8 Week Diets

Set healthy eating goals to lose weight safely.

Some diet gurus would have you believe that eight weeks of an eating plan will magically transform your shape and your health. They may be right. Healthy eating and regular exercise do give you a more toned and efficient, fat-burning body. Study diet options carefully before committing to a plan that will boost your health, your metabolism and your self confidence.

8 Weeks to Weight Loss Plan

The Diet Channel offers a free 8-week plan, created by a registered dietitian, to encourage nutritional awareness and change eating habits. Each week, participants take an in-depth look at the causes and results of diet choices and learn strategies for weight loss and healthy eating. Self-paced participants examine the causes of obesity, all the popular weight loss diets, metabolism and the psychology behind overeating, best ways to go grocery shopping, how to order in restaurants and how to create and stick to a diet plan.

8-Week Liver Cleansing Diet

This diet, created by an Australian doctor, focuses on eating specific foods and avoiding others to help the liver eliminate toxins. It gained public attention when celebrities embraced it and even more when the actor behind the 2004 film "Super Size Me," gained 30 pounds in a month eating fast food, used a liver cleanse diet to recover. Eliminate coffee, alcohol, sugar and cigarettes the week before starting the cleanse. Then limit your diet to simple foods, organic whenever possible. Eat fruits and protein powder smoothies, whole grain bread, eggs, vegetable soups and steamed veggies, salads, grilled salmon, legumes and nuts. The foods are healthy and the substances eliminated are not, but check with your health care provider before attempting this or any detox diet.

The Mediterranean Diet

Food choices dubbed "The Mediterranean Diet" form the basis of a nutritious eating plan the Mayo Clinic recommends for heart health and weight control. An 8-week experiment with a Mediterranean diet provides a reduced risk of heart disease, cancer, Parkinson's and Alzheimer's diseases. The diet involves eating mostly fresh fruits and vegetables, whole grains, nuts and legumes. Herbs and spices provide flavoring. Olive and canola oil are healthy fats. Red meat is strictly limited. Fish and poultry, broiled, steamed or grilled, are permitted at least twice a week--vegetarians should eat legumes, nuts, seeds and leafy greens for protein. Moderate amounts of red wine are permitted and regular exercise is advised.

DIY Mayo Clinic Healthy Weight Loss

Structure your own 8-week weight loss diet with healthy strategies from the Mayo Clinic. This diet has potential for maintaining long term weight loss without the dramatic ups and downs of quick weight loss schemes. Begin by educating yourself about nutrition and healthy food choices and then resolving the major stressors in your own life that can derail a diet. Give yourself a specific, motivating goal and write it down. Find someone to support you, especially when the going gets rough. Be realistic and aim for a 1 to 2-pound loss a week; up your daily exercise to reach your goals. Eat breakfast and eat more veggies. If you backslide, don't beat yourself up and if you hit a milestone, don't drop your discipline to celebrate. Remind yourself that nutritious eating and a healthy body are lifetime goals. In eight weeks, evaluate and re-calibrate, and then keep going.

References

• Diet Channel: 8 Weeks to Weight Loss
• Mayo Clinic: Weight Loss: 6 Strategies for Success
• Liver Detox Diet
• Mayo Clinic: Detox Diets, Do They Work?
• Mayo Clinic: Mediterranean Diet

Resources

• The Morgan Detox Diet May Really Work