Special K Diet

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Glasgow_Vegan
Glasgow_Vegan Posts: 209 Member
in Health and Weight Loss
I'll preface this by saying that I'm a vegan and I can't eat special K because it contains milk. Anyway, do people who follow this diet actually burn fat or just lose water weight? I have no intention of trying it but just wondered about the "drop a dress size!" claim. Is it permanent?
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  • Lleldiranne
    Lleldiranne Posts: 5,516 Member
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    I have never tried it either. But I think that, if someone actually follows the diet, it will be a calorie reduction (cereal doesn't have all that many calories, and "following" the diet includes serving sizes). So, like any new diet, the first few pounds may be water, but after that it could potentially be fat. Same as with all diets, though, too much deficit, or too little exercise, can cause muscle to be lost as well. And when one goes off the diet, going "back to normal" will also have weight trending back to before.

    I'd much rather go with a small deficit, a gradual loss, and something that I can stick with for the rest of my life.
  • Army_Love89
    Army_Love89 Posts: 30
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    My friend did this right after she had her baby & she went 2 weeks dropped like 6lbs but put it back on as soon as she got back to eating regularly.
  • Sabresgal63
    Sabresgal63 Posts: 641 Member
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    :bigsmile: Put it this way.....if we all followed the recommended portions on the foods that we ate, we would all be healthier and I am sure alot smaller:)
  • SoDamnHungry
    SoDamnHungry Posts: 6,998 Member
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    It's not water weight, since you can drink as much water as you want. Essentially, the Special K Diet is a low calorie diet. Small breakfast, snack, small lunch, snack, reasonable dinner. You'll eat less calories than you burn, and as such should lose weight. But it doesn't really teach proper eating habits.
  • vicyvix
    vicyvix Posts: 47 Member
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    I think you probably do drop a few pounds but most of it would be just water weight and having less food in your system when you weigh yourself.
    I've thought about giving this ago a few years ago then looked at the nutritional info on the back and saw that it's actually ridiculously unhealthy (High salt and sugar levels!)
  • ashlielinn
    ashlielinn Posts: 920
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    I tried it once - you probably do lose weight if you stay on it because you're basically starving yourself!!! It was awful, and definitely not healthy!!!
  • Pebble321
    Pebble321 Posts: 6,554 Member
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    I checked it out online, and it struck me as not so much a "diet plan" as a "eat special K products 3 times a day plan".
    I'm not buying into that (pun intended!)
  • Glasgow_Vegan
    Glasgow_Vegan Posts: 209 Member
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    I found a blog article about the diet:

    http://www.icametorun.com/2011/01/special-k-challenge-get-lost/

    "So, let’s take a look at a day like this in terms of calories. On Monday, the day starts with a bowl of Original cereal. Calorie count with milk: 160. And the cereal contains high fructose corn syrup. Lovely. Snack: 90 calories (and HFCS). Lunch: 180 calories (what, no HFCS?!) Snack: 90 calories. Dinner: 309 calories. Total caloric intake for the day: 829. 829 calories for an entire day. This makes me irate. Okay, yes, you can add in unlimited amounts of fruits and vegetables. But in order to bring that measly number up to something healthy, you are going to have to eat more fruits and vegetables than you can handle."

    That even seems more than the UK version of the diet which doesn't involve snacks. It's just cereal for breakfast, cereal for lunch, then a light dinner.
  • yarwell
    yarwell Posts: 10,477 Member
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    There's no HFCS in the UK version...

    "Ingredients

    Rice, Wheat (Wholewheat, Wheat Flour), Sugar, Wheat Gluten, Skimmed Milk Powder, Defatted Wheatgerm, Salt, Barley Malt Flavouring. Vitamin C, Niacin, Iron, Vitamin B6, Vitamin B2 (Riboflavin), Vitamin B1 (Thiamin), Folic Acid, Vitamin D, Vitamin B12."

    Someone wrote a positive review at http://www.squidoo.com/specialkchallenge
  • Glasgow_Vegan
    Glasgow_Vegan Posts: 209 Member
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    There's no HFCS in the UK version...

    "Ingredients

    Rice, Wheat (Wholewheat, Wheat Flour), Sugar, Wheat Gluten, Skimmed Milk Powder, Defatted Wheatgerm, Salt, Barley Malt Flavouring. Vitamin C, Niacin, Iron, Vitamin B6, Vitamin B2 (Riboflavin), Vitamin B1 (Thiamin), Folic Acid, Vitamin D, Vitamin B12."

    Someone wrote a positive review at http://www.squidoo.com/specialkchallenge

    Wouldn't rice crispies be more of less equally 'nutritious' because of the added vitamins? They're probably lower in fat and sugar at least.
  • JesterMFP
    JesterMFP Posts: 3,596 Member
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    It's just a way of creating a calorie deficit, with Special K products. I'd rather create a calorie deficit with all other types of food.
  • Glasgow_Vegan
    Glasgow_Vegan Posts: 209 Member
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    I think a cereal diet would be intolerably boring but it might be healthier if the cereal was All Bran or Bran Flakes. With some fruit mixed in.
  • yarwell
    yarwell Posts: 10,477 Member
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    Wouldn't rice crispies be more of less equally 'nutritious' because of the added vitamins? They're probably lower in fat and sugar at least.

    Special K has more than twice the protein of Rice Krispies, and the fat content of both is low. Both have mineral & vitamin fortification but the Special K is aimed at women rather than kids (more folic acid, etc).
  • skylark94
    skylark94 Posts: 2,036 Member
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    I absolutely love my local grocery chain's version of Special K Red Berries and eat it for snacks and dessert quite often, but I certainly wouldn't rely on it for a meal.
  • HotAshMess
    HotAshMess Posts: 382 Member
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    I checked it out online, and it struck me as not so much a "diet plan" as a "eat special K products 3 times a day plan".
    I'm not buying into that (pun intended!)

    THIS!!! They're promoting their brand....I like the cereal, I like the low calorie bars. but it isn't really any different than any other food program.
  • AZKristi
    AZKristi Posts: 1,801 Member
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    Its a low calorie diet that seems to revolve almost entirely around processed foods instead of whole fruits and veggies. You can reduce calories and you may lose weight eating this way, but I wouldn't recommend it for anyone. From a marketing perspective, its a great way for them to make money - giving people a menu plan that involves their products for every meal.
  • LivingtheLeanDream
    LivingtheLeanDream Posts: 13,342 Member
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    the one time I TRIED it I had a bloated stomach that was soo painful and this feeling lasted longer than the special K diet! (Think I lasted 3 days!) lol AND..I was always hungry!!
    as others have said, it doesn't help us to make good food habits that we will be able to maintain for life.
  • WhoIsAmber
    WhoIsAmber Posts: 161 Member
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    The Special K Red Berries, Protein Plus, Vanilla Almond (contains honey), Blueberries and Cinnamon Pecan versions of the cereal are vegan friendly. SOME versions USED to have HFCS, but it has been replaced now with brown sugar... Other versions still contain corn syrup, but not high fructose.

    I tried the Special K diet for a little while, but I got to a point where I was just sick of eating cereal all the time and a single bowl of cereal just did not fill me up or satisfy me. If someone has the dedication to keep with the program, I guess it's possible to lose weight with it, I don't know if it's water weight or fat though.
  • Poods71
    Poods71 Posts: 502 Member
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    I did it and lost a stone but as soon as I went back to eating normally again weight just piled back on. As everyone else has said it doesn't encourage good eating habits and you need variety in your diet.
  • AnvilHead
    AnvilHead Posts: 18,344 Member
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    I didn't look it up and analyze all the macros, but my thoughts from a casual glance are:

    - Not enough calories, not enough proteins and fats = hungry all the time.

    - Not enough protein = bye bye, lean body mass! = skinnyfat.

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