The dumbest diet you ever tried?

Not really a "diet", but in highschool, I got so depressed about gaining weight that I starved myself for a couple months. I would eat one meal, breakfast, and starve the rest of the day.

The 1,200 calorie diet. Worked great initially. Lost weight, had lots of energy. Figured all these 'experts' on MFP were wrong and it really was the answer. I was pretty proud of myself for being able to sustain such a low calorie intake. I wasn't hungry. My body got used to subsisting on such a low calorie count that hunger really wasn't an issue for me. Then reality set in. I got tired and cranky. My workouts suffered to the point that what I was accomplishing was little more than going through the motions. My weight loss stalled. I couldn't possibly eat any less than I was and had no energy to workout any more than I was. I was eating between 800 - 1200 calories a day and not losing. Couldn't figure out where I'd gone wrong. So I started researching. Started paying attention to posts from some of the long term members on MFP who've had success themselves. Turns out, they really do know what they're talking about. Go figure.

Haha! Love it. I cannot do 1200. I've been eating between 1700 and 2000 for the past 3 weeks and lifting weights 2-3x per week and I'm losing now

ETA: I once bought these "metaslim" pills from Walmart that were supposed to help speed up your metabolism to lose weight... I had to stop taking them after a couple of days because I could feel my heart racing even when doing no exercise and was afraid of landing myself in the ER!

I ate only beans for a month yeah it worked but it wasnt pretty

Hahaha! I cannot stop laughing.

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.

The most insane diet I ever tried was in the 1970s, maybe mid to late '70s. It was one of those diet plans people were selling from home. You couldn't get it in a store. A friend of mine started selling it and came to my home and gave me a little lecture on how to do it. It was insane. It was a fad. It was one of those diet drink diets. And when you did get to eat, it was weird.

ALSO, they said not to drink any water for a few days, just the two or three diet drinks, and no food at first either. I wound up so sick and weak the third day my husband had to miss work for half a day because I couldn't get out of bed to care for the kids. He was bringing me small drinks of water, often, and bites of food. I was finally able to get up and be okay, although weak the rest of that day.

A few weeks later a neighbor died while on that diet. It was so sad. Her little boy came home from kindergarten and found her on the laundry room floor. I felt so bad for that family. And my family was relieved I had gone off that diet. Never again have I been on one that crazy.

When I was in highschool I tried some pretty terrible diets, here are a few of my worst:

Celebrity slim, a two meal replacement shake diet, I ended up just gorging myself for dinner every night to compensate for how STARVING I was during the day. I still get emails from them asking me to sign up again to this day. Oh yeah, and I totally had to buy EVERYTHING to use the program; the books, the shaker cups, every flavor they carried, the special "plateau" breaker shakes.. I facepalm every time I think about how much money I wasted.

I did Tony Fergusson on and off for a while. I dropped a lot of weight initially but it was not sustainable. They don't take account of exercise in the program and for someone who was exercising daily (sometimes twice daily) it was like eating almost nothing. Not to mention the cost $4.25 each shake - what a rip off

I think the dumbest thing I ever fell for was eating those stupid Hoodia pills. I am not even sure what exactly they were supposed to do, but all they actually did was lessen the weight of my wallet.

Lipotrim.......thought I was going to die :huh: lost 13lbs in 5 days.........put on 18lbs in 14 days :noway: :embarassed:

Awful diet!! My mother's hair fell out doing this.


I have tried silly diets in the past such as meal replacement shakes, or replacing two meals with breakfast cereal. Healthy eating is much more fun!

Slim Fast. Boke.