GM Diet

The GM Diet known as the General Motors Diet is a fad diet for  quick weight loss program that involves consumption of specific foods per day. The diet itself is very simple. It is a seven day program with very strict restrictions on what can be eaten on each day. This program is designed for a target weight loss of 5-6 Kg per week, while this is an ideal number an average person can look at losing 2-3 kg in a week from this diet. At the same time however, this diet plan may prove to be overwhelming to first time users, as it involves radical change of diet intake that consists mainly of raw fruits and vegetables and reduced limited protein intake.

Here is the day-wise menu for the seven day GM diet plan:

Day One – You are allowed to eat all the fresh fruit you want, with the exception of bananas, which are not allowed. Do not substitute fresh fruit for fruit juice, you are required to eat the whole fruit. Fruits like watermelon are usually recommended in summer and oranges in winter.

Day Two – This is a raw vegetable day. With breakfast as the only exception where you can start the day with a large baked potato with one table spoon of butter. After that, you have to eat any raw or slightly steam it vegetables, but no added salt or sauces. Fruits are strictly not allowed on Day Two.

Day Three – Here you combine day one and day two diet minus bananas or potatoes. You are allowed to eat a mixture of fruit and vegetables of your choice, in any quantity all through the day.

Day Four – you will have bananas and milk. You can eat up to eight bananas and three glasses of milk. For lunch and dinner you add a bowl of soup each. A special soup made from tomatoes, cabbage onions, green peppers, celery and water is advised. This can be consumed in any desired quantity from day 4 onwards.

Day Five –  First day of adding protein in the form of beef to the diet. You can have a total of 20 ounces of lean beef, and six whole tomatoes in addition to any vegetable soup.

Day Six – Second last day of the diet you add other vegetables to the beef. For non-beef eaters there is a vegetarian version of the  GM diet. The only vegetable to be avoided is potato and only the lean cuts of the meat are to be eaten.

Day Seven – The last day of the diet you can include brown rice, fruit juices and vegetables. The portion of the brown cup is limited to one cup for the entire day. But you can eat as many vegetables or drink as much fruit juice during this day. Read more

Weight Loss Diets

There are various fad diets for weight loss. Atkins diet, banana diet, GM diet to name a few and each of these diets have differnent approach to reduce weight. They work well on the calorie intake but are they providing you with enough nutrition for healthy functioning of the body. Lets understand a few diets and see how much beneficial are they as a weight loss diet.

High-protein, low-carbohydrate diets have been widely promoted in recent years as an effective approach to losing weight. High protein diets typically contain 1g of protein per 1 pound of body weight. Some high protein diets will recommend a percentage of total calorie intake (such as 30% or more).

Drawbacks of High Protein Diet- Excessive protein consumption, particularly animal protein, can result in heart disease, stroke, osteoporosis, and kidney stones- It is difficult to eat 6 small meals through the day especially when you are working or travelling- Too high protein can leads to renal (kidney) failure or stress.- Bone loss is also seen with high protein intake as it creates an acidic medium and calcium carbonate from bone will be leached out to balance the ph level of blood.- Consumption of protein more than the daily dietary requirement of the body results in protein being stored as fat in the body. Read more

Side Effects of Unhealthy Fad Diets

Any average person suffering from weight issue has at least once in their life have given a shot and tried these fad diets. Its natural for anyone to first indulge in self help before they fail, or their situation in some case worsens, that they seek out professional guidance. Take a minute and reflect on what might you have exposed your body to unintentionally.

Most of the fad diets are popularly termed as “yo-yo” diets that give you a short term solution to quick weight loss but do not guarantee any long term sustenance of the weight loss. Besides it deprives body of nutrition resulting in low blood pressure, reduced energy and fatigue. If you continue to under nourish your body with an unbalanced diet your metabolism also starts to slow Read more

FHF- GM Diet, Aloe Vera, Diabetic Foods & Sexually Active Women

Here are the hottest discussions on our health and fitness forum. Check them out to see what the people are saying, and have your say! Also, check out the Question of the Week- about sexually active women!

GM Diet: We are very skeptical of the GM Diet, but it works for Ishi. Read her experience here- how she had effective weight loss. Have you tried it? Think its fab or a fad? Have you say here. See other topics under Diet and Nutrition.

Weight Loss Tips: Everyone’s got some tips for weight loss. Some of our members share their tips here on raising metabolism, eating right, etc… You got tips.. then, tell everyone about them here.

Aloe Vera: Does Aloe Vera help to reduce blackheads also? Join this Aloe Vera discussion and have your say! For more topics under Beauty and Health, click here.

Fav Machine: What your favourite cardio machine? Is it the elliptical, treadmill, rowing machine, the cycle or something even cooler? Any questions about cardio- clear your doubts right here.

Diabetic Foods: What are good foods for diabetes? Read here to know what people have to say.

Question of the week: Jagiriti asks- “Do women with an active sex life perform better at work” – What do you think? Have your say here.

Ever had any questions on weight loss, health, muscle gain etc… ask them in our discussion forums, and get the answers from friends, experts and other health conscious folks!

Lemon Detox Diet & Raw Banana Diet

[Caution: The diets below are not endorsed by Fitho, since both the Lemon Detox Diet and the Raw Banana diet can be very unhealthy and can have serious health side effects.]

Every season, there is a new fad diet that does the round. This time there are two fad diets in different parts of the world- The Raw Banana Diet and the Lemon Detox Diet.

Raw Banana Diet- Apparently in Japan its such a huge rage that supermarkets and grocery stores are out of Bananas. Infact, Dole, the banana company has increased imports of bananas up to 25% to meet the demand for bananas. We could not find clear origins of this raw banana diet, but what is crazy about this raw banana diet is that people actually believe they might lose weight on it. For the raw banana diet, they want you to start your day with a banana (or as many as you like) with a glass of water at room temperature. Through the day, you can eat anything for lunch and dinner. A 3 p.m. snack is acceptable. No desserts and no meals after 8 p.m. And you have to go to bed by midnight.

How could that make any one lose weight? Maybe most of these people who lost weight on the diet never had breakfast. And eating a good breakfast is a key tool in a healthy nutrition and weight loss plan. So, if you eat 2-3 bananas for breakfast, you’ll fill yourself up for the morning. So, you probably won’t dig into the unhealthy snacking options at work. You’re off desserts in this raw banana diet, so that cuts off carbohydrates with a high glycemic index, that promote fat storage in your body. But you can eat anything for dinner and lunch? What happened to portion control to lose weight. The other key that might work for people is that this diet needs you to eat all meals before 8 p.m, so if you’ve eaten lots of carbs (rice, etc) for dinner, you’ve probably burnt some of it by the time you sleep. Also, since you’re getting enough sleep, it’ll help you manage your weight.

The raw banana diet is an unscientific way to approach weight loss. People who have issues with portion control could gain weight on this diet. The good thing about this diet is it promotes a healthy breakfast and dinner much before you sleep. And its not a crash diet- those are the worst for your health.

Lemon Detox Diet- The lemon detox diet is all the rage in Australia. Beyonce Knowles, on the lemon detox diet apparently had some success, so a huge mass of people has decided to follow it blindly, not considering the side effects of the lemon detox diet. This lemon detox diet has you drinking 6-9 glasses per day, for 5 to 14 days of a special concoction made from Madal Bal Natural Tree Syrup, Lemon Juice, Cayenne Pepper and water. That’s all. This is a starvation diet, that can have serious side effects on your health. This is the mother of all crash diets.

How can someone be nourishing their body with a diet that contains barely any calories, no solids, no protein, minimal fat and inadequate vitamins and minerals. Since your body will not be getting enough calories, it will go into starvation mode, a.k.a. fat storing mode. To maintain your bodily functions, your body will cannibalize on its own muscle. So, instead of losing fat, you will lose muscle and lean body mass, and stay away from the lemon detox diet or the raw banana diet.

Also as soon as you return to a normal diet, your body will be in a mode to store all that food as fat!
Can you imagine how much you would eat after you’ve deprived your body and brain of all that food?