Does the Special K diet work well?

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blueberrykitten
blueberrykitten Posts: 28 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
First of all, I want to ask... Does the Special K diet work well? I have been considering going on it for 2 or 3 weeks. I love Special K cereal and I love the idea of being able to eat a normal dinner with my family every night. It does not seem too unrealistic. Has it worked for anyone else? Right now, I am just eating 1200 calories a day and doing some exercise on the treadmill.

And second question, is something wrong with my scale or is this normal? A few months ago I got weighed at the doctors and they said I am 127.5 pounds with clothes and shoes on. A few weeks later, I got on my home scale without shoes and it said I weighed 126.5 pounds. I was so happy. But then I weighed myself again a week later and it said I was 131.5 pounds. I took my clothes off and I weighed 130.5 pounds but I was still disappointed. Did I really gain like 5 pounds in the short period of time of making no difference in my diet? I was so sad. I have been only eating 1200 calories a day for almost a week now and the scale says 129.5 without clothes on. But did I even really lose the extra pound?! Does weight really fluctuate this much when you are a women?
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Replies

  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,401 MFP Moderator
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    The issue with special k, is even with their protein shakes and bars, you still won't get enough protein probably. There is no reason to do the diet. If you liek their foods incorporate it. Second, weigh will vary daily and water weight can account for 7lbs a day, especially in woman. Third, with 10 lbs, to lose, you don't need to eat 1200 calories, especially if you are exercising. At that weight, you should be aiming for 1/2 lb per week. If anything, I would start some heavy weight training so you can get strong and see body recomposition results.
  • blueberrykitten
    blueberrykitten Posts: 28 Member
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    Thank you for the reply. You are probably right - it sounds healthier just to use some of their food products and not dedicate myself into their whole entire diet. I have never tried heavy weight training before. My dad and younger sister used to do it though so I could ask them for advice.
  • mccindy72
    mccindy72 Posts: 7,001 Member
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    Thank you for the reply. You are probably right - it sounds healthier just to use some of their food products and not dedicate myself into their whole entire diet. I have never tried heavy weight training before. My dad and younger sister used to do it though so I could ask them for advice.

    The weight training is a good idea. I started with my own body weight - squats, lunges, triceps dips and pushups. It's a good way to get body recomposition going. Eating just cereal will get boring and won't provide you with the proper nutrition you need, especially the protein.
  • jodycoady
    jodycoady Posts: 598 Member
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    Watch out for marketing b.s!

    Oh one more thing, 1200 cals is way too low, trust me!
  • blueberrykitten
    blueberrykitten Posts: 28 Member
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    Just wondering, why is it too low and what would you recommend instead?
  • mccindy72
    mccindy72 Posts: 7,001 Member
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    Just wondering, why is it too low and what would you recommend instead?

    You need to calculate your BMR, which is the base amount of calories your body needs just to be alive and awake, etc. Then your TDEE, which is what it needs for your current activity level, your type of work, etc, and your exercise level. Then subtract 500 calories a day from that. That gives you a weight loss goal of 1 lb. per week (3,500 calorie deficit per week). If you have too low of a calorie goal, you will lose lean muscle mass rather than fat.
  • ndj1979
    ndj1979 Posts: 29,136 Member
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    Just wondering, why is it too low and what would you recommend instead?

    You need to calculate your BMR, which is the base amount of calories your body needs just to be alive and awake, etc. Then your TDEE, which is what it needs for your current activity level, your type of work, etc, and your exercise level. Then subtract 500 calories a day from that. That gives you a weight loss goal of 1 lb. per week (3,500 calorie deficit per week). If you have too low of a calorie goal, you will lose lean muscle mass rather than fat.

    listen to Cindy she knows her stuff and is shredded…

    I agree with what she said …

    500 per day deficit, heavy lifting, set macro % to 40p 30 fat 30 carbs...
  • blueberrykitten
    blueberrykitten Posts: 28 Member
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    I was not sure what to plug in for my weight so I just put in 130 lbs for the calculations. If I did the math right... I am supposed to eat 2881.3 calories a day.
  • ndj1979
    ndj1979 Posts: 29,136 Member
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    I was not sure what to plug in for my weight so I just put in 130 lbs for the calculations. If I did the math right... I am supposed to eat 2881.3 calories a day.

    what calculator did you use?

    what are you current states…height, weight, age, activity level?
  • CindyB97
    CindyB97 Posts: 146 Member
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    Not all scales weigh exactly the same, so it's not a surprise you weighed differently on the doctor's scale and your home scale. (Not that there wasn't some other reason for the fluctuation, but don't compare weights on different scales.)
  • blueberrykitten
    blueberrykitten Posts: 28 Member
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    I just used some calculators I found online. They could have been wrong. I am around 5 foot 3, 130 lbs, 19 years old, and have light exercise. I speed walk and jog on the treadmill 5 days a week but only for like 20 minutes each time.
  • ndj1979
    ndj1979 Posts: 29,136 Member
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    hmmm according to this one http://www.fat2fitradio.com your TDEE is about 1964 for lightly active….a 500 cut would be 1464 a day …

    I would say estimate at 2000 set your daily goal to 1500 a day and see how it goes..

    starting strength and new rules of lifting for woman are great resources for heavy lifting with compound movements...
  • missiontofitness
    missiontofitness Posts: 4,074 Member
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    Those kinds of plans bank on people going with the motions, seeing results, then going back to their old habits again and regaining the weight. It's just a cycle. Special K, Slimfast, Weight Watchers, ect, are all the same. You're better off changing your habits than to feed into their business (no pun intended).

    What NDJ said above seems like sound advice. And eat back your exercise calories to make sure you're netting a healthy amount. If my daily goal is 1,700, but I exercised 300 off, I'd want to make sure I ate back enough to net around 1,600-1,700. even though I would be eating close to 2,000.
  • blueberrykitten
    blueberrykitten Posts: 28 Member
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    1500 sounds realistic - thank you.

    And to the user who goes by the name of missiontofit: I think you are right. I have already started to change some of my habits such as cutting out pop out of my diet and eating healthier snacks. Oh and I have been eating back my calories. There is no way that I could not.
  • Left4Good
    Left4Good Posts: 304
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    I know someone that does it and she has done it for two months and only lost 3 lbs (she doesn't work out). The way they market it is they don't say you NEED to work out while doing it. Most of those diets say you will lose weight, lets say 5 lbs in 1 month, but they will not say that's if you also work out.
  • ndj1979
    ndj1979 Posts: 29,136 Member
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    1500 sounds realistic - thank you.

    And to the user who goes by the name of missiontofit: I think you are right. I have already started to change some of my habits such as cutting out pop out of my diet and eating healthier snacks. Oh and I have been eating back my calories. There is no way that I could not.

    if you do TDEE method that I suggested you do not eat back exercise calories because they are built in ….
  • missiontofitness
    missiontofitness Posts: 4,074 Member
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    1500 sounds realistic - thank you.

    And to the user who goes by the name of missiontofit: I think you are right. I have already started to change some of my habits such as cutting out pop out of my diet and eating healthier snacks. Oh and I have been eating back my calories. There is no way that I could not.

    if you do TDEE method that I suggested you do not eat back exercise calories because they are built in ….

    ^ What he said
    Honestly, I just log my daily noms, and log any exercise I do. If you're going to use that method, from what I've read briefly online, you won't have to like he said.
  • blueberrykitten
    blueberrykitten Posts: 28 Member
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    1500 sounds realistic - thank you.

    And to the user who goes by the name of missiontofit: I think you are right. I have already started to change some of my habits such as cutting out pop out of my diet and eating healthier snacks. Oh and I have been eating back my calories. There is no way that I could not.

    if you do TDEE method that I suggested you do not eat back exercise calories because they are built in ….

    I just realized how to quote people on here. And for real?! I think I am probably going to anyways.
  • ndj1979
    ndj1979 Posts: 29,136 Member
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    1500 sounds realistic - thank you.

    And to the user who goes by the name of missiontofit: I think you are right. I have already started to change some of my habits such as cutting out pop out of my diet and eating healthier snacks. Oh and I have been eating back my calories. There is no way that I could not.

    if you do TDEE method that I suggested you do not eat back exercise calories because they are built in ….

    I just realized how to quote people on here. And for real?! I think I am probably going to anyways.

    yes, for real :)

    If you eat back your exercise calories when doing TDEE it is not going to work …

    You can either do MFP method of TDEE method, but you can not do a combo of both ..as they are based on different set of goals…

    If you do MFP method just enter your stats in MFP and set it for 1 pound weight loss ..the only problem with this method is that the burns that the database gives you are not that accurate ….

    I personally prefer TDEE method and have used it for a few years now and it works for me …
  • Phrick
    Phrick Posts: 2,765 Member
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    1500 sounds realistic - thank you.

    And to the user who goes by the name of missiontofit: I think you are right. I have already started to change some of my habits such as cutting out pop out of my diet and eating healthier snacks. Oh and I have been eating back my calories. There is no way that I could not.

    if you do TDEE method that I suggested you do not eat back exercise calories because they are built in ….

    I just realized how to quote people on here. And for real?! I think I am probably going to anyways.

    Yeah for real, the TOTAL daily energy expenditure method (TDEE) accounts for your ..well, TOTAL DAILY ENERGY EXPENDITURE. Including your exercise. If your eat back your exercise calories while trying to follow a TDEE method, you're going to end up eating very close to maintenance and come back wondering why you're not losing like you think you should be. Either use MFP and eat back exercise calories, or use TDEE and don't, but don't try to mix the two.

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