10-Day ECourse Other Popular Diets Email 1 Subject: Variants of the Ketogenic diet Dear [Name], People love taking diets and changing them to suit themselves to make up something new. The ketogenic diet is no exception. Let’s look at a few of the options floating around when it comes to doing the keto diet. * Vegan/Vegetarian Keto – This means that you simply adjust and choose to eat soy, but usually only certain types like tofu. You need to add in legumes and eat more nuts and seeds to get enough protein. It can be very hard to eat keto and be a vegan. It’s easier if you’re a vegetarian and eat cheese, although cheese is not an option on all keto plans. * High-Protein Ketogenic – The keto diet is really a moderate protein diet as it’s believed you really don’t need more than 15% of your calories to be from protein to be healthy. However, some people have a reason to have more protein such as if they’re recovering from surgery or an injury, or are body builders. This plan can work for people who are in recovery but it can be hard on the kidneys, so be careful with that. * Restricted Ketogenic – This simply means that some resistant people need to count their calories and restrict them to jump-start weight loss and health improvement. This can happen if you have an underlying illness such as hypothyroidism or other autoimmune illnesses. Basically, you use a chart to determine your ideal weight and then eat only the calories required to maintain that weight in the food groups allowed on your version of keto. This can be very difficult to stick with if the calories are super-low due to the lower volume of food on all keto plans. * Targeted Ketogenic – On keto, you only get so many carbs a day, but for people who work out sometimes this is challenging as they need a little more glycogen stores to keep up and perform at a high level. Therefore, they eat their carbs before and after workouts instead of just with meals. As you can see, this lifestyle can be modified to meet your needs. The main point is that you want to eat low enough in carbs to cause your body to produce ketones. When you produce ketones, you improve your health because they’re neuroprotective and give you lots of energy and vibrancy. However you choose to modify this way of life, stick to the main principles regarding your carbohydrate, fat, and protein ratios. Don’t try to be sneaky about what you are eating. Your body cannot be tricked, and you cannot go back and forth from keto to high carb and expect it to work. Next time, we're going to look at one of the most popular diets that you're sure to have heard of. Email 2 Subject: Weight Watchers Dear [Name], The Weight Watchers’ diet is something almost everyone who has ever dieted has tried. Their main claim to fame is their point system. They give higher points to things that have fewer nutrients, more fat, and more protein than they do to food like fruit and veggies. In fact, most fruit and veggies have zero points per serving. Pros of This Diet One of the biggest pros is that when you are on the Weight Watchers' program, you can eat any food you want to eat. You just have to avoid eating more than your allocated points. They assign points to encourage you to eat what is healthier in their opinion. Therefore, most junk food will have higher points than healthy food. The other pros to this diet are that you get lots of support in the form of meetings and groups, both online and offline. You get tips for cooking, how to fight cravings, and so much more out of the group environment. The final good thing about this diet is that you will lose weight very slowly as you build this diet into a lifestyle and create good habits. Cons of This Diet The only real cons are that it can be very expensive to join a membership. You’ll have to pay every month if you want to keep going to meetings and getting the information. That cost can add up to hundreds of dollars a year. But in some ways, this doesn’t even matter because a lot of people don’t want to go to meetings. Of course, Weight Watchers do have their online program now too, so that helps. The other problem, though, is that like counting calories it can be a pain to have to stop what you’re doing to compute points. Plus, the type of freedom you get to eat whatever you want doesn’t work for some people, especially anyone who is a food addict. Sometimes at meetings, you’ll find a recipe for something that has no nutritional benefit but is low in points because it’s full of fake stuff and lots of chemicals. This is not a good thing. In the next email, we're going to look at the pros and cons of another very popular diet. Email 3 Subject: Slimming World Dear [Name], If you haven’t heard of this diet yet, you may be in the minority. This diet has been around for more than 50 years. The crux of the program is that you get access to the diet if you become a paying member. But the plan is essentially a calorie-based plan. Calories Count They teach that you must expend more calories than you eat to lose weight while eating pasta, lean meat, rice, fish, fruit, vegetables, and limiting low-nutrient food like bread and alcohol. You can choose from "free foods," "healthy extras," and "Syns" - which doesn’t mean "sin" but rather allows you to eat some of those forbidden things on the naughty list. Lots of Support The pros of this plan are that you get support, plus you get a plan. Most people do better on diets if they have a real plan to follow. You don’t even have to count calories; instead, you count Syns which is the restricted food. The cons of this diet are that you never really learn how much you can eat of anything or what a normal portion size looks like. High Variety of Food The other pro of this plan is that you can eat a wide variety of food from all food groups. That means that you don’t need anything special to follow this plan. You must count your Syns each day, though. Which brings us to the con; counting anything is hard to remember, and this diet gives you too much to remember and relies on falsely low in calorie "fake" food like fat-free dairy and so forth. Pescatarians? This plan focuses on healthy carbs and is really close to a pescatarians diet. That is essentially a vegetarian who eats eggs, cheese, and fish. It might be hard to control yourself and not overeat on the food that is allowed and miscount your Syns. However, a lot of people like the ease and flexibility of this plan too. The main thing is, when choosing a plan, break it down to the basics, then compare it to your lifestyle. Imagine yourself fitting it in and doing it. Try it for a limited trial to see how it goes. You can do almost anything for 30 days without causing too much harm. In our next email, we're going to look at the Rosemary Conley diet in more detail. Email 4 Subject: Rosemary Conley diet Dear [Name], Rosemary offers more than one diet plan on her website: www.rosemaryconley.com. The main thing that she’s offering is an online community of support in exchange for your membership. You can also get meal plans and help for the diet you choose to follow based on the choices she offers. Some of her offerings include: * 3-2-1 Diet – This is a modified version of intermittent fasting, alternating light eating days with normal eating days. In short, on this plan you’ll eat 800 calories for 3 days the first week, 2 the second, and alternate that until you reach your goal and then go to just one day of 800 calories a week. The pros of this idea are that instead of not eating at all, you can eat something on light eating days and still lose weight. The cons are that you will have to be very dedicated to eating such low calories on light eating days to make it work. * Complete Lifestyle Change Diet - This is a 12-week plan that you can get in plant-based and gluten-free versions. Essentially, it’s a healthy calorie-controlled plan that includes exercise and training in why and how you should exercise to maximize weight loss. While the idea of a complete lifestyle change might make this diet look like a con, the pros are that a healthy balanced diet can be had in a calorie-controlled environment and that it will work. * Plant-Based – This plan is for people who want to eat plant-based for health. It includes a lot of different recipes and meals to choose from. It’s not as hard as you might think to follow this plan. The cons of this plan are that most people do not stick to a plant-based diet long, especially if they have to eat out a lot. The pros are you’ll stop having bad breath, and you will lose weight eating a large quantity of food. * 28-Day Lean and Clean Plan – This choice is a good way to help you get on the right plan. It is calorie controlled so you will lose weight, but the point is to eat as clean as possible to give your digestive system a rest to heal your body and mind. The cons are that "clean eating" is in the eye of the beholder and some of the items might not be so clean. The pros are, of course, that it works. Anytime you control calories, you will lose weight. * Amazing Inch Loss Plan – This is also a calorie-controlled diet where you start with 1200 calories and then move up so you can lose fast each month. You also get a fitness diary included so you can monitor that too. This is a lot like the idea behind most popular plans. Start out super-low to activate fast weight loss for motivation, then slow it back down. There are pros and cons to this, as some people have a hard time sticking to that low of calories, but since it includes a meal plan and you’re not alone, that is a pro. * Fat Attack Booster – This plan helps you lose weight faster and in a healthy way. You’ll be eating low-fat, low-glycemic foods along with high-protein meals. You’ll even see a few vegetarian options, and don’t forget dessert. The con of this diet is the high-protein meals. Most people do not need high protein, and it can also cause kidney problems for some people. The pros are that it does work, and you will lose weight fast. * Get Hip and Thigh Plan – This is a flexible diet that allows you to interchange the things you choose to eat. You simply follow the plan, but you lose weight due to the calorie-controlled meals and the exercise you will do. The pro of this plan is that you just follow the meal plan and you don’t need to think about the calories as it’s already all planned out. The only con is you must exercise. But of course, you need to do that anyway, right? Her program is just a very reasonable monthly membership fee. You can join any plan that you want and with the group's help, stick to the plan and lose weight and get healthy. It’s hard to find any downsides to joining her group and trying one of her plans. Next time, we're going to look at the pros and cons of the raw food diet. Email 5 Subject: Raw food diet Dear [Name], Popularized by "Freelee the Banana Girl" due to her inflammatory, anti-meat-eating videos, the raw food diet used to be known as the "secret of the stars." In fact, rumor has it that Beyoncé has gone on the diet temporarily and successfully. Essentially, you can eat anything you want if it's plant-based and raw. What Is "Raw"? In this diet, "raw" is defined as not heating anything over 120 degrees F. After that, there are variations you can do on this plan. Some people eat low-fat (to no added fat) high-carb vegan on this plan, and some people eat higher fat more gourmet raw dishes. The low-fat vegan plan will help you lose weight. For some people, the higher fat plan works too, but people tend to fall off that one faster because the prep is intense. Meat? There is one more variation to this diet that has started turning up, and that’s non-vegan raw food dieters. The main downside to that is the danger of illness from uncooked animal products, and it’s just not recommended, which is why we are focusing on the vegan raw diet. Eat Your Fruit and Veggies The idea of the raw diet is that you can eat all you want of fruit and vegetables. You should be careful about added fat, nuts, seeds, and processed "raw" foods and high-fat treats like raw chocolate peanut butter cups or certain raw smoothies, which can be very caloric. That brings us to a con about the program. There is so much disagreement about what is considered healthy on this plan, and people tend to fall off. It’s super-hard to be social and be raw. But as normal, the biggest pro is that people are thriving on this way of eating long term if they’re paying attention to their nutrition and eating enough food. You need to eat large quantities of fruit to get enough calories, which is the reason that people are not hungry on the plan. A typical raw food eater may eat 20 oranges for breakfast or 10 peaches. There is no limit, and it can be a challenge for some to get in enough calories. This is a good plan for short-term options, especially if you have stomach troubles. Many people report excellent digestion on the low-fat high-carb vegan version of this diet. However, people also report a lot of constipation on the high-fat version. And for some people, eating a diet high in fruit (sugar) is bad for their blood sugar levels as well as their triglycerides, which may rise to dangerous levels in some people on this plan. The next diet we're going to look at is the low-fat diet, so look out for the next email. Email 6 Subject: Low-fat diet Dear [Name], Many people like to go on a low-fat diet to lose weight and improve heart health. The problem with this diet is that there is no agreement on what constitutes low fat. Many people who criticize this state that the "less than 30 percent" fat guidelines are wrong and that this guideline confuses people, since 30 percent of calories from fat is moderate and not low. How Much Fat? Many proponents of the low-fat diet state that your macros should be 80/10/10 - meaning 80 percent from healthy carbohydrates like veggies, and 10 percent from lean protein, and the 10 percent from healthy fruit-based fats like olive oil and coconut oil. There is a book by the name 80/10/10 that gives some science about these facts. However, that book recommends eating raw vegan. The truth is, if you can eat 80/10/10 on any diet, you’ll lose weight faster and practically make yourself heart attack proof. The main reason is that to get enough calories on this plan, you will have to eat a lot of salad and thus nutrition. But, therein lies the problem. Sticking to that regimen is hard. For this reason, low-fat diets once researched never pan out to be better than the high-fat low-carb diets people enjoy. That’s because they’re eating less than 30 percent of fat, so you know that people will eat 29 percent or 29.9 percent of their calories from fat. Since that’s moderate if not high fat for most people who are trying to lose weight, it’s not going to work long term. Too Commercialized Sadly, another con of this diet is that it’s so commercialized. Today you can buy a lot of "fake fat" foods that seem to have no fat, just like you can buy no-sugar sodas. The problem is, neither of these is healthy for you and in fact, are likely to be worse for you than eating or drinking the real version. Due to all the processed low-fat products you can buy now, this diet is having fewer good results for people. Having said all that, if you do want to eat low fat or you need to for a health reason, do it the right way. Eat only whole foods, avoid processed food, and don’t buy fake fat stuff because it’s not healthier and is not going to help you accomplish your real goal on this diet - which is to lose weight, lower your cholesterol and get more fit. You've probably heard of the GI diet - that's the one we're going to look at in the next email. Email 7 Subject: GI diet Dear [Name], More and more, we are learning about how sugar affects the body, and how even things we don’t normally associate with "sugar" are high in sugar. These high-sugar things affect your blood glucose levels, which are responsible for your cravings and hunger as well as your ability to pay attention and get things done. Keep Your Blood Sugar Stable The idea is that if you can keep your blood sugar stable, your hunger will be stable, you’ll feel better, and you’ll also lose weight. The pro of this diet is that it’s relatively healthy to follow. Plus, it’s easy to follow. You can get a list of low-glycemic food offline and follow it yourself. Just don’t eat the high GI foods and opt for the low GI foods. Whole Foods Focused Focus on eating whole foods, avoiding processed fake food. Eat when you are hungry and stop when you are full. Of course, stay hydrated. The idea is that your cravings will lessen and you will not be as hungry, so you’ll eat less and lose more weight than on other types of diets. The plan revolves around carbs which are made up of sugars, starches, and fiber. Fiber lowers the GI level of food, which is why you can eat a sweet, crunchy apple on this diet, but you should avoid a white potato. Learn about GI Values As you learn more about the GI values of food that you eat, it’ll start to come second nature but at first, get a list so that you can figure out what to eat when you’re out and about. That’s another positive about this diet. You can do it anywhere. You can eat such a large variety of food that you won’t really be missing out on anything, so it’s easier to stick to. Of course, being easy to stick to brings us to a con on this diet. When something offers such a wide latitude of eating, some people find it hard to avoid eating too many calories. It honestly depends on how you were eating previously. If you tended toward eating a lot of sugar and starch, this diet will help you lose weight. However, if you did not before starting this diet, it might not work as well for you. Another diet which focuses on the danger of too much sugar is the sugar-free diet. We're going to look at that in the next email. Email 8 Subject: Sugar-free diet Dear [Name], Made popular by the self-published Sugar Busters! Cut Sugar to Trim Fat in 1995, this diet seeks to eliminate eating of sugar, white flour, white potatoes, and white rice. Basically, if the food is made with any of these items, it’s out. Heart Disease Issues The biggest con to this diet is that some studies have indicated that it may open people up to more heart disease, not less. One reason is that it relies on a lot of processed food to exist. Most people will not be happy never having any type of sugar - even the sugar found in carrots is considered off the plate. Any diet that asks that you eliminate all fruit and a lot of vegetables is probably not the best, especially when it includes processed fake food. Hard to Modify Another con to this diet is the fact that you cannot modify it to work for a vegetarian or vegan diet. It restricts too many fruits and veggies to make that work. Since those things are healthy for us, it’s important to question any diet that eliminates a food group. Although eating less sugar in general, especially added table sugar is always healthier than eating it, eliminating all fruit and lots of veggies is questionable. End Sugar Cravings A major pro of this diet is that it does help you get off refined sugar. Doing this diet short term to get off refined sugar might be a good idea if you find that you’re eating a lot each day and still craving more. Because of the severity of this diet, you usually do not need to count calories. But if you find that you’re eating a lot of packaged food because it fits the "no sugar" criteria, you may want to check your calorie levels. You Need Exercise and Water The other pro is that the diet itself encourages exercise, eating regularly, and staying hydrated. After all, being healthy is important too. Being thin is not going to make anyone healthy if they get thin in an unhealthy way. For most people, this diet (unless you have been diagnosed with diabetes) can be avoided and passed over for something a lot more flexible, realistic and healthier. In our next email, we're going to look at detox diets. Email 9 Subject: Detox diets Dear [Name], There is a new detox diet coming out every day. The interesting thing about "detox" diets is that there is no scientific proof that anything gets detoxed. In fact, sometimes there is proof that it is damaging, but people still do it. Let’s go over a few of the popular detox diets you can choose from if you were so inclined. * Juice Cleanse – This is one of the most popular cleanse diets that exist. You can even go to your local juice shop and sign up for a cleanse. You’ll sign up, then pick up your juices every day or so depending on your store. There is anecdotal evidence that some people have experienced improved digestion, healed autoimmune disorders, and had other improvements - including weight loss. However, not all weight loss is going to be permanent. In this case, the minute you go back to eating food, you will puff up and regain weight. * Water Fast/Detox – This is another super-popular health trend that can be very damaging and has even resulted in deaths. The idea is that you drink water for a long period of time. Some people have done these detoxes for 60 and even 90 days. This is very dangerous, and most people should not do it. It’s okay to only drink water for a day or two, but anything longer will cause you to lose muscle and get sick. * Detox Tea – Cashing in on the detox trend means you can buy "detox tea" to help go through a detox regimen. The way the tea works is that you drink it while you’re fasting, juicing, or water fasting. The problem is that a lot of these teas have too much caffeine and can cause heartburn and indigestion in some people. * Smoothie Detox – This literally just consists of replacing your meals with smoothies made from raw whole food plant-based ingredients. For example, you might eat a smoothie with spinach, banana and almond milk as a meal. Because you will get more nutrients in this plan than the others, it’s preferable if you must do a detox, but watch the sugar and fat. Many gurus like Doctor Oz and others have also come out with their own "detox" diets and cleanses which can often be taken with a grain of salt as to whether they’re going to help someone lose weight or not. It’s okay to do a cleanse for a couple days, though, just to reset your hunger levels, but please talk to a health-care professional and be monitored if you want to do it long term (more than three days) to ensure that your blood sugar, electrolytes, and other systems are working properly. In our next and last email, we're going to look at the pros and cons of the popular Mediterranean diet. Email 10 Subject: The Mediterranean diet Dear [Name], One of the easiest and healthiest diets that exist, the Mediterranean diet allows you to eat a little bit of everything - focusing on whole foods, veggies, fruit, and so forth. It is mostly a plant-based diet with meat as a condiment for flavor if you want to use it. Think healthy salad topped with an ounce of lean steak with an olive oil-based dressing. On a Mediterranean diet, you should eat four or more servings of fruit and vegetables, two or more servings of whole grains, one to two servings of nuts or seeds, and one serving of protein such as fish, poultry, eggs, red meat, or legumes each day. While calorie counting is not required, you may want to at first if you tend to overeat, to ensure you are eating the number of calories you need to maintain your ideal weight. The Pros: * Reduces belly fat – Belly fat, especially the hard kind, indicates heart attack dangers. Anything you can do to reduce your belly fat should be done because it is a sign of impending heart disease. Thankfully, it can be reversed with diet in some people. * More permanent weight loss – This diet is so forgiving that it’s a lot simpler to stick to, as long as you have your serving sizes clear. One problem with eating today is that serving sizes are so big now. As they grew in restaurants, they also grew at home. Even the plates we buy today are bigger than the plates people bought in the ’60s and ’70s. * No to low hunger – There is no reason to get hungry, because you can eat as many veggies as you want to on this plan if you’re careful about what you add to them. The Mediterranean diet is a moderate fat, moderate protein diet so you should never get hungry. The Cons: * Meat or no meat - You’ll have to choose for yourself. If you do add meat, remember to treat it like a condiment and flavor. It should be part of your meal but not your entire meal. This can be hard for some people to do. * Dairy or no dairy – You get to choose, but sometimes choices can get us into trouble in terms of overeating. Yes, you can have dairy but if you do, again take some time to learn about serving sizes and make it rare and just added flavor. For example, putting a small teaspoon dollop of sour cream on top of something is acceptable, but not an entire cup stirred into the sauce. * Fake food – On this diet you cannot eat fake food, and while this is listed as a con, it’s a good rule. But it can make it harder to find the right food to eat on this diet if you’re used to the fake flavors. It might take a bit of time to enjoy the food in its natural state. Whether you choose to take this all the way to vegan, or you keep eating meat and dairy, is up to you. Although if you do add meat and dairy, you’ll need to pay closer attention to serving sizes since these items are more calorically dense than veggies and fruit. The plan will still help you lose weight and get healthier. Some people say it’s the easiest diet to follow and the healthiest, because you don’t have to eliminate any whole food group.