LET'S DIET

And we're off, into a whole new year, but boy, have we all piled on the pounds or what!?  So forget the January sales, this month is all about the diet for many.  I include myself in this.

There are so many diets on the go, most with one aim in mind: to shed the pounds.  However, I've been doing a little research and found the vast majority of "diets" are not really that good for you.  Not just that but most people complain that once they stopped the diet the pounds piled back on, and they ended up right back where they were.

There's a simple reason for this: most diets these days look at reducing the amount of food we take in, as opposed to changing to the right foods. There's a big difference.  Ultimately we need to have the well known "balanced diet", but most promoted diets are far from balanced.

It may be a good plan to reduce the amount of calories you eat, but if that simply means reducing the quantity you eat then chances are it's going to be hell and you'll be constantly hungry. You also run the risk of not getting the right full range of nutrients.

I've been heavily reading up on a one Dr Furman's research, and he advocates increasing the plant based element of your food intake to high levels, while reducing your carb intake to about 10% and literally eliminating all animal products. He cites many successful case studies, with the majority reaching an ideal weight and keeping it off. Dr Fuhrman's results also include people with diabetes type 2 being effectively cured. So, sounds impressive.

I met a good friend of mine today, Bill, who has also recently embarked on a new food plan. It differs from the Dr Fuhrman plan significantly, but Bill reports some amazing results on his new food plan. So, though I usually lack in motivation for this kind of thing, he has inspired me take on the challenge of changing my poor diet lifestyle. I'm about to give it a go for as long as I can, hopefully six weeks. I'll report back.

Now, where did I put that Mars bar?