Tell us crazy diets that you or someone you know fell for

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  • WhatMeRunning
    WhatMeRunning Posts: 3,538 Member
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    Can't believe I'm admitting it..

    The 801010 Diet. For those of you who don't know, it's 80% carbs, 10% fat, and 10% protein, and you're expected to consume at least 3000 calories/day.

    Not only did I get muscle wastage, problems with my nervous system (random muscle spasms), and weight *gain*, but I straight up passed out during one of my lifts. Dropped the weight right on myself. Never ever again will I neglect protein.. Or fat.
    I forgot all about that "gem"!:laugh: I learned about that one while on the raw diet, even ordered the book to check it out. Learned about Fruitarians as well, never tried that one either.

    Sadly, I did try the "30 bananas a day" thing that was popular in those same circles. Please don't anyone else try this.
  • EmpressZhark
    EmpressZhark Posts: 26 Member
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    A woman I used to work with tried the ABC diet (I have no idea what it stands for). There was some crazy schedule to follow, one fast day per week with the rest of the days on an extremely low calorie count (between 100 and 800 I think, it varied day to day). Ridiculous diet, she lasted 2 weeks and then collapsed one weekend.

    She also heard of some cleansing juice thing with maple syrup, cayenne pepper and lemon juice (I think). Only, cayenne pepper wasn't so well known in the UK at the time, maple syrup was expensive, so she used golden syrup, black pepper and flat lemonade. Strangely, it didn't work..
  • Wildflowers70
    Wildflowers70 Posts: 72 Member
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    I agree!
  • tauny78
    tauny78 Posts: 180 Member
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    Oh I forgot this one...probably blocked it out actually . I personally tried herbalife years back. I did the shakes and pills and all. The pills were huge and they reeked! I was taking 20+ pills a day I think. And the shakes weren't much better. I did lose a small amount of weight but I got to the point where I couldn't swallow the smallest pill without gagging. It was awful. And expensive. And of course I gained it all back.
  • seltzermint555
    seltzermint555 Posts: 10,742 Member
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    My room mates did this one where they took a pill that had pregnancy hormones in it or something. Then they only ate lettuce and cheese for a week.
    Try baking in an apartment where two girls are imitating pregnancy with artificial hormones and starving themselves. I thought I was going to be murdered.

    My mom tried this diet for a bit too! hCG drops or something. She quit it after I pointed out she was only eating maybe 500 cal a day.

    For a short time I worked with a woman who swore by that hCG diet and told everyone who would listen how she had gone from a size 14 to 10 on it...she came into the break room one time when 3 of us (all plus sized women) were eating lunch, I think we had Schlotzsky's or something...anyway she started lecturing us about how we needed to stop eating that and do the hCG with her. I have heard she gained all the weight back, and I'm actually in touch with the other 2 women...now we all 3 have lost weight...two of us have lost huge (100+ lb) amounts of weight through HEALTHY methods. And the third woman hasn't lost quite as much but she's had some kind of makeover and looks gorgeous, like Kate Winslet. LMAO
  • k8eekins
    k8eekins Posts: 2,264 Member
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    Caminosio: For me I guess it could be the food pyramid

    izvku8.jpg

    The 2 qualifiers that I'd done and still do sometimes, out of preference (ease & convenience - time) would be:

    (i) Eating like a .... Breakfast (Feast) vs Lunch (Moderate) vs Dinner (Light)
    (ii) Soups, stews and salads ... <3<3<3 ... Fully-loaded quickie-feeds.

    * The other featured "crazy diets" were and still are, the norms for some I know.
  • cincysweetheart
    cincysweetheart Posts: 892 Member
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    My co-worker did juicing for a full 60 days. I mean it's great that she ate so many fruits and veggies… but that was it. And in liquid form. No solid foods for 2 months. She lost weight. But she was miserable. And she gained it all back pretty much the second she started eating solid food again. She's still trying every diet known to man. Except moderation and calorie deficit. She doesn't believe in that. SMH :noway:
  • 47Jacqueline
    47Jacqueline Posts: 6,993 Member
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    Any "one food" diet. Vinegar diet. Grapefruit diet. Atkins diet. Even Weight Watcher's diet.. er, food plan.

    Anything that was not native to being integrated into my day to day life.
  • allergictodiets
    allergictodiets Posts: 233 Member
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    I remember doing something called a Cambridge Diet for three weeks. Three powdered meals a day - 2 sweet shakes and something that was supposed to resemble a soup. 400 kcal or so per day!!! Even though I did not cheat I only lost a couple of pounds and felt horrible.
  • beautifuldisasta
    beautifuldisasta Posts: 89 Member
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    Cabbage soup diet for me too, stayed on it for a week, lost 4kg (almost 9lbs) and gained it all back VERY quickly lol. I remember getting sick of the soup within a day or two, but kept on going, all for nothing in the end. Wont ever do that one again arrgghh :laugh:
  • wissabear
    wissabear Posts: 62 Member
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    Cabbage Soup Diet. Did not last the week. But did discover that I like the soup, I just needed real food to go with it.

    I actually lost 40 Lbs with Slim-fast in college. It took me 15 years to gain it all back. I decided to eat real food this time :)
  • PatchEFog
    PatchEFog Posts: 152 Member
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    I did this low fat diet once, but it was impossible to maintain during and after pregnancy.
  • NoMoreBlameGame
    NoMoreBlameGame Posts: 236 Member
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    Well, it wasn't me falling for it, but when I was in middle school, a gal came to school and stood on her left foot in the cafeteria while she ate. When you're that age and someone is standing on one foot for no apparent reason, and eating at the same time while trying to balance...you're gonna ask why (at least I did). She swore that by standing on your left foot while eating lunch...you wouldn't gain weight. When I asked why not her right foot instead of her left, she said, "The right foot is for dinner, not lunch." I asked, "What's the difference? Why does balancing on one foot make you not gain weight?" She replied by saying, "It makes you stand crooked so the food sloshes around instead of sitting in your stomach and soaking into your body." Yup, true story.

    I stopped asking questions after that and spent the rest of the lunch break eating my tater-tot casserole in complete silence.

    Edited to add for fairness: She stopped doing it after a few days, and it was later learned that one of the girls in the 8th grade (we were in 6th at the time) told her to do that, and she believed her (because the 8th graders were practically adults in our eyes). I don't know what is defined as middle school these days, but it was grades 6-8 when I was that age. :)
  • GameOfPounds
    GameOfPounds Posts: 128 Member
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    I have a friend who made a big juice and drank it within two days (that was the diet) so she can get thinner for a date. That same friend was doing a ton of diets,including drinking just tea or eating very low calorie.

    I have also tried a kind of high protein diet,I dont remember which to be honest for a week because I couldn't stand it,giving the fact that I was a vegetarian for a long time and you cant even go to the toilet! Another thing I tried was eating tons and tons of fruit. I gained...YES, gained the kilos I lost in a week the same week :P . I have also done a low and sometimes very low calorie diet and extreme exercise for the amount of calories I ate for some time but didn't gain those kilos back.

    Right now I do not count calories but with my experience on that subject and on portion sizes I am having about 1500-2000 calories a day and I eat whatever I want: little meat,grains,dairy,sweets -including fruits-,some junk food (not fast food at all) and salads. I don't eat the healthiest diet but I can go to the toilet,feel energized and lose or maintain my weight :)
  • Katy009
    Katy009 Posts: 579 Member
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    Cabbage soup diet. It didn't bother me too much because I love cabbage soup, but I think I lost like 2 kg and gained it back the minute I ate a sandwich.
  • WenHurley
    WenHurley Posts: 166 Member
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    I tried some of the over the counter diet pills several years ago (like dexatrim). They gave me a nasty side and then when I took Imodium to help with that, it counteracted the diet pills.
  • Chanchka
    Chanchka Posts: 359 Member
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    Where to start???

    The Cookie Diet -- http://www.cookiediet.com/

    Some crazy doctor who gave me Phentermine to take in the morning and Valium to help me sleep at night! I forgot what I was allowed for breakfast (I think 2 hard boiled eggs), but lunch was 2 slices of 40 cal/slice bread w/2 slices turkey breast and mustard. Dinner was any frozen meal that was between 300-400 cals. Oh -- and i had to come to him every week to weigh-in. If I didn't lose like 7 lbs, he'd yell at me and say that I was cheating!

    The 3 Day Diet -- http://www.diet.com/g/3day-diet <--- at least I got to have ice cream every night!!

    Cabbage Soup Diet -- http://www.cabbage-soup-diet.com/eating-plan/

    Oh, and I've tried a few over-the-counter pills -- Hydroxycut, Alli, Hoodia and Metabolife
  • FaylinaMeir
    FaylinaMeir Posts: 661 Member
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    ah lawd you're gonna get me tarred and feathered with this post :laugh: :laugh:

    I've tried juice feasting, mostly for cleansing but they do nothing other than make me feel nauseated because I don't like juice.

    I've tried for a long time to be a vegetarian / vegan and for some people it works but not for me. This changed into mcdougall style super low fat no oil vegan diet with tons of carbs. I did this for 6 months strictly but closer to 12 months loosely. By the end of it I lacked any real energy, my hair was thinning out, I felt sluggish after eating, and weight wise I lost like 1 pound, that's it.

    I tried paleo and couldn't do it. I felt like complete **** even following all the "rules" and if it works for some that's great but as someone who dislikes most meats it wasn't for me. It did help with the fat pobia instilled with the vegan diet though.

    I've also tried the 80-10-10 diet and I'll admit it only lasted a few weeks, I felt like completely and utter ****. No not "detox" symptoms, I felt like junk!

    I've also tried the rawtil4 diet and combined with the 8-1-1 diet I cannot eat bananas anymore with any sense of joy... 2 years later and no I'm not joking.


    All in all the only thing that has ever worked for me is good ole calorie restriction. I've lost 15 pounds in about 50 days and I'm no longer a vegan and I feel good. While I still eat a ton of carbs I also enjoy my meat/protein and some fats. Eating between 1200-1800 calories a day. People can judge me, whatever but it works for me. I know that a vegetarian diet can be successful (I mean look at India), and I know some vegans can be healthy and truthfully I felt amazing on a "normal" vegan diet for about 6 months, but it doesn't last. I know that some people thrive on paleo and high fat but for me all I got was stomach cramps.

    I don't think one diet is best for all anymore. (if you would have told me strict vegan self a year ago I'd say that, I'd have slapped you :laugh:)
  • SarahNicoleW94
    SarahNicoleW94 Posts: 62
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    any diet where you're not within a calorie deficit & eating all food groups in moderation Is crazy to me!
  • RachelaT90
    RachelaT90 Posts: 15 Member
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    the lemon, cayenne pepper and maple syrup cleanse.

    haha I tried this! My friend told me Beyonce did it (!) so we decided to give it a go, I bought a huge bag of lemons, made the mix and forced down a third of a glass and was sick! It was rank.

    I think I made a cake with the rest of the lemons hahaha.

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