"Beyond Diet"...have you tried it? Looking for opinions

I found the 5 foods to avoid in another (earlier) post on this site. THANKS! Here is what it said:

The list below of the 5 foods to never eat may surprise you if you’re on a fast weight loss diet.

1. Orange juice – contains very high sugar content which will disrupt your body’s blood sugar and insulin levels.
2.Artificial sweeteners – cause weight gain as they are perceived as a toxin to the body.
3.Whole wheat bread – wheat products have been shown to quickly turn into sugar in the body.
4.Fake butters – are made from unhealthy, unnatural ingredients perceived as toxins in the body.
5.Soy products – have been shown to disrupt hormone levels and negatively affect the thyroid.

I just had a look at the web site. It makes a lot of sense. I've been surprised up until now that there hasn't been more fuss about the amount of sugar in low fat foods. I suffered from Irritable bowel syndrome when I was younger, before I discovered that it had a lot to do with yeast in the digestive track consuming sugar and producing carbon dioxide gas.
When you look at it from an evolutionary perspective, they are just advising you to eat the types of foods that your body has evolved to break down over thousands of years.
As for exercise, yes I believe it is important, but if someone hasn't been exercising it is a good way to cause them to loose interest in a diet if you try to force them to. Also being a single mother who works full time it can be hard to find time, but I have found that if I exercise regularly I tend to crave less fat and want to eat healthier.
Finally cost, it's true that they give you all the information you need to do the diet yourself in the video, but if you couldn't be bothered doing all of the work yourself creating meal plans recipes etc then $50 for getting the meal plans and recipes is not excessive.

Absolute waste of money - the website has some good info, but please don't sign up or pay for anything -- Isabel de Los Rios is a mother with a some healthy eating tips and a chipper attitude. Everything she spouts can be learned through some very basic internet research. Essentially; eat healthily, try not to eat too many processed foods and everything in moderation. I'm sure you are all gobsmacked at the gravity of these realisations.

I (idiotically) actually paid the £40 to be privy to her daily ramblins which, while they contain basic nutritional advice, ineveitably come with a link to some diet pill / shake / booklet / snake charmer punted by a de Los Rios sponsor which, of course, you have to purchase. But wait! There's more! These additions are almost always touted as "a bargain" and, if you do a ittle digging, are inevitably homeopathic (so require no FDA approval), or are written by someone who got their nutritionist qualification off Nutritionists-R-Us online.

Please don't waste your money. Better information and better recipes can be found through a little googling. I'm an engineer and ordinarily don't enter into anything like this without research, but I was feeling a little diet-depressed and looking for a kickstart and somehow deluded myself into thinking it lay in the Beyond Diet.

As much as I am thankful to have sites like My Fitness Pal to come to for free resources (namely the calorie counter / tracker) which is the main reason that I joined this site to begin with sometime ago, I still have failed to launch my diet program because I was trying to piece all of the other elements that was to make my weight loss plan doable and I hoped, successful.

I have just today discovered Beyond Diet and I took the time to listen to the video and do's and don't's food lists. I am thrilled to know that Beyond Diet doesn't support pills, fad dieting, grueling (notice that I used the word "grueling") exercise and small portioned dieting meals that count calories.

I think that what many of you (those who support finding free information and surfing the net piece-milling clean eating diet plans, among the others who just want to have a say) fail to realize is that there are a number of us who "stress" having to find what is already confusing to us regarding finding the right food menu that's going to support our good health while working to safely allow us to lose weight and:
1. Feel satiated, 2. feel calm about eating the right foods that will quell the glycemic index, 3. feel confident that the food we're going to be eating will in fact help us to actually lose the excess weight without stressing (stress hormones = weight gain or inability to lose), 4. And, find a program that isn't a diet but a lifestyle change that we can live the rest of our lives with ultimately to achieve optimal health and wellness.

I personally hate the idea of being on a diet. I had always been thin (at some point, skinny) but had horrible eating habits. I have had to learn how to eat over the past several decades because my idea of staying slender was by not eating but a meal in a day, or staying away from fatty meats and instead eating potato chips or snicker's bars for energy, or some other ridiculous snacky food. I wish my Mom would have taught me how as a young girl to eat healthy, I wish my Dad, a sports enthusiast in his younger years, wouldn't have supported sugar as an energy food. Growing up we didn't eat a lot of vegetables - and guess what? That's what my body responds best to these days.

I am an impatient person. I can't spend gobs of time surfing the net and trying to piece-mill "the right" diet. I need a program that holds my hand and walks me through losing weight but without having to spend hundreds of dollars (free is always better). If Isabel Del Rios (Beyond Diet) has that passion, time and energy to spend putting together all of this good information for me and others in one place, I am MORE THAN HAPPY, THRILLED, in fact, to pay the one-time, lifetime membership fee of $47 dollars for her well organized, well researched and well proven method (and website). At some point you pay for something in order to get on the right track to weight loss and good healthy habits, whether a gym membership, exercise tools or videos, it's all based on what it's worth to you, for your personal reasons.

I am thankful for those of you who post useful advice and information hear (and elsewhere) that actually helps the others of us who are on a seek and find journey to be healthy and trim once and for all. I admire those who do enjoy the grueling work of extreme exercise and dieting, but that's just not me (and I suspect a lot of others out there feel the same way too.) I just want to look good in clothes again (in other words enjoy shopping for fun again, unlike now). I wouldn't mind being slightly more toned from walking, or some "fun" aerobic workouts, or bicycling out in the open air, or a little tennis anyone? I am so uncoordinated now I'm embarrassed to say and feeling a bit old and used up. I'm just 48 years old and ashamed I have failed to do better for my health at this point.

I am at a point now where I have somehow gone into a deep zone where I am very over-weight (240 lbs at 5'7") and enduring menopause which started early due to stress. (Long story) So the easier I can make it on myself to stick to a lifestyle diet that will actually work at allowing me to lose the weight for good, (without stressing) and know exactly how and what to eat for my body type for the rest of my life sounds like something I would be interested in doing for a mere $47 dollars. I believe that what Isabel Del Rios has put together sits well with my gut instincts, and if I could be as blessed as those of you who can easily spend the time searching and finding your answers to sustained health and weight loss in such a well organized platform as Isabel has created, more power to you and God bless. I will cheat and let Isabel's work work for me! Wish US luck and try not to judge to harshly. Everyone has their method and and there are more than one paths to success. Thank you again to those of you posting useful advice and much needed support! If anyone has specific information on where to find the same information that Isabel Del Rios is laying out in her videos and website and support platform, diet recipes and planning here on this site or elsewhere, do us the favor of providing that info, those links, or hyperlinks specifically. Please be sure that you have also researched, personally seen Isabel's videos, understand her methodology and support her personal reasoning and weight problems since I can personally relate to those points of interest. Thanks & wishing all the best in their weight loss, and healthy body journeys! XO

PS: This is my first post since joining MyFitnessPal some months back. But I am not a paid poster, just a member who was moved by these posts in my research on google for the Beyond Diet program who felt compelled to comment on my experience and desire to find the right program for me. And was hoping that others would find room for other theories on why a program like Beyond Diet makes sense even if you do pay a small fee.

I for one would like to say good on you DiannaKTX and want to wish you the best of success in your decision.
I too came here because I liked what I saw at Beyond Dieting and decided to do a little checking on Google to see if what she was saying was based on truth and not a scam. That search led me here to this thread. Basically I can see from the comments that most people are saying why pay for something you can get for free. This (as well as information gleaned from other google searches) has convinced me that what Beyond Dieting says is indeed good information so I will be signing up as well.

For those of you who I know are going to roll your eyes at me for "wasting" my money I have one thing to say.

Time is money.

I have too many other things I want to spend my time on besides loosing weight

So in the same way as paying a tax consultant to do my tax relieves me of the burden and the time required to research current tax laws so I can do it myself, in the same way, paying a measly 50 bucks to have a reputable nutritionist plan it all out for me is money well spent in my book.

From the comments here I can tell Isabels claims of being a nutritionist are valid and the things she says is correct.
Isabel plainly admits that in the first few moments of the introductory video "Your not going to learn anything here that you cant get for free on the internet with a lot of time and effort".
I have tried and I agree with her, its all too confusing and contradictory and more importantly, its all too much effort for me.

Anyway I came here to see if what Isabel had to say was accurate and it seems that it is.
That was all I wanted to know
Don't get me wrong I think this site is great for those of you who have the time and the desire to research all of this and I wish you the best of luck in your efforts.

I want to do many things in my next 10 years and I need to be healthy to do them.

I found this website as a result of searching for review on the Beyond Diet program; I read the ENTIRE thread, now it's my turn.

In 2005 I lost 35lbs due to weight watcher, in the beginning I was ALWAYS hungry…… I really only used their cookbook, I did not go to meetings, but I did weigh in. Life happened and
8 months ago I weighed right about 200 lbs, I’m 5’5” (an umpa lumpa), now I weigh 170 lbs and my goal is to weigh 140 lbs. I’m 49 years young and have tried plenty of diets, I go on a diet and I gain weight. My goal is to run a ½ marathon in March 2014, I will use this website as my accountability partner so to speak.

Back to the reason for this post, I know myself, I know the time I have and the interest I have in doing research on the internet for nutrition and healthy living, so being honest I won’t do it. But what I need is a program that will tell/show me the how to. I like that someone IS GIVING ME A PLAN TO FOLLOW. I will go to the gym and start my running program too.

I am going to buy the Beyond Diet program because I want to be successful in losing weight, changing my eating habits and knowing how to be healthy, having a program to follow will make it easier for ME to achieve success. The $47 investment/scam/program is worth it, my time is more valuable than to spend it on becoming a nutritionist, a chef and a expert on how to surf the internet with successful results on numerous topics. As far as the ads to buy stuff they don’t bother me, I see ads on this site but I don’t have to click on any of them or I can click on all of them it’s my choice.

Wishing all a healthy lifestyle and much happiness.

P.S.
I will upload my fat picture once I take it.

I have had myfitnesspal for quite awhile on my iPhone, but just now posting here as I, like other apparently, did a search for the Beyond Diet reviews and ended up here. I'm going to give my 2 cents that's provably not worth that much. That's where I think a lot of these 1 replies are coming from. I am not a shill for the company. Like others, I was intrigued by the idea, mostly because I suffer from fibromyalgia and my son has Type 1 Diabeties and no one has bothered to ask the question of "Isnt it odd that fibromyalgia, autisum, diabeties and other diseases have sky rocketed, jumping 40 - 60% since GMO's have entered our diet?" I saw a geneticist on video that scarced me senseless answer that question and made me realize my son and I's issues were most likely a result of our diet and if we didnt change it, things would only get worse. Beyond Diet spoke directly to that issue. So, Desite some scam warnings here, I am slapping down my $47 to get recipies, meal plans, exercise plans and more. All while cutting out sugar, gluten and most importantly GMO's! I am sure I can get it online and I am sure I will. But this looks like a good place to start. And people here should really care more about GMO foods. Don't believe the hype Monsanto feeds you. Its almost impossible to avoid too!

I have not read this entire thread, but I saw the original topic and wanted to put in my 2-cents worth. I have followed the Beyond Diet plan for 2 years now. I am 90 pounds lighter and think it is the BEST $47 I've ever spent. Is the info common sense? Somewhat. But, if it's available for free why doesn't everybody put it together and do it? The program founder is a nutritionist who has taken her time to develop an easy to follow portion & balance based program that allows you to eat real food and get rid of the processed 'junk' that is pushed on us by the food industry (or our laziness) and become healthier and lighter in the process.

I will never stop eating this way. I have lower blood pressure (hoping to get off the meds soon). I've gone from a size 20W to a 10 (some 8s). I have more energy than ever before and am motivated by success.

The BeyondDiet website has lots of great recipes that fit the plan, a food journal that also fits the plan, & community support. It could definitely be improved, but the basic program is solid.

You do have to look past the marketing tactics for supplements and other products that are from companion providers. All the "buy this" gets old, but I simply ignore the emails and don't have a problem.

The success in terms of weightloss is slow but I didn't get 250 lbs. overnight either, so I'm OK with that. The key is that it is doable long term.

Hope my experience helps someone. Thanks for listening....

If you think the information possibly provided to you is worth the money, go for it. I think most of us have spent money on some sort of diet plan at one point or another.

Personally, I think that most people would get more benefit from putting in the effort to learn the things on their own rather than rely on someone else doing all the work for them in getting the info.

Kind of makes me think of cliff notes, sure, you may get the basic info, but you won't get all the nuances you might by going the long route.

Whichever choice you make, good luck with it.

Beyond diet is working for me so far. Lost 5 kilos to date
It is indeed true that there is a reasonable amount of marketing going on but it's not difficult to ignore.
I just stick to following the basic plan. Not fully into it yet because we had a fair amount of food that is not condemned but not recommended either. I don't know whether I'm actually eating more than before but it feels like I am. Certainly not eating through the night anymore. Not because I force myself but because I just don't feel hungry
I just like that everything I need is there in one place and I don't have to try very hard.
Most of my time on the site is looking for other recipes that I might like

Anyway I posted this to let those who were interested know that I am happy with my decision and enjoying success without too much effort. It's only been a short time. I'm more interested to see what I think in six months time

If you mean the 5 mentioned on beyond diet
They have already been identified in this thread but here is my thoughts on them in my own words
I am simplifying what she says as I currently understand it and I am merely a beginner in this

Sugar. Because it causes your body to produce insulin which converts the sugar to fat

Proceed foods because the additives upsets your natural hormone levels

Wheat products because wheat is so genetically modified it has become a non food

Fake butters. Something to do with being hydrogenated and the effect that has on our bodies

Soy products. The health benefits of soy is greatly exaggerated by its marketers.


Something else I would like to say. Beyond diet doesn't deny that weight loss is calories in verses calories out
What they do say is that counting calories is not the best strategy for losing weight.
A better strategy is to eat a balanced diet of protein verses carbs verses oils. All three are important in a balanced diet.
And all three need to be balanced over a 5 meals a day menu

From my understanding it's all about keeping your blood sugar levels in the fat burning levels mentioned in the introductory video and never allowing it to get into the insulin producing levels. It's also all about removing the poisons in processed foods etc that adversely affects our metabolism.

Don't ask me how to work out the balanced diet. I have no idea since I'm not a nutritionist. That's what I am paying her for. Not the info. Like everyone says you can get the info on the internet everywhere for free. There is indeed nothing outstanding by way of information on the site. Although she does explain things in a way that even I can understand. At least I think I understand
Sure she is trying to make money from this but I can't blame her for that. I believe she puts a lot of time and effort into putting together the meal plans so why shouldn't she be rewarded for that. I don't know why but I just get the feeling she is sincere although a little pushy at times

I'm posting here not to convince everyone here to join. If I had the inclination to learn about nutrition so I could do it myself then I most certainly would save my money. But I have been trying that for quite some time now and failing miserably

This is merely my honest experience for those of you who might be like me. As I said yesterday though. It's only been a week and a half for me. I am still more interested to see what my opinion will be in six months time

Thanks so much for taking the time to reply, Delerna. I greatly appreciate it!

Still going, still loosing and I've had to cut back a little on the amount of food because I feel it was too much for me. What I eat at each meal easily lasts until my next meal. I have lost 11 kilo's in 27 days now. I am a software developer and the only exercise I do is a 1 hour walk around the streets in the evening. I am more than happy with my decision.

I must say it certainly is true that everything there is most definitely freely available and quite easy to find once you know what to look for. I have learned a lot doing this program which has helped me to weed out the bad info that is also everywhere on the internet and very easy to find. That's the problem. How do you know what to believe!

The whole program is built around relatively recent studies that suggests that from a metabolic perspective not all calories are created equal. Ie, the source of your daily calories matters. For example calories you consume from sugar is processed differently by your body than the same amount of calories from carbs. And the calories you consume from carbs is processed differently in your body than the same number of calories from proteins.
Just google. Are all carbs created equal and you will find the research. One I found was conducted at Harvard university. Not 100% sure but I think that's at least worth some consideration.

Also critical is the idea that your body needs certain fats in order for your metabolic rate to work at its peak.
I found this repeated amongst the research I've been reading.
Can you do it for free? Yes you can.
Whatever the case. I no longer believe its as easy as calories in verses calories out.
Of course you must burn more calories than you consume in order to loose weight.
But relying on simply reducing your calories also slows your metabolism. That's why so many people loose weight when they start only to find that it plateaus out after a week or two. That has been my experience every time I started a calorie counting diet.
But not now and I don't count calories (how boring)
Now I simply watch the ratio of proteins good carbs and good fats I eat at each meal and eat enough till I'm satisfied
I think it's between 2000 and 2400 calories a day but not absolutely sure.

I also have to say I enjoyed the quickest weight loss at the start.
What caused that?

No sugar, including substitutes like saccharin, Splenda etc. Yes the replacements are low in calories but they look like poison to our liver and adversely affects metabolism

No processed foods. Again. Poison that adversely effects metabolism.

Those two things had the biggest impact on my initial weight loss.
Everything else I have learned enables me to eat to satisfaction and still loose weight

This is my first post, but I am not affiliated with BD either. I see the "five foods you must never eat" on Facebook all the time so I clicked on it. I listened to the LONG video, that cleverly had no pause button. While I will honestly probably try it, it isn't anything that hasn't been heard before. What I don't get is why people on here seem somehow threatened by people trying it? What is the harm? The only issue that is making me leery of MFP is that it seems to tout the Calories in vs Calories out as the last word in dieting. Anyone who has tried Atkins knows this is patently false. I, like most of you I imagine, have tried countless diets over the years. I had great success on WW and kept it off for two years. The recent changes in their program taking glycemic index into account, as well as making fruits and vegetables "free" of points. When I did WW 13 years ago I felt much LESS healthy b/c I was filling up on low point JUNK like sugar-free jello, fat free cookies, etc. If a banana was three points and a cookie was three, I'd have the cookie! So I do feel that their newest program is MUCH healthier than in the past. But it too is mostly calories in and out at the end of the day. The most successful (fast results, lots food) diet I have ever done was the Suzanne Somers Plan which she (cheesily) calls "Sommersizing." I wish it had a less narcissistic name so people would have taken it more seriously! If you can suspend disbelief and the sting of Chrissy giving you diet advice, she actually is a very intelligent woman who did a lot of research. While her plan is based on "food combining" (not eating carb and fats/proteins at the same meal) due to the way the body digests food, it's the lack of sugar, wheat flour and processed foods that I think really does the trick. On her plan I lost 9 lbs in 11 days and felt fan-freaking-tastic. On the 11th day I found out I was pregnant so I resumed normal eating, which was probably much worse for the baby, but I was fearful of losing weight while pregnant. Anyway, one quote from the book that stuck with me was "Calorie-schmalorie" which translates to you can eat high calories and still lose weight. I found it to be very true. I ate a lot of eggs, cheese and vegetables. I found the fat free carb meals not that satisfying and frankly, our western culture revolves around the sandwich, especially at that time. It has gotten more socially acceptable to eat a burger with no bun, but back in the year 2000 it was an anomaly. I think what I've learned in the last 14 years is that SUGAR is the culprit, and as someone said, a day of twinkies may be 2000 calories, but I think we can all agree that is not healthy. The new info about GMOs and food additives is eye opening. We need to eat cleaner for our HEALTH (of which weight is a part, but not the whole.) What appealed to me about BD is it is that type of eating that is laid out for me. As far as cost, that 47.00 is the cost of one month of WW which I was planning to start back up this week. As I said, I am not a shill (but agree that some of the posts do sound like that, and I was suspicious myself.) I will happily share what I find and be completely honest if it is a rip off! It's definitely a hard-sell marketing thing, but I am only going for the initial package. Some things just feel right for your own body, and eating natural foods high in good fats, and natural carbs like berries is appealing to me. My biggest problems, honestly, are chocolate and wine. Even a teensy small glass (4 oz) of white wine is 4 WW points. And, drinking wine obviously makes making good food choices much more difficult. I've also just joined my itty bitty community center gym, which is something ridiculous like 10 dollars a month so very worth it. I have found exercise to not be necessary for weight loss (I believe the 80/20 rule) but that it is good for my health and getting better muscle tone is important as I age. Anyway, sorry to rant, but I think all ideas should be welcome here, and we should be sharing what works and what doesn't without judgement or a one size fits all attitude!

If you look on Pinterest, you can find a lot of yummy looking recipes for the Beyond Diet.