Which 'fad diets' did you buy into?

TeachTheGirl
TeachTheGirl Posts: 2,091 Member
in Food and Nutrition
Before learning that a calorie deficit was the only way to consistently lose weight, I searched high and low for things that would help me shift the weight. Afterall, I couldn't do it myself, right? That's what the ads would have you believe!

Seeing a thread about ALLI, it made me remember signing up to their email service and how every year since, I get a 'start off the year right with ALLI' email encouraging me to better myself...after giving them all of my money.

I also joined a weight-loss challenge group (I won most inches lost, yay) which sadly was endorsed by Herbalife. Had I known they'd push their meal supplements on me every class, I wouldn't have joined, but it just goes onto the seemingly never ending list of 'diet options' that we're made to believe are beneficial to us.

Which fad diets did you buy into? Did they work? Did you have buyers remorse?
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Replies

  • Kandygirl
    Kandygirl Posts: 249 Member
    i haven't paid for any fad diets but i currently doing the 8 hour diet and doing pretty well on it. i can only eat for 8 hours a day. i can eat anything i want but i'm sticking to anything under my calorie limit. i need to excerise for at least 8 minutes and a day and i fast for 16 hours. it's pretty cool and it's helping me shed pounds.
  • LoosingMyLast15
    LoosingMyLast15 Posts: 1,457 Member
    i never got into the fad diets clubs you had to join but i have tried the grapefruit diet, diet pills, no bread diet (that didn't last long) and my all time favorite one i made up in high school - the only red m&m's diet (some dumbA$$ diet i made up)
  • mindovermattergp
    mindovermattergp Posts: 5
    I was just thinking about the various diets I have tried. I did Atkins and lost the most weight on that one. I did South Beach, Weight Watchers online, and a few others. I have found that good ole' keeping track of calories, exercise, and healthy eating has been my best bet at losing weight and it is more realistic because it becomes a lifestyle and not just another diet.
  • reese307
    reese307 Posts: 72 Member
    i did the "lemonade" diet (LOL silly me drinking that spicy stuff!) ..hcg..grapefruit diet.. just plain starvation..smh not knowing that just watcing my calories exercising and dedication got the best results!
  • lizzyb83
    lizzyb83 Posts: 107 Member
    I did Atkins, South Beach, Lemonade diet, grapefruit diet, Hydroxycut (and every other pill out there), no fat, no carb. You name it, I tried it. I ALMOST did Herbalife, but thankfully a friend turned me onto Beachbody instead. They of course have their supplements they endorse, most Shakeology, but they are really about teaching you how to work out AND eat right! It has been almost 2 years, and I love it! Once you get out of that "Diet" mentality, and focus more on a lifestyle change, that is when results actually happen!

    And seriously...red M&M diet? Best thing I have ever heard! Some day I want to try that one!!! :happy:
  • sweetnlow30
    sweetnlow30 Posts: 497 Member
    I am ashamed to admit that I once tried the cabbage soup diet :blushing: This was after my son was born and I was at my heaviest weight of over 250 pounds. At the time I honestly didn't understand what it took to lose weight in a healthy and permanent way so I was desperate, but determined, for a quick fix. I remember buying a week worth of food including a whole bunch of veggies to make the soup. Now, I actually do love boiled cabbage so I thought it was going to be easy but I discovered on day two that my empty stomach does not enjoy ingesting a large bowl of acidic fruit along with acidic soup. I was doubled over in pain for the better part of that day and my diet came to an end, with a huge pot of soup still left in the fridge.:grumble: NEVER AGAIN!!
  • thecakelocker
    thecakelocker Posts: 407 Member
    While depressed I did not eat anything at all for a month and lost almost 40 lbs. However, I would not recommend this approach. I gained it all back, anyways.
  • babydiego87
    babydiego87 Posts: 905 Member
    cambridge diet. it sucked and was expensive as hell
  • allie7383
    allie7383 Posts: 865 Member
    In college I did Atkins a couple times, and was totally miserable thinking of everything I couldn't eat.. In high school I tried using Hydroxycut, and wow I never again bought diet pills after that. Eventually they have you taking 9 pills a day and it did nothing but give me major insomnia. Glad I learned my lesson.
  • KAbena
    KAbena Posts: 50 Member
    Um... all of them? Dukan, Tony Ferguson, WW, Atkins, Low carb, No Carb, No Sugar, No Gluten, Lemonade, Paleo, Long-term juice fasting...

    Finally snapped myself out of it!
  • SwimFan1981
    SwimFan1981 Posts: 1,430 Member
    Atkins, Cambridge Diet, Lipotrim, Acai Berry, Master Cleanse, 18in4 and the Cabbage Soup Diet :laugh:
  • Cr01502
    Cr01502 Posts: 3,614 Member
    Low Carb

    Low Fat
  • AllyCatXandi
    AllyCatXandi Posts: 329 Member
    I've never bought into any fad diets, but a good friend of mine tried something called the 'Denmark Diet'. It basically involved living off boiled eggs, black coffee, and nowhere NEAR enough calories.

    Another friend of mine has been on-again-off-again with Atkins. Personally, I don't think it's in any way sustainable for the long term, but it's her body and at the end of the day she has to figure out what works and what doesn't.
  • lauren3101
    lauren3101 Posts: 1,853 Member
    I only tried Slimming World and Weight Watchers, maybe not fad diets, but I don't believe in them all the same.
  • 12333beth
    12333beth Posts: 31
    I didnt believe the fad diets would ever work, but i fasted (not really a fad) and lost a lot. although I gained it back sort of ...
  • chrisjathompson
    chrisjathompson Posts: 227 Member
    I did the juice diet from Fat sick and dying last year. I dropped down to 269 lbs. Right now I am at 283, and all my measurements are SMALLER now than it was then. Tells you there is something wrong with that plan, it was far too much work for what it was worth. I gained it all back and then some.
  • stephdeeable
    stephdeeable Posts: 1,407 Member
    I've tried to lose weight multiple times before but the only fad diet I ever tried was Atkins when I was 17. I remember hating it. I remember eating eggs without ketchup hurt my very being....I lost 12 pounds in a week and then ate Wendy's and some pizza and "gained it all back". Low carb is not for me,
  • kristen6022
    kristen6022 Posts: 1,923 Member
    I have honestly NEVER did a "fad diet". I've lost weight 3 times in the last 34 years and each time it's been from reducing what I eat and moving more. I can't stick to "diets" and I just end up worse off as I was before I started.
  • akaMrsmojo
    akaMrsmojo Posts: 762 Member
    I tried the banana diet, it lasted two days.
  • Ascolti_la_musica
    Ascolti_la_musica Posts: 676 Member
    The most weight I ever lost was on the too poor to eat and too proud to beg diet. I don't recommend it.

    I tried bulimia under the 'helpful' tutoring of a bad foster 'dad.'

    I tried Dukan after my mother in law bought us a membership and a huge case of oat bran. We lost a lot of water weight, felt like ****, and couldn't touch eggs for a month after that nonsense.

    MFP + Fitbit has been the best for me.
  • toomuchbootyindapants
    toomuchbootyindapants Posts: 811 Member
    Honestly - all of them. The list is too long. None of them worked. If I did lose weight, I put it back in in no time. The only thing that has worked is a moderate calorie deficit (250-500 cals less than what I burn each day) and exercise. No gimmicks. No diets. Nothing but good food, lots of good food, and moving my tail.
  • Dragon67
    Dragon67 Posts: 123 Member
    *bump*
  • WendyTerry420
    WendyTerry420 Posts: 13,274 Member
    None really. My mom did talk me into going to a Weight Watchers meeting once, about 10 or so years ago. But I couldn't deal with that meeting because it felt like a 12 step program. I did Metabolife and other forms of ephedra off and on for years. Lost a bunch of weight, then gained it back with the pills. They do a great job of taking away your appetite, but then you're hungry as a horse when you don't take it.
  • ndj1979
    ndj1979 Posts: 29,136 Member
    I bought into the six small meals a day will keep you out of starvation mode BS for a number of years....but I never really did any fad diet like pills, cleanses, or eat this food all the time and you will lose weight...aka the chicken diet..
  • SamanthaClarexo
    SamanthaClarexo Posts: 353 Member
    Slimfast, Weight Watchers, Master Cleanse, Cabbage Soup, Atkins, No Carb, Blueberry diet and good ol' starvation.

    My poor body!
  • soni_me
    soni_me Posts: 95 Member
    Only 2.
    I did Slim Fast where I lost a good bit of wait, because it made me actually look at calories, but didn't really understand what I was doing (1200 calories plus exercise that I didn't factor into my calories). This was after my first son.
    I also did South Beach Diet and I honestly liked it except the cost of everything "South Beach approved". I still actually employed many of the things learned, but I hate trying to "find" things that have absolutely no high fructose corn syrup and only using splenda.
  • Poods71
    Poods71 Posts: 502 Member
    Atkins, South Beach (got really sick on that one), weight watchers, Special K diet, Hoodia tablets, detoxing. There are probably loads of other but I can't remember them all lol. They all worked (except South Beach cos I gave up when I got sick after 3 days) but I always put the weight back on and didn't learn sensible eating.

    This is the longest I have stayed at a weight I am relatively happy with (still a bit of a work in progress exercise wise) and I can see myself sticking with it for good. Who knew that a simple calorie controlled diet and a bit or exercise was the way to go lol.
  • mmuzzatti
    mmuzzatti Posts: 704 Member
    Nutra System, Phen Phen, low calorie, all of them I lost weight and failed. Now back on here and doing it right....very slow and very cautious about what I lose and how hard I workout!

    Oh sh1t! I forgot Allie! What a mess that was! Never ever fart!
  • vwkauffman
    vwkauffman Posts: 39 Member
    I've done Atkins and WW. Both "worked" until I stopped. I do believe that WW is sustainable, I just have suffered from poor motivation. Atkins isn't a lifelong diet unless you really can say goodbye to carbs. I can't.
  • deepuckett1
    deepuckett1 Posts: 48 Member
    All of them and I gained back every pound and more. Lesson learned? Yup, this is a life style change. Not a Fad of anykind. It is my choice - healthy or not, fat or not, alive or not.

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