Have You Ever Done A Stupid/Fad Diet? What Happened?

JustMissTracy

tracyannk28 wrote: »

JustMissTracy wrote: »

About twenty years ago, I bought an EMS unit off a commercial on tv...just hook yourself up, turn it on, and no need to do crunches ever again.... lol! What they forgot to mention was, it felt like bolts of electricity zapping thru my skin every 15 seconds, and I couldn't use it more than twice. That was worth the trip back for a refund, believe me!

I got something like that back in the early 2000's. You wrap it around your waist and...it was just a bad time. it actually burned me!!!

Me TOO!!!

Asher_Ethan

Ugh I've done them all. When I was 15 I was 5'9" 150 pounds and my mom had me convinced I was fat and had me do Atkins with her and that was my first diet fail. I was an emotional wreck on less than 20g carbs a day but, "at least I was losing weight," after a complete unneeded emotional break down I decided to stop. Then I didn't really try to diet again until college because I had made the dance team and I was asked to lose 10 pounds. I did some diet pill and lost what they wanted me to but then when the season was over I stopped taking them and all the weight came back on and then some. The next year I needed to lose weight again for the dance team but I didn't want to gain it all back so I started working out 3 hours a day (more than I studied) and of course the weight came back on after I stopped working out so much because I didn't change my eating habits.
After college I got really into Paleo and eating clean because, "If you eat clean you can eat as much as you want and still lose weight!" which worked for the first 15 pounds but then stopped.


Now I am completely happy doing CICO.

brb2008

rankinsect wrote: »

For me personally, Atkins was dumb as it was totally unrealistic for me to sustain, and as I've demonstrated for myself later, wholly unnecessary.

Calorie counting with insanely low goals (1300 calories for a 300+lb man is not reasonable at all) was another dumb one, as was trying to eliminate all "bad food".

As to what happened, like many of us, I failed, and regained all the weight I lost plus extra.

I have basically the same experience. I had initial success with Atkins and lost about 70/100lbs that way, I've regained somewhere in the 50lb range. Also have done crash diets and over exercise. I was eating maybe 1000 a day and trying to exercise intensely every day. I ended up vomiting every.single.workout. I was down right terrible to myself.

incisron

As a younger girl, when I didn't know much about calories and losing weight, I tried starving myself on flavored waters and / or Trident gum. Other times I tried starving myself on a few bites of whole grain muffin and fruit every day. I also tried eating only fruit or a muffin everyday, starving myself on liquids only - sometimes just a cup of juice a day, other times several cups of sugary drinks, thinking I'd lose weight. I tried eating nothing but "diet" snacks - granola bars, graham crackers, grain bars, diet coke. And, perhaps the stupidest one of all - I tried to starve myself on junk food. Sometimes it was eating nothing bit one or two sugary snacks or desserts a day - very high calorie ones. Or restricting myself to one meal a day and two snack. Sugary snacks like Oreos - five of them - or a big bowl of ice cream, and a large, high calorie dinner from some fast food.

incisron

Oh, and not to mention the "nothing but fruits and veggies" diet.

incisron

Oh, what happened? Well, I didn't have a nearby scale to see whether I was losing any weight when I was genuinely starving myself on bits of food or nothing at all, but I certainly did see the results of the bingeing that resulted when I started putting on weight instead of losing it. Man, there was nothing wrong with my original weight. I just made it worse. Lil stupid self.

cgisme2014

A few years ago I did the Lighterlife diet for 4 months and lost about 60 lbs. Then immediately after went to US for 3 weeks and put 7lbs back on. In fairness I did put about 28 lbs back on and stayed like that for 2 years or so.
Now I am using MFP and sometimes have to eat a piece of cheese or such like to make sure I have consumed enough calories. I have lost about 30lbs and have 16 to go to reach the top of the 'normal' BMI

mlinci

Ages ago when I was a student, I decided to eat nothing but strawberries for three days. I lasted about day and a half before giving up, and as a consequence couldn't face eating strawberries for about two years after that!

Dariasen

I've done too many to list unfortunately. Atkins worked well, until the carb binge took over and I slaughtered several large chocolate Easter bunnies. I also did Medi Weight Loss for a bit which is basically paying tons of money to be told how to do Atkins (they do stimulant diet pills there too but I didn't get them because of my HBP). I had started Herbalife when I found MFP and these forums and learned how simple CICO is.

AlciaMode

I did the Skinny B*tch diet which is basically just strict veganism. Fruit for breakfast. Nuts for lunch. Tofu for dinner kind of thing. I lost weight but missed eggs and cheese and as soon as I added those to the equation the weight that I had lost came right back. The upside was that the book did teach me a lot about reading ingredients and monitoring what we put into our bodies. Plus the atrocities that the FDA allows. I did stay a vegetarian for 5 years and during that time did not even get as much as a cold.

dramaqueen45

So so many dumb fad diets. I guess I wanted something quick, easy and something that I didn't have to think about what to eat- just tell me and I'll do it. I did WW in high school a few times- just the quick start menu but I really didn't even need to lose weight in high school at 117 (I'm 5'4"). Usually I would do it for a week, quit for a few weeks and then do it again. I also tried the "Lose 10 pounds in 3 days" diet in high school, aka the military diet- not meant to be a long term diet- I quit after about a day and a half. Let's see, cabbage soup diet- BORING and the soup takes too long to make and takes up all the space in your freezer. I tried Adkins which lasted for about a day and a half- I LOVE carbs. I have tried eDiets (not sure if it's still out there)- had some success with that as it was well balanced and had lots of fresh fruit and veggies but got tired of paying money and they offered too many choices after a while and it became confusing (choices as it types of diets they offered). I have tried "Eating for Life"- 6 small meals a day- a fist size of carbs and a palm size of protein in each one and then you can add veggies as you like. Plus you have one day a week that you can just eat whatever you like. That was okay except I didn't like to eat that often I guess- didn't last very long. I tried Slimfast in college where I would drink a shake in the morning, eat a Slender Bar for lunch and then eat a bowl of cereal with Nutrisweet and an apple for dinner and run one mile a day- lost about 10-15 pounds in a month only to gain it right back.

I was the most successful one summer about 9 years ago following the Hilton Head Metabolism diet- lost 22 pounds in 2 1/2 months. (The rest of these I would lose about 7-9 pounds and gain it back plus some). But this one was based on eating a low calorie diet for two weeks and then raising calories the third week and then cycling back to low calorie again. Also you had to walk 20 minutes per day, twice a day within 20 minutes of eating to kick in your metabolism. Well I lost so fast because it was only about 900-1000 calories a day- no wonder. I've done WW as an adult- thinking that I would stay motivated if I had to pay for it. Nope. I even tried MFP a few years ago once or twice before I actually stuck with it. Now after almost a year and a half I've lost 50 pounds.

nutmegoreo

I tried one where you were supposed to eat 30g of protein, 20g of carb, and two cups of veg 5 times per day and then eat an entire cucumber before bed. At the time, I knew nothing about macros, so I was eating a half grilled cheese sandwich, because 30g of cheese (this is so embarrassing to admit), plus the 20g of bread. I haven't done the math, but I do know (now) that 30g of cheese is certainly not 30g of protein and a slice of bread is not 20g of carb. I used a spray oil in the pan, to minimize the fats. I lost a load of weight, but was incredibly weak in short order.

Now, I want to input this to see what my cals for the day would have been...

ETA: It was just under 1200 cal. A little low on protein and fat, which would explain why I was so hungry, and only about half the suggestion for iron. I was also doing an intense bootcamp workout three times/week. So I guess it could have been worse.

SLLRunner

I took this powder stuff with ephedrine in it about 20 years ago. I felt like I was on speed, since my heart was beating so fast. It scared me so bad that I didn't last more than a month.

dramaqueen45

Oh yeah I also did diet pills in high school. Did nothing for me except make my scalp tingle.

tmartin19710

5 years ago I want on the Atkins diet lost a lot of weight. 369 to 240 but it also gave me gout. First thing the doctor told me was get off the Atkins immediately. So after that I was diagnosed with an autoimmune disease which I know the Atkins didn't cause. But after 2 years of hell trying to get a good regimen of meds and care I am doing so much better with cico. I had went back up to 337 and now down to 302. Atkins is for some but not for me.

blambo61

I think for success, it has to work and be sustainable or you just gain it back. I'm doing a fasting diet where I eat in a three hour window in the evenings. I eat tell full. I eat all food groups, and I eat some junk if I want. I supplement with whey protein and vitamins and minerals. At 6'1", male, lost 29 lbs in 11 weeks. When I hit goal weight, I will expand eating window to give more time to get more calories but will fast 1st part of the day. Once I eat, I want to continue eating. It is easier to fast for me than to eat small meals. I put down about 1800 to 2400 cals a day in 3 hours and get stuffed each day which is important for me to make it sustainable. I do cardio 4 times a week for an hour.

annathebitch

A water fast. Lost 30lbs in 21 days. Maintained the weight loss for 4 years till I got pregnant. Then I gained it all back. Plus some more. Wouldn't do it again.

Winter_Girl92

I have tired so many over the years and never lost weight. I have previously lost 50kgs with a starvation diet that transitioned into an undiagnosed eating disorder. It was kind of strange. All my life I had been told to eat less and then I was being begged to eat. I ending up gaining all the weight back after my life stablised a bit, I started dating my now fiance and got pregnant.

Jiveli85

2 or 3 years ago I purchased the 'Tone It Up' plan. It had a bunch of dumb rules that I later learned don't really matter. Such as, you must do cardio first thing in the morning (I like to work out- just not right when I wake up), no fruit or starches after 3 pm, no artificial sweeteners,,etc. It had some good information but ultimately it felt like a rip off.

livelovebbg

I tried taking diet pills when I was in high school. They made me feel nauseous and even caused me to throw up a few times. Despite how sick they made me, I took them for 30 days. Not smart.

rebeccaEsmith

Back when I was still at high school the fad was not to eat so this one day when I was at my part time job after school not ate or drunk all day I fainted and had to be carried to the lunchroom. The pressure of being in high school!

JustMissTracy

incisron wrote: »

Oh, what happened? Well, I didn't have a nearby scale to see whether I was losing any weight when I was genuinely starving myself on bits of food or nothing at all, but I certainly did see the results of the bingeing that resulted when I started putting on weight instead of losing it. Man, there was nothing wrong with my original weight. I just made it worse. Lil stupid self.

Yup..I always say, I wish I was the "fat" I thought I was when I was 30....46 is much different!

goldthistime

I've lost weight at a fairly aggressive pace many times, and kept it off for years at a time. One of those times it was Atkins, which was ok once you got past the first three weeks. Twice I did Weight Watchers on steroids, meaning I ate my allocated points but exercised like a mad woman and didn't eat back any of those points. When I got to maintenance, where your weight had to stay constant, I resorted to putting weights in my pockets and boots. But most of the time I just ate as little as I could stand, without really knowing how much I was consuming. Did I do damage losing weight that quickly? Hard to say, I was young and resilient. I'd never take that chance now. The other major downfall of aggressive diets was that I had to wait for periods of considerably reduced stress in my life to start one. The great thing about CICO is that you can be precise enough to lose weight slowly and with next to no suffering. No need to wait for strong motivation or a reduced workload to begin.

wizzybeth

I tried Atkins. Lasted maybe 5 days before I was ready to kill myself, or someone.

MeadowsBing

I tried the cabbage soup diet in the 90's *yuk* and slim fast I tried but I was working in a hotel early shift so I would have my slim fast on the way to work and by the time the breakfast shift was over, and lots of food on offer, I was ravenous so I put on about a stone over a few months there

wizzybeth

Oh I did try the cabbage soup diet - I kind of liked the soup but didn't do the whole diet thing. I think when the soup was gone, I was like...that was fun. NEXT. LOL

mskinner1091

I did the 3 day military diet. Did it twice actually. Lost about 7lbs both times. I gained the weight back both times. Basically I was starving & unhappy for 3 days.

riffraff2112

When I was in highschool...way back in 1985. I did a slurpee diet. Wouldn't have breakfast, for lunch I would pick up a large slurpee from 7-11 and it kind of tied me over until supper. I ate a smallish supper. I lost 50lbs.
I was a picture of health I tell you. Fortunately I was smart enough to realize that this was not going to work for long so I taught myself a few things and stopped that.
Good thing I was young, I think I would feel like complete crap if I tried that as an adult.

100df

Not a diet but I did go to a hypnotist. My friend and I joke that it worked for two hours because we didn't go out to lunch after.

peter56765

Atkins was the closest thing to a fad diet for me. Yes, I lost weight but good God, that diet gets really boring and I found it very hard to maintain for the long term, especially when the rest of my family was not following it. I found it to be too much of a chore to have to make my own "special" food every single night. It sure is hard to pass up lasagna and garlic bread to eat yet another bunless burger with cauliflower. And trying to find something I could eat at a restaurant was never easy. Now I eat anything and everything, I just eat less of it than I used to.