Thoughts on the "potato diet"?
jeniswonge2
Posts: 8 Member
I've seen several accounts of people who are on the "potato diet" as a short term tactic and how it helped them lose a lot of weight and that it helped them kick food addiction and cravings... this diet is exactly as it sounds: you eat nothing but plain potatos (no butter, salt, etc.) Everyone varies on length of time from 4 days a week to a month straight with their plans...
Just curious if anyone has tried it or have their own opinions about it.....
Just curious if anyone has tried it or have their own opinions about it.....
2
Replies
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I don't see the point...I eat a lot of potatoes, but an all potato diet...especially plain potatoes would make me want to shoot myself...also, not particularly sound from an overall nutritional standpoint.26
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Protein and fat deficiency and boredom is what I think of the potato diet24
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I watched The Martian. No thanks.41
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I was unintentionally trying the All Christmas Cookie and Chocolate diet (or at least, it seemed like it) throughout the holidays, and the only thing it did for me was make me sick of cookies and chocolate. Now I crave salt...
I suspect this diet would have similar results.
I can't imagine anyone doing this for more than a day or two. I'd never want to look at a potato again.14 -
Sounds nutritionally unbalanced, and lacking anything that will teach you about health, nutrition, or portion sizing. I love potatoes, in fact I may make some mashed potatoes for supper after reading this post. I will be consuming other things along with it though.13
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Just another silly fad diet.16
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Any one-item diet is, by definition, nutritionally unbalanced and will, eventually, make you sick. You may lose weight but you will be sick.16
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Just a fad. And a pointless one.
I'll tell you what though, if there were some magical way that it managed to be nutritiously balanced and someone put a gun to my head and said I had to go on a fad diet? This would be the one I'd pick.
I love potatoes.6 -
I just eat whatever I want while maintaining a caloric deficit and can easily get to and maintain a single digit body fat percentage. Fad diets are unpractical and a waste of time, they're simply creating a massive deficit and starving their bodies of key macro nutrients. Eat the way you want to eat, just set your calories to suite your goals. Simple as that.3
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cwolfman13 wrote: »
Yep.0 -
Where ever you are reading these accounts of people doing that, I would just stop visiting those sites.
As others have said, extremely restrictive diets are invariably destined to fail. Any short term success is gone when returning to a normal way of eating, and there are no beneficial learnings from eating a diet of just plain potatoes that will contribute to life long success.
Plus, seriously, do you think you could last more than one meal? Even if you could, why would you want to? You can eat any foods and lose weight, restricting to a single food with no seasoning or flavor seems like torture.6 -
MonkeyMel21 wrote: »I watched The Martian. No thanks.
The book is much better...but I'll agree on the no thanks.4 -
WinoGelato wrote: »Where ever you are reading these accounts of people doing that, I would just stop visiting those sites.
As others have said, extremely restrictive diets are invariably destined to fail. Any short term success is gone when returning to a normal way of eating, and there are no beneficial learnings from eating a diet of just plain potatoes that will contribute to life long success.
Plus, seriously, do you think you could last more than one meal? Even if you could, why would you want to? You can eat any foods and lose weight, restricting to a single food with no seasoning or flavor seems like torture.
But isn't that what weight loss is all about?
/sarcasm5 -
I'm not sure who comes up with these diets but I would encourage anybody to look closely at the nutritional profile of a potato then try explain to me how eating those alone would have any benefit to their health.
Really and truly, these are a recipe for long term yoyo dieting and general bad-health as a result of a poor diet.#
I would recommend finding meals that work with your calorie and macro allowance and enjoying food along the way!3 -
cwolfman13 wrote: »I don't see the point...I eat a lot of potatoes, but an all potato diet...especially plain potatoes would make me want to shoot myself...also, not particularly sound from an overall nutritional standpoint.
This.
I'm a fan of potatoes and think they have a place in a good diet if you enjoy them and aren't doing very low carb, but think a diet based only on potatoes is a terrible idea and not nutritionally sound. It also doesn't do a thing to help people learn how to eat properly or in a sustainable way.
I suspect the attraction is "FAST weight loss" -- that depends on calories, but sure if I only ate potatoes I'd not eat much either, but short-term programs are not going to lead to as much weight loss as something sustainable that you will be able to keep up.
Also -- and we are going to see this with the New Year -- the idea that there's some magic "detox" or "kick start" that will automatically make all desire to overeat or to eat so-called "bad" foods go away, without having to think about it or plan or do work or learn to cook vegetables.
IMO, cut calories, count and log if it appeals to you (I found it interesting), and eat a sensible, balanced, nutrition-conscious diet. Potatoes are tasty and can easily be part of that. I enjoy them roasted with some protein (fish is a great accompaniment, IMO) and non-starchy vegetables.2 -
How miserable. At least if I could make fries or wedges I could do it. Then I would need a sausage or fish in batter and would definitely try it
Lol. Who makes these silly diets up6 -
I think these diets are not only nutritionally unsound (duh) and completely unsustainable, but have a really negative effect on self-esteem and mental/emotional well-being. Clearly, people can lose weight by sticking to the diet but in my (sadly personal) experience people can't usually stick it out for the required time, and experience the double-whammy of failure and more weight gain. It can really make a person just give up on themselves, especially if they've tried a restrictive diet more than once.
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http://www.goodhousekeeping.com/health/diet-nutrition/news/a39697/penn-jillette-weight-loss-potato-diet/
Penn Jillette can make just about anything disappear, but this time the famous illusionist performed a dramatic vanishing act on himself. The taller half of Penn & Teller dropped over 100 pounds by eating only two things and skipping exercise altogether.
The 6-foot, 7-inch magician weighed 322 pounds over a year ago, when doctors discovered a 90% blockage in his heart. The father of two then decided to take drastic measures to see his young kids grow up. Under medical supervision, Jillette embarked on the "potato diet," eating only plain potatoes for two whole weeks. After subsisting on spuds alone, he started phasing in vegetable stews for added nutrients.
But the potato diet won't work magic for everyone. "While there's no doubt that potatoes — just like all vegetables— are supremely nutritious, eliminating almost all other food groups in totality is not only dangerous, but can really backfire," says Jaclyn London, R.D., Nutrition Director at the Good Housekeeping Institute. The dramatic changes usually slow down your body's metabolism and result in binging later on, she explains. "While veggie stews and potatoes can be amazing weight-loss allies, it's never good advice to completely eliminate food groups in order to lose weight for the long-term."3 -
Please don't. This is just another example of how people think you need to suffer in order to lose weight. Read the stickies posted at the top of each forum. You don't have have to do anything extreme.4
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I agree with not doing this diet. weight loss doesnt mean you have to sacrifice things you love or that you have to be miserable while losing. you dont. I mean if you are into self torture then maybe it would be ok for you,but why make things more complicated than they need to be?3
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It's everything that's wrong about every hyper-restrictive diet, all rolled into one. Screw it, do the "all fish oil caps and multivitamin" diet. At least then you'd be getting some kind of essential macros.5
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It sounds... terrible honestly there is one situation in which I'd do it and that would be trapped on an island with literally only potatoes available for any sort of nutrition. And even then I'd probably start experimenting with the relative edibility of sand.5
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This is ridiculous - I just got up and started a baked potato. My flu-brain became obsessed with potato/butter/sour cream reading this. Thanks.3
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Ha, yes the Great Potato Hack
I did it back when I was doing my paleo /primal experiment and hung out over at MDA. There was a large group doing it over there and one of the guys actually wrote a book about the hack (I was one of his proof readers ). It was an interesing experience and that's all I'm going to say about it lol. 0 -
HeidiCooksSupper wrote: »Any one-item diet is, by definition, nutritionally unbalanced and will, eventually, make you sick. You may lose weight but you will be sick.
I've done it and felt great, didn't get sick and lost a bit of weight.
Ok, going back to not talking about it
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crzycatlady1 wrote: »Ha, yes the Great Potato Hack I did it back when I was doing my paleo /primal experiment and hung out over at MDA. There was a large group doing it over there and one of the guys actually wrote a book about the hack (I was one of his proof readers ). It was an interesing experience and that's all I'm going to say about it lol.
Oh god, me too. That's where I came from, lol! I did it pretty consistently for almost a year. I'd do 5-7 days a month of nothing but cold boiled potatoes. I have nothing bad to say about it because I dropped a lot of weight pretty effortlessly, but I can't really eat potatoes anymore. They're really unappealing!4 -
http://www.goodhousekeeping.com/health/diet-nutrition/news/a39697/penn-jillette-weight-loss-potato-diet/
Penn Jillette can make just about anything disappear, but this time the famous illusionist performed a dramatic vanishing act on himself. The taller half of Penn & Teller dropped over 100 pounds by eating only two things and skipping exercise altogether.
The 6-foot, 7-inch magician weighed 322 pounds over a year ago, when doctors discovered a 90% blockage in his heart. The father of two then decided to take drastic measures to see his young kids grow up. Under medical supervision, Jillette embarked on the "potato diet," eating only plain potatoes for two whole weeks. After subsisting on spuds alone, he started phasing in vegetable stews for added nutrients.
But the potato diet won't work magic for everyone. "While there's no doubt that potatoes — just like all vegetables— are supremely nutritious, eliminating almost all other food groups in totality is not only dangerous, but can really backfire," says Jaclyn London, R.D., Nutrition Director at the Good Housekeeping Institute. The dramatic changes usually slow down your body's metabolism and result in binging later on, she explains. "While veggie stews and potatoes can be amazing weight-loss allies, it's never good advice to completely eliminate food groups in order to lose weight for the long-term."
Potatoes are supremely nutritious?
Knowing that it was done to address a 90% blockage in his heart makes it look at least a little saner. My husband followed the diet prescribed in "Prevent and Reverse Heart Disease" for a time. It was similar in that it was extremely high carb, low fat (less than 5%) and low protein. The biggest difference was that he had lots of variety. For some people eating the same food (and thus taking away any decisions) for a period of time makes adherence easier.
Most of us though care greatly about preserving muscle so we wouldn't want to lose it that quickly (I'm going to guess that it was a VLCD).
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crabbybrianna wrote: »crzycatlady1 wrote: »Ha, yes the Great Potato Hack I did it back when I was doing my paleo /primal experiment and hung out over at MDA. There was a large group doing it over there and one of the guys actually wrote a book about the hack (I was one of his proof readers ). It was an interesing experience and that's all I'm going to say about it lol.
Oh god, me too. That's where I came from, lol! I did it pretty consistently for almost a year. I'd do 5-7 days a month of nothing but cold boiled potatoes. I have nothing bad to say about it because I dropped a lot of weight pretty effortlessly, but I can't really eat potatoes anymore. They're really unappealing!
Oh my gosh yes, cannot even look at them without getting queasy now ugh, lol!0 -
Nothing but potatos? For a month????
For so many different reasons....no.
The concept of losing weight is so simple. Don't complicate it and make it miserable....1
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