Special K Challenge...

KansasGal
KansasGal Posts: 268 Member
in Food and Nutrition
What are your thought? I thought of doing this to help me get in the routine of small meals five times a day...
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Replies

  • Thomasm198
    Thomasm198 Posts: 3,189 Member
    What are your thought? I thought of doing this to help me get in the routine of small meals five times a day...
    Why? Eating 5 small meals has no advantage over 1 big meal or 3 normal sized meals.
  • JesterMFP
    JesterMFP Posts: 3,596 Member
    I think that it's a way of creating a calorie deficit, which you can do with whatever food you like to eat, and more nutritious food than Special K at that. It's basically a marketing gimmick to make you eat and buy more Special K. There's nothing special about the cereal that will make you lose. If you're trying to get into healthier habits, maybe start practising how you want to eat on a long-term basis, not a special diet that you are (presumably) only going to be doing for a little while. Restricting yourself to one type of food (whether it's shakes, or cereal) doesn't teach you how to make good choices in the face of temptation.

    Those are my thoughts any way. If you do go the Special K route, just make sure you're getting enough nutrients (eg. protein) from other sources.
  • melsinct
    melsinct Posts: 3,512 Member
    I think that it's a way of creating a calorie deficit, which you can do with whatever food you like to eat, and more nutritious food than Special K at that. It's basically a marketing gimmick to make you eat and buy more Special K. There's nothing special about the cereal that will make you lose.

    Ditto. You'll be loading yourself up with Special K products instead of real food that tastes way better. Save your money and eat real food within your allotted calories. Not only is it a more sustainable way to eat for life, it will save you money and is way healthier than eating Special K's product line.
  • porkchop_13
    porkchop_13 Posts: 122
    it's all carbs, dont waste your money. I actually GAINED two pounds when i did this "challenge" for 2 1/2 weeks.
  • Vansy
    Vansy Posts: 419 Member
    Create your own "special k" diet but using more protein. I suggested the same thing to my mom. You can easily create a 2.5-week menu around the foods you like.
  • Muddy_Yogi
    Muddy_Yogi Posts: 1,459 Member
    Seriously?
  • Junken_Diraffe
    Junken_Diraffe Posts: 716 Member
    Oh, sorry. I thought this was about me.
  • rebelate
    rebelate Posts: 218 Member
    It doesn't seem like anything they offer as a "snack" or "meal" is actually nutritious or healthy for you. I think there's something you could come up with for yourself that's a lot healthier and cost effective.
  • BrettPGH
    BrettPGH Posts: 4,716 Member
    Oh goonies no, not since university. I'm too old to fall into a K-hole...
  • WendyTerry420
    WendyTerry420 Posts: 13,274 Member
    Kellogg's makes some yummy cereals, but Special K is not one.
  • fbmandy55
    fbmandy55 Posts: 5,263 Member
    Eating nothing but carbs would bloat me. No thanks.

    That is really a marketing scheme to get people to buy special k anyways...
  • Libi_at
    Libi_at Posts: 7
    Eating nothing but carbs would bloat me. No thanks.

    Same here.
    Way too much carbs.

    Stick for regular food with less fat, low carb and high protein. Works much better, tastes better and you will be able to keep it up for a long time.
  • _skittybang
    _skittybang Posts: 970 Member
    specialk.gif
  • jlqt2000
    jlqt2000 Posts: 25 Member
    What are your thought? I thought of doing this to help me get in the routine of small meals five times a day...
    Why? Eating 5 small meals has no advantage over 1 big meal or 3 normal sized meals.

    I really think this depends on the person. There are conflicting articles arguing both sides. For me, eating 3 larger meals didn't work out at all because I would get hungry and want to snack anyways before lunch and dinner. I started eating smaller meals throughout the day which not only kept me full but also gave me a lot more energy.
  • danasings
    danasings Posts: 8,218 Member
    I think that it's a way of creating a calorie deficit, which you can do with whatever food you like to eat, and more nutritious food than Special K at that. It's basically a marketing gimmick to make you eat and buy more Special K. There's nothing special about the cereal that will make you lose. If you're trying to get into healthier habits, maybe start practising how you want to eat on a long-term basis, not a special diet that you are (presumably) only going to be doing for a little while. Restricting yourself to one type of food (whether it's shakes, or cereal) doesn't teach you how to make good choices in the face of temptation.

    Those are my thoughts any way. If you do go the Special K route, just make sure you're getting enough nutrients (eg. protein) from other sources.

    I completely agree.
  • yoovie
    yoovie Posts: 17,121 Member
    specialk.gif

    cant hardly wait lmao
  • minihearts
    minihearts Posts: 12
    There's no real food in special K..it's all sugary cereal and sugary shakes and chocolatey bars and salty chips. I think I'd get tired of living off of junk snacks like that
  • skellyness
    skellyness Posts: 165 Member
    I went down the Special K Challenge route in desperation before I joined MyFitnessPal.. I lasted all of four days. I felt sick and weak therefore couldn't exercise. Also I had to chuck out the leftover cereal since it was so disgusting I couldn't look at it after :/

    You can use the tools here to eat foods you actually like and still lose weight, its on a whole other level to that crap fad diet.
  • Sh1tsRainbows
    Sh1tsRainbows Posts: 1,227 Member
    Oh goonies no, not since university. I'm too old to fall into a K-hole...

    whew flashbacks
  • WendyTerry420
    WendyTerry420 Posts: 13,274 Member
    There's no real food in special K..it's all sugary cereal and sugary shakes and chocolatey bars and salty chips. I think I'd get tired of living off of junk snacks like that

    No real food? What? Rice and wheat aren't food?
  • Firefox7275
    Firefox7275 Posts: 2,040 Member
    What are your thought? I thought of doing this to help me get in the routine of small meals five times a day...

    If you must, do it with a low sugar wholegrain cereal and cereal bars made with whole oats, nuts and seeds (do you have Quaker or Jordans?) not refined rubbish like Special K. Make sure you still get your seven to nine servings of fruits and veggies a day.
  • vjohn04
    vjohn04 Posts: 2,276 Member
    I actually like Special K cereal. However, I just eat it as part of my daily calorie goal.... not 5 meals a day. Even two meals per day is overkill.
  • TrailRunner61
    TrailRunner61 Posts: 2,505 Member
    All it does is control the amount of food you're eating in one serving. Measure out your food with a scale and have 5 smalls meals of food you'd rather eat. Yes, it's more work, but you're worth the effort. Add protein to it and you'll feel full longer too.
  • jennfranklin
    jennfranklin Posts: 434 Member
    It gets old really quick.. instead op for small meals like greek yogurt and healthy nuts, some veggies and hummus, if you don't like veggies, you can use some crackers, laughing cow cheese and a piece of fruit! Just make sure you have some protein in every meal, no matter the size!
  • Athijade
    Athijade Posts: 3,300 Member
    What are your thought? I thought of doing this to help me get in the routine of small meals five times a day...
    Why? Eating 5 small meals has no advantage over 1 big meal or 3 normal sized meals.

    I really think this depends on the person. There are conflicting articles arguing both sides. For me, eating 3 larger meals didn't work out at all because I would get hungry and want to snack anyways before lunch and dinner. I started eating smaller meals throughout the day which not only kept me full but also gave me a lot more energy.

    That sort of is the point...

    When it comes to straight up weight loss or metabolic rate, meal timing and frequency have no impact. There is no reason that one has to eat X number of meals or has to eat breakfast or has to stop eating after whatever time is popular now.

    HOWEVER, there might be a personal preference due to how an individual feels.
  • Firefox7275
    Firefox7275 Posts: 2,040 Member
    There's no real food in special K..it's all sugary cereal and sugary shakes and chocolatey bars and salty chips. I think I'd get tired of living off of junk snacks like that

    No real food? What? Rice and wheat aren't food?

    The rice products and wheat products in most cereal bars are as close to being real nutritious food as sugar is to being a vegetables (comes from beet or cane right?) or white wine is to being a fruit. Adding back a few vitamins and minerals that you stripped out of the grain in the first place and being deemed edible doesn't make something food in any real sense of the word.

    Ingredients list for UK version of the bar, might be some differences in the US?
    "Kellogg's Special K Cereal (51%) (Rice, Wheat {Wholewheat, Wheat Flour}, Sugar, Wheat Gluten, Skimmed Milk Powder,Defatted Wheatgerm, Salt, Barley Malt Flavouring, Vitamin C, Niacin, Iron, Vitamin B6, Riboflavin (B2), Thiamin (B1) ,Folic Acid, Vitamin B12) ,Glucose Syrup ,Chocolate Pieces (11%) (Cocoa Mass, Sugar, Emulsifier {Soy Lecithin}) ,Fructose ,Dextrose ,Sugar ,Humectant (Sorbitol, Glycerol) ,Vegetable Oil ,Emulsifier (Soy Lecithin) ,Antioxidant (E320)"

    How many of those look like when they came off the plant or animal OR have the same nutrients as when they came off the plant or animal? Only the little bit of wholewheat I think, for that one wholegrain there are multiple grain products/ extracts. How many forms of sugar? Seven making the finished product 33% sugars (7g per bar)! How much fibre? About 1.5% (0.3g per bar). Take you a while to hit your ~25g a day target at that rate, you'd have to eat eighty three bars! Of course if you did that you'd have also eaten 583 (five hundred and eighty three) grams of sugar.
  • healthycurvesforlife88
    healthycurvesforlife88 Posts: 4
    I'm doing this right now, I'm on my 4th day. It's hard for me to stay on track, and this is helping me learn portion control again. Also, the plan allows you unlimited fruits and veggies so that really helps. Obviously too much fruit will give you too much sugar but if you eat 3 fuit, 6 veggies during the day it's not so bad. It's not enjoyable but it's working. I know it's temporary but at least my stomach will be used to eating less than I have been giving it. I'm just trying to recharge my weightloss, I love cereal and snack bars and crackers so I thought I should give it a shot for the two weeks. I've already lost 3 lbs and I'm not even done with the first week!

    I'm not saying this is for everyone, but for someone like me that was conditioning their body to eating 2200 calories a day and only lightly exercising, it's a good way to train myself.

    And to the people who are saying it's "sugary" cereal. It's really not. All of the products with the exception of the shakes are around 10 grams of sugar or less. In the grand scheme of things that isn't that bad.
  • funhouse77
    funhouse77 Posts: 179 Member
    Oh Man, don't do it. I tried this once, years ago, I lasted 2 and a half days, I was STARVING!

    Eat food.
  • avababy05
    avababy05 Posts: 930 Member
    I did this several years ago,lost no weight and it made me feel a little violent
  • _Lori_Lynn_
    _Lori_Lynn_ Posts: 460
    I agree this is an advertising strategy which only makes you lose due to it creating a calorie deficit. However, some people just need a plan to follow. I am that kind of girl. Just tell me what to eat and how much.

    I will say though that I was part of a site which trained competitors for the fitness competitions and had her entire three month prep meal plan and fitness routine and she ate Special K each morning. It made me buy it, I was trying to eat like she did. It either was just eaten bc she liked it and she was to have a cereal or Special K sponsored the shows or the website, etc.

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