Meal Plan Diets

When starting a new weight-loss regime most people, myself included, are confused as to how, what, and when to eat. Often with the impatient desire to lose weight people turn to fad diets, leading to immediate satisfaction followed by weight instability. Thus, the more accepted philosophy is to "change ones dietary lifestyle," but what does this exactly entail...

As a kinesiology student, I have dedicated a large portion of my education to diet, from the perspective of: biochemistry, cellular biology, macro/mico nutrition, body composition, and personal training. Allowing me to understand a proper "dietary lifestyle.” BUT... who has time for all that studying just to learn how and what to eat in order to be healthy. And, so my question is what is the most efficient and beneficial way to understand dietary needs?

Currently I’m questioning the “answer to our prayers” methodology of Nutri-system. I commend the philosophy of meal-planning as a way to be aware of nutritional consumption. But, how exactly does this system interpret the nutrient and caloric needs of every individual? I'm not personally familiar with the system, but after viewing the website I only found meal plans based on personal preference and general medical needs. Leaving out key individual components such as: blood type, cholesterol, glucose levels, dealing with and/or preventing osteoporosis, diabetes, and a number of other diseases. With so many individual provisions my skepticism lies in the adequacy in meeting all needs. Although without any actual individual feedback or experience in the intake process, my knowledge is limited and judgment impaired. So, for those of you partaking in this system please let me know the thoroughness of the medical intake process.

Not only am I wary of the intake procedures, I’m also skeptical of the post-system results. During a time of dieting it is often witnessed that once the initial weight problem diminishes weight has a way of integrating back into the equation. It would seem that if food is given to these individuals on a daily basis, and then suddenly food supply ceases, these people would resort to old eating habits. Similar to the concept: “give a man a fish and he can eat for a day, but teach a man to fish and he can eat for a lifetime.” So, how do they allow “a man to eat for a lifetime,” if they are giving all the fish? Is the teaching inferred through demonstration: the presentation of the packaged food demonstrates the proper portion and types of foods to be eaten? Or is there another more “book” process involved?

Don’t get me wrong, I’m not trying to disprove this system. In fact I think it is one of the better weight loss programs out there. And, that is why I’m questioning…

Social Bookmarking Soulmate

Chriscvnv is a health conscientious bookmarketer located on diigo.com. He is interested in exercise and health related activities, such as yoga. Common tags include: exercise, workout, yoga, meditation, wellness, health, how to, and lifehacks. Chriscvnv seems to tag often in a selected amount of time then will stop for a few months, for example he was tagging new sites about once a day in March then abruptly stopped till July. Currently he holds 115 tagged sites. He often tags from the site madcityyoga.com, and tags sites that are related to the benefits of specific types of yoga: bikram, hatha, power, etc. Most tags do not come with any comment, but sites often have more than 1 tag. His organization is divided up into general and specific topics: the tag "exercise" encompasses everything that mentions exercise, then within that group he divides the sites into: "how to," "training," "meditation," and "yoga." Most tags do not have comments, and about 10 have brief comments of short descriptions on the article.

Chriscvn began his relationship with diigo in December of 2007. Almost 2 years ago he seemed to be primarily interested in the types of methods for living a healthy lifestyles that encompasses the physical and psychological realm. Many of these early sites he tagged are entitled: "What is Hatha Yoga," "Explain Bikram Yoga," and "Learning Yoga, Reasons to Get Involved." Which most likely reflects his inexperience in Yoga, or is desire to become more serious about his health or exercise regime. As the months continue he begins tagging sites that are focused on the benefits of yoga, and the different types of teaching methods. This reveals his strong interest in yoga as possibly a career choice.

One site he tages is: http://www.abc-of-yoga.com/beginnersguide/yogabenefits.asp. This site explains the health benefits of yoga from a biological viewpoint. It outlines the ability to decrease CVD, increase immunity, loose weight, regulate respiratory efficiency, and many other improvements from practicing yoga. What I find pertinent to this site is that not only does it encompass the "fou fou" stress relief factors of yoga, but it also breaks it down to the physiological and biological essence of the practice, to obtain an objective and precise understanding of the practice from a logical perspective. This site also has links to other sites with similar health descriptions, and pose breakdowns.

Another site Chriscvnv tagged is: http://www.ehow.com/how_2044401_start-daily-exercise-routine.html. This site was one his first tags, and is an informative site to get started on a exercise plan. It contains step-by-step guides of how to get started, many exercise options, goals, and links. This site has the option to become a member and engage in conversation on how-to topics, such as exercise. This site also touches on other topics, such as gardening, fashion, and technology.

These sites, plus others that Chricvnv has tagged, are resources to bloggers interested in improving their health, in fun and relaxing ways. These sites give an alternate method to the stressful aspect of loosing weight and decreasing health risks, by describing lifestyle choices that are attainable and desirable.