Weight loss is an ongoing quest for millions of people. Consider Curves if you are fed up with too many pounds and fading fitness. Curves is not the only way to solve your problem, but co-founders Gary and Diane Heavin say they are committed to strengthening women through exercise, nutrition and weight loss in a community of support and encouragement at all of their over 10,000 centers in 70 countries with more than four million members.
Diet Validation
Visit a Curves center. Study its literature to answer questions posed by the U.S. National Institutes of Health's Weight-control Information Network. Questions cover issues like goal setting, including your doctor's advice, gradual weight loss, incremental exercise, nutritional balance, trained coaches, costs and sustainability. The Curves program address all of these issues. The Cleveland Clinic has validated the Curves diet plans and offers free enrollment to all its employees.
Carb-Sensitive Plan
Curves offers two diet plans. Select the Carb-Sensitive Plan if carbohydrates, starches and sugars are your main culprit. The plan begins with a detailed questionnaire to determine your usual intake and metabolic reaction to carbohydrates. If you are carb-sensitive, phase-I limits carbs to under 20 g per day for the first two weeks and 40 g thereafter on phase-II. The Curves diet reflects medical research such as the report published in 2008 in the New England Journal of Medicine by researchers at the Center for Health and Nutrition of Ben-Gurion University in Israel. They conclude that low-carbohydrate diets support weight loss, favorably effect blood fat levels and that identifying personal metabolic factors support individually tailored diets. Projected weight loss is 3 to 5 lbs. per week on phase-I and 1 to 2 lbs. per week on phase-II.
Calorie-Sensitive Plan
When you eat more calories than your burn up, you gain weight. But the Curves Calorie-Sensitive Plan questionnaire identifies your balance between daily calorie intake, your usual exercise level and the exercise you actually need. If calories are your main nemesis, the plan allows up to 60 g of carbohydrates every day but restricts daily calories to 1,200 for 2 weeks on phase-1 and 1,600 thereafter on phase-II. Projected weight loss is the same as on the Carb-Sensitive Plan. Both plans advise daily weighing after week five, a return to phase-I for 48 hours if you gain more than 4 lbs., and then a return to phase-II for maintenance.
Exercise
Gary and Diane Heavin say dieting is not limited to food planning. They complete Curves diet plans by adding structured, coached exercise, with special equipment in every Curves center. This component is designed to burn away 500 calories in 30 minutes of exercise. A CurveSmart computer module adjusts equipment to your strength and increases workloads as your strength increases.
Comparisons
Juliette Kellow, registered dietitian, health care author and TV personality, says both Curves diet plans are similar to the Atkins diet -- a low carbohydrate diet that limits breads, pastas, high-sugar fruits and some vegetables. Some Curves ads claim its diet is easier to follow and better targeted than Weight Watchers plans. In addition, though both Atkins and Weight Watchers are recognized to be effective and do advocate exercise, Curves plans are advertised as the only ones centered around regular, coached workouts on gym-quality, diversified exercise equipment in all of their centers.
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