Thoughts on the "potato diet"?

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  • CharlieBeansmomTracey
    CharlieBeansmomTracey Posts: 7,682 Member
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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?
  • mph323
    mph323 Posts: 3,565 Member
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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.
  • crzycatlady1
    crzycatlady1 Posts: 1,930 Member
    edited December 2016
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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.
  • crzycatlady1
    crzycatlady1 Posts: 1,930 Member
    edited December 2016
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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.

    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 :D
  • crabbybrianna
    crabbybrianna Posts: 344 Member
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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.

    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!
  • goldthistime
    goldthistime Posts: 3,214 Member
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    marm1962 wrote: »
    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).

  • crzycatlady1
    crzycatlady1 Posts: 1,930 Member
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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.

    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!
  • cnbbnc
    cnbbnc Posts: 1,267 Member
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    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....
  • Christine_72
    Christine_72 Posts: 16,049 Member
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    You could replace potatoes with any other food item, as long as the calories were the same the results would also be similar. I can think of many more nutritious items other than potatoes if i were to do something like this.
  • AllOutof_Bubblegum
    AllOutof_Bubblegum Posts: 3,646 Member
    edited December 2016
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    My honest opinion is: stupidest idea I've ever heard of in my life.

    And that's not directed at you, OP. It's directed at the jagaloons who cooked up this nonsense diet.
  • paperpudding
    paperpudding Posts: 9,027 Member
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    I love potatoes - have been known to eat only plain cooked potatoes or left over roast potatoes......... for one meal. ;)

    and I eat plenty of them in mashed potatoes, backed potatoes ,potato salad, chips (fries) - but that is with other things - milk, cream, bacon etc - and usually as part of a meal, not the whole meal, let alone the whole month.

    Silly idea OP.

    Just eat a variety of foods in correct calorie amounts.

  • CafeRacer808
    CafeRacer808 Posts: 2,396 Member
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    Sounds yummy for a day or two:)

    But I wanna try a loaded baked potato diet:).

    Now this is a potato diet I can get down with!
  • mph323
    mph323 Posts: 3,565 Member
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    1 potato (209 gram) - 255 calories
    Sour Cream (30 gram) - 60
    Butter (1 tbs) - 102
    Bacon (2 slices) - 80
    Cheese (28 grams) - 115
    612 Calories X 2 = 1224

    Perfectly doable :)
  • crzycatlady1
    crzycatlady1 Posts: 1,930 Member
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    mph323 wrote: »
    1 potato (209 gram) - 255 calories
    Sour Cream (30 gram) - 60
    Butter (1 tbs) - 102
    Bacon (2 slices) - 80
    Cheese (28 grams) - 115
    612 Calories X 2 = 1224

    Perfectly doable :)

    For the hack you don't eat them with any fat. You literally eat them plain.
  • Christine_72
    Christine_72 Posts: 16,049 Member
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    mph323 wrote: »
    1 potato (209 gram) - 255 calories
    Sour Cream (30 gram) - 60
    Butter (1 tbs) - 102
    Bacon (2 slices) - 80
    Cheese (28 grams) - 115
    612 Calories X 2 = 1224

    Perfectly doable :)

    For the hack you don't eat them with any fat. You literally eat them plain.

    Not enticing at all!
  • mph323
    mph323 Posts: 3,565 Member
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    Oh, I was responding to LeanjoGreen and CafeRacer above your post. :)