Lose Weight, Feel Great By Just Saying "No" to White Carbs for 30 Days

You want a quick and effective way to start losing weight, feel better, and dramatically improve your eating habits?

It is as easy as making a 30-day commitment to yourself not to indulge in any foods containing processed grains, sugars, or corn sweeteners.

More specifically these concentrated carbohydrate bombs:

• Bread, bagels, muffins and other baked goods
• Pasta and instant rice
• Cold and hot breakfast cereals
• White potatoes in any form
• Soda and other cold and hot sugar-infused beverages
• Chips, puffs, doodles...basically, munchies in any form
• Candy and other sugary treats
• Fast food

So what can you eat, right? Whether you agree or not, the good stuff!

• Fresh or frozen fruits and vegetables (excluding potatoes)
• Beans and legumes
• All lean protein sources including eggs, and lowfat dairy products
• Healthy fats from vegetable oils, nuts and seeds

Do not be crazy and think this is bland and boring! There are tons of different types of healthy whole foods to choose from. It's up to you to open your mind, make the effort, and try something new.

Here is an idea of how your daily meals will transform:

Breakfast

Before: Breakfast skipped or muffin and large coffee with 4 sugars and cream

After: Low-fat yogurt mixed with crushed almonds and a water (or coffee with no sugar and milk)

Lunch

Before: Sandwich with mayo, meat and cheese

After: Salad with tons of veggies, grilled chicken breast, and low-fat dressing

Dinner

Before: Pasta with sauce and breadsticks

After: Steamed vegetables with poached salmon

Snacks

Before: Via office vending machine or gas station convenience store

After: Hard-boiled egg and piece of fruit

Following The Three "Be's" is Key!

1. Be prepared

Cutting out white carbs results in losing most of your grab-and-go meal and snack choices. This is great from a nutritional standpoint, but a bummer in the convenience department. So you never leave yourself hanging, stock the fridge and pantry with plenty of good food choices. Pre-pack meals and snacks for work or any activity away from home. When preparing healthy home meals, make extra servings. The leftovers work fantastic as tomorrow's lunch! Nutrition bars and protein shakes are saviors when there is little time to eat, or a situation arises where you cannot get to a whole food meal.

2. Be aware

Avoid cocktails, sports drinks, fancy coffee drinks, fruit smoothies and other beverages that contain high sugar content (anything greater than 10 grams of sugar per serving). They seem innocent enough until you read the Nutrition Facts and realize they are big time contributors to overall daily carb consumption! Lay off whole-grain foods during this 30-day period. They are much better choices than processed grains, but even so, whole-grain foods such as bread and pasta still contain concentrated amounts of carbohydrate. Avoid foods high in saturated fat like fatty meats and whole-fat dairy products. They are low in carbs, but chock full of unfavorable calories!

3. Be active

If you are not active, now is the time to get off your butt and start moving. Regular activity with a favorable diet helps boost metabolism so you can burn more bodyfat. If already exercising, try to slip in an extra 30 minutes per week of aerobic activity.

For additional guidance on what to eat, or how to create a balanced meal, I created a simple meal guideline which is Part 2 of the TLN Just Eat Right Guide. Follow the steps for selecting foods without white carbohydrates and you are covered for every meal at home, restaurant, and even trips to the grocery store!

After 30 days you may be so happy with the results, you can keep rolling on with the eating plan, or decide to reintroduce white carbs back into your diet in a more moderate and controlled manner. Either way, continue to use the healthy meal guideline to help accomplish the next 30 days and beyond!

Please remember that there is no negotiating or compromise when just saying "no" to white carbs for 30 days. You probably chose to read this article because you are interested in losing weight. So why fight it? Just eat right!

TLN Health News Heads Up: The Word Is 'Leakage'

Accidents may happen with a new OTC diet drug.

By Raina Kelley

Newsweek

June 25, 2007 issue - GlaxoSmithKline has a tip for people who decide to try Alli, the over-the-counter weight-loss drug it is launching with a multimillion-dollar advertising blitz—keep an extra pair of pants handy. That's because Alli, a lower-dose version of the prescription drug Xenical, could (cue the late-night talk-show hosts) make you soil your pants. But while Alli's most troublesome side effect, anal leakage, is sure to be good for a few laughs, millions of people who are desperate to take off weight may still decide the threat of an accident is worth it.

Get all the details by reading the full article at Newsweek Health!

TLN Health News Heads Up: 15 Best Diet Tips Ever

Experts share their top tips for weight loss success.

By Kathleen M. Zelman, LD, RD, MPH
WebMD Weight Loss Clinic-Feature

Reviewed by Louise Chang, MD

Everyone knows the keys to losing weight: Eat less and exercise more. Sounds simple enough, but in the context of real life and its demands, it can be anything but simple. So how do successful losers do it? To find out, WebMD asked experts across the country for their best diet tips.

Here's what they said:

Best Diet Tip No. 1: Drink plenty of water or other calorie-free beverages.

Best Diet Tip No. 2: Think about what you can add to your diet, not what you should take away.

Best Diet Tip No. 3: Consider whether you're really hungry.

Best Diet Tip No. 4: Be choosy about nighttime snacks.

Best Diet Tip No. 5: Enjoy your favorite foods.

Best Diet Tip No. 6: Enjoy your treats away from home.

Best Diet Tip No. 7: Eat several mini-meals during the day.

Best Diet Tip No. 8: Eat protein at every meal.

Best Diet Tip No. 9: Spice it up.

Best Diet Tip No. 10: Stock your kitchen with healthy convenience foods.

Best Diet Tip No. 11: Order children’s portions at restaurants.

Best Diet Tip No. 12: Eat foods in season.

Best Diet Tip No. 13: Swap a cup of pasta for a cup of vegetables.

Best Diet Tip No. 14: Use non-food alternatives to cope with stress.

Best Diet Tip No. 15: Be physically active.

Read the complete article and Best Diet Tip explanations at WebMD!

TLN Health News Heads Up: FTC fines weight loss pill firms $25M

By Donna De La Cruz, Associated Press Writer

WASHINGTON --Now that you've indulged in all those holiday goodies and made that New Year's resolution to shed some pounds, the government says don't count on a diet pill to help.
The Federal Trade Commission said Thursday it was fining the marketers of four weight-loss drugs a collective $25 million for false advertising claims. Despite that, the pills -- Xenadrine EFX, CortiSlim, One-A-Day WeightSmart and TrimSpa -- will remain on store shelves.
"It is resolution time again, isn't it?" said FTC Chairman Deborah Platt Majoras. "We're implementing our resolution to fight back against companies that use deceptive advertising claims."
Some of the products marketed their claims through infomercials or celebrity endorsements. Anna Nicole Smith, for example, has endorsed TrimSpa.
"Testimonials from individuals are not a substitute for science," Majoras said. "And that's what Americans need to understand."

Read complete article at the Boston Globe online

Chewing The Fat: To Carb or Not to Carb

Nutrition and fitness discussions between TLN Founder Phil LeClair and Correspondent Mike Davey

Phil: OK. Let's ramp this forum up and get right to one of the biggest topics we've discussed over the years: Carbs! Refresh my memory when you switched gears and dialed down the carb intake. You've never been really overweight and always active, but you were pounding the carbs back in the day. What made you decide to change your eating habits? Knowing you went from carbs, carbs, carbs to limiting carbs to a more recent revelation (which I will let you share), how did each stage affect your body composition, energy levels and mental state (i.e. cravings)?

Mike: My own personal carb intake has always been my biggest challenge. Through most of my twenties I was very much into starchy carbs. I was no stranger to a LOT of white bread, potatoes, rice, and pasta every day. In fact, at least 4 times a week I was eating a half box of pasta with about 5 slices of bread per sitting!!! This was mostly back in the 1992-1996 range when whole wheat bread and whole grain breads were not as abundant as they are now. At this time of my life I was weighing between 185-190 but it was a bulky, soft-around-the-middle weight that I wasn't comfortable with. I was putting up pretty good weight at the gym but I wasn't as lean as I wanted to be.Then in the late 90's I pretty much switched from these starchy carbs to mostly all vegetables and salads. The result was a thinner, leaner me, which I always wanted. However, I was too lean and was now tipping the scales at a paltry 158-162!!! While I liked how I looked with a shirt off I hated how I felt wearing t-shirts and sweatshirts....I felt so scrawny!! I was always feeling hungry and I seem to remember feeling weak in the gym. Something had to change.As of today I seem to have found the right combination of starchy carbs and vegetables/greens. No longer is it 4-6 slices of white bread every day or a whole bag of Minute Rice per meal. Portion size and weekly intake of these carbs were my biggest downfall. Now, I'll have only a slice or two of wheat bread about 4-5 times a week, 1 cup of brown rice about 4 to 5 times a week, a baked potato a couple of times a week, and vegetables with nearly every dinner. Of course, I do have other carbs such as bananas, orange juice, and oatmeal, just not with dinners.The end result is that I don't feel bloated after a meal but I also don't feel hungry after a meal either. The key for me is keeping an appropriate portion size. My body type dictates that I can't get crazy with starchy carbs because it won't take long before I start to show it around the middle.