CrimsonWife

Fruits do have lots of vitamins & minerals, but they also have a high glycemic index. And, in fact, your body treats fructose from fruit just like sucrose from table sugar. Table sugar has a GI of 92 while bananas have a GI of 89. That's virtually identical when it comes to the impact on your blood sugar. One serving per…

You don't have to entirely. You can have the occasional small slice of birthday cake so long as the rest of your diet is healthy. It's not an "all or nothing" type thing. From the "South Beach Diet" book pg. 114: You just can't have cake with ice cream every single day (even if it's Weight Watchers brand).

Give Dukan a try- it works *FAST* and I haven't been hungry.

Your diet seems rather carb-heavy to me. I would switch the bread to Ezekial/sprouted grain and only at 1 meal rather than 2. The apple for breakfast is okay, but swap the banana and pears out for non-starchy veggies. A chicken salad with a cup of low-sodium veggie soup would be a much healthier lunch than the sandwich +…

My "pure protein" days aren't that much lower in calories than what I was eating on Sonoma, and my "protein + veggie" days are similar in calories. Between the oat bran and all the veggies, I'm not even eating particularly low carb. I'm averaging between 110-130 grams per day. However, they are healthy carbs that do not…

Agave Nectar is *HORRIBLE* for you. It's even worse than High Fructose Corn Syrup. http://www.huffingtonpost.com/dr-mercola/agave-this-sweetener-is-f_b_537936.html Do your body a favor and switch to a different sweetener. Stevia is the best option if you want something natural.

I've been on it since March 30th when I got a copy through the Amazon Vine program. I've dropped 7 lbs., 3% bodyfat, and a dress size since then. This is extraordinarily fast weight loss for me because normally I only lose about 2 lbs. per month. And this was doing the least restrictive version of "cruise", which is 5 days…

The USDA's food pyramid is not based on sound nutritional principles but rather on lobbying by special interest groups. You should follow a healthier food pyramid like one of the following: Generic low-carb http://lowcarbdiets.about.com/od/whattoeat/ig/Low-Carb-Food-Pyramid/lowcarbpyramid1-IG.htm South Beach…

I think it's do-able if you follow Dukan, phase 1 of South Beach, or Paleo.

Check the ingredient label carefully before you drink any pre-made shake. Quite often, sugar is one of the top ingredients. That will cause a very high insulin response, just leaving you hungrier later in the day. Atkins Advantage shakes are low-carb if you really need something off-the-shelf.

For me personally, it's easier to restrict certain foods than to obsess about calories in, calories out. I hate having to measure my food portions, log what I've eaten, and then sit there worrying about hitting the right numbers. I'll do it when I need to lose, but it takes too much time and psychic energy to do that for…

I've been on it since March 30th when I got my review copy from Amazon Vine. I had been doing Sonoma prior to that but had plateaued 6 lbs. above goal weight. Dukan helped me blast through the plateau and I lost 3 1/2 lbs. the first week (incredibly fast for me, and my bodyfat percentage dropped 3% so it wasn't just water…

I would agree with most of the statements of the OP, but this one jumped out at me as a truth hidden among the myths: Eating within a few hours of bedtime causes insulin to suppress the release of Human Growth Hormone and DHEA, two fat-burning hormones. Carbs especially raise insulin levels.

Rainbow Light Pre-Natal One is a great pre-natal. You also want to be taking additional folic acid and a purified fish oil (Rainbow Light Smart Essentials DHA is a good one). If you're drinking green tea to help with weight loss, stop because it has been linked with neural tube defects.

15%-20% is considered "ideal" for women, depending on your figure (boyish, curvy, or in between).

South Beach or Sonoma. Currently I'm doing Dukan until my SIL's wedding on June 4th but it's too restrictive for me to maintain long-term. South Beach/Sonoma I've been able to mostly stay on since 2003. I did re-gain 15 lbs. last year because of stress eating due to some personal circumstances that have thankfully now…

Honestly, at 21 I wouldn't recommend it unless you are 100% positive that you never, ever want to have kids. Pregnancy will do a number on your boobs even if you formula feed once the baby is born. I'm a mom of 3 and go from 34C non-pregnant to a 40F pregnant/nursing. Wait until you're done having kids and then get the…

I'm a mom of 3 as well (though my kids are spaced farther apart). I never can lose the last 10 lbs. of baby weight until I wean. Then it melts right off with no change in diet or exercise.

South Beach and similar plans like Sonoma rock! I lost 20% of my bodyweight on it back in 2003 and kept it off for 2 years until I got pregnant with #2. Went back on after he was born, and lost all the pregnancy weight within 6 weeks of weaning him. Kept it off for another year until I got pregnant with #3. Went back on…

Untrue. Grains are a very recent development in the history of the human body (only the past 10,000 years or so). Humans can be perfectly healthy eating just animal proteins, veggies, fruit, and nuts & seeds.

Read either "The Paleo Diet Solution" by Dr. Loren Cordain or "The Primal Blueprint" by Mark Sisson as both those books go into great detail about why whole grains are problematic. You can get an overview here: http://www.marksdailyapple.com/why-grains-are-unhealthy/

Kickboxing, Pilates, and Lotte Berk/Callanetics/T-Tapp helps. But the loose skin unfortunately is resistant to everything I've tried. A tummy tuck and boob lift is on my wish list for after I'm done having kids (no point in doing it now).

No, dieters on Dukan most certainly can eat non-fat dairy, lean beef, and eggs. You can also have tofu or tempeh, all seafood, lean poultry, lean pork, and lean game.

I really think it depends on the particular formulation. I haven't taken hormonal contraception in years but back when I did, I had problems with one particular type of pill causing weight gain and irritability.

Have you tried making it with Greek yogurt? Jamie Oliver's recipe is pretty good. http://maplemacaroni.blogspot.com/2011/04/jamie-olivers-greek-yogurt-caesar.html

Those 5 lbs. may be the difference between fitting into one's clothes and not. And for someone my height, that's right about the middle of the healthy range of BMI (20.1 to 21.0). I'm not aiming for 101 lbs. (BTDT and my collarbones jut out unattractively) but even that would put me within the healthy range for BMI.

That's the strictest variation of the 2nd phase. I'm doing 5 days protein + veggies and only 2 days pure protein. I think that's healthier even if it means a slower weight loss.

Dr. Dukan allows tofu and tempeh but no other legumes or grains in the first 2 phases. If you eat eggs & dairy, you *COULD* do Dukan but it would be awfully restrictive. If you eat seafood as well, Dukan wouldn't be bad at all.

My husband was out of work and I couldn't afford to buy new pants but couldn't fit into my regular ones. I had to wear my maternity clothes even though I wasn't pregnant :-(

Isn't the stereotypical "ideal" supposed to be 36D-24-36? Back in my college sorority days, I was 34C-22-34. While I'd love to get back to those measurements, after 3 kids I don't think that's realistic.