It is something you’ve heard so many times - eat less, exercise more. How hard can that be? Well, very, very hard.

There are so many diet plans out there. All of them have those two critical, well known parts - less calories, more movement. It is all in there: what to eat, when to eat, exercises, everything you need to loose weight.

Result? Most of people loose some weight, but soon, it gets worse. All lost pounds are back, even more of them. We end up with more weight then when we started.

Why is that so? What are we doing wrong? Are those diets wrong?

It is not easy to answer those and many other questions about dieting. What I am trying is to tell my story, and in it you may find some answers.

Long story short, some 20 years ago, I had cancer surgery. I was on chemo, survived, but therapy had side effects. I gain some weight. I was on many diets, my weight was going up and down, for years I was fighting it.

In summer of 2007, I broke my wrist, right hand. Had some problems with it, physical therapy didn’t work out, had to have surgery. All in all, 9 months of treatment. Just six weeks after that, I broke my arm again, above elbow. All over again. When you put it all together, it lasted for 18 months. I was fatter then ever. I had 143 pounds as teenager, but ended up with almost 200.

That was to much. My blood pressure, cholesterol, my general health, it was so bad, my doctor said that only I can help myself, with losing weight ASAP.

So, I did, using my experience from before, and with a lot of help from my wife and son.

Now, I have 152 pounds and hope to lose some more. During that process, I’ve learned a lot.

1. Every diet that is made by nutritionist is good diet

2. Your biggest enemy is hunger

3. You have to turn your fridge into your friend

End of part 1

I get a lot of questions about the Medifast shakes. I believe that this is because, without a doubt, these are the most popular and well known component of (and food on) the diet. They are tasty, easy to prepare, actually good for you, and pretty filling. But, people often want to know exactly what are the ingredients in (and nutritional value of) them. I’ll go over many of these issues in the following article.

Information About The Most Popular Medifast Shake First: The 55: I would venture to say that the 55 shake is the most widely used in the Medifast diet. These shakes come with the women’s basic plan / package and they are in my opinion the most tasty and versatile on the plan. They come in a variety of flavors, but the nutrition is for the most part the same no matter whether you chose one of the chocolate and vanilla varieties or the fruit flavors. Generally, these contain around 90 - 100 calories, have around 11 - 13 grams of carbs, about 11- 15 grams of protein, less than 10 grams of sugars, and at least five grams of fiber. This combination helps all of the foods put your body in fat burning mode because the carb to protein ratio is quite friendly.

In general, all of the Medifast shakes are low in lactose, are relatively gluten free, are kosher, and are vegetarian. These options are generally very nutritionally sound. For example, the 55 shakes contain anywhere from 15 - 60% of the daily requirements for vitamins and minerals like vitamins A, B, C, and D, iron, magnesium, folate, zinc, copper, selenium, and biotin, to name only a few.

The 75 shakes are very similar to the 55, but they contain more protein and are generally recommended for men or for very active folks or women who are athletes or are serious about building muscle.

Other than the 55, the momentum line is probably the next popular. These items are meant to boost your metabolism and to that end they contain additional caffeine and the active ingredient in green tea. Other than that, the rest of the nutritional information is mostly the same. There are three different shake options on the momentum line.

Nutritional Information About The Medifast Ready To Drink Shakes: All of the options that I have previously discussed have required that you mix them. You can either use the little shaker cup that comes with them or a blender. (I have better results with a blender.) So, some people really like having the option of using a shake that doesn’t require any preparation and that’s why many really like the ready to drink. This option comes in a box with a straw. All you have to worry about doing is opening and then drinking it.

In general, the caloric and nutritional content is very similar on these. They run around 90 calories and have 12 grams of carbs and protein. They are a little light on the fiber at only 3 grams, but they are full of all the vitamins and minerals, providing 40 percent of your daily calcium needs as one example.

Specialty Shakes: In addition to the items I mentioned above, this plan does offer some specialty shakes. Examples are diabetic, heart health, joint health, antioxidant fortified, and hormonal health options. In general, these are basically the 55 with some supplementation added in. For example, omega 3s are added to the heart health meals and herbs meant to deal with menopause are added into the hormonal health.

You probably have heard of Low Carb Diet or maybe you have tried it before and I am sure this diet program does not work for you for long run. It has a possibility to make you gain weight instead. Am I right?

Low Carb Diet program would not work for long term. Yes, even if you are able to lose extra pounds in just few weeks with Low Carb Diet, but how about for long run? Are you able to maintain the diet plan? Do you still lose your weight? The answer is NO!! Most of the people unable to maintain this type of diet as it is very painful process.

Yes, Low Carb Diet is not a sustainable diet program as it is too strict and make your life miserable as your body does not function properly. The basic picture in this diet program is to limit the amount of carbohydrates that are consumed, as carbohydrates turn into fat. So, you need to count the numbers of carbs that go into your body and limit the amount according to your body type. When your body has a limited amount of carbs, it will goes to Ketosis state.

What is Ketosis? Ketosis is a phase where your body will burnt the fat for energy because there are no carb to be burnt. In this phase, of course you will lose weight as the fat in your body is being burnt. Is there any side effect when your body goes to Ketosis state? OF COURSE!!

Ketosis is very unhealthy as it can cause nausea, headaches, fatigue, irritability, loss of sleep, even coma.

One of my friend had a very painful moment when she’s tried to lose weight by following Low Carb Diet plan. She felt completely flat and no energy at all and this has impact her life and careers.

Why this happen? Because our body need carbs to survive. Carbs are vital to the muscles and without carbs muscles will lose strength and density. Carbs are the energy providers for the body. So, when you cut the source of energy on your body, it will find another source to replace carbs. When this happen, your body will be unbalance as those replacement is might be crucial for other part of your body.

Back to my friend story, her career almost crash and burn as she’s not productive and inefficient in the office. This because our brain uses about 20% of glucose from our body. Glucose is a simple sugar. Simple sugars are carbohydrates. So, if you limit the amount of carbohydrates from your diet plan, you are actually starving your brain of an important nutrient for healthy brain function. This is something definitely not in everyone wish list whether you are trying to lose weight or not.

Low Carb Diet is not an healthy diet plan for a long run. You can lose weight in the few week, most of the weight your are losing is water weight, it’s just dehydrating your body.

Hey! What happen to my friend’s life? She gained weight even more than before she joined the Low Carb Diet. What happen? Because of her failures in life and career, she decided to get rid of her Low carb diet and start to eat again and then when she starts eating again, although the healthy food, her body stored any carbs it can by turning them into fat. That’s how her weight become more than before she joined the Low Carb Diet program.