The dumbest diet you ever tried?

ImaSongbird

b3kah5 wrote: »

A couple of years ago I did the HCG diet. I had to inject myself daily with HCG and eat 500 calories a day. I lost a couple of pounds and I believe it wrecked my metabolism. It should be banned.

I did that one for a few months. Every day for lunch I was to eat a can of tuna. Dry. That didn't work for long. Obviously non-sustainable for the long haul.

ValentineNicole

When I was in college, I was a firm, stupid believer in: half a meal replacement bar in the morning, workout like crazy, half a meal replacement bar for lunch, class, healthy choice meal for dinner. *sigh*

I've done master cleanse. Honestly, that wasn't nearly as bad or stupid as the college days - and that's saying something. Because it's literally not even a little healthy.

Juice fasting is the third worst I've done. At least then I got my nutrients, albeit zero protein.

Atkins was stupid. I know it works from some people, but can you honestly tell me that eating cream cheese blended with heavy whipping cream and bacon is better than lean meats, organic grains, and veggies? I did not do this the right way - although I shockingly did lose weight eating s-it like that, LOL.

KHaverstick

For me, a low fat diet. Of course, I grew up watching my mother who dieted in the 80's, and low fat was all the rage. Margarine, skim milk, plain rice cakes, etc. While I've never used margarine as an adult, I did tend to default to a low fat diet when trying to lose weight. But then I realized that I just don't like being hungry all the time, and eating some fat can help with that . "Dieting" became so much more tolerable and sustainable when I realized I could do it without feeling hungry all the time, simply by eating enough protein and fat.

skinnyD2308

I bought a hypnotism weightloss counselling program that I totally couldn't afford. It was supposed to magically make me unconsciously choose healthier choices and I got so upset that I still wanted fast food. I really hate that I bought into it.

I tried the cabbage soup diet, I think I lasted two days. I think I did hydroxycut for a few days too, but hated it.

Other than that I've been mostly reasonable in my weight loss approaches. I've used weightwatchers a few times, but ultimately I don't stick with it (and it's expensive). With the exception of the cabbage soup diet, I've never been one to be attracted to diets that restrict certain food groups, or have set meal plans, because I just resist the lack of flexibility and I intrinsically know that too many "rules" just won't work for me. I'm loving mfp, it provides just enough structure for accountability but enough flexibility for real life.

bencze1

I tried a couple things but all of these diets are stupid. Imo the only thing that makes sense is a conservative calorie count (depending what you need) and watching what you eat. Just common sense stuff. The trickiest part is taking time to get basic ingredients and cook because the stores feed you 99% with food that has weird stuff in it or is not what it says it is.

Unknown

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quellybelly

Eating less than 1200 calories (if that counts). That was not fun.

llUndecidedll

The fruit/vegetable only diet. I don't know how dumb it was because it was healthy because duh, fruits and veggies are healthy foods. But it was a little dumb because my daily calorie consumption was really low--my main focus was on low calorie veggies and fruits like spinach, tomatoes, cucumbers, kale, etc. I lost weight quickly but that diet was unsustainable which makes it a dumb diet because I have no intention of becoming a permanent raw Vegan.

Pollart77

dtroutman wrote: »

Ive tried HCG awful. But the worst was when I went with a co-worker and we got our ears stapled to lose weight. It hurt and a week later was so infected they had to pry the staple out it was terrible!!!!!

WHAT?!!!

Yes they put staples on the inside of your ears and it was supposed to block the message to your brain telling you that you were hungry lol

You win this post! LOL!

sodakat

My mom "encouraged" me to diet in my teens. One diet she heard of that I participated in included brewers yeast and heavy cream. I wish I could remember the details, LOL. I don't recall much "food" being eaten on that diet. Some kind of shaker was used, I think, but I don't think the cream and brewers yeast were combined. I had to hold my nose to swallow the brewers yeast mixed with water -- that I do remember.

Tedebearduff

IIFYM

ausf

Hcg

jkal1979

Hydroxycut. After taking it for a few days I stopped after I almost passed out at work.

Atkins. I lasted an entire week before the stomach pains became too unbearable.

I have a friend who did a diet of eating only watermelon and drinking apple juice for almost a week to drop a few quick pounds for a weigh in. After she passed her weigh in she ended up in the ER with dehydration.

allie_00p

I tried out this crazy black pill called lipo6 black in college - I literally felt like I was going to have a heart attack in the middle of the gym at the ripe old age of 17.

Anytime someone suggests a fat burner or thermogenic to me, it's an automatic no-go

Fleetwoodly

A Dutch dietician's diet, called Sonja Bakker. It was like 900 calories a day and the food was terrible. Plain potatoes, plain veggies and some 'healthy' (which they aren't) cookies. I have never been so hungry. Put on the weight back on in no - time.

kristen6350

The only thing I've fell for were Raspberry Ketones. 3 days in and so much burping, decided it wasn't worth it.

dramaqueen45

Slimfast shake in the morning, Slender Bar at lunch and then for dinner a bowl of Sun Flakes (like Corn Flakes but with Nutrisweet) and maybe an apple. Also ran one mile per day doing that. Lost about 15 pounds in a month in my last month of college freshman year, and then promptly gained it all back when I moved back home for the summer and went to work at a fast food restaurant.

I actually did lose that weight though once I changed colleges and got down to about 118- but it was slowly over the course of a year. I think I just didn't eat a whole lot and walked constantly everywhere.

Angief05

I have tried a few stupid diets over the years.. The cabbabe soup diet, I did the slim fast diet, went to a diet center that filled me full of their pills, and the latest I did before doing it the healthy way now was HCG. Of all the diets I tried HCG ruined my metabolism for quite sometime, I too took the pills and ate 500 cal a day. I lost 30 lbs but when stopped I gained 50 back and it ruined me. It has taken me over 2 years to get my metabolism back to the way it should be. I am now eating healthy and working out 6 days a week and since Sept have lost almost 40 lbs and over 40".
Do it the right way people. Stay away from all the fad diets out there.

Azexas

I did the special K diet. Kellogg made a pretty penny of my stupidity. I also tried fat burners and diet pills which (what a shock) didn't work.

tanowicki

The Beverly Hills Diet. I never got past the point where you can only eat fruit.

karenkasbi

I've done the general motors diet twice. The first time I lost 5 pounds and second time four. It's a one week diet but it doesn't work if you're already on a low calorie diet. It's good for those who consume 1800+ calories.

I did a buckwheat diet which was kinda stupid, you eat half a cup of buckwheat for breakfast, lunch and dinner. I tried it for four days, didn't see any result.

MindySaysWhaaat

I actually did the slimfast diet for a whole month once. I lost 12 pounds, but by the end I was so tired of the shakes and bars, and I didn't want to eat anything chocolate flavored ever again. I also think I must have been missing out on iron/protein etc because I kept craving steak and hamburgers, and I normally don't eat red meat that often (I'm big on chicken breasts and turkey burgers :-P)

Also, I gained all my weight back when I stopped slim fast (obviously).

Iwishyouwell

ValentineNicole wrote: »

Atkins was stupid. I know it works from some people, but can you honestly tell me that eating cream cheese blended with heavy whipping cream and bacon is better than lean meats, organic grains, and veggies? I did not do this the right way - although I shockingly did lose weight eating s-it like that, LOL.

You can have lean meats, organic grains and veggies on Atkins too.

Looks like you're the ten millionth person who didn't bother to actually read the entire plan before undertaking it.

thedarkwombat

Iwishyouwell wrote: »

ValentineNicole wrote: »

Atkins was stupid. I know it works from some people, but can you honestly tell me that eating cream cheese blended with heavy whipping cream and bacon is better than lean meats, organic grains, and veggies? I did not do this the right way - although I shockingly did lose weight eating s-it like that, LOL.

You can have lean meats, organic grains and veggies on Atkins too.

Looks like you're the ten millionth person who didn't bother to actually read the entire plan before undertaking it.

BINGO.

NikonPal

Pretty much everything I tried until now because none of them focused on a lifestyle change...MFP has me balancing calories taken-in and calories burned while focusing on nutrition.

obscuremusicreference

So do you sell this product or what? And if so, what do you hope to gain by screaming at this poster?

parkerpowerlift

Glad to say now that I never had the money for these ridiculous diets. When I was younger, of course, I'd watch infomercials for the latest, greatest diet and inwardly cry.

What got me on MFP was an old supervisor of mine at work. She was always into some stupid diet, or meal plan/shake/pill. She always talked about weight loss, so I decided to lose weight with her. Only thing is, when we both found MFP, I was the only one who would use it. Heck, even at her son's 1st birthday party, you can bet I was Barcode scanning everything in 2013, I had lost 18 lbs thru calorie reduction and about gym membership. The inner fat kid in me eventually protested and I fell off the wagon by that summer and gained it all back and then some.

May of 2014, I started all over again. It has taken consistent logging, cutting out the gallons of soda & daily fast food, cooking more at home home and getting into running for me to slowly BUT surely lose weight. It's been slow but a healthier rate of weight loss. Half a pound away from 40 lbs lost

Marianna93637

I did a weird and dangerous diet 15 years ago. It worked very well, but I'd never do it again.
It was prescribed by a doctor in Mexico. She prescribed 5 pills to be taken at specific times of the day. 1 was a very strong appetite surpressent, similar to Phentermine, the other I'm still not sure about, probably similar. They were labeled pill A and B. A you take in the morning, B at lunch. Then she gave medicine for hypothyroidism, (liothyronine), they were labeled C, you take them morning, lunch and at night. Finally pills D were laxatives to be taken at night, and pills E water pills (super strong ones prescribed for people with heart disease).
Of course she didn't disclose what they were and how dangerous, and especially how dangerous the combination was.
She also gave specific instructions of what not to eat, most things were allowed, except for some carbs were off limit (bread, pasta), dairy, and some things like banana, I can't remember the rest.
I have lost 30 lbs, I was the skinniest ever in my life, 132 lbs, not something I could ever achieve normally or even sustain it (nor do I want to). I actually kept the weight off for over a year by eating normally, then slowly it started coming back up, but it wasn't until 2 years I went back to my regular weight, which wasn't that high (150s for 5'8").
She gave me a shot when I went back for my visit, I think it was growth hormone.

Crazy and dangerous, but she got a lot of people skinny, I wonder how many got life long issues (I didn't, thank God). I was emotionally crazy, I know the pills affected my mood and my behavior, I would become a b..ch in a second, i was super irritated, and just not myself.

Years and years later when I researched it so I know what was what, I found some documents on the internet by a police / FBI or some law enforcement agency in Texas, they were talking about this being done in Mexico down there and how it's illegal because of the dangerous combination of the drugs. That's how I found out what i was taking lol.
Crazy.

Aviva92

never did any dumb diets other than trying to lose weight without counting calories and just winging it instead. that did not work well.

c_leeee

A couple years ago my fiance and I tried ViSalus for a month or two. It started making me ill anytime I smelled it. My coworker still makes those shakes ad I can smell that cake batter mix across the rom. Sends shivers down my spine! SO thankful I understand nutrition and a healthy lifestyle now.

Also HydroxyCut, lasted 2 weeks lost nothing and wanted to die.