Who doesn’t love those wonderful songs that Natasha Bedgingfield can belt out such as, “These Words” and “Frogs and Princes?” Well, it seems that Natasha is no longer kissing frogs and she has found her prince. She and fiancé Matt Robinson are planning to marry in the near future and the British Pop Star says she’s all about getting into shape for the big day. She told Ok! Magazine,

“I’m working out every day or so. I just want to be the most fit I’ve ever been for my wedding.” And how will she do that?

“You’ve basically got to increase the amount of working out you do, and decrease the amount of food you eat. If you do that, you’ll lose weight. You don’t want to not eat anything though.”

It appears that Natasha is approaching her ‘wedding day get fit plan’ with a positive view and doesn’t want to go on any crash diets or do any excessive exercise. In prior interviews, Natasha has mentioned that she tries to stick to the Zone Diet in order to maintain the correct combination of 30% fat, 30% protein and 40% carbohydrates. It’s always nice to see a celebrity who forever looks great and isn’t on a roller coaster ride of gaining and losing weight.

Source

A new Stanford study pitted popular diet plans in a weight loss challenge and the Atkins diet came out on top, with participants losing about 10 lbs at 12 months. The other diets weighed in with more modest results: LEARN diet (5.7 lbs), Ornish (4.8 lbs) and the Zone (3.5 lbs). Btw, the study characterized the LEARN diet (Lifestyle, Exercise, Attitudes, Relationships, and Nutrition) as a low fat, high carbohydrate diet, based on national guidelines.

The Atkins diet also raised HDL (good cholesterol) and lowered triglycerides more than the other diets. The Ornish and Learn diets were the best at lowering LDL (bad cholesterol). Although the Atkins diet raised LDL initially, this effect was not statistically significant at 12 months. It’s not surprising participants were able to lose more weight with Atkins given that it is easier to follow than the others. Think about trying to adhere to the Ornish diet with the lack of vegetarian options on restaurant menus, our fast food culture and the overwhelming presence of processed foods found at your local supermarket.

While Atkins came out on top in this study, it did not measure any long term health consequences. Before you consider loading up on steak and heavy cream consider the findings of the China-Oxford-Cornell Diet and Health Project, a 20 year study on health and nutrition in China. Higher animal protein consumption was directly correlated with increasing rates of heart disease, osteoporosis and cancer.