A diet that combines exercise with sensible eating.
If you like exercise and living healthy you cannot go wrong with this program.
A great diet for couples who like doing things together.
Do not be put off by the cover or the volume of information as it is easy to adapt to individual lifestyles.
Burn The Fat Feed The Muscle (BFFM) is a 340 page e-book written by natural bodybuilder Tom Venuto. You will notice the emphasis on “natural” as this diet program was written after 14 years of personal research by the author.
The number 1 selling “on line” diets for some time the author has gone to great pains to come up with a plan that is affordable and long lasting. It is a natural weight loss program without any supplements.
How It Works.
This diet goes into great detail on a variety of subjects relating to exercise and nutrition.
The benefits are probably best described by the headings of the lengthy introduction:
Burn the Fat Feed the Muscle is:
Reading and starting the program you soon realize that the author is not only an authority on his subject but he is extremely passionate about the need to have a healthy body. He comesthrough as a person who has achieved a superb physique as a result of his beliefs rather thanas a result of just very hard work.
This book does not promise any quick fixes – that in itself is very refreshing as losing weight is hard work. Nor does it promise any secret methods. The reader is presented with simple facts and left in no doubt that goals are very achievable if you simply set your mind to it and stick to a plan.
To get the maximum benefit out of this program you need to read the book a couple of times.
This can be daunting at first, because there is so much of it, but the reading is easy and enjoyable.
In addition to the author’s actual results with his own testing, and those of his clients, there is a lot of scientific fact produced to back up his claims.
BFFM will completely educate you on the core nutrients – carbohydrates, protein, and fats. The appendix provides a number of sample meal plans – but the book is all about teaching you how to eat right, and make your own meal plans.
Burn the Fat Feed the Muscle could be described as a “moderate carbohydrate and protein, but fairly low fat diet”.
There is no strict formula regarding carbohydrates, protein or calories in the book. Emphasis is placed on the fact that each person is different.
Additional Benefits.
In addition to the main BFFM book there are 7 other e-books included in the price. These include: recipes, how to measure your Body Mass Index, food choices, secrets of six pack abs and many more.
The program is backed by a solid and generous guarantee. It is no wonder it is a top seller.
Possible Negatives.
At first glance the website seems to be something only for “body builders”. However as the author is himself a body builder, and an extremely successful one, this can be forgiven.
An excellent diet for everyone.
Only ranked 2 because it does not include exercise (and I believe in and love exercise but that’s just me!!). Some may consider it a fad but it is an excellent diet with an initial phase and then a weight maintenance phase. The only negative (besides the exercise) is the fact that it is an online fee based program.
The Sonoma Diet
The Sonoma Diet is a new mediterranean diet from author and dietitian Connie Guttersen. The name “Sonoma” comes from a region in Northern California, USA.
How The Diet Works.
The Sonoma diet is based around the Mediterranean Lifestyle. Enjoyment of food, gourmet cooking, and moderate portion sizes are the keys of this diet.
This diet is available on line through a fee based subscription.
The Sonoma Diet online program contains the following tools:
- Meal Planner
- Recipe Search
- Message Boards
- Printable Shopping Lists
- Eating Guides
- Weekly Q A
- Over 500 Recipes
- Wine Guide
- Exclusive E-mails
- Food Diary
- Portion Guide
- Online Dietitians
- Height Tracker
The weight loss program has 3 stages (called waves).
The first phase, whilst being restrictive, is not severe. Lasting 10 days, the idea is to break ties and addictions with food that have a high sugar and fat content.
The Second phase is the primary weight loss phase where each meal is created with appropriate portions. There is no calorie counting or special foods or supplements.
Once the desired weight is achieved you move into phase 3 which is a lifelong eating pattern for weight management.
Sonoma comes with a wine guide to assist in selecting the appropriate wine to accompany the evening meal.
The Sonoma Diet has a selection of foods that it calls “power foods”:
- Almonds
- Bell peppers
- Blueberries
- Broccoli
- Grapes
- Olive oil
- Spinach
- Strawberries
- Tomatoes
- Whole grains
A typical day’s food would consist of:
Breakfast
Whole grain cereal and milk
Lunch
Wild Rice Salad with Chicken
1 cup raw baby carrots and celery with 2 tbsp. hummus
Dinner
Pork Chops with Rosemary
Brussels Sprouts with Prosciutto
1 slice of rustic whole grain bread
1/2 cup fresh fruit of choice
1 glass Cabernet Sauvignon, Merlot, or Syrah (optional)
Snack
Whole Wheat Pita with Cucumber Yogurt Sauce
Dessert
Apple-Blueberry Tart
Possible Negatives.
The Sonoma Diet is a healthy and balanced diet from an author well-versed in the Mediterranean style of eating. Whilst growing popularity may cause some to see the diet as a fad, it remains an excellent diet none-the-less.
A Quick Note About Glycemic Index
The Glycemic Index (GI) was originally devised to help diabetics. The index is a ranking of carbohydrate foods which measures the rate at which the blood glucose (or blood sugar) levels rise when a particular food is eaten.
Pure glucose has a rating of 100 – so the nearer a food is to 100, the higher it’s GI rating is. This indicates how quickly the food is converted to blood sugar, and how quickly the blood sugar levels will drop. Foods with a low GI rating will be absorbed more slowly, helping to keep blood sugar levels constant.
Popular Low Glycemic Diets.
Glycemic Impact Diet. A newer diet implemented by eDiets – takes the best of the Zone and South Beach Diet. Very good diet.
Glycemic Load Diet. The diet aims to produce healthy weight by maintaining a daily Glycemic Load under 500.
South Beach Diet. Carbohydrate choices are based around low-glycemic foods – the diet begins with a very low carbohydrate phase.
Nutrisystem. This program is based around low-glycemic foods.
A number of books have been written about the GI – with one of the biggest selling being The New Glucose Revolution. Rick Gallop’s The GI Diet is also very popular.
Typical GI Diet.
A typical low glycemic index diet is low in fat and high in carbohydrates — but specifically low- GI carbohydrates. Often a simple change from high GI carbohydrates, to low GI carbohydrates may bring about weight loss. It may also give the feeling of more energy, due to less blood sugar / insulin spikes during the day.
Breakfast
Oatmeal with raisins and skim milk.
Orange juice.
Lunch
Vegetable soup with sourdough bread.
Plums.
Dinner
Lean beef bolognese on wholemeal pasta.
Green salad.
Low-fat yogurt.
Drinks
Water, tea (skim milk), herbal teas.
This plan is a GOOD MATCH if:
· You crave sugar and sweets.
· You have mood swings and/or irritability.
· You’ve been feeling low on energy.
Might NOT be a good fit if:
· You prefer eating fewer meals and snacks each day.
· You want fast food choices on your plan.
Glycemic Load.
Glycemic Index alone does not provide enough information about the glycemic affect of a food.
For example; carrots have a high GI, but you would have to eat boxes and boxes of them to have any pronounced affect on blood sugar. This is because the amount of carbohydrate in carrot is very small.
To calculate glycemic load (GL): Simply multiply the GI by the amount of carbohydrate and divide by 100.
For example; an 80g serve of carrot with a GI of 92 has 4.2g per serve. 92 X 4.2 / 100 = 3.9 22
