The No Carbs After 5pm Diet

In her diet book, The No Carbs After 5pm Diet, author, Joanna Hall makes the following claims:

Her diet will allow dieters to:

• Lose inches off their waist in twenty-four weeks
• Look fit, and feel fit
• Feel vibrant again
• Lower blood pressure
• Lower cholesterol.
• Improve sleep
• Discover new bursts of energy
• You will see and feel a difference in one week

So how does the No Carbs After 5pm Diet really work?
The diet has several stages. Set on a focused eating program as well as an exercise program including walking and abdominal exercises. The eating portion can be flexible or rigid; the dieter chooses. The dieter can solo the diet, or choose a family member or friend as a “Diet Buddy.” Having someone to assist in losing weight is good for encouragement and motivation.

The diet requires keeping track of basic information:

The dieter needs to first determine their BMI (Body Mass Index).

BMI is calculated by taking your weight in kilograms and dividing it by your height in meters squared. If your  BMI is between 25-29 you are overweight.

30-39 is considered obese and 40 and up is considered morbidly obese.

Once you determine your range, then you take your own measurements and chart them. Over the course of the next 28 days you track your progress, frequently reviewing your findings to see if you are winning the weight battle or slipping off the program.

The diet is relatively simple. Lean meats and fish are encouraged as are fresh fruits and vegetables. Water is the beverage of choice. The guidelines state that two glasses of water should be consumed prior to each meal. Snacks are allowed, but not to exceed 150 calories a day. Milk is encouraged on a daily basis.

The No Carbs After 5pm is quite simply a “carb curfew.” After 5 p.m. there will be no cereal, breads, grains, potatoes, pasta or rice eaten. This allows the dieter to diet without worrying about counting calories so closely. The No Carb diet also instructs the dieter to eat wisely. Know what the food will do to the body before consuming the item, and learn how to eat correctly.

Eating correctly according to the No Carbs After 5pm Diet means selecting the right foods for your body’s needs. Eating your meals at a leisurely pace and not skipping any meals.

If you have to eat out at fast foods, choose your meals there wisely and don’t supersize the portions, or your waist will soon be supersized as well. Understand that some fast food restaurants intentionally add food enhancers to their items to keep your body craving more of their food.

Joanna Hall comes up with an ingenious way of understanding portion sizes. She uses common everyday items to illustrate how you should eat. For example, a deck of cards is the same size of meat or fish that you should eat at one meal. Her book goes into more details about this visualization and provides recipes for success.