It's no secret that Hollywood stars resort to some form of diet to keep in shape, but whether you plan to hop on the bandwagon or not, remember that exercise and eating balanced meals are the best ways to fight fat.
The Atkins Diet : How It Works
With a huge celebrity following, this popular diet created by Dr Robert Atkins basically encourages you to stay away from carbs but load up on meat and rich foods to get leaner. This way, the body begins to burn fat instead of carbohydrates for energy. For the first two weeks, dieters eat less than 40g of carbohydrates a day and increase their intake of high-protein and high-fat foods.
The key though, is staying away from alcohol, refined sugar, potatoes, white rice and flour among other banned produce. Later, the carb allowance is slowly increased in the form of fruit, whole grain foods and vegetables. In his 2003 book New Diet Revolution, Dr Atkins also encouraged including exercise in all phases of the plan to speed up the process.
The Good & The Bad
Research has proven that the Atkins diet is one of the highest weight loss diets around with nearly double the amount of fat burned compared to other forms of diet. Here's the bad news: It is also a highly controversial form of diet because reports and studies indicate that long-term use of the diet could induce diabetes, heart and kidney problem. Many of the dieters also suffer from bad breath, constipation, unstable blood sugar and a metallic taste in their mouth due to ketosis, the process in which the body changes to burn fat.
Celeb choice: Sarah Jessica Parker, Renee Zellwegger and Calista Fokhart
