Article by: Myra Raja
Wedding season is a tough time for all, especially brides. There are so many thoughts overlapping in one’s mind of what to wear or where to get ready from that when it comes to weight loss you are ready to do the first thing that someone says is most effective, irrespective of the long-term side effects. Such, two very famous diets, which every person must have done at least once in their lifetime are Atkins and South Beach diets. We have here some pros and cons of both the diet plans for you to keep in mind before choosing your go to meal plan.
This diet plan was developed in the 1960s by cardiologist Robert C. Atkins, hence the name. This diet is a low-carb fad diet. Below are few pros and cons of this famous diet plan!
Photo: via Atkins-Diet
1. Low-carb diet which means you get to eat lots of meat, veggies, eggs, nuts and fruits.
2. Full-fat dairy like butter, cream, cheese and full-fat yogurt, all are allowed. Meaning one can fulfill their cravings.
3. Promotes healthy saturated fats i.e. “good cholesterol”.
4. Low-carbs and high in proteins is a win win for all as protein reduces appetite and you feel fuller after a few bites.
5. For people who are looking to lose weight in a healthy manner with simple less-time consuming meals.
6. Atkins has four phases (induction, balancing, fine-tuning and then maintenance), which means the plan is maneuvered gradually and not rushed into. Giving one’s body time to adjust to it.
1. No sugar or carbohydrates obviously.
2. Promotes “healthy carbs” that might or might not suit you, varies from person to person.
3. Intake of full-fat dairy products can cause other health problems, like high cholesterol.
4. Meat being the main center of the diet, this can keep you away from other essential nutrients which one should incorporate in their daily routine.
5. This diet gives good results but still lacks proper evidence as to if this is beneficial in the longer run or not.
The Atkins diet is also known as keto and from personal experience I am here to tell you that I have observed and seen very close friends go through a keto rash or keto hair loss. This basically means a few days or months into the diet you feel your hair shedding off or your body develops a rash. Right before your wedding we would seriously not recommend this.
South Beach diet is another popular on the list of fad diets. This diet was developed by cardiologist Arthur Agatston in 1990s, but it gained popularity in 2003 with the launch of a best-selling book about the diet. This diet is not a traditional low-carb diet, rather it has categorized carbs in two categories; good carbs and bad carbs. Basically, selecting the right carbohydrates to consume.
Photo: via South-Beach-Diet
1. Firm belief and focuses primarily on introducing a diet that reduces risk of heart disease.
2. It limits higher carb foods, grains and fruits so that insulin decreases in your blood.
3. It disagrees with the whole idea of good cholesterol that Atkins promotes.
4. It recommends selecting carbohydrates based on glycemic index (GI) score. Meaning foods which contain a higher GI score will not be beneficial for the body. For example; white sugar, it is a refined carbohydrate. It can make a person full when one is consuming it, but after a while they will tend to feel hungry again.
5. Lower GI score foods tend to make the body fuller and one feels satisfied after eating them.
6. Unlike Atkins, this diet has three phases (kick-starting the weight loss process, achieving the target weight and then adopting a lifestyle, which means to maintain the ideal body weight).
1. It encourages sugar free foods, which is safe to say, in underdeveloped countries like Pakistan, you hardly get low fat products and the ones available are at a very costly price.
2. It is a little harder than Atkins as it limits more food than Atkins.
3. One cannot start the diet of they do not know the GI score of the carbohydrate. One has to be very specific with the numbers.
4. One may develop an eating disorder.
5. Expensive work out plan and is very time consuming too.
6. One can always have a relapse into old eating habits, which means speedy weight gain.
7. People who are accustomed to rich-carbs diets may not be able to adapt well or at all to this diet plan.
Here’s the low down now of what we really think. Of course, all bodies have a different way of reacting to different diets but if we stay clear of carbs and limit or lay off processed drinks, sugars, meat, basically anything processed we are good to go. All things in limited proportions are absolutely fine and a great start to a healthy life. Both of these above diet plans lack proper evidence as to how good are they for a person in the long-term. These diet plans require a great deal of self-control and willpower. One can always have major mood swings as well as a lot of the foods have been restricted. People can be prone to depression as well, as after a certain point the weight loss is not rapid as expected, which may lead to demotivation and low morale. The best way to a healthy weight loss is developing the habit of healthy eating, incorporating exercise in your daily routine or at least thrice a week, meditating, keeping the mind and the body stress-free. And most of all being patient with the process and consistent!
Photo: via WebComicms.Net
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