What is the stupidest thing you've done with your diet?

zombilishious

Stupidest thing I've probably done would be allowing myself to gain back the 50+lbs I lost a few years back.

This. I lost 55lbs. My gym changed their hours and I stopped exercising. Gained back 40 before I jumped back on the wagon.

cNhobbes

In order of less-stupid to most stupid:

Atkins - Lost quick but felt terrible. Couldn't eat an egg or a piece of bacon for months after two weeks on Atkins. Couldn't stand the food choices I had since I am a very picky eater. Lasted two weeks I believe before I binged on a Liverwurst sandwich and a Big Mac.

Slim Fast Drink/Bars - Ugh, was fine for a day or two but then binged like crazy. Way to low calorie for someone like me, and expensive to boot

Alli - Never had the "side affects" that it is known for, but I was so scared I would I barely ate. Then, once I figured out if a meal was too high in fat and I could just skip the pill, fell off the wagon quickly. Waste of money, big time!

Nutrisystem - Total. Fail. Waste of money, tasted like garbage, high sodium, had to spend a ton on fruit and veggies. I thought it would be some magic system, but for someone who doesn't like veggies very much, made it hard to stay on track. I think I lasted a week. Had so much food left over. It was such a waste.

MFP - No, I don't mean MFP is the stupidest thing I've done. Not starting it years ago, now THAT is the stupidest thing I've done.

MFP in 1 month has resulted in more weight loss than all the above (with the exception on Atkins, but... I just hate Atkins so much).

too bad you can't shout this to the world. congrats on your loss and cheers to your continued journey!!

shaycat

When I first joined MFP I didnt look into anything or know anything about NET calories. I just thought I had to eat 1200 calories a day to lose weight. So I ate only 1200 calories a day and worked out at least 2 hours a day.
I was netting probably around 500 calories a day for over six months. I did lose all the weight fast, however maintaining it is a problem.
To think I could have been eating more that whole time and I still would have lost the weight.

AliciaBeth78

I used to buy super slimming hot tea thinking that it would make me lose weight! Oh wait, I still buy it! But now it's because I really like the taste - What can I say... it grew on me?

sarahkatara

The stupidest thing you can do with your diet is go on a diet. Eat what you love, just learn to control yourself and not eat the whole pig when you go to the luau.

THIS IS AWESOME. any time someone asks me about my diet my first response is, "i'm not on a diet, i don't believe in them." this is a way of life! the healthy, right way of life!

jjblogs

I once purchased Sensa knowing full well it wouldn't work. Stupidest thing EVARRRR. No idea why I hit the buy button. Weak, weak, weak moment. O.o

crogers9189

I would say it was when I bought the Smart Technique for over $200.00.... you know listen to the cd's and lose weight............ what a waste of money!!!!

Sherbog

Stupidist thing.....added friends in the beginning of my MFP journey. The added friends seemed to overwhelm me and my inbox. 2nd stupidist thing was not to ignore certain posters and enjoy the support of the posters that are here to succeed.

GBO323

I'll try to keep my long list short.

1. Super Dieter's Tea. I used to drink this stuff ALL the time, especially on weigh in day. This stuff IMO is dangerous. While it certainly makes the bowels move more, I'd rather up my fiber intake and let the pipes work as intended. End result? No extra weight loss, but alot of embarrassing moments at work.

2. Atkins. I did it. Love the "Eat as much as you want protein" that was communicated, but digging into the medical section of the Atkins book, one sentence saying that calories matter did it for me. Lost alot the first time but got frustrated that my wife on WW could eat rice and potatoes and lose as much as I was losing. A friend of mine was hospitalized for extreme ketosis on Atkins, so that did it for me.

3. Cabbage Soup diet. Yep. Desperation called for extreme measures. This was a BAD idea. I lasted 3 days. Surprised I'm still married after that fiasco.

4. Weight Watchers. Ok, WW is a good program and it does work. It's dumb for ME because I'm a guy who likes simplicity. I don't want to figure out if the protein/carbs/fiber/fat combo of everything I eat will max out my allotted POINTS for the day. I preferred it when it was Winning Points when it was mainly about calories. What I want is one target that doesn't require a science degree to tell me if I've had enough food for the day.

5. SlimFast/Shake Diet. SF Bars are nasty. The shakes are nasty. Hunger always hung around on SlimFast.

6. Biggie here...thinking I could just lose weight because I wanted to and could simply think myself thin. Just eyeball what looks right and thinking that it's ok to eat alot of sweets marked as lowfat. Nope. Not true on any count.

1981simm

HCG...definitely the stupidest thing I have done. Here's a shock...after 3 days on 500 calories a day...I was STARVING! Didn't matter if I was putting drops under my tongue or not.

Lost a lot of weight on it but started passing out due to malnutrition

michelledusik

I'll try to keep my long list short.

1. Super Dieter's Tea. I used to drink this stuff ALL the time, especially on weigh in day. This stuff IMO is dangerous. While it certainly makes the bowels move more, I'd rather up my fiber intake and let the pipes work as intended. End result? No extra weight loss, but alot of embarrassing moments at work.

2. Atkins. I did it. Love the "Eat as much as you want protein" that was communicated, but digging into the medical section of the Atkins book, one sentence saying that calories matter did it for me. Lost alot the first time but got frustrated that my wife on WW could eat rice and potatoes and lose as much as I was losing. A friend of mine was hospitalized for extreme ketosis on Atkins, so that did it for me.

3. Cabbage Soup diet. Yep. Desperation called for extreme measures. This was a BAD idea. I lasted 3 days. Surprised I'm still married after that fiasco.

4. Weight Watchers. Ok, WW is a good program and it does work. It's dumb for ME because I'm a guy who likes simplicity. I don't want to figure out if the protein/carbs/fiber/fat combo of everything I eat will max out my allotted POINTS for the day. I preferred it when it was Winning Points when it was mainly about calories. What I want is one target that doesn't require a science degree to tell me if I've had enough food for the day.

5. SlimFast/Shake Diet. SF Bars are nasty. The shakes are nasty. Hunger always hung around on SlimFast.

6. Biggie here...thinking I could just lose weight because I wanted to and could simply think myself thin. Just eyeball what looks right and thinking that it's ok to eat alot of sweets marked as lowfat. Nope. Not true on any count.

Definitely can relate to #6! What a dummy I was!!!!

bizco

My dumbest thing was/is eating at buffets. Now I only splurge like that about every 5-6 weeks, eating mostly protein and veggies; but I still indulge in desserts (yes, plural).

rbear713

The dumbest thing I've done is eat back all my exercise cals for about a week because I listened to those who believe in that method wholeheartedly.

Its not that it doesn't work - I am SURE it does. I have spoken to many who have great success eating back and still losing.

But for me, the best way to do this is to ignore those cals, and keep my diet at a stable, if not very large deficit.

The dumb part is that I had lost almost 50 in about 8 weeks when I changed gears and started eating back....

I knew I had found my best method already - why did i change it up?

If it aint broke...don't fix it!! took me a full 2 weeks to get my metabolism back in sync with my intake....probably cost me 8 - 10 lbs of loss.

First, get to know your body. Second, find your best method. Third, hammer on that method until it all comes off!!

purpleipod

Gaining back all of the weight I had lost, two separate times. 42 pounds the first time then 56 pounds the second time. I've never done anything stupid to lose the weight, honestly.

DaughterOfTheMostHighKing

hmmm... the first one was to let my mom put me on nutrisystem when I was in 8th grade... stupid! then it was up and down the scale until now! I've been good at 160lbs, but I'd like to be stable at a lower number...

jenbk2

Took Trim Spa- and swear it was part of the reason I became diabetic (type 1).

jammiezene

The dumbest thing I've done is eat back all my exercise cals for about a week because I listened to those who believe in that method wholeheartedly.

Its not that it doesn't work - I am SURE it does. I have spoken to many who have great success eating back and still losing.

But for me, the best way to do this is to ignore those cals, and keep my diet at a stable, if not very large deficit.

The dumb part is that I had lost almost 50 in about 8 weeks when I changed gears and started eating back....

I knew I had found my best method already - why did i change it up?

If it aint broke...don't fix it!! took me a full 2 weeks to get my metabolism back in sync with my intake....probably cost me 8 - 10 lbs of loss.

First, get to know your body. Second, find your best method. Third, hammer on that method until it all comes off!!

I totally agree. When I first started I was so nervous about not eating back my earned calories or not hitting 1200 all the time. Plus you hear all the time that if you don't eat at least 1200 when you hit your target you will NOT be able to maintain it. Finally, I decided to stop worrying about other people's methods and focus on my own. I was not starving and I was eating 3 meals a day plus snacks. It works for me.

lola8403

Let myself gain a LOT of weight back.

It has been very hard for me to lose weight in the past. I know we all put so much hard work in to this. So to undo all the effort is so not worth the stress it causes me later.

Good thing I am on track now and down to my smallest size as an adult!

This is exactly what I did. I lost forty lbs and then let myself gain all but 15 of those pounds back. Now working to get back to the healthy me again!

spectralmoon

1. I spent... upwards of $130 on Hydroxycut (before, during, and after reformulations). It worked the first time, which was my justification to keep blowing money on something that began to taste, smell, and look unedible. Seriously, the reformulations went from a slightly coated capsule to those horrible aftertaste pills that reek up a room in 5 minutes from an open bottle alone.

2. ZonePilates ring was another waste. The damn thing didn't really add anything to my workouts except bruises from the resistance, which made me want to use it even less. At least it doesn't take up a lot of space in the closet, I guess.