The dumbest diet you ever tried?
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I've only ever been on one "diet" in my life. In high school, my friend and I just had Diet Cokes for breakfast and lunch and then ate normally in the evening (my mother's cooking, plus a little snack or some ice cream afterwards). It worked, but it wasn't exactly a healthy approach.
I still prefer to leave most of my intake for later, though (I'm a nightowl). I still skip breakfast. C'est la vie.
That's called intermittent fasting. There is nothing inherently unhealthy about this, as it's just a meal timing approach. The healthiness of the approach would be contingent on the nutrition you consumed when you did eat, not that you didn't eat throughout the day. As long as it was doable.
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TLWallperson wrote: »I tried Atkins, the Cabbage soup diet (blah), the grapefruit diet, the eat fruit for 3 days a week diet, the 3 day diet and the starvation diet along with several different types of weight loss pills including a pill that was a form of speed (perscribed by a doctor). But I think the worst one was the Herbal life diet. I used this crap for a month, ate absolutely no food and lost 20 lbs. As soon as I went off the diet I gained it all back plus some, mostly because I was pregnant....lol
I will never, ever do a fad diet again especially since I realized how much better I feel by just eating healthy food and being active.
Yes - Herbalife was also my downfall - powder in the milk for 2 meals which was way too much protein and this gave me kidney stones...0 -
Probably the raw vegan diet and the 'ABC' diet (at a really low calorie allowance. Like the 'big' days were 200 calories.) Needless to say neither worked for very long and just made me miserable.
I was really happy eating raw vegan, and to me the food was delicious. I wasn't doing it as a diet so much as to get some relief from a chronic pain condition. It worked wonderfully for that. The problem was that we just couldn't afford for me to continue eating that way. I didn't lose that much weight on it because I was still overeating.
I think my low point was Nutri System. That packaged food was horrible. The Cambridge Diet with the shakes had me hungry all the time, and being on Atkins turned me into a vegetarian.
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mamapeach910 wrote: »Probably the raw vegan diet and the 'ABC' diet (at a really low calorie allowance. Like the 'big' days were 200 calories.) Needless to say neither worked for very long and just made me miserable.
I was really happy eating raw vegan, and to me the food was delicious. I wasn't doing it as a diet so much as to get some relief from a chronic pain condition. It worked wonderfully for that. The problem was that we just couldn't afford for me to continue eating that way. I didn't lose that much weight on it because I was still overeating.
I think my low point was Nutri System. That packaged food was horrible. The Cambridge Diet with the shakes had me hungry all the time, and being on Atkins turned me into a vegetarian.
Me too. In fact, I still do some raw only days. I think it's easier to transition to raw if you are already a vegan. I wouldn't have attempted to go whole hog
while I was still an omni!
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I never tried any diets (other than calorie restriction) but I grew up with all the women in my family constantly on one diet or another. I've seen them try all sorts of insane things and I just smile and nod and don't comment when they stop.
When my (mom) got tired of nutrisystem she sent a bunch of it home with us. There was one thing that smelled really chemically and off when I opened it, and it smelled exactly the same when it erm left me. That's not right! We threw the rest of it out that day.0 -
I tried Hydroxycut....talk about a jittery caffein buzz.ugh0
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Atkins for sure, the day I was literally salivating over a bunch of bananas I realized I was bananas and dropped it.0
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oh i dont even know if i shouldnt be ashamed to say it
i don't know the name of the diet, probably ORANGE DIET or something. i didn't eat anything for 10 days. The only thing I did was drinking self made squeezed orange juice (about 7 cups a day).
Of course this was very bad for my body, just getting all these sour stuff for such a long time. Afterwards I had a stomach irritation.
I don't even know how I got this STUPID idea.... I lost about I guess 4kg's in 10 days, which is huge, but gained back the double PLUS the sickness. Dumb past me U'R SO STUPID0 -
Solo Slim! Phentermine! Dexatrim! Anorexia!!!!0
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Iwishyouwell wrote: »vinegar_husbands wrote: »action_figure wrote: »Keto. Absolutely moronic. I lost 90 lbs, and then gained 140 back just as fast.
Thank goodness someone is calling BS on keto. How on earth does someone expect themselves to be healthy and wrap bacon in everything?
Keto isn't the "wrap bacon in everything" diet. If you think that, some rudimentary education on the basic tenants of the approach would be helpful.
The person who lost 90 and gained back 140 did so because they over consumed beyond their TDEE to the tune 140 pounds. It had nothing to do with being on Keto. Most people who lost weight, and then rebounded, weren't on keto.
If you'd like to know how people function long term, check epileptics. Many of them have to stick to a keto diet because the diet is a damn near miracle for symptoms and seizure relief. Others do maintain long term, and are neither miserable nor do they spend their time wrapping bacon in everything.
it works for them because it inhibits brain activity. clue #1 that it is not right for the general public. the human brain does not like ketones very much, it'll use them if glucose is unavailable and you can survive but it is NOT a good long term diet for the general population.
i have epilepsy and i tried keto for a few days.. my cognitive function went way the heck down, i couldn't think my way out of a wet paper bags. my brain likes carbohydrates and anticonvulsants!0 -
also notable, the standard ECA stack is terrible for anyone who has anxiety issues.
i actually loved nutrisystem, i found some food choices i loved and just rotated them over and over. i lost a good amount of weight and stayed reasonably strong, so i think it was a good weight loss, but it was too expensive for me as a starving student. so, it was back to ramen noodles and kraft dinner and gaining back all the weight.0 -
The Alice Diet, so named because there's a lot of tea involved. Some lucky days, you can have milk with your tea. Occasionally you even get up to 500 calories of actual food, but usually it's closer to 100-300.0
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I've never been on any fad diets except possibly South Beach. Have been successful at weight loss many times, but always gained some or all of it back. The problem was embracing the word DIET. Never sunk in that it should be a lifestyle change, forever, instead of a diet, that has an endpoint. Keeping up the healthy habits, not reverting back to old habits when goal reached.0
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Iwishyouwell wrote: »vinegar_husbands wrote: »action_figure wrote: »Keto. Absolutely moronic. I lost 90 lbs, and then gained 140 back just as fast.
Thank goodness someone is calling BS on keto. How on earth does someone expect themselves to be healthy and wrap bacon in everything?
Keto isn't the "wrap bacon in everything" diet. If you think that, some rudimentary education on the basic tenants of the approach would be helpful.
The person who lost 90 and gained back 140 did so because they over consumed beyond their TDEE to the tune 140 pounds. It had nothing to do with being on Keto. Most people who lost weight, and then rebounded, weren't on keto.
If you'd like to know how people function long term, check epileptics. Many of them have to stick to a keto diet because the diet is a damn near miracle for symptoms and seizure relief. Others do maintain long term, and are neither miserable nor do they spend their time wrapping bacon in everything.
it works for them because it inhibits brain activity. clue #1 that it is not right for the general public. the human brain does not like ketones very much, it'll use them if glucose is unavailable and you can survive but it is NOT a good long term diet for the general population.
i have epilepsy and i tried keto for a few days.. my cognitive function went way the heck down, i couldn't think my way out of a wet paper bags. my brain likes carbohydrates and anticonvulsants!
Do you realize that after the body becomes adapted to a low carbohydrate intake, and more acclimated to ketosis, many people report improved and sustainable energy? Back in my low carb days, when I first started, I felt the exact same way you did. Until I didn't. The kind of initial reaction is normal and expected, and every approach that deals with low carb intake warns of the transition. A "few days" tells you nothing.
And it "NOT a good long term diet for the general population"? How'd you arrive to that conclusion. What's the criteria for a "good long term diet", especially since macronutrient percentages change sometimes quite radically depending on what food culture you're born into. Who is the "general population"?
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abc diet
so ashamed. my parents did the cabbage soup diet when I was a kid. so gross. 
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Iwishyouwell wrote: »vinegar_husbands wrote: »action_figure wrote: »Keto. Absolutely moronic. I lost 90 lbs, and then gained 140 back just as fast.
Thank goodness someone is calling BS on keto. How on earth does someone expect themselves to be healthy and wrap bacon in everything?
Keto isn't the "wrap bacon in everything" diet. If you think that, some rudimentary education on the basic tenants of the approach would be helpful.
The person who lost 90 and gained back 140 did so because they over consumed beyond their TDEE to the tune 140 pounds. It had nothing to do with being on Keto. Most people who lost weight, and then rebounded, weren't on keto.
If you'd like to know how people function long term, check epileptics. Many of them have to stick to a keto diet because the diet is a damn near miracle for symptoms and seizure relief. Others do maintain long term, and are neither miserable nor do they spend their time wrapping bacon in everything.
it works for them because it inhibits brain activity. clue #1 that it is not right for the general public. the human brain does not like ketones very much, it'll use them if glucose is unavailable and you can survive but it is NOT a good long term diet for the general population.
i have epilepsy and i tried keto for a few days.. my cognitive function went way the heck down, i couldn't think my way out of a wet paper bags. my brain likes carbohydrates and anticonvulsants!
Do you realize that after the body becomes adapted to a low carbohydrate intake, and more acclimated to ketosis, many people report improved and sustainable energy? Back in my low carb days, when I first started, I felt the exact same way you did. Until I didn't. The kind of initial reaction is normal and expected, and every approach that deals with low carb intake warns of the transition. A "few days" tells you nothing.
And it "NOT a good long term diet for the general population"? How'd you arrive to that conclusion. What's the criteria for a "good long term diet", especially since macronutrient percentages change sometimes quite radically depending on what food culture you're born into. Who is the "general population"?
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The Cabbage Soup diet and the 3 Day diet. UGH... :noway:0
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I've never been on any fad diets except possibly South Beach. Have been successful at weight loss many times, but always gained some or all of it back. The problem was embracing the word DIET. Never sunk in that it should be a lifestyle change, forever, instead of a diet, that has an endpoint. Keeping up the healthy habits, not reverting back to old habits when goal reached.
South beach isn't really fad like, when one considers the principles. In fact, my lifestyle and my diet (which doesn't have an end point) pretty much mirrors phase 3 of South Beach.
The only way it is fad like is that it was popular, much like MFP is popular now.0 -
Slim Fast. Not even close to real nutrients and so much crap! PLUS, I was hungry within the hour!0
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Jenny Craig - They told me to eat a large delicious apple every day because it has enough fiber to keep you full. Apples don't have that much fiber no matter how big they are.0
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Very common diet advice.47Jacqueline wrote: »Jenny Craig - They told me to eat a large delicious apple every day because it has enough fiber to keep you full. Apples don't have that much fiber no matter how big they are.
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-Off and on, from 12-14: As many cold spaghettios as I could eat with chopsticks in 3 minutes. No other food. I was painfully underweight.
-Low fat, through most of the late 90s/turn of the millenium. Kept gaining bc low fat =/= low calorie. Still, I wish I was that "fat."
-Slim fast. Over and over again, often in conjunction with Dexatrim or green tea extract. Always gained it back right away.0 -
Nutrisystem for about two weeks then I returned the food to Costco (where I had bought the gift card from). My boyfriend and I still refer to it as the cardboard food.0
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obscuremusicreference wrote: »-Off and on, from 12-14: As many cold spaghettios as I could eat with chopsticks in 3 minutes. No other food. I was painfully underweight.
-Low fat, through most of the late 90s/turn of the millenium. Kept gaining bc low fat =/= low calorie. Still, I wish I was that "fat."
-Slim fast. Over and over again, often in conjunction with Dexatrim or green tea extract. Always gained it back right away.
Wow. What did your parents think of the chinese chef boyardee diet? That doesn't sound good.0 -
Atkins, that diet is a heart attack in disguise0
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Not really. In fact, not at all.johnnylakis wrote: »Atkins, that diet is a heart attack in disguise
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Sabine_Stroehm wrote: »obscuremusicreference wrote: »-Off and on, from 12-14: As many cold spaghettios as I could eat with chopsticks in 3 minutes. No other food. I was painfully underweight.
-Low fat, through most of the late 90s/turn of the millenium. Kept gaining bc low fat =/= low calorie. Still, I wish I was that "fat."
-Slim fast. Over and over again, often in conjunction with Dexatrim or green tea extract. Always gained it back right away.
Wow. What did your parents think of the chinese chef boyardee diet? That doesn't sound good.
Yeah, there were a lot of adults who could have intervened and didn't. 5'6" and under 90 pounds (the scale disappeared so who knows?) I didn't ever stick with it for more than a week, but I had a lot of other weird ideas about food that I alternated with it. That's just the one that kept cropping up.
Oh, and I frequently cut off large swathes of food (even stuff like bread, cheese, eggs, etc), only to feel miserable when I inevitably backslid. And feeling miserable about cheating leads to more cheating. SMH.0 -
Lasmartchika wrote: »The Cabbage Soup diet and the 3 Day diet. UGH... :noway:
The hungriest I recall ever feeling in my life was on the 3 day diet. Which I did as a teenager. I wanted to gnaw off my own arm.0 -
Sabine_Stroehm wrote: »I've never been on any fad diets except possibly South Beach. Have been successful at weight loss many times, but always gained some or all of it back. The problem was embracing the word DIET. Never sunk in that it should be a lifestyle change, forever, instead of a diet, that has an endpoint. Keeping up the healthy habits, not reverting back to old habits when goal reached.
South beach isn't really fad like, when one considers the principles. In fact, my lifestyle and my diet (which doesn't have an end point) pretty much mirrors phase 3 of South Beach.
The only way it is fad like is that it was popular, much like MFP is popular now.
Yeah, that's why I said "possibly", because it's a fad in it's popularity aspect, but in the third phase it's a basic healthy approach to eating. I felt the first 2 phases to kick start were more of the fad aspect.
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A few years back, I lost some weight eating any and everything with the words diet, low calorie, or lean. Lean Cuisines and the like are convenient but expensive and painfully boring when I can make something on my own.
At the start of my calorie counting days (pen and paper for a few months, then a stint on fatsecrey), I did a very poorly executed VLC combined with six days of enough exercise to make me feel like crap everyday.0
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