Diet Plan Secrets

Are there any real diet plan secrets out there? You know, the magic bullet that makes some people drop pounds quickly and easily, while the rest of us are stuck munching lettuce while the scale needle seems frozen in place? Yes and no, depending on how you view it. While not much is secret per se, successful diet plans do indeed have certain common characteristics.

Sustainability and Moderation

For starters, "crash course" diets are almost always a recipe for disaster. Sure, drink nothing but tea made from some obscure Chinese herb for a week and you'll lose plenty of weight.

Unfortunately, since your body will believe it's in a state of acute starvation, it won't be fat you're losing. Instead, you'll cannibalize muscle mass, which in turn reduces your metabolism (i.e. the calories you burn around the clock just to stay alive). As you begin eating normally again, you not only gain the pounds right back, but you'll be even more prone to storing body fat.

Likewise, a diet consisting of just one or a few food items for breakfast, lunch and dinner rarely work out well either. Not only does your body not get the kind of variety it needs to thrive, it's also mind-numbingly one-sided. When you hit the breaking point, chances are you'll go off the diet with a bang and possibly a half-gallon of Rocky Road ice cream. Goodbye whatever gains you may have made.

The bottom line is: Crazy, short-term diets are almost never a good idea. Effective diets work in the long haul, where you can make slow but steady progress.

Basic Components

There are many different takes on it, but most successful diets have a few common factors:

• Medium to high protein intake
• Few simple carbs
• Little or no "bad" fats
• Good fiber intake
• Little or no alcohol

Let's look at these "diet plan secrets" in turn:

Medium to high protein intake - Proteins are the building blocks of the body. It is difficult to get fat off protein calories, and they directly stimulate muscle maintenance and growth. This in turn helps keep metabolism up to speed, meaning your system can burn calories properly.

Few simple carbs - Simple carbs, ie. sugary, highly processed and white flour-based foods, tend to wreak havoc on the blood sugar balance. When the blood sugar spikes after say drinking sodas, insulin is released to control the sugar. Insulin also switches the body into fat storage-mode, effectively shutting down any fat loss processes you may have had going.

Little or no "bad" fats - Bad fats, like trans-fat packed fries, seem almost designed to clog up the cardiovascular system. While humans need fat to survive and thrive, we're much better off getting our daily fat calories from sources like fish, olive oil, nuts and seeds.

Good fiber intake - Fiber fills you up, which reduces the hunger pangs and accompanying temptation to cheat. It aids digestion and overall gut health, while also slowing down the release of simple carbs into the blood. Less blood sugar spike equals less insulin response, which enables your body to keep burning fat.

Little or no alcohol - A cold beer may taste good, but alcohol has a direct negative impact on your dieting efforts. Not only does alcohol contain almost as many calories per gram as pure fat (7 calories vs. 9 calories per gram), but the toxic elements have a disruptive effect on your natural hormone balance that can last for days.

More Diet Plan Secrets

While these steps are enough to get you started in the right direction when evaluating diet strategies, there are a few additional diet plan secrets that can help speed things up.

• Drink lots of water. Your body functions best when properly hydrated, and water fills you up nicely especially when combined with fiber-rich foods. Result: smaller serving sizes make you nice and full.

• Eat a lot early in the day to kick your metabolism into gear right from the start. Eat breakfast like a King, lunch like a Prince and dinner like pauper. Avoid eating anything heavy after 6 PM.

• Mistrust "low fat" products, as they tend to be full of sugar, salt and other unwanted stuff that makes them just as bad as the regular stuff they replace. Read the labels and be an informed customer. Good luck!

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