Diet and Nutrition

Top 25 Diets of 2024: Reader’s Choice

It’s here!!!

We are halfway through 2024, and nearing closer to the summer months day by day. To help you navigate the endless diets out there, we’ve compiled the ultimate guide to our top 25 diets as determined by you, our faithful readers.

From pills to Paleo, to counting points to cabbage soup, see what hot diets every one is talking about this year!

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Posted on May 16, 2023 by Mariah Edwards-Heflin

Top 10 Diets for 2024: Editor’s Picks

With summer peering its head right around the corner, the time has come to shed the cold weather coat that has been keeping you warm the past few months.
However, with so many diet approaches on the market these days, the vast selection can be paralyzing when beginning to work toward your weight loss goals.

Luckily, our Editors have compiled a list of the top 10 diets so far for 2024 to not only make choosing a diet that much easier, but so you can better your chances of seeing results that much sooner.

1. Weight Watchers
This diet allows you to eat whatever you like within your personal daily ‘points’ range. This approach teaches you how to incorporate any and all foods into a healthy diet, and learn the portion sizes that are right for you.

2. Plexus Slim
This diet is a stimulant-free, powdered supplement that you mix with water and consume 30 minutes prior to a meal. The antioxidants help to release fat, reduce appetite, and also provide beauty benefits.

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Posted on May 9, 2023 by Mariah Edwards-Heflin

Paleo Diet Could be Best for Postmenopausal Weight Loss

A recent article from Web MD suggests that adhering to a Paleo diet may help post menopausal women lose weight, as well as reduce their risk of diabetes and heart disease.

Researchers claim that these benefits can be experienced without calorie restriction due to the nature of the Paleo diet.

What is Paleo?

The Paleo diet encourages eating foods that our ancestors in the paleolithic period consumed. This means only eating foods found in nature such as lean meat, fish, fruit, vegetables, and nuts and seeds while foods that modern farming brought to the table, such as dairy products, grains and legumes should be limited, if not completely eliminated, from the diet.

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Posted on April 20, 2024 by Mariah Edwards-Heflin

Resistance Training is Best Defense Against Type 2 Diabetes

According to a recent article in the Wall Street Journal, engaging in some form of physical activity every day may serve as the most effective way to lower your risk of developing Type 2 diabetes, as well as the most important step in managing the disease in those that have already been diagnosed.

A 2024 study released by the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention reported that about 12.3% of U.S. adults have diabetes, most of whom are Type 2. Type 2 diabetes is recognized as elevated levels of blood glucose due to reduced insulin sensitivity resulting from a poor diet with excess carbohydrates and a lack of exercise. Type 2 diabetes can cause nerve damage, blindness, heart attack and stroke, among many other issues.

“With Type 2 diabetes, your body can no longer make or use insulin, the hormone which helps the body regulate glucose levels,” Dr. Sheri Colberg, a professor of human movement sciences at Old Dominion University in Norfolk, Va., specializing in exercise as it relates to diabetes told the WSJ.

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Posted on April 18, 2024 by Mariah Edwards-Heflin

What Exactly is Clean Eating?

The term ‘clean eating’ has grown in popularity in the weight loss world as people are beginning to take more of an active interest in the quality of food they are eating instead of just the quantity, and how where their food comes from can effect not only their waistlines, but more importantly, their health.

Clean eating is based on the principle of consuming whole, single ingredient foods to provide the body with as many nutrients as possible while eliminating any processing your food goes through from the time it is harvested to the time it hits your table. The idea is to eat your food as close to its natural form as possible to maintain its nutrient density and avoid harmful and unnecessary additives that can jeopardize your health. By doing this, we can avoid several dieting pitfalls and health effects that come with food processing. Basically, if it comes with a nutrition label, skip it, even if it’s marketed as or popularly considered a “healthy” choice. If it ever passed through a processing plant it is not considered a clean food.

While the focus is on consuming whole foods to provide your body with the best nutrition possible, there is no denying that choosing whole, nutrient dense foods over processed junk will also aid in weight loss, making it a successful dieting strategy for those interested in learning and implementing proper nutrition, making it a more successful, well-rounded approach to food and nutrition over all.

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Posted on April 12, 2024 by Mariah Edwards-Heflin

The Show-Down of the Sugars: Added vs. Natural

For something so sweet, sugar really can be quite awful. That’s because if you’re consuming more than 21 percent of your daily calories from added sugars, you double your risk of death from heart disease compared to people who consume just 10 percent of their calories from added sugars.

That’s according to a 2024 study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association Internal Medicine. The researchers also found that if you consume slightly less added sugar, you’re still at a higher risk of death. Those who consumed 17 to 21 percent of their daily calories from added sugars increased their risk of death from heart disease by 38 percent.

But the key word there is “added.” Sugars that are considered “added” aren’t just a sprinkle of granulated sweetness in your morning coffee, but high-fructose corn syrup, sugars in cakes, cookies and sodas, and other processed foods. This added sugar can cause blood sugar spikes, weight gain and can leave you feeling hungry. Natural sugar—the kind found in whole fruits and milk—is different.

Courtney McCormick, Corporate Dietitian at Nutrisystem, answers your most pressing questions about added and natural sugars below and gives some advice on how to avoid added sugars and incorporate natural sugars into your diet.

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Posted on April 11, 2024 by Health Buzz

Plexus Slim Vs. Advocare: Which is the Best Supplement Diet For Your Lifestyle?

image via Pinterest.com

Overview

Plexus Slim is a powdered dietary supplement that claims to help with weight loss. A major pro of this supplement it that it is stimulant and thermogenic free, and contains all natural ingredients. This means that it may be a safer option for diabetics and those who are stimulant sensitive. To use Plexus Slim, you simply mix the powder with water and drink it thirty minutes prior to any meal, making it easy and convenient. The major ingredient used to assist with body fat loss is chlorogenic acid, an antioxidant that may block carbohydrate absorption and assist the body in the detox process. The other major ingredient found in this product is oxypregnane steroid glycoside, a compound known to suppress appetite by sending the “full signal” to the brain.

Our experts have rated several weight loss diets and have found that the 18Shake Diet was the most effective. It offers a combination of a fat burning diet pill and an appetite suppressing meal replacement. Both have only natural ingredients with no added fillers or preservatives. They help to provide increased weight loss results with only wholesome ingredients. Learn more about why the 18Shake Diet was rated the best weight loss solution here.

Advocare is a complete and comprehensive program that offers several different product lines and packages, depending on your goals and lifestyle. The Advocare 24-Day Challenge is their most popular program which is broken down into two phases. The first is the Cleanse Phase, which is the first 10 days of the program. This includes their cleanse system (fiber, cleanse tablets, and probiotics), OmegaPlex, and Advocare Spark. These products claim to detoxify and cleanse the body of waste that causes inflammation, and help the body efficiently absorb nutrients to boost the immune system and metabolism. Once the body is prepped, days 11-24 are the Max Phase. This phase includes their Metabolic Nutrition System, Meal Replacement Shake, and Advocare Spark. These products are meant to provide sustained energy, appetite control, and overall wellness. It should be noted that this program is not caffeine free, which should be a consideration for this program if you have other health issues. These products can be continued to be taken after the challenge as part of a healthy lifestyle program. See how these two diet plans ranked by reading the list of the highest rated diet plans.

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Posted on April 3, 2024 by Mariah Edwards-Heflin

HealthyWage Pays You to Reach Your Weight Loss Goal

It’s March.

I know.

It was just New Years, and now it’s March, which is the start of spring, and spring leads to summer. Even the mention of summer conjures up images of bathing suits and, well, more bathing suits. But it’s ok right? You made another New Year’s resolution to lose weight back in January. And you did great! Back in January…

But now it’s March and by now, most people have already ditched their New Years resolution. If this is you, you’re not alone, so don’t feel guilty. You still have plenty of time to get back on track for summer, so no worries there. And often times, it’s that faraway deadline that can cause you to lose motivation in the first place because there’s no sense of urgency.

If only someone would pay you to workout and eat right. If only someone would reward you with cold, hard cash for hitting your weight loss goal. That would be the ultimate motivation, wouldn’t it? Well, you’re officially out of excuses, because someone actually will.

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Posted on March 15, 2024 by GuestBlogger

6 “Healthy” Foods You Should Avoid When Trying To Lose Weight

We’ve all been there. You’re walking down the aisles of the grocery and can’t help but notice the call outs on products. Low fat! Multigrain! Full of vitamins!

How true are these labels?

Courtney McCormick, Corporate Dietitian at Nutrisystem, says some might be too good to be true and encourages you to avoid these six “healthy” foods.

1. Low-fat snacks
Studies at Cornell have found that we tend to eat 50 percent more of foods labeled “low fat” than the regular version of the product. Scientists call this “the halo effect,” because eating things we perceive as healthy makes us feel virtuous. Also, many low-fat foods tend to have more sugar to compensate for the lack of fat, which adds flavor. Stick to natural low-fat snacks, such as fruits and veggies. Or, if you’re opting for low-fat, be very mindful of your portion sizes. Just because a snack is low-fat doesn’t mean you can eat the whole box.

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Posted on March 7, 2024 by GuestBlogger

Is it Better to Skip Breakfast or Eat a Doughnut?

You’re running late for work and first thing on the agenda is a big meeting. You meant to grab a banana and a yogurt on the way out the door but you were in such a rush, they are still sitting on your kitchen counter as you sit in traffic. You finally get to work and plop down in your chair, ready for the meeting, when your tummy starts to grumble.

“Look, everyone,” one of your coworker says. “I brought doughnuts!

Normally, you’d politely say no thank you and opt for a healthier choice, but there’s no other food in sight for the next few hours and your tummy will not shut up. So, should you eat the doughnut, or go hungry?

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Posted on February 23, 2024 by Kelly

What is Flexible Dieting? IIFYM Explained

Quality over quantity? Not with flexible dieting.

Also referred to as IIFYM (If It Fits Your Macros), flexible dieting is a nutrition plan originally followed by bodybuilders and fitness competitors that allows you to eat whatever you want and not have it effect your body composition or performance, as long as it fits into your daily calorie and macro needs. Example: Can I eat this slice of pizza? Sure, if it fits your macros (get it?)

Let us explain: IIFYM is based on the principle of “calories in, calories out” combined with the idea that eating the exact ratio of macronutrients (carbs, protein and fat) for your body, regardless of their source, will not cause you to gain weight or body fat. As long as you don’t exceed your total caloric and macronutrient ranges for the day, you can eat virtually whatever you want.

Flexible dieting is essentially the opposite of clean eating, which emphasizes eating healthy, quality foods over the quantity of them. Flexible dieting, on the other hand, puts strict parameters on how much you can eat, but what you eat is up to you. Those who struggle with strict diets think flexible dieting is a miracle, while strict dieters feel it’s simply a way to justify eating junk food, which serves nothing in terms of health.

To quickly answer your question: flexible dieting works. Some of the most shredded physiques follow the IIFYM way of eating and they are doing photoshoots and taking home trophies year round. However, it’s important to remember a low body fat percentage does not equal a healthy body. Eating a diet high in junk food and low in nutrient dense foods will have negative effects on your health, even if it doesn’t effect your waistline.

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Posted on February 22, 2024 by Kelly

Diet and Nutrition

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