Diet Fads that do NOT work ( i know, do any? )

Any diet that only lasts a limited time and does not lead to a lifestyle change basically will only work temporarily as you'll likely gain the weight back.

"Lifestyle changes" have the same abysmal rates of long term success and maintenance as temporary fad diets and radical dieting.

Regardless of how it's lost, the overwhelming majority of people either fail to reach their goal, or fail to maintain that goal.

So are you saying that people should then just roll the dice and hope that they aren't one of the majority? Or is that lifestyle change is really beyond one's control?

A.C.E. Certified Personal/Group FitnessTrainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

I kind of love you for saying that last part. Often people start with a lifestyle change and then get to where they want to be and switch to "I reached my goal, I'm done" mode and go back to eating pretty much how they did before they made their lifestyle change. Combine that with how fat cells vs. muscle cells work and they gain back a bunch of weight. Yikes! Yes, lifestyle change means FOREVER! Of course you can make careful adjustments to it but bottom line is you are never done.

People still confuse 'diet' with 'lifestyle change' that's the problem. If you want weight loss and maintenance to be permanent you have to get out of the mindset that weight loss something you do for a little while and stop. A lifestyle change is something that should be sustainable for life. That's where I'm up to, trying to change my behaviour and wanting a 'quick fix'. It's hard to do when you have lived your life being set in your ways.

I've tried...

Jenny Craig, weight watchers, various shakes, the Dukan diet and carb free fads. None of which teach you how to eat sensibly, portion size etc. As a result I lose weight and put it back on again!

Those don't teach you about portion control or eating sensibly? Do you not understand the point system is based on calories for weight watchers? Hmmmm....

Jenny Craig gives you food, you blindly stick it in the microwave and consume it. Where in that does it teach you to portion control and eat healthy? It's also laden with so much salt it's ridiculous. Weight Watchers might be a calorie counting type diet, but why do I want to pay for going to meetings to show me how to count calories when I can do it on MFP for FREE (and it's pretty frigging expensive!)? Also their food tastes like cardboard and I avoid it like the plague. I'd rather eat full fat and just log it and move on.

Any diet that only lasts a limited time and does not lead to a lifestyle change basically will only work temporarily as you'll likely gain the weight back.

"Lifestyle changes" have the same abysmal rates of long term success and maintenance as temporary fad diets and radical dieting.

Regardless of how it's lost, the overwhelming majority of people either fail to reach their goal, or fail to maintain that goal.

So are you saying that people should then just roll the dice and hope that they aren't one of the majority? Or is that lifestyle change is really beyond one's control?

A.C.E. Certified Personal/Group FitnessTrainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition

Nope. I'm saying that slapping a "lifestyle change" label on your dieting doesn't magically put anybody in a better position for beating the odds.

It's become quite common for people to claim that if you call it a "lifestyle change", or lose it slowly, or do it in "moderation", and many other such popular dieting platitudes, it equips you better for long term success. That's not backed up by any actual facts or statistics. Calorie counting, point watching, carb counting, fast loss, slow loss, moderate loss, portion control, dieting, "lifestyle changes", all ultimately have extraordinarily horrendous long term results.

So I'm merely saying that regardless of how you lose, it's best to be aware that it's an uphill battle for most people, no matter how how you label the journey.

Agree completely - high schools should teach a course called life skills - how to cook, how to eat sensibly, how to shop sensibly, how to manage your money, how to be in a relationship, how to be a parent and on and on...........that would actually prepare people for life.

High school should teach this? Are you kidding me? The last time I checked, this was called PARENTING.

Am I the only one old enough to have tried Ayds?

You're about 14 years older than me but I remember Ayds from an older sister trying it in the mid-70s. The vibrating belt machine was still around, too, I think? I remember Marlo Thomas on That Girl using it.

I tried a box of Alli when it first came out. Eh. You limit your fat intake to 15g/meal so you don't have greasy orange diarrhea. I could do that without an expensive pill.

The "eat right for your blood type" diet. I'm embarrassed that I got suckered into trying that one!

Face type diet.... All those home made oatcakes and disgusting green soup....ugh.

And Slimming World made me feel so ill it was unreal.... Low fat diets do bad things to my digestive system... And I put on weight :frown:

One of the shake diets, Celebrity Slim (I knowwwwww! :embarassed:) does actually work for me, though. Trouble is I have a mild dairy allergy so it's impossible for me to do for an extended period. The weight lost stayed off until my boyfriend moved in...

In high school, I megadosed on Metabolift (off-brand Metabolife) at the urging of a boyfriend. I felt awful after doing that for a short while and had to stop. I also drank Kombucha tea with my mom - it tasted like warm vinegar, so of course you won't want to eat after that!

I tried some chitosan liquid while in college - saw an infomercial for it. Did nothing. Neither did this weight loss vitamin supplement my cousins were using and selling - can't remember the name of them now.

I have also tried Atkins and didn't work at all. I felt awful after week 1, yet lost zero lbs. My doctor recommended South Beach. I got the book but didn't do it because the food was expensive and I was a broke grad student.

I thought about Alli, but I thought better of it once I remembered it was a tapered-down version of Xenical. My dad took Xenical back in the 90s and apparently had a lot of "treatment effects" (ie lots of oily poop and emergency restroom trips while on family vacation).

Low fat diets. Hahaha. What a bunch of crap those are

Exactly. :grumble:

I prefer eating food that tastes good. And satisfies.

ANY diet works if one follows the program. A FAD DIET is one that will help one lose weight, but one that's not likely sustainable by anyone looking to lose a few pounds and keep them off.

A.C.E. Certified Personal and Group Fitness Trainer
IDEA Fitness member
Kickboxing Certified Instructor
Been in fitness industry for 30 years and have studied kinesiology and nutrition