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February 2012

Review: MediFast diet

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This program, which has been around for close to 3 decades and only available through doctors, is a meal replacement program with shakes and more recently, almost 70 other meal replacement choices. You start on 5 shakes a day plus one meal that contains a lean protein, plus vegetables and/or salad.

Fitness Can Be Free!

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You don’t need an expensive gym membership or fancy equipment to get active. Exercise is any movement that works your muscles and uses more energy than resting. Try walking around your neighborhood, playing tag with the kids, using resistance bands, running up and down the stairs, making your own weights at home or doing push ups and sit ups.

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Atkins and Eco-Atkin’s Diet

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Dr. Atkins was a prominent cardiologist who espoused a diet with virtually no carbohydrates, while rich in proteins (including red meats) and fat (including no restriction on saturated fat).

Vegan Diet – Overall

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When you go vegan it means you cut out meat, dairy, fish, poultry, eggs and any foods containing ingredients from these foods. In some cases you may decide to go raw vegan, meaning that no food gets cooked beyond a certain temperature. If you think the diet sounds Spartan, remember that you still get to eat fruits, vegetables, nuts, seeds, beans, legumes, whole grains and plant-based oils.

South Beach Diet

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Created by a cardiologist and then purchased by Kraft (who developed a full food line), this program restricts carbohydrates like potatoes, fruit, bread, cereal, rice, pasta, beets, carrots and corn for the first 2 weeks of the diet plan. You can only re-introduce very limited amounts of any of these foods, and certainly not all of them.

Abs Diet

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Who among us doesn’t want a flat belly with muscle definition?

NutriSystem

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If you don’t want to think about dieting then this may be the diet for you. It takes the guess work out of planning, shopping, cooking, and portion control. You make food selections and pick up (or have delivered) 30 days worth of meals. The types of foods you will receive are typically low in sodium, saturated fats and have no trans fats.

Slim Fast

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One of the first commercial diet plans to offer shakes (and later on, bars and other snacks), in order to help you lose weight, this company has been around for decades. Certainly having a shake for one or two meals can help to ensure they you adhere to a strict calorie count and spur significant weight loss. The challenge comes when you need to wean off the drinks and introduce food.

Dean Ornish, Vegetarian Diet

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Dr. Ornish published Eat More, Weigh Less, with the goal of helping people to get heart healthy. He is known as the doctor who reverses heart blockage, which was once thought impossible without drugs and/or surgery. But the diet is regimented and austere and may be hard for some to follow long term. Basically the diet instructs you to follow a high-fiber, low fat vegetarian diet.