Metabolism is the term given to all processes by which your body converts food into energy. The metabolic rate is the speed at which your body burns calories. Your BMR (basal metabolic rate) is the rate at which your burn calories on essential body functions such as breathing. If you don’t exercise regularly, you’ll lose around 0.25 kg (1/2Lb) of muscle every year after your late twenties. When you lose muscle you BMR drops about 2% every decade, so you burn les calories. You can prevent age –related muscle loss with weekly strength training.
STRATEGY:
Exercise – higher intensity exercise increases post-exercise oxygen consumption ‘after burn’ and comes from fat stores.
Add muscle – regular weight training will raise your RMR. Adding two pounds (1kg) of muscle burns on average an extra 65 calories a day. That’s 2015 calories per month, equivalent to losing 1/2lb (0.25 kg) of fat.
Eat small meals often throughout the day – eat regularly and frequently to increase the metabolic rate. Plan three meals and two snacks a day spacing them at 2 -3 hours intervals.
Hydrate – drink at least 1.5l of water a day. Dehydration slows down the fat-burning process.
Avid skipping meals and don’t leave more than five hours between meals.
Eat protein – with every meal, while eating protein boosts your metabolism. Up to 20% of meal calories may be burned off as heat. It’s also the most satisfying nutrient so helps stop overeating.
Eat breakfast – it kickstarts your metabolism. For sustained energy combine carbohydrates and protein like eggs on toast or porridge.
Probably one of the most admired physiques, as far as Hollywood characters are concerned, is Brad Pitt’s Tyler Durden in Fight Club.
Weighing in at only 150-155 pounds and with only 5-6% body fat, Pitt maintained this physique by focusing on one muscle group per day, allowing for full recovery and maximizing his muscle growth potential over an extended period of time, similar to a bodybuilder’s periodization schedule.
Saving the cardio till the end of the week, Pitt would work at the maximum target heart rate with an intense session to burn off any unwanted fat, without sacrificing muscle.
For his next role in Snatch, Pitt eased off from his intense workout schedule and gained weight for a more healthy 8% body fat.
Reccomended Supplements –
Protein Powders
Optimum Nutrition Gold Standard 100% Whey – http://bit.ly/SSHF_100Whey
Dymatize Elite XT – http://bit.ly/SSHF_XT4lbs
Pre-Workout
Applied Nutrtion All Black Everything – http://bit.ly/SSHF_ABE
Cobra Labs The Curse – http://bit.ly/SHHF_TCurse
Creatine
Muscletech Cell Tech Performance Series – http://bit.ly/SSHF_MTCrea
All American EFX Kre-Alkalyn – http://bit.ly/SSHF_KreAlk
Protein Bars
Grenade Carb Killa Bars –
Optimum Nutrition Protein Whipped Bites 12x76g Bars – http://bit.ly/SSHF_ONWB
Workout Schedule
Exercises were performed at 3 sets of 15-25 reps. High intensity and heavy weights – on resistance days, on cardio days – running. Nice and simple.
What if we give you the secrets of Angelina Jolie’s killing figure and tell you that it is possible to achieve it with sheer determination and unwavering hard work? Yes, here we have weekly workout routine plan for you.
Exercise plan example:
Angelina uses light weights and high repetition usually incorporated in circuit training to keep it more interesting and less time consuming. She likes whole body and high intensity workouts.
• Wide Dumbbell Squats (she repeats it 15 times)
• Forward Lunges (15 repetitions)
• Side Lunges with Twist (15 repetitions)
• Squat and Press (15 repetitions)
• Stability Ball Leg Curls (10-12 repetitions)
• Cable Lat Pull downs (10-12 repetitions)
• Dumbbell Rows (10-12 repetitions)
• Dumbbell Bicep Curls (10-12 repetitions)
• Close Grip Bicep Curls (10-12 repetitions)
• Crunches (15 repetitions)
• Reverse Crunches (15 repetitions)
• 30 sec of either Mountain Climbers, or Jump Rope
• High Knees
• She repeats circuit exercises for two to three times.
• 30-45 Minutes of High Intensity Intervals Training Cardio work (also known as HIIT). It includes either one of them or a combination of two or three machines:
When doing cardio early in the morning on an empty stomach you are burning fat from the first minute, making it the most efficient time of the day for cardio. If you have not tried it yet, we recommend you give it a shot for at least a couple of weeks. Start with low duration and then build it up.
But what is the best cardio exercise you can do to get rid of your fatty acids? Well, it depends. We cannot say which one is the best, you need to find out for yourself. The most important thing is to make you feel good, to be safe to do and to help you reach your “target zone”. Your target zone is the heart rate you need to sustain while doing cardio in order to lose fatty tissue. Ok, but how to calculate our target zone?
The formula is:
220 – your age = number
That number is multiplied by 0.6 as well as by 0.75
Example:
If your age is 30, you get:
220 – 30= 190
190x 0.6= 114 (that is your lower range)
190x 0.75= 142.5 (that is your upper range)
You need to keep your heart rate between 114 and 142.5 because when you are in this target zone on an empty stomach the fuel that your body uses are the fatty acids. So let’s put it simply – you are losing fat and nothing else.
If you already do this – great! You can share with us your progress and experience. But if you are still considering it, we encourage you to try it out for at least a couple of weeks and then the results will keep you motivated to continue.
What is the first thing that comes to your mind when you think of fat loss? Diet and exercise, right? Yes, these are undoubtedly important but when your fat loss efforts come to a standstill, it is good to remember that there are other factors that play a role in the process. We have arranged them by importance in a Hierarchy of fat loss. These are: diet, sleep, stress, physical activity and training.
1. Diet – no training can overturn a bad diet. In order to lose weight, you have to create calorific deficit. High intensity training increases appetite, which makes some consume more food. Therefore it is important to combine intense training with balanced diet. Make healthy choices when you shop and if necessary use diet and weight loss supplements to get a boost. Chronic overeating and overtraining can lead to insulin resistance. If your weight loss comes to a halt, try reducing the amount of training you do and food you consume by a little.
2. Sleep – Have you noticed that when you have not had enough sleep, your cravings for carbs increase? This is no coincidence. When you are in a state of chronic sleep deficiency, your body needs a fast energy source. This is why sweet things look so attractive when you are tired – a double blow to your dieting efforts. Sleep is a milestone for optimum health and when not sufficient, it affects everything – mood, hormones, stress levels, appetite, willpower, energy, ability for quality training and recovery. If your body receives less than 7 hours sleep very often, this is likely to be a barrier on your fat loss path. Try this: in the next few weeks make a daily plan which includes more sleep at night time. Forget about staying late on social medias or watching TV.
3. Stress – Every one experiences stress at some point in their daily life. Stress can affect your eating habits (emotional eating) or affect your sleep. Even intensive training is perceived as stress by the body and it releases more cortisone – the stress hormone. This in turn has negative impact on muscle recovery and what is more under stress the body tries to store additional fat to use as energy source. Try this: make a list of things that make you calm – a 15 min walk in the park, 20 min in the bath, breathing exercises, listening to music etc. They can reduce your stress levels and will help you sleep better and avoid emotional eating.
4. Physical Activity – it may sound surprising to you that even people who train 4-5times a week also can be classed as having a sedentary lifestyle. If you are sitting for 8 hours behind a desk, this makes you inactive and you should try and stand up and move about more often. That gives you the opportunity to break the sitting in one and the same position and will help avoid the imbalance in the musculoskeletal system. Additionally you will burn more energy. If you are already training- this is good, but try and increase your body movement as much as possible. It is easy – use the stairs instead of the lift, park further, run with your children or dog, park or get off one stop further from your destination.
5. Training – last in this hierarchy of fat loss is the training. It plays a vital role in the muscle creation or preservation, regulates imbalances in the body, boosts confidence, improves bone density; it supports healthy heart and so on. What is more, larger muscle mass means burning more calories when resting bringing you closer to your fat loss goal. Without the first 4 steps in the fat loss ladder though, training can be ineffective for weight loss. For the ladies looking to get into shape we recommend power training with multi-joint exercises 3-4 times a week, 2 cardio sessions of 30 min each and 1-2 a week high intensity interval training.
Be S.M.A.R.T. about your goal and consistent, the results will follow soon.
Who would have thought that the scrawny WWII recruit would become one most renowned heroes within the MCU? Steve Rogers always brings a big presence on the battlefield, whether that be physical or mental – but his physical presence is something that the villains in the MCU are petrified of, but how did he get like that?
Chris Evans stated that he lost a lot of mass before the filming of Captain America: The Winter Soldier, so he needed to regain the stature that Cap’ is known for.
He did admit to doing almost no cardiovascular training. Thankfully though, the scenes in these type of movies are shot in short bursts, meaning his cardiovascular endurance isn’t tested and he has plenty of time to recuperate in between the scenes. When trying this workout, remember to do your cardio – a simple 10-15 minute jog to warm up and warm down should suffice.
THE WORKOUT
This program follows a 12-week cycle, each week you repeat the workouts listed below and you may eventually achieve your goal in looking like Captain America. This workout plan only works if you are eating a diet that follows your goal, hi-protein foods and protein shakes/mass gainers are a good way to promote muscle growth and recovery followed by a good night sleep. Use a BMI calculator to work out how many calories you are needing to consume daily.
It is extremely important to note that when following the guide below, to using a weight that you’re most comfortable with. Any excessive use of weights that your body is not equipped to handle can result in injury.
Below is a 4-day exercise program that is believed to be like the actual workout, that if followed over the course of 12 weeks with the correct diet should have you looking like Steve Rodgers himself. Muscleandstrength.com studied how Chris Evans trains and how his trainer trained his other clients and came up with this.
Day One:
Warm Up: 10-15 minute jog on a treadmill with an incline.
1. 3 sets of Squats, with 5 repetitions in each set.
2. 3 sets of Deadlifts, with 5 repetitions in each set.
3. 2 sets of Jump Squats, with 12 repetitions in each set.
4. 2 sets of Box Jumps with, 10 repetitions in each set.
5. 2 sets of Lying Leg Curls with, 12 repetitions in each set.
6. 2 sets of Standing Machine Calf Raises, with 15 repetitions in each set.
Day Two:
Warm Up: 10-15-minute jog on a treadmill with an incline.
1. 3 sets of Army Presses, with 5 reputations in each set.
2. 3 sets of Incline Dumbbell Presses. with 5 repetitions in each set
3. 3 sets of Pull Ups, with 12 repetitions in each set.
4. 3 sets of Z-Presses, with 8 repetitions in each set.
5. 3 sets of press ups with, 12 repetitions in each set.
6. 3 sets of an Inverted Row, with 12 repetitions in each set.
Day Three:
It’s important in any workout that you rest your body and let it recover. Consuming hi-protein foods and shakes are the best way to feed your muscle and get them the vital nutrition that they need.
Day Four:
Warm Up: 10-15-minute jog on a treadmill with an incline.
1. 3 sets of the Trap Bar Deadlift, with 5 repetitions in each set.
2. 3 sets of Front Squats, with 5 repetitions in each set.
3. 3 sets of the Leg Press, with 12 repetitions in each set.
4. 2 sets of Seated Leg Curls, with 15 repetitions in each set.
5. 2 sets of Jumping Lunges, with 15 in each set
6. 2 sets of Seated Calf Raises, with 15 in each set.
Day Five
Warm Up: 10-15-minute jog on a treadmill with an incline.
1. 3 sets of Bent Over Rowing, with 5 repetitions in each set
2. 3 sets of the Incline Bench Press, with 5 repetitions in each set.
3. 3 sets of the Kneeling Shoulder Press, with repetitions in each set.
4. 3 sets of One Arm Dumbbell Rows, with 12 repetitions in each set.
5. 3 sets of Dips, with 15 repetitions in each set.
6. 3 sets of Chin-Ups, with 15 repetitions in each set.
Day Six & Seven: Rest days & cheat day. Make sure you use them wisely and satisfy any cravings you may have from the brutal workout you’ve endeared for the week past.
THE DIET
People like Chris Evans pay a lot of money to get top class nutritionists and personal trainers, so if you need to get that extra bit of energy or need some help with your protein intake – here are some supplements we recommend.
Protein Powders Labrada Iso Whey (2268g) Dorian Yates ShadoWhey (2 kg) Optimum Nutrition Gold Standard 100% Whey (2.2kg)
The Bulk Protein Company Serious Gainz (5 kg) Mutant Mass (6.8 kg)
Is it possible to lose one stone in a week? Yes, however, not a stone worth of fat. A lot of it is water.
We review 2 popular diets that promise lightning-fast weight loss results.
Most people prefer a calorie deficit and some sort of physical activity or resistance training to lose weight. After a browse on the internet, we have found 2 diets that will help you lose weight without a high level of exercise. These two diets are the ‘Military Diet’ & the other is James Duncan’s diet plan.
A lot of the fad diets around have various risk factors such as long hunger periods. Here are our two diets that will leave you feeling full and kick start your diet and all of the health benefits it will gain from it.
SS Healthfoods does not endorse any of these diets listed below, we believe in slow & steady weight loss in a healthy manner. This way, you lose fat efficiently & would follow the advice listed by the NHS by consulting your GP/Doctor before any weight loss programme.
James Duncan Diet (Chemical Diet)
This diet is designed to reduce chemical imbalance whilst also restricting your calorie intake. There are a few rules surrounding this diet:
No alcohol, only permitted drinks are black coffee, tea, lemon/grapefruit juice (without sugar).
No milk, butter & fats and no eating between the stated meals.
Stick to the diet, avoid anything that isn’t included in the diet, aka, eat what you can and go without what you can’t eat.
Only follow this diet for one week in a three week period (one week on, two weeks off).
Swapping lunch & tea is permitted, however only on the same days. No salt as it will increase water retention, pepper is ok.
Now, let’s have a look at this free meal plan that spans from Monday-Sunday.
James Duncan Diet
Breakfast
Lunch
Tea
Monday
1 slice of dry toast with either one grilled tomato or canned tomatoes.
Fresh fruit – you can have any amount of these, go nuts.
2 hard-boiled eggs with salad and some grapefruit.
Tuesday
Grapefruit with one hard-boiled egg.
Grilled chicken with tomato and one slice of dry toast.
Grilled steak with some salad.
Wednesday
Grapefruit with one hard-boiled egg.
Fresh fruit – you can have any amount of these, go nuts.
2 grilled Lamb Chops with some salad and a grapefruit.
Thursday
One slice of dry toast.
Fresh fruit – you can have any amount of these, go nuts.
2 hard-boiled eggs with some salad & grapefruit.
Friday
One slice of dry toast.
Fresh fruit – you can have any amount of these, go nuts.
Fresh fish & some salad.
Saturday
One glass of grapefruit juice.
Fresh fruit – you can have any amount of these, go nuts.
Grilled chicken with some carrots & some grapefruit.
Sunday
Scrambled egg with either grilled or tinned tomatoes.
2 poached eggs with spinach.
Grilled steak with some salad.
James Duncan also gave us a few tips surrounding the diet. Grapefruit sourness is more bearable with pink grapefruits and grapefruit sweetens a lot more during its final ripening stages. Drinking water can help fill you up temporarily if you are feeling hungry.
This diet has drawn a lot of criticism, however, most of the weight you lose will be water weight. This means that if you drop to your ideal weight, then as soon as you begin to eat properly again, the weight will pile back on.
This diet is not a realistic long-term goal. If you’re looking for a long term and healthy goal – you should slightly reduce your calorie intake with physical activity.
Military Diet
The military diet is also another really popular diet for fast weight loss. According to Healthline, it can help you lose up to 4.5kg a week. Whilst the James Duncan Diet is one week on and two weeks off, the military diet is three days on and 4 days off.
The diet supposedly originates in the USA by nutritionists in the army who wanted to be able to get their soldiers in shape very quickly, however, there are no claims to back this up.
The diet is set into two phases:
THE FIRST 3-DAY PHASE
The second 4-day phase. The first phase follows a set, strict low-calorie meal plan averages out at about 1,250 calories per day. NO SNACKS ALLOWED.
Total calorie intake during this phase is roughly 1,100–1,400 calories per day. If you want to compare that to how much you should be getting, use this calorie calculator to find out.
During the second phase, you should still aim for a calorie deficit to ensure you are not putting the weight back on, check out our health foods range and make sure your diet is spot on.
Day One
Day Two
Day Three
Breakfast
One slice of toast with 2 tablespoons of peanut butter, half a grapefruit and either a cup of tea or coffee if you’d like.
One slice of toast with a hard-boiled egg, half of a banana and either a tea or coffee if you want.
1 oz slice of cheddar cheese with 5 saltine crackers. A small apple and either a cup of coffee or tea if you’d like.
Lunch
A slice of toast. half a cup of tuna and either a tea or coffee if you’d like.
One hard-boiled egg with a cup of cottage cheese. Alongside this 5 saltine crackers and either a cup of coffee or tea
One slice of toast with one egg how you can cook however you like. A cup of tea or coffee if you’d like as well.
Tea
85g of meat with a cup of green beans, a small apple, half of a banana and one cup of vanilla ice cream.
Two hot dogs without the buns with half a cup of carrots and half a cup of broccoli. Alongside this, there is half a banana and half a cup of vanilla ice cream
A cup of tuna and a cup of vanilla ice cream with half a banana
Total Kcal
1,400 kcal
1,200 kcal
1,100 kcal
You can drink as much tea/coffee as you’d like throughout this diet, as long as you don’t add milk/sugar/sweetener as it will add calories.
Dependant on your dietary requirements, you are allowed to swap some food around. If you have a peanut allergy, use almond butter instead and swap fish with almonds if you’re a vegetarian or vegan. Whilst you can swap foods, you need to make sure that the calories are the same.
WebMD has looked into this diet and has shown that it has been found to boost your metabolism and burn fat more effectively. It is also important to know that you are consuming at least 25% less of your daily recommended intake. Which means you could lose more weight if you weigh more.
A good tip for this diet is to use a food-tracking app in order to make sure you stay on track, see our articles on the best health and fitness apps.
Unlike the chemical diet, you won’t pile the weight back on when you’re finished as your body is using excess calories to burn the fat and you will not lose that much water weight.
Setting fitness goals are important, they give us a target to work towards and every step forward gives us a brilliant sense of accomplishment when we achieve them.
If you set yourself unrealistic and unachievable goals, when you find yourself not on track it can make you feel down and could cause injury if you strain your body too much to maintain progress. That’s why we’re going to look at how to make realistic, achievable goals to help you on your fitness journey.
SMART Targets
SMART targets are a great way to set your targets, it stands for Specific, Measureable, Assignable, Realistic & Time-bound. An example of this is if I was a male who weighed 15st exactly, my target would be: I want to Lose two stone by consistently losing 0.14st per week for 14 weeks.
This goal sets the SMART targets guidelines because it is specific in the amount of weight loss you would want to lose, it is measurable because that would equate to 0.14st/2lbs/0.9kg per week. It is assignable because you are the one who is doing the weight loss, and realistic & time-bound, because it is the recommended that 0.14st is the amount of healthy weight loss per week and losing 0.14st every week, equates to 2 stone over 14 weeks.
Tips & Tricks
Whilst calories out vs. calories out is the most simple, effective & recommended way to lose, gain or maintain weight – there are a few things you can do to your diet to get more and less in your calorie intake.
Sugary Drinks
Whilst Jamie Oliver’s sugar-tax levy that was introduced in 2018 saw a lot of soft drink brand reformulate their drinks to make them less sugary to avoid the tax, it has also been shown that is has had the effect on people that fizzy drinks are now healthy – which is untrue.
100ml of Pepsi is 41kcal, which means if you enjoy a 500ml bottle with your tea every night (because diets do need to be balanced and you shouldn’t get rid of everything that gives you pleasure), that means it’s an extra 204kcal per day, which equates to around 10% of your daily calories goal.
The best fluid to have with food is water, as it contains no calories whatsoever, however, if you love fizzy pop that much, all the major soft drinks have low calorie and zero-cal options.
Food
When losing weight, you ultimately need to watch what you need. A lot of people underestimate how many calories are in certain foods, so you need to be careful to read the nutritional information on the packaging.
Even when you read the packaging, labels can be deceitful, make sure you read how many calories are in their recommended serving size. Some brands label their serving size so small, for example, 1/2 of a Chicken Kiev, so they do not look that bad in terms of their nutritional information – so always be on the lookout for that.
Eathis.com compiled a list of some of the foods that are higher in calories than you think, here’s just a few we think are important to know, check their article for the full list.
Certain Smoothies: While smoothies can be extremely beneficial, don’t fall into the trap of thinking all smoothies are healthy. Whilst they may have good benefits for your body, some of them can be almost 1000kcal, 50% of the daily recommended calorie intake.
Salad Dressing: When you first think of the best ways to lose weight, eating salads is one of the first things that come to mind. Whilst it’s true that they are very low calories, the salad dressing contains a lot of calories which all add up. We’ve also written an article about the impact sauces & condiments can have on your diet.
Avocadoes: There are plenty of benefits of eating Avocados, they’re healthy for your heart and full of potassium. However, a full Avocado can contain up to 400 kcal, which would be 1/4 of your daily recommend daily goal. We recommend everything in moderation, especially with Avocados. Not only are they tasty, but they also fend off hunger, boost our nutrient absorption and lower our cholesterol.
Calories Burned During Exercise
When you exercise, you obviously burn calories. You can lose weight by reducing the number of calories you consume per day, but that is also coupled a lot of the time with exercise.
Using Bupa’s online calorie calculator, we figured out that our 15 stone male would lose, 598kcal if he were to undergo 30 minutes of vigorous weightlifting and running at 6 miles an hour for 20 minutes. It has been shown that 1 pound of belly fat is equal to 3,500kcal, so if you lost 0.14st per week from food, you could lose another 0.07st from exercise on top of that – but that is heavily not recommended. If our 15 stone male was to lose an extra 598kcal a day, that would his body would be missing 28% of its daily fuel source.
Jillianmichaels.com says that “It is absolutely 100 per cent essential to eat enough calories! If you don’t, it will destroy your metabolism. It’s like telling your body that you’re starving. If your body thinks it’s starving, your metabolism will shut down.
Not eating enough calories will also force the body to cannibalize muscle and hold on to fat. The body considers muscle to be expendable during periods of starvation, and it considers fat to be necessary to insulate your organs for survival.”
Whilst the above quote is only in the extreme circumstances, you could start to feel very mild side effects of not consuming enough calories of what’s listed above.
Therefore, it’s essential to get your body back up to the recommended calorie level for that day. Protein shakes are especially good because they also give you the proteins to repair your muscles as well as the calories to fuel your body, check out our range here.
Times To Eat
Intermittent fasting has been shown to be a good way to reduce weight loss. If your body can cope with that, great. But there is no definitive time to eat. You should be having every meal, in a balanced way. Skipping breakfast, dinner or tea can lead to overeating later on. Having meals at regular intervals throughout the day makes it less likely to overeat when you get home.
Helpful Apps
The app that we would recommend for using, is Under Armour’s ‘myfitnesspal’ it is the one-stop app for tracking your calorie intake, updating your goals and providing you with data such as which food groups you eat too much of or not enough of. We also compiled another article full of the best apps for your fitness journey, check it out here.
The Fast Diet also known as The 5:2 Diet, is currently the most popular intermittent fasting diet. It was popularized by British doctor and journalist Michael Mosley.
The is based on a principle where you eat normally for five days a week and fast on the other two days (you must restrict calories to 500–600 per day). This diet is actually more of an eating pattern than a diet. There are no requirements about which foods to eat, but rather when you should eat them.
On top of losing weight, fans claim the 5:2 diet has been said to improve lifespan and brain function and protect against conditions such as dementia and Alzheimer’s.
However, evidence on the effectiveness of the 5:2 Diet is limited when compared with other types of weight loss techniques. One 2010 study found women placed on a 5:2 diet achieved similar levels of weight loss to women on a calorie-controlled diet, and were also less likely to develop chronic diseases such as type 2 diabetes. There is some evidence that the 5:2 model may help lower the risk of certain obesity-related cancers, such as breast cancer.
Pros of Fasting
Sticking to a regimen for two days a week is more achievable than seven days, so you are more likely to persevere with this way of eating and successfully lose weight. Two days a week on a restricted diet can lead to greater reductions in body fat, insulin resistance and other chronic diseases.
Cons of Fasting:
The non-restricted days do not mean unlimited feasting. While you don’t need to be as strict about your calorie consumption, you still need to make healthy choices and be physically active.
Skipping meals could make you feel dizzy, irritable, give you headaches and make it hard to concentrate, which can affect work and other daily tasks.
Other reported side effects are difficulties sleeping and daytime sleepiness, bad breath and dehydration.
A common way of planning the week is to fast on Mondays and Thursdays, with 2 or 3 small meals, then eating normally for the rest of the week.
It’s important to emphasize that eating “normally” does not mean you can eat literally anything. If you binge on junk food, then you probably won’t lose any weight, and may even gain weight.
How to Eat on Fasting Days
There Some people function best by beginning the day with a small breakfast, while others find it best to start eating as late as possible.
Generally, there are two meal patterns that people use:
1. Three small meals: Usually breakfast, lunch and dinner.
2. Two slightly bigger meals: Only lunch and dinner.
Split the calories on filling foods
Since calorie intake is limited — 500 for women and 600 for men — it makes sense to use your calorie budget wisely. Try to focus on nutritious, high-fibre, high-protein foods that will make you feel full without consuming too many calories.
Suitable fasting foods
Soups (for example miso, tomato, vegetable) are a great option on fast days. Studies have shown that they may make you feel fuller than the same ingredients in original form, or foods with the same calorie content.
A generous portion of vegetables
Natural yoghurt with berries
Boiled or scrambled eggs
Grilled fish or lean meat
Cauliflower rice
Black coffee, tea, water.
There is no specific, correct way to eat on fasting days. You have to experiment and figure out what works best for you. There is no rule as to what or when you must eat on the fasting days.
Verdict:
The 5:2 is a simple way to reduce calorie intake. There are lots of versions of this diet, with some less safe than others. Many studies on intermittent fasting are short-term, involve small numbers of subjects, or are animal-based.
If you choose to follow it, choose an evidence-based plan based on healthy, balanced eating and written by a dietician, such as the “2-Day Diet”. It’s vital for your health to avoid nutritional deficiencies, dehydration and overeating on non-fast days.
Never attempt to delay or skip meals if you are pregnant, have had, or are prone to eating disorders or diabetes.
Dr Robert Atkins showed the world that weight loss doesn’t mean you have to starve. As long as you break free from the stranglehold of eating too many carbohydrates that programme our bodies to produce and store fat.
The old Atkins diet promises to turn your body into a fat-burning machine. The theory is that by starving yourself of carbohydrates, your body will start burning fat for energy.
New Atkins
New Atkins is similar to the old Atkins, except it allows a wider variety of foods to make it more nutritionally balanced.
During the first two weeks of the diet, designed for rapid weight loss, you’re on a protein-rich diet with no restrictions on fat and a daily carb allowance of just 20g.
During the next three phases, the weight loss is likely to be more gradual and regular exercise is encouraged. More carbs are introduced to your diet – initially 5g and later 10g at a time – with the aim of working out what your ideal carb intake is to maintain a healthy weight for life.
Phase one is designed to help you lose up to 15lb in two weeks, reducing to 2-3lb during phase two.
One of the defining aspects of the All-New Atkins Advantage is that each person can tailor it to his or her own needs and tastes.
Four phases of New Atkins:
There are four phases to the diet. If you are willing to wait a little longer to lose weight, then just work through the phases as described below.
But if you want to lose weight rapidly you can stay in the more restrictive induction phase for longer.
1. The restrictive induction phase
You eat only a minimal amount of carbohydrates during this phase – around 20g of ‘net carbs’ a day (to work them out, see information below above) – and will experience fairly rapid weight loss as your body switches from burning carbohydrates to fat. You should do this phase for two weeks, but you can do it for up to a maximum of six months, depending on how much weight you would like to lose.
2. The On-going Weight Loss Phase
You slowly add a greater variety of carbohydrate food by 5g a week and will discover exactly how much carbohydrate you can eat while still losing weight. You stay in OWL until you have only five to ten pounds left to lose before reaching your ideal weight.
3. Pre-maintenance
You increase your carbohydrate intake by 10g a week, as long as you still keep losing pounds or inches. Your weight loss will slow to a crawl, but this is exactly what you want if your goal is permanent weight control.
During this phase, you will reach your goal weight. Once you have maintained it for a month, you are ready to move on to Lifetime Maintenance – not so much a phase as a permanent way of eating.
4. Lifetime Maintenance
This is not really a phase at all, but a permanent way of eating. We recommend that once you have reached your goal weight, you monitor it closely, being careful never to gain more than 5lb.
The New Atkins Diet Plan
STARTING THE DIET PHASE ONE: INDUCTION
Don’t over- extend yourself during this period, because this phase requires some psychological and physical energy.
In some respects induction is the most rewarding part of the new Atkins Diet – after a few days, you will be rewarded with an energy surge accompanied by rapid weight loss.
We recommend you do it for a minimum of 14 days, because that’s how long it will take to break your body’s carbohydrate addiction. But you can stay on it for longer – until you have only 50-10lb left to lose.
Here are the rules of induction:
Eat only the foods on the Acceptable Foods in Induction list below.
Consume approximately 20 grams of net carbs a day, primarily from salad and other vegetables. See the box above for what 20g net carbs looks like in terms of a day’s eating.
Eat at least 12 net carbs per day of acceptable vegetables – that’s four cupful’s, three as salad and one of the other vegetables from the lists below. You can have more if you stick to salad.
Spread your carbohydrate intake over the course of the day
Eat three regular meals or four or five small ones. Do not skip meals, especially breakfast, or go for more than six waking hours without eating.
Eat at least 6oz/170g (the size of two decks of cards) of protein at every meal.
Between meals eat a low carbohydrate snack if you are hungry, such as a boiled egg, a celery stick filled with cream cheese, or a slice of turkey wrapped around a steamed stalk of asparagus.
Drink two litres of water throughout the day.
Take a daily multivitamin, a fibre supplement (see below) and essential fatty acids.
ACCEPTABLE FOOD IN INDUCTION
All fish, including tuna, salmon, sole, trout, sardines, herring.
All fowl, including chicken, turkey, duck, goose, quail, pheasant
All shellfish, including oysters, mussels, lobster, clams, squid, prawns, crab (limit oysters and mussels to 4oz/115g a day as they have higher carbs).
All meat, including beef, pork, lamb, veal, ham, venison.
All eggs, including scrambled, fried, poached, boiled or as omelettes. You can eat all these liberally because they’re virtually carb-free.
Around 3-4oz (85g-115g) a day of any cheese, including cheddar, gouda, edam, mozzarella, Roquefort or other blue cheese, Swiss cheese, any cow, goat or sheep cheese. There is around one net carb in every 1oz/28g of cheese, so include it in your allowance.
Salad vegetables: You should eat 12-15 net carbs a day of vegetables. Salad vegetables are high in nutrients and provide a good source of fibre. They provide 1g of carbohydrates per cup of vegetables and include: alfalfa sprouts, bok choi, celery, chicory, chives, cucumber, daikon, fennel, lettuce – any sort, including rocket, endive, radicchio, romaine etc – mushrooms, parsley, radishes and sorrel.
Other vegetables: These are slightly higher in carb content, but add variety in flavour and nutrients. They provide 6g carbohydrates per cup, and include: artichoke, asparagus, aubergine, bamboo shoots, bean shoots, broccoli, brussels sprouts, cabbage, cauliflower, chard, courgette, hearts of palm, kale, kohlrabi, leeks, okra, onion, peppers, pumpkin, rhubarb, sauerkraut, spring onions, sugar snaps, spinach, string beans, squash, tomato, turnips and water chestnuts.
Spices: Add herbs and spices to taste as long as they do not contain any added sugar. Choose, for example, basil, cayenne pepper, coriander, dill, garlic, ginger, oregano, pepper, rosemary, sage, tarragon and thyme.
Dressings: Oils, vinegar and lemon juice plus herbs and spices. Prepared dressings with no added sugar and no more than two carbs per tbsp are fine.
Artificial sweeteners: The Atkins preference is sucralose, marketed as Splenda, the only sweetener made from sugar. It is safe, non- calorific and does not raise blood sugar. It contains some carbs, so include in your allowance.
Beverages: Water – you must drink eight 250ml/8 fl oz glasses of water a day of filtered, mineral, spring or tap water – a total of two litres. You can also drink clear broth/bouillon (read the label and make sure there is no carbohydrate in it), soda water, coffee and tea, diet drinks make with sucralose (count the carbs), ‘no-calorie’ drinks and herbal tea.
Special category foods: For variety, you can eat ten to 20 olives, half a small avocado, 1oz/28g sour cream or 3oz/85g cream and 2/3 tbsp of lemon or lime juice.
You should also take three supplements a day: a multivitamin, essential fatty acids and fibre. For fibre, consume a minimum of 2tsp of ground flaxseed, unprocessed bran or psyllium husks daily (all of these are available in health food shops).
HOW DO I WORK OUT NET CARBS?
Refined carbohydrate causes blood sugar to rise rapidly. To calculate a food’s net carb value, all you have to do is look at the information on the back of the packet.
Find the total carbohydrate content and then subtract the amount of fibre. For example, four spears of asparagus have 2.5g of total carbohydrates and 1g of fibre. That works out as 1.5g of net carbs.
To help you, we give the net carb values for all the foods in weekly meal plans Below. Alternatively, you can buy the Dr Atkins New Carbohydrate Counter book, which contains many net carb values.
Here’s an example of how one day’s 20g carb allowance could work out:
Mixed salad (3 cups) = 3g.
Eggs (two) = 1g.
Cooked veg (1 cup) = 4g.
Cheese, 3/4oz (85g/115g) = 3g.
Avocado (half) = 2g.
Olives (10) = 2g.
Lemon juice (1 tbsp.) = 1.5g.
Cream (1 tbsp.) = 0.5g.
Salad dressing (2 tbsp.) = 2g.
Sugar substitute (2 tsp.) = 1g.
TOTAL = 20
NB: All measurements are in American cup sizes (available in homeware shops). Or use your measuring jug: 1 cup = 240ml = 8fl oz. 1/2 cup = 120ml = 4fl oz.
WEEK ONE MEAL PLAN
DAY 1
BREAKFAST: Atkins Advantage Morning Bar or low carb protein bar (3 net carbs), 2 boiled eggs (1)
LUNCH: 1 cup chicken broth, Chef salad: 2 slices each of thick ham, turkey, roast beef, 1 chopped boiled egg (1), 1oz/28g blue cheese, 2 slices bacon crumbled over three cups mixed salad (3), vinaigrette (2)
DINNER: 8oz/225g grilled steak with 1/2 cup each of courgette and mushrooms, sauteed (2.5), 1 cup rocket (1), 1/2 cup sliced cucumber (1), ranch dressing (1)
SNACK: Hot chocolate: 1/2 cup plain soya milk, 1 tbsp cocoa, 1 tsp Splenda (3)
BREAKFAST: Atkins Advantage Peanut Granola Bar or low sugar protein bar (3), 1 boiled egg (1/2)
SNACK: 1oz/28g cheddar (1)
LUNCH: Cobb salad: 6oz/170g grilled chicken, 1 slice bacon crumbled, 1/2 avocado (2) and 1oz/28g blue cheese, crumbled (1), over 3 cups mixed leaves (3) with vinaigrette (2)
DINNER: Beef sauté: 8oz/225g minced beef sautéed with 5 chopped black olives, 1/4 cup tomato sauce (3) and 1 cup chopped spinach (1); creamy mashed cauliflower: 1 cup steamed cauliflower (2) mashed with 1 tbsp butter and 2 tbsp cream (0.5)
SNACK: 5 black olives (1)
TOTAL: 20g
DAY 7
BREAKFAST: 2 fried eggs (1), 1 cup mushrooms and sautéed tomatoes (2.5)
SNACK: 1/2 avocado (2)
LUNCH: Blue cheese burger: 1 8oz/225g hamburger patty with 1oz/28g melted blue cheese (1), 1/2 cup chopped cherry tomatoes (2); 2 cups mixed salad leaves with ranch dressing (2)
DINNER: Chicken parmigiana: 8oz/ 225g chicken breast topped with a cup of tomato sauce (3) and 1oz/28g fresh mozzarella cheese (1), 1/2 cup grilled aubergine (2), 1 cup salad leaves (1) with vinaigrette (1)
SNACK: 1 boiled egg (1)
TOTAL: 19.5g
WEEK TWO MEAL PLAN
DAY 1
BREAKFAST: Nut smoothie: 1 tbsp soy nut butter (1); blend with 1 cup natural soya milk (3), 2 scoops whey protein vanilla shake (2), 4 ice-cubes
SNACK: 1 boiled egg (0.5)
LUNCH: 4 slices corned beef, 2 slices Swiss cheese (2), 1/2 cup sauerkraut (2) served over 2 cups of spinach, steamed (1) with mustard vinaigrette (2)
DINNER: 8oz/225g grilled salmon steak splashed with 1 tbsp soy sauce (1) served with mixed salad leaves (2) and half a cup of cucumber (1) drizzled with 1 tbsp peanut oil and 1tbsp unseasoned rice wine vinegar (2)
SNACK: 5 black olives (1)
TOTAL: 20.5g
DAY 2
BREAKFAST: 1 poached egg (1/2) on 1 slice low-carb multigrain toast (3), 1oz/28g cheese, melted, 1/2 cup cherry tomatoes (2)
DINNER: 8oz/225g lamb chops, grilled, 1 cup steamed cauliflower (2); 1 cup mixed salad, ranch dressing (1); 1/2 avocado (2)
SNACK: Prawn cocktail: 6 steamed prawns with cocktail sauce (3)
TOTAL: 18.5g
DAY 3
BREAKFAST: 2 scrambled eggs (1), 1oz cheddar (1), 1 tbsp each salsa and sour cream (2)
SNACK: Atkins Advantage Ready-to-Drink French Vanilla Shake (2)
LUNCH: 1 cup chicken broth; 8oz/ 225g grilled chicken breast with pesto sauce (1/4 cup fresh basil with 2 tbsp olive oil, 1oz grated Parmesan) (1), 1 cup cos lettuce (1), vinaigrette (1)
DINNER: Fish fajita: 8oz/225g pan-fried cod and 1 slice cheddar wrapped in a low-carb tortilla (3), 2 cups mixed salad leaves (2) with 1/2 cup button mushrooms, chopped (1), and vinaigrette (2)
LUNCH: Broccoli soup: 1/2 cup of broccoli, pureed with 1/4 cup liquid and 1/4 cup single cream (3); 1/2 avocado (2) with 8oz/225g crab/tuna with mayo, 2 cups spinach (2), vinaigrette (2)
DINNER: 8oz/225g gammon steak, 1/2cup green beans with butter and chopped mint (3), 1 cup mixed leaves (1), vinaigrette (1)
LUNCH: 1 cup chicken broth Open ham sandwich: 1 slice low-carb rye bread (3), 2 thick slices baked ham, 2 slices U.S. cheese (2) with mayo and mustard, 1/2 cup sliced cucumber (1) served on 1/2 cup endive (1), with 1 tbsp vinaigrette (1)
DINNER: 2 grilled veal chops seasoned with butter that’s been mixed with chopped sage, 1/2 cup sautéed courgette (3), 2 cups mixed leaves (3), drizzled with vinaigrette (2)
SNACK: 1/2 cup of cherry tomatoes (2) and 1oz mozzarella cheese, sliced (1), drizzled with olive oil (1)
LUNCH: 8oz/225g cooked prawns, mixed with mayonnaise and chopped flat leaf parsley (3), 1 slice low-carb rye bread (3)
DINNER: 8oz/225g pork tenderloin seasoned with rosemary, salt and pepper (1), 1 cup mixed leaves (1) with ranch dressing (1)
SNACK: Hot chocolate: 1/2 cup plain soya milk with 1 tbsp cocoa powder and 1 tsp Splenda, heated (3)
TOTAL: 19.5g
Extracted from The All-New Atkins Diet by Stuart L .Trager with Colette Heimowitz, published by St Martin’s Press.
If you do gain more and haven’t altered your diet, you may need to start doing some more exercise, or cutting back slightly on your carbohydrate intake.
Pros:
You can lose weight very quickly, which can be motivating. The diet also encourages people to cut out most processed carbs and alcohol. With its diet of red meat, butter, cream, cheese and mayonnaise, it’s one of the diets that appeals most to men.
Cons:
Initial side effects can include bad breath, a dry mouth, tiredness, dizziness, insomnia, nausea and constipation from cutting out carbs, and potential for lower fibre intake. The high intake of saturated fat may increase your risk of heart disease, and there are concerns about the recommendation to add salt.
Verdict:
The New Atkins diet plan is almost the same as the original one, but includes more practical advice on how to implement the diet and variety to reduce boredom. The amount of processed meat, red meat and saturated fat is still an issue, as is the advice to add salt, which all contradict current health advice. Some could still find it complicated and time consuming, but the promise of initial rapid weight loss may appeal to and motivate some.
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