Limit Your Daily Calories and Lose Weight

Written by Tena Moore  (if this post appears on any site other than Vitaminstuff.com it has been stolen)


There are too many diets out there to even count; the Adkins diet, the Zone diet, and the Mediterranean diet are just a couple. Researchers have recently wondered if it is the diet that matters, or whether it’s simply restricting calories that really matters when it comes to weight loss. To find out the answer, researchers did a weight-loss study involving over 800 overweight adults.

During the study, the researchers assigned the participants four different anonymous diets. The key was that all diets restricted calories and involved counting carbohydrates, protein or fat. Each of the diets cut around 750 calories from the participant’s normal daily diets, but never allowed them to eat under 1,200 calories. The study also involved group and individual counseling for the participants. The study lasted two years.

They found that the participants lost, and also regained, about the same amount of weight. It hadn’t mattered so much which diet they used, only that they restricted calories. It also did not matter as much whether participants went to counseling. While it seemed that those who attended had a larger weight loss, that was not true across the board; some participants lost a lot of weight while only going to a couple counseling sessions.

In the end, the researchers decided that calorie restriction, not a particular diet, is the key to weight loss. For best results, choose whichever diet appeals to you and stick with it.






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Eating Breakfast Can Help You Lose Weight

Written by Tena Moore


A lot of teenagers, especially females, seem to think that skipping breakfast is a great way to cut calories for the day and in turn,
lose weight. New research suggests that this couldn’t be further from the truth. After studying more than 2,000 teens over a five year period, they found that those who skipped breakfast actually weighed more than those who ate first thing in the morning.

While those who ate breakfast did consumed more calories over the course of the day, the teens that ate breakfast were more active and burned more calories as well. Those that ate breakfast every morning were five pounds lighter than those who did not.

It seems that fueling up the mornings can set the tone for an energetic, active day, while not eating can make one more tired and sluggish. The study didn’t find any difference in those that ate healthy whole grains and those who ate just about anything, as long as they ate something in the mornings upon waking.

There is a plethora of studies that suggest that it is healthier to eat breakfast in the mornings for everyone, whether young or old.



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Big Breakfast = Small Waistline?

Well, mom was right. She always told me to eat a nice big breakfast in the mornings, followed by a lighter lunch and dinner, to keep my weight down as I got older. I always wanted to do the opposite. Now researchers are saying that a large breakfast, followed by a lighter lunch and dinner, is the recipe for weight loss. The older I get, the more I found out that mom was right about a lot of things. I’m not sure I like it.

The study involved 96 obese, physically inactive women and consisted of two diets: low carb and big breakfast. The low carb diet consisted of only 1,085 calories per day, most of which came from protein and fat, while the big breakfast diet allowed 1,240 calories, with a lower portion of fat and more protein and carbohydrates.

In addition, those on the low carb diet made breakfast the smallest meal of the day, while the big breakfast dieters made breakfast the largest meal of the day. The big breakfast looked a little bit like this in terms of calories:

Breakfast: 610 calories

Lunch: 395 calories

Dinner: 235 calories

This information is nice, but I really wish they would have told us in their research what people ate for breakfast. Most people I know can eat a big breakfast, but the contents of that breakfast may not be so healthy.

Four months into this diet, it appeared the low carb group was winning. They had lost around 28 pounds, while the big breakfast eaters had only lost 23.

Eight months into the diet the tables had turned! The low carb dieters had gained about 18 pounds back and the big breakfast eaters had continued on to lose an average of 16 pounds more.

I wonder if this was due to the low carb dieters cheating because they were hungrier. The study doesn’t say, but the researcher who conducted the study, Dr. Jakubowicz from Virginia Commonwealth University, did say that the big breakfast people reported feeling less hungry.

I have to say that when I eat a bigger breakfast I tend to feel full most of the day and can lose weight easier. Unfortunately, breakfast time is not when I am feeling the most hungry. I can be happy with coffee and a small breakfast bar or small bowl of cereal. Many mornings I can go without it altogether, except for the coffee. I do notice that by lunch time I am ravished and instead of grabbing a light lunch, I want something hearty and fulfilling. Since I’ve skipped breakfast, I feel justified to eat more calories and heavier food for lunch. I also eat it quicker because I’m so hungry.

This all makes sense to me. I might even tell mom I read about this. Then she can say, ‘I told you so!’