesity.

This not only causes a massive strain on your pets health, but a financial burden to your wallet. Pet diets are on the increase and its an extremely fast-growing market treating obese pets. However, we know its hard to refuse someone with those big droopy eyes from sneaking an extra treat at the dining table.
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