Eat Yourself Slim Diet

According to the Centers for Disease Control over 72 million people, or 1/3 of the United States population are obese. Many people would prefer to eat themselves slim over the starvation method which actually makes a person more fat. There are a few diet books with strategies to help you eat certain foods to get thin and to understand why you may be overweight.

Types

"Eat Yourself Slim" by Michel Montignac and published by Erica House in 1999 is a diet focused on low glycemic carbohydrates. Some low glycemic foods include fruits and vegetables such as grapefruit, broccoli, cauliflower and green beans. Low glycemic foods are rated with an index of 55 or less and also include nuts and low-fat dairy products. The author's research supports the idea that some people can be overweight because of the types of food they eat which contain too much of the wrong types of sugar as opposed to the wrong types of fat.

"Eat Yourself Slim" by Valerie Conley, published by Cornerstone Digital in 2010, is focused on eating fine food and losing weight by calculating calories for your specific body type and eating accordingly. Conley's book is planned to be the focus of a new television series featuring the book's recipes.

Function

Low glycemic foods are supposed to help keep insulin levels balanced. Insulin is released according to the glucose in the blood; the higher the glucose, the more insulin released. The more insulin, the more likely a person will be overweight.

Weight is also controlled by knowing the exact amount of calories you are burning every day and only consuming this many. The challenge for many people is they do not know how many calories they are actually burning because their metabolisms may be burning more slowly than normal.

Misconceptions

Many people think skipping meals will help them become more slim, but this sends the body into starvation mode. The body is flooded with insulin to keep blood sugar levels high, and your metabolism slows down and stores fat, so everything you then eat later is now in fat storing mode. This misconception is explained and is the main aspect of the diet in Michel Montignac's book "Eat Yourself Slim."

Expert Insight

According to an article published in the "Journal of Nutrition," a diet high in food that contains MUFA or monounsaturated fatty acids improves glycemic control, which is a known way to eat yourself slim. MUFA foods include olives, avocados, and various nuts and should be eaten in place of other foods to be effective. Switch from corn or vegetable oil to canola or olive oil. This helps lowers triglycerides because now the fat content is not from saturated or animal fats. MUFA foods help control insulin levels.

Considerations

Rosemary Conley's book "Eat Yourself Slim" focused on eating the correct amount of calories based on your basal metabolism so you do not put your body into starvation mode. A good rule of thumb is to eat this many, so the activities you do and additional exercise will give you a caloric deficit. Of course if you are extremely active and are exercising vigorously so you are burning more than 500 additional calories, you will have to add some food to refuel yourself.