14 of the Most Impressive Keto Diet Before-and-After Pictures

“Accountability is the key”

In early 2016, Mary Alexander saw a photo of herself in a bathing suit and decided something had to change. A few weeks later, she started the keto diet, an ultra-low-carb, high-fat diet that’s becoming increasingly popular, partly because of the many keto diet before-and-after pictures. After two years, she’s lost 60 pounds with ten to 15 more to go to reach her goal.

“The hardest part of keto was getting started,” says Mary, a 54-year-old marketer from Rockwell, Texas. “Bread and sweets had been my friends for years, so giving them up was really hard.” She kept herself accountable with her Instagram account, @ketohabits: She’s gained more than 26,000 followers since she started her journey. “I attribute all of my success to my account, as well as weekly weigh-ins.” Check out the 15 things you should know before trying the keto diet.

The post 14 of the Most Impressive Keto Diet Before-and-After Pictures appeared first on Reader's Digest.

from Diet & Weight Loss – Reader's Digest https://ift.tt/2KtpLId

12 Things That Happen to Your Body on a Keto Diet

You lose weight rapidly

One of the primary reasons people are curious about the keto diet is the promise of fast weight loss. “The keto diet has a notorious reputation for quick and aggressive fat loss,” says Brett Osborn, MD, a neurosurgeon, ketogenic specialist, and medical expert with BPI Sports.

While most significant weight-loss stories come from people on extreme low-calorie, low-fat diets, this is not true for the keto diet. “It is not a starvation diet. Quite the opposite, in fact,” Dr. Osborn says. “To preserve as much muscle as possible while on the ketogenic diet, be sure to feed your body at least as many calories as it demands.”

“The weight loss is both good and bad,” says Mary Weidner, co-founder of Strongr Fastr, a keto meal-planning app. “It’s motivating and really helps people become confident in the diet, though it also is mostly water weight. Once the weight loss stalls, it can cause people to lose faith and fall off the diet.” A weight-loss plateau is one reason people quit the keto diet. Discover the 11 reasons most people fall off the keto diet.

The post 12 Things That Happen to Your Body on a Keto Diet appeared first on Reader's Digest.

from Diet & Weight Loss – Reader's Digest https://ift.tt/2KtpKE9

10 Reasons Apple Cider Vinegar Weight Loss Works

Apple cider vinegar helps to control blood sugar

There are all sorts of suggestions out there for how to lose weight—and adding apple cider vinegar (ACV) to your diet might be one that actually works. How? An apple cider vinegar weight-loss plan affects how blood sugar is regulated, according to a study by Carol Johnston, PhD, at Arizona State University. “Her research provides evidence that drinking vinegar before eating actually led to a decrease in change of blood glucose post meals,” says Tanya Zuckerbrot MS, RD, New York City-based registered dietitian, best-selling author, and founder of the F-Factor Diet. “Drinking apple cider vinegar before a carbohydrate-filled meal can reduce blood sugar spikes that would usually occur after eating.” And that’s not just good for weight loss—it’s good for your overall health, too. Learn some more amazing health benefits of taking apple cider vinegar.

The post 10 Reasons Apple Cider Vinegar Weight Loss Works appeared first on Reader's Digest.

from Diet & Weight Loss – Reader's Digest https://ift.tt/2yl54HT

How the Keto Diet Plan Helped Me Kick My Sugar Habit

I’ve never met a candy bar I didn’t like. For years, I finished every meal with a little something sweet. At holidays, people knew the way to my heart: peanut butter cups and chocolate-dipped marshmallows. For years, I tried to balance this sweet tooth with my efforts to lose weight—which was fine until it wasn’t. It was then, as my weight was creeping up, that I turned to a radical new plan that not only cured my sweet tooth but helped me shed more pounds than I thought possible. And it was easy.

Prior to discovering the keto diet plan, I counted calories. I even managed to drop 60 pounds with the help of exercise. Then last summer, I noticed my pants were just a bit too tight for comfort. I knew something had to change. As sad as I was to admit it, I knew I had to cut out sugar. But I also knew that just eliminating the sweet stuff wouldn’t work long-term—I would eventually give in to cravings. I needed something that would completely reset my eating habits. I decided on a ketogenic diet plan.

(Read what it’s like to follow the keto diet.)

The keto diet plan (keto is short for ketogenic) is high-fat, low-carbohydrate diet. It allows only 20 grams of carbs per day, which doesn’t leave room for many fruits and vegetables—and sweets and starches are entirely off limits. Your main food sources are fat and protein, like beef and cheese or chicken and avocados. On the keto diet, you hijack your body’s preferred quick energy source, carbohydrates and force your body to start converting stored fat into energy. This metabolic process actually burns fat from your hips, thighs, belly, and organs (fatty liver, anyone?). The keto diet plan cuts carbs so dramatically your body has no choice but to turn to your fat stores.

I decided to start on a Monday, and just like that keto was in and carbs were out.

The first week of the keto diet plan wasn’t easy. I still craved chocolate every evening. I also experienced the dreaded “keto flu” about 48 hours in—this happens due to a lull in energy, as your body makes the switch from burning carb fuel to fat. I felt tired, sluggish, and unfocused. But amazingly, what I didn’t feel was hungry. Just like that, cravings stopped. Fat and protein, which are very filling, digest more slowly than carbohydrates; this meant I wasn’t hungry at meal times.

(Here are 10 keto recipes that are so good you’ll forget you’re on a diet.)

About four days later, the keto flu fog lifted, and I felt more energized and focused than I had felt in years. Over the next seven weeks, I lost 15 pounds and slid easily back into the pants that had been too snug two months before. The biggest change, however, came with my control over my sweet tooth. Each doughnut or cookie I came across was a challenge—but it was also an easy decision: Eat too many carbs and my body would fall out of ketosis. I’d have to start the whole process again. Would it really be worth it? The answer was plain: No.

When I did finally eat sugar again—the holidays—I feared one bite would unleash a wave of uncontrollable sugar cravings. Fortunately, the opposite happened: I took one bite and I found out how much my palate had changed. I couldn’t eat cake. I barely finished a bite.

(Here are the 9 signs may indicate you’re eating too much sugar.)

Keto helped me accomplish my two main goals: I jump-started my weight loss and I tamed the sugar monster that had ruled me for years. Plus, I learned a helpful trick. If I crave chocolate—and sometimes, those cravings do come—I can happily snack on a square of ultra-dark chocolate (88% cacao or higher) and quietly calm the call of my once-insatiable sweet tooth in a mostly healthy way.

(Don’t let these reasons why many people fail the keto diet derail your success.)

The post How the Keto Diet Plan Helped Me Kick My Sugar Habit appeared first on Reader's Digest.

from Diet & Weight Loss – Reader's Digest https://ift.tt/2KdEHep

A Healthy Lifestyle Is Not a New Year Resolution, It's a Discipline

From the dawn of civilization, mankind always wanted to thrive a life of wellness and liveliness, all for a better tomorrow. However, we seem to be forgetting the idea, lately. Today we once again remind you of the sheer necessity of a Healthy Lifestyle and the importance of a balanced Nutrition, in order to achieve it. Nutrition provides fuel to your muscles, bones and joints and good nutrition is important for their optimal function. We talk about the factors like exercise, nutrition and proper sleep; the combined result of which is Good Health. Taking care of ourselves is not an indulgence, it should be a way of life. It requires utmost discipline, motivation and persistence to overcome the attitude of idleness and dullness. Here's to Good Health.

from Health and Fitness Articles from EzineArticles.com https://ift.tt/2N3QRUK

9 Common Mistakes That Make You Regain Weight

You’re off your “diet”

Dropping the weight is only half the battle: the results of your “diet” don’t matter if you’re not able to maintain the weight loss for good. If you abruptly give up your diet or workout routine after you reach your goal, you’re not giving yourself the tools necessary to sustain it. “While fad diets may be fast-acting, they’re unsustainable and don’t show you how to keep the excess weight off,” says Adam Rosante, fitness coach and creator of The People’s Bootcamp. “As soon as you go off whatever plan you’re on, the pounds come creeping back to where they were, and then some.” Rather than going on a crash diet, make small changes that you can incorporate into your lifestyle for years, not weeks, to come. Try out these 50 ways to lose weight without a lick of exercise.

The post 9 Common Mistakes That Make You Regain Weight appeared first on Reader's Digest.

from Diet & Weight Loss – Reader's Digest https://ift.tt/2wItS9j

Why Most People Fail on the Keto Diet

You’re not prepared

The keto diet will be unlike almost any other diet you’ve tried. That’s why going into this eating style without helpful strategies, plans, and ideas for making day-to-day food decisions easier can backfire.

“It’s a lot more involved than cutting out bread and pasta,” says Mary Weidner, cofounder of Strongr Fastr, a keto meal-planning app. “It requires planning and tracking just how many carbs you’re eating. Make no mistake, it takes effort and work—more so than other diets—and this can be overwhelming.”

Fix: Put in the prep work. “Fail to prepare, then prepare to fail,” says Lisa Davis, PhD, PA-C, CNS, the chief nutrition officer for Terra’s Kitchen, a food delivery service that caters to many different types of eating plans. “Meal prepping is crucial in achieving ketosis because the macros are so specific.” Before you begin prepping, make sure you check out the hidden dangers of a keto diet.

The post Why Most People Fail on the Keto Diet appeared first on Reader's Digest.

from Diet & Weight Loss – Reader's Digest https://ift.tt/2KsQvsv