Has anyone tried the Special K diet?

As far as I know it's having a bowl of special K for breakfast & Lunch and having healthy snacks and a balanced dinner, as well as working out. Has anyone tried it and noticed it worked? Would love to know as it would be really easy for me! Thanks x

Replies

  • now_or_never13
    now_or_never13 Posts: 1,575 Member
    It may work while you are on it because it does reduce your calories.

    It wont work in the long term and it's not the best nutrition to have.

    When you stop eating it twice a day, most will gain the weight back since they don't learn anything about what is healthy and how to prepare healthy foods.

    Personally I couldn't eat a bowl of cereal twice a day everyday.... The actual portion size of that cereal is tiny as well with not much protein or nutritents.
  • good point!
  • Mokey41
    Mokey41 Posts: 5,769 Member
    Doesn't sound very nutritionally good and I'd definitely get bored eating cereal all day. You can have pretty decent meals for the same calories as a bowl of cereal and milk.
  • mnmoon
    mnmoon Posts: 22 Member
    I haven't tried the diet, but I bought a Special K granola bar for lunch awhile back bc I left my lunch
    At home.. It was nasty! Do not recommend them at all.
  • It's not sustainable. Don't do it. Also, Special K cereals contain a surprising amount of sugar.
  • FlaxMilk
    FlaxMilk Posts: 3,452 Member
    I think Special K is irresponsible for marketing this. I think you would feel like crap, and you'd also probably run the risk of binging on the cereal after the first or second day.
  • I wouldn't do it for everyday.. but I have used it in the past when I didn't feel like fixing myself something different than what my kids were having. I love the strawberry cereal, and I would generally have it with 1 percent milk.
    It was filling when I would add fruit to the cereal.
  • marycmeadows
    marycmeadows Posts: 1,691 Member
    it's just a low calorie diet. and I don't really think that eating cereal all day is a great healthy diet. make a lifestyle change. eat healthy. eating healthy is NOT hard. ((i'm not opposed to special k or anything just saying the whole diet is just lowering your cals and that's why 'it works'))
  • Carfoodel
    Carfoodel Posts: 481 Member
    I love special K but I noticed that not only is the sugar bad but it has a bit of a kick with the salt as well. I tried to register on their website for weightloss, recipes etc - but it basically told me I was too overweight to do it and told me to go to the doctors humph lol

    cereal is good for an instant meal, and not too bad if some raisins, fruit or some nuts are thrown in there, but there are loads of other healthy meals you can make for the same amount of calories that are far more nutritious :)
  • ninerbuff
    ninerbuff Posts: 48,990 Member
    As far as I know it's having a bowl of special K for breakfast & Lunch and having healthy snacks and a balanced dinner, as well as working out. Has anyone tried it and noticed it worked? Would love to know as it would be really easy for me! Thanks x
    In other words they reduce your calories. It's just their way of getting people to buy Special K cereal.

    A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
    IDEA Fitness member
    Kickboxing Certified Instructor
    Been in fitness for 28+ years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition
  • i wouldn't suggest their diet. i eat the cereal every now and then but not everyday.
  • macidom
    macidom Posts: 3 Member
    I have tried it in the past and it's good for a quick fix. Afterwards though you will put the weight back on. I have recent restarted the Special K diet but I've made some changes, rather than two bowls a day I will have one for either breakfast lunch or dinner.
  • Firefox7275
    Firefox7275 Posts: 2,040 Member
    As far as I know it's having a bowl of special K for breakfast & Lunch and having healthy snacks and a balanced dinner, as well as working out. Has anyone tried it and noticed it worked? Would love to know as it would be really easy for me! Thanks x

    Wouldn't meet even the basic (minimum/ maximum) healthy eating guidelines, it's heavily processed sugary crap, you won't be getting seven to nine servings of fruit and veg nor the recommended amount of wholegrains, the saving grace is the milk you would have with the cereal although most people don't have a full serving of milk with a small bowl of cereal.
  • gp79
    gp79 Posts: 1,799 Member
    Marketing junk that target the uninformed people looking for a quick fix.
  • coffee_rocks
    coffee_rocks Posts: 275 Member
    Special K is a nutritionally void cereal and has no place in a balanced, healthy diet when there are so many better choices out there.

    Go for something with a bit more fibre - whole grains, slightly processed if at all, and packed with other nutrients. Pass over the highly processed cereals.
  • kdelost630
    kdelost630 Posts: 196 Member
    Tried it in college. I just gave me tummy aches and made me sh$t a lot. Plus, I was starving after a few days and gave up. My advice is don't do it...
  • stonel94
    stonel94 Posts: 550 Member
    As far as I know it's having a bowl of special K for breakfast & Lunch and having healthy snacks and a balanced dinner, as well as working out. Has anyone tried it and noticed it worked? Would love to know as it would be really easy for me! Thanks x

    it's not just a bowl of special K, it's any of the special K variety, but just 1 or 1 serving, so yes you will lose weight because you probably have more than 200-400 calories for 2 meals normally, but it's not any more effective than reducing your calories any other way
  • Maidofmer
    Maidofmer Posts: 908 Member
    years ago I didn't know what a calorie was or anything, but I knew fructose and sucrose were bad and helped weight gain, so I took a note book and for 2 hours walked around Wal-Mart looking for what I liked to see if it had it or not. Special K is loaded with fructose. the only cereal I seen that didn't was shredded wheat.
  • Peep_chic
    Peep_chic Posts: 369 Member
    Long time ago I tried it and got bad headaches. I couldnt continue for long. I only assume it was because of so little nutrition.
  • kikilita
    kikilita Posts: 91 Member
    A few years ago I tried and only lasted two days. It's not worth it.
  • 3foldchord
    3foldchord Posts: 2,918 Member
    I love cereal. I could it for almost every meal!
    I had a big bowl of rice Chex for lunch.

    But I wouldn't use cereal as a healthy diet. Just a quick meal when the kids are crazy and I have a headache.
  • clover5
    clover5 Posts: 1,640 Member
    I did this a few years ago. By the 2nd day I was already tired of Special K so I started eating any kind of cereal, including hot cereal sometimes. And I put some kind of fruit on it. I did lose weight, but like any fad diet, I gained it back when I started eating normally again.
  • vmekash
    vmekash Posts: 422 Member
    I agree that it is not sustainable, but it may good a jump start. :smile: