Have You Ever Done A Stupid/Fad Diet? What Happened?
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Does the low fat, use margarine, eat foods with low fat but higher sugar WOE of past years count as a fad? I was on board for that one for years.0
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Back in 8th grade my friend and I tried the Sacred Heart Diet. We did lose weight, but I was crabby from only being able to eat certain things. We both gained it back as soon as we stopped.
Also tried slimfast, a few dumb things from my mom's Woman's World magazines, tried a few different pills...it was a swell time haha.
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My first round of weight loss was with the "help" of my very own Starvation Diet, a year after I had my twins. I had NO idea what I was doing, how much I should be eating, etc. We didn't have internet then back in 2004 so no way to do research. All I had was my recipe book with a chapter at the end about cooking for weight loss, there it was recommended to eat 1500 calories a day to lose weight. I thought "why not eat half of that, to lose faster?"
I did just that. I ate between 500-800 a day. If I ate up to 1000 calories in one day I felt awful and hated myself. I lost 17 kg in 6 months until I stood on the scale one day, weighing in at my lowest ever adult weight and just thought "screw this, I can't live like this anymore". I had started "cheating" more and more and my weight loss slowed down. It was just too much for me. I gained it all back + 15 kg pretty quickly.
After that I've tried LCHF 3 times and felt worse every time I tried it. I hated it.
Also tried the cabbage soup diet and lasted a day. I couldn't stand the taste of the soup.. yuck.
Found calorie counting and it's the only thing that works for me. Sustainable and easy. Not going back to fad diets ever again.
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Once believed that I could run/train/exercise myself into a caloric deficit. Worked until I got out of High School0
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I did the lemonade diet. lost 15 lbs gained it back. However, before I have horrible acid reflux.. It's gone now.. Completely over a year later still no acid reflux.0
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In 2001 I starved myself to lose over 80lbs, which is definitely the stupidest 'diet' I could have ever done. I didn't care about being healthy, I just wanted the weight gone and gone fast. I lost it in just under 5 months by eating an average of 500 calories per day (went from 226lbs to 140lbs). I lost a ton of hair, was always dizzy, daily headaches, fainted on a couple of occasions, couldn't focus, had no energy, was sick all the time. The odd time I'd splurge and eat a treat like a couple slices of pizza, the scale fluctuated like crazy and I'd suddenly gain 8-10lbs.
I learned nothing about eating properly and never incorporated physical activity into my life. I assumed being 'skinny' would automatically make me fit. It obviously didn't and due to the lack of fuel in my body I barely had enough energy to function. I attempted to start running when I hit 140lbs and quit within a couple of days because I was so weak.
In the 6 months after that loss, I struggled to keep losing but I couldn't keep eating that low. I not only couldn't continue to lose but I also couldn't keep the weight off. SHOCKINGLY I gained back every single pound I lost over the course of the next year (and some bonus lbs too).
It took about another dozen tries (different diets and methods) over 10 years before I finally got it right. I wish I knew back then how simple and relatively painless weight loss can actually be.0 -
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Late teens:
-The cookie diet "limits". Dropped weight too fast and became very weak, tired and had flu-like symptoms
-Apple cider vinegar and green tea: Drank apple cider vinegar in the morning and lots of green tea during the day. All I did was waste my time. Lasted 1 month.
-Water/juice fast: Lasted just over a week. Was very weak. :P
-Drank less water: Eh...just more stupidity.
In my early 20's I tried:
-Cabbage soup diet: I lasted 1 week and could not look at cabbage or vegetable soup for years.
-Slim fast: Lasted 2-3 weeks, was hangry and tired. I tried this a couple times.
-Fat blaster pill: The original version, I lost 20kg in 2 months..I ate those little round rice crackers all day, followed by a lean cuisine of steamed meat and veg for dinner and developed skin issues and food issues as I was afraid to eat most foods. I would go through 1 box of the pills in 2 weeks...(nonononononono!). Tried other weight loss pills as well. I cannot remember the prescription diet pill I was on but I felt too energized and wired
In my late 20's:
Alternated between the cabbage soup diet and the military/hotdog/sacred heat diet for 3 months. My skin turned awful patchy and dry, I lost weight, was dehydrated, my hair started falling out, my nails got brittle. my lips were always chapped. Followed this with a binge/fast/binge/fast, then back to the previous. Lots of nausea, and I ended up collapsing a few times. Alternated with fasting and weight loss teas and ended up in hospital.
Now:
I eat what I want CICO. That's it. I've developed a healthier relationship with food. I am no longer afraid to eat certain foods, nor do I binge/fast. When I was a kid, my father, people at school and most of my family used to tease me about my weight. I am glad that I've overcome this.
All I can say is that I am GLAD that I found MFP and smartened up...boy was I stupid.
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Tried low-fat in the '80s. Lasted about two weeks and the cravings were absolutely insane. I snapped, went and ate three Big Macs and threw that diet in the trash.
Did Atkins in the '90s. Was able to eat almost everything I enjoyed, lost 42 lbs. in 16 weeks. Only problem was that the occasional high-carb "free day" produced immediate and very....interesting....gastrointestinal issues (see the Alli/Xenical thread to get an idea of what I'm talking about). Gave it up because 1) I got tired of being afraid to fart and having to buy new underwear, and 2) I missed tortillas and sushi rice too much, and I don't like not being able to eat foods I want to eat.
Losing weight and being healthy doesn't have to involve torturing yourself.0 -
I did the slimfast diet and ate my bodyweight in their "snack" bars because I was so hungry..
I did the atkins diet and had raging acne after a week,
And i once bought "fat melters" online and felt like I needed to peel myself off my ceiling every night because I couldn't sleep and my heart rate was sky high.
I've wasted a lot of money on fads and crappy diets over the years, Its taken a long time for me to realise healthy eating is the only way 0 -
Diet pills: gave me heart palpitations
The Dukan Diet: left me miserable with toxic farts and foul breathe
The Cabbage Soup diet: I did the full week, it was horrible but at the time I considered it worth for the "weight" I lost. It all came back. I attempted it again once or twice in desperation prior to big events. Could never make it past 3 days after. There is still some in my freezer.
The Military Diet: I started & didn't finish. Not because it was hard but because it was obviously ridiculous and not going to work.
Tea-tox: effectively laxative tea. Vile and bad for your insides. Also inappropriate for anyone who doesn't work at home...oh, lord the memories
Isagenix: Ridiculous waste of money. Pyramid scheme which really just amounts to a 1200-1300 calorie diet with no consideration of your nutritional needs. I lost 5kg in a week and put about 8 on the fortnight after.
Cayenne pepper lemon detox thing: Rancid. Awful. Did 1 day and thought "Beyonce can stick this where the sun don't shine"
CICO now, thank goodness. Poor body...0 -
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!!!
My mother had one of those. She also used to run with industrial strength cellophane/cling-wrap wrapped around her waist because she thought sweat=fat...
No wonder I had to re-learn everything about diet, fitness and the way the body works.0 -
I took garcinia cambogia. Other than losing my money and having GNC employees tell me that I needed to buy the more "pure" pills, nothing really happened.
If exercise equipment counts, I purchased the Shake Weight and these sandals with little bumps that were supposed to help burn more calories. They were both used once. I just looked silly with the weight, but felt miserable with those damn shoes.
The biggest thing I regret is being proud to eat 800 calories most days for a little over a year. I took care to weigh my foods and use correct entries in a notebook and another calorie counting site. I did lose a lot of weight very quickly, unfortunately. My eating was already disordered prior to weight loss; it just shifted from one end of the spectrum to another. The worst thing is thinking about how some people I knew wished they could lose at the same rate.0 -
I ate only otter pops for about two months when I was 20. I don't know what started it but I quickly lost 20 lbs AND developed major blood sugar issues. I can't even imagine how my body would react now that it's older!0
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I know this is supposed to be personal experience, but I feel like this second hand experience will be better:
My sister in law went on a juice fast..... for 41 days.
She lost a ton of weight, which she gained back and then some, her teeth all turned gray, her skin was gray, her eyes were all sunken and puffy all the time, you couldn't hold a normal conversation with her, it was absurd. I don't think she had an "eating disorder" persay, because before she went on this she ate normal and looked normal (no one on my husband's side could ever be fat if they tried apparently), and now she's a militant ethical vegan bless her heart and she eats plenty now too.
She just got on this juicing thing and she kept upping the challenge to "well maybe I'll do 3 weeks, maybe 5..." and so on and so on until we threatened to hospitalize her. She was so enamored of the fact that she was losing weight it's like she couldn't even see what she was doing to herself.
I WISH I could remember the name of the dude she found on the internet/in a book who told her she could go on a 60 day juice fast without killing herself, so I could find every instance of his cursed name on MFP and destroy it before he gets to somebody else...0 -
The Special K thing was the closest I came to a fad diet. I was in high school. I think Special K was making claims that if you replaced two meals with the cereal you'd lose weight. I didn't measure it out or anything but I did it. I lose some weight.0
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CoffeeNCardio wrote: »I know this is supposed to be personal experience, but I feel like this second hand experience will be better:
My sister in law went on a juice fast..... for 41 days.
She lost a ton of weight, which she gained back and then some, her teeth all turned gray, her skin was gray, her eyes were all sunken and puffy all the time, you couldn't hold a normal conversation with her, it was absurd. I don't think she had an "eating disorder" persay, because before she went on this she ate normal and looked normal (no one on my husband's side could ever be fat if they tried apparently), and now she's a militant ethical vegan bless her heart and she eats plenty now too.
She just got on this juicing thing and she kept upping the challenge to "well maybe I'll do 3 weeks, maybe 5..." and so on and so on until we threatened to hospitalize her. She was so enamored of the fact that she was losing weight it's like she couldn't even see what she was doing to herself.
I WISH I could remember the name of the dude she found on the internet/in a book who told her she could go on a 60 day juice fast without killing herself, so I could find every instance of his cursed name on MFP and destroy it before he gets to somebody else...
Was it Joe Cross? http://www.rebootwithjoe.com/0 -
CoffeeNCardio wrote: »I know this is supposed to be personal experience, but I feel like this second hand experience will be better:
My sister in law went on a juice fast..... for 41 days.
She lost a ton of weight, which she gained back and then some, her teeth all turned gray, her skin was gray, her eyes were all sunken and puffy all the time, you couldn't hold a normal conversation with her, it was absurd. I don't think she had an "eating disorder" persay, because before she went on this she ate normal and looked normal (no one on my husband's side could ever be fat if they tried apparently), and now she's a militant ethical vegan bless her heart and she eats plenty now too.
She just got on this juicing thing and she kept upping the challenge to "well maybe I'll do 3 weeks, maybe 5..." and so on and so on until we threatened to hospitalize her. She was so enamored of the fact that she was losing weight it's like she couldn't even see what she was doing to herself.
I WISH I could remember the name of the dude she found on the internet/in a book who told her she could go on a 60 day juice fast without killing herself, so I could find every instance of his cursed name on MFP and destroy it before he gets to somebody else...
Was it Joe Cross? http://www.rebootwithjoe.com/
No idea. Whoever it was, he's an ***hole and I owe him a barbell to the gut.0 -
Ive donr ;
What I consider Fad
Atkins - Had to give in as I suffered blinding head aches.
Herbalife supplements, no results at all
The cabbage diet - couldn't live with the side effects, or justify the loss results or effort in making the gruel.
Not so Faddy
Weight Watchers a when I was in early 20s and had a lot of loss there, but I was so unhappy.
Slimming world - I wont comment on that
Its took me a long time to realise you dont need any of those things, if they work for you and your happy, then great. But for me, not living in complete denial all the time, having a healthy balanced attitude to eating hopefully for the rest of my life is a better option. CICO is the way forward chums ..
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CoffeeNCardio wrote: »CoffeeNCardio wrote: »I know this is supposed to be personal experience, but I feel like this second hand experience will be better:
My sister in law went on a juice fast..... for 41 days.
She lost a ton of weight, which she gained back and then some, her teeth all turned gray, her skin was gray, her eyes were all sunken and puffy all the time, you couldn't hold a normal conversation with her, it was absurd. I don't think she had an "eating disorder" persay, because before she went on this she ate normal and looked normal (no one on my husband's side could ever be fat if they tried apparently), and now she's a militant ethical vegan bless her heart and she eats plenty now too.
She just got on this juicing thing and she kept upping the challenge to "well maybe I'll do 3 weeks, maybe 5..." and so on and so on until we threatened to hospitalize her. She was so enamored of the fact that she was losing weight it's like she couldn't even see what she was doing to herself.
I WISH I could remember the name of the dude she found on the internet/in a book who told her she could go on a 60 day juice fast without killing herself, so I could find every instance of his cursed name on MFP and destroy it before he gets to somebody else...
Was it Joe Cross? http://www.rebootwithjoe.com/
No idea. Whoever it was, he's an ***hole and I owe him a barbell to the gut.
I like you.0 -
CoffeeNCardio wrote: »I know this is supposed to be personal experience, but I feel like this second hand experience will be better:
My sister in law went on a juice fast..... for 41 days.
She lost a ton of weight, which she gained back and then some, her teeth all turned gray, her skin was gray, her eyes were all sunken and puffy all the time, you couldn't hold a normal conversation with her, it was absurd. I don't think she had an "eating disorder" persay, because before she went on this she ate normal and looked normal (no one on my husband's side could ever be fat if they tried apparently), and now she's a militant ethical vegan bless her heart and she eats plenty now too.
She just got on this juicing thing and she kept upping the challenge to "well maybe I'll do 3 weeks, maybe 5..." and so on and so on until we threatened to hospitalize her. She was so enamored of the fact that she was losing weight it's like she couldn't even see what she was doing to herself.
I WISH I could remember the name of the dude she found on the internet/in a book who told her she could go on a 60 day juice fast without killing herself, so I could find every instance of his cursed name on MFP and destroy it before he gets to somebody else...
Was it Joe Cross? http://www.rebootwithjoe.com/
Sounds like Joe Cross. He did a juice fast for 60days and made a film about it. You'll find it on Netflix. Thing is, he had a *kitten* ton of weight to lose and a film to make. And it would not have made for a very exciting film if he'd just been logging a varied diet on MFP and lost half a pound every week.
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Anyone else reading these and just nodding to themselves saying "yup,..... Yup.....Oh yup....."?
I've done them all...including the grapefruit diet....never looked at a grapefruit since and that was 30 years ago!
My biggest one though was not a diet as such but liposuction..... Yes it took some fat from my thighs but it didn't stop me stuffing cake into mouth! Yes I lost inches but like any fad weight loss fix,.I put it all back and more!0 -
I tried Hydroxycut to lose a quick 10 pounds and pretty much lost my mind. Once I upped the dosage as directed my brain was foggy, I had a hard time concentrating and I felt like I couldn't slow down.
A few years later I tried Atkins after a friend recommended it. I lasted about five days before I broke down and had a huge binge.
Slim Fast didn't work well either. I stopped drinking it because I wasn't pleasant to be around (it made me really gassy).0 -
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When I was engaged, my then-fiance-now-husband and I were overweight. My mother pressured both of us to try a diet that her sister had done with big results. After about a month of pressure we finally gave in and did it. Here's my story:
The diet was called the HCG diet. The idea behind it is that you take oral drops that simulate the HCG hormone in pregnant women. This hormone feeds on the fat stores in the mother and gives it to the fetus. Supposedly, without a fetus present, and while taking the simulated hormone, the excess fat would be washed out as waste product. So for 21 days you ate an incredibly restrictive diet (it only included chicken, lean steak, shrimp, lettuce, spinach, asparagus, apples, oranges, and strawberries) of only 500 calories per day. And you could only drink plain water, plain coffee, or plain green tea. Absolutely no additives or enhancements. You could have absolutely no fats or oils, including certain make-up or lotions, and no breads. If you plateaued, you did a "steak day" where you didn't eat anything all day but then for dinner had 100 grams of steak and an apple. The idea was that the fat your body was releasing and feeding on kept you in a healthy calorie range. After 21 days, you spent the next 3 weeks slowly introducing more food and eventually were back to normal.
The results were huge. I lost 25 pounds in 21 days and my husband lost 45. But at the end, I had my urine tested and found out that I was in ketoacidosis. Essentially, my liver was getting ready to shut down. As I'm typing all this out, I can't believe how stupid I was to be pressured into trying something like this. Yes, I lost 25 pounds in 21 days (that I gained right back after a couple months) but at the risk of my health. I'm so glad that I've started doing this the right way and the results are even more gratifying this time around. And those HCG drops have been banned by the FDA in the US.
TL;DR: I essentially shut down my liver eating 500 calories a day.
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i think i have tried them all, the three that stick out as having the worst results, in my early 20s i took phentramine, was loosing weight and working out, one night at work,i thought i was having a panic attack, when i was brought to my knees by a shooting pain in my head and chest, the pills sped up my heart and induced a heart attack....then i did atkind and passed out during church, i cant do no carbs at all, then hcg, which in 90 days i lost 60 pounds, i didnt feel hingry and after a couple of weeks actually felt good, stopped doing it and even though i stuck to chicken green veggies and water gained 10 pounds in one day and by 6 months the weight was back double.
that doesnt count the 1000s i have probably blown since high school on diet pills, im 35 now and my cardiologist said yes i need to lose weight, absolutly no strenous workouts,and no diet pills, im not even allowed nore than one cup of coffee a day while they are figuring outwhat is wrong with my heart0 -
Alatariel75 wrote: »CoffeeNCardio wrote: »CoffeeNCardio wrote: »I know this is supposed to be personal experience, but I feel like this second hand experience will be better:
My sister in law went on a juice fast..... for 41 days.
She lost a ton of weight, which she gained back and then some, her teeth all turned gray, her skin was gray, her eyes were all sunken and puffy all the time, you couldn't hold a normal conversation with her, it was absurd. I don't think she had an "eating disorder" persay, because before she went on this she ate normal and looked normal (no one on my husband's side could ever be fat if they tried apparently), and now she's a militant ethical vegan bless her heart and she eats plenty now too.
She just got on this juicing thing and she kept upping the challenge to "well maybe I'll do 3 weeks, maybe 5..." and so on and so on until we threatened to hospitalize her. She was so enamored of the fact that she was losing weight it's like she couldn't even see what she was doing to herself.
I WISH I could remember the name of the dude she found on the internet/in a book who told her she could go on a 60 day juice fast without killing herself, so I could find every instance of his cursed name on MFP and destroy it before he gets to somebody else...
Was it Joe Cross? http://www.rebootwithjoe.com/
No idea. Whoever it was, he's an ***hole and I owe him a barbell to the gut.
I like you.
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