Stop eating and stay in bed?

2

Replies

  • caracrawford1
    caracrawford1 Posts: 657 Member
    edited October 2014
    oremus1 wrote: »
    Basically while I am busting myself in the gym, eating fruit and veggies, counting my cals and losing 1lb a week, one of my friends has told me her secret diet.

    she is a teacher so she gets loads of time off. whenever she needs to lose like 10lb - 15lb fast for hols, she says she just drinks water or herbal tea, takes a multivitamin and lounge about in bed for a week to 10 days. loses 1lb a day or more, and can easily drop a stone in a week or so.

    she calls it 'detox' or 'fasting' or 'cleansing' . she is not anorexic and only does it for holiday season or parties.

    is there any danger to doing this? what if we do it just at the weekend? there are many weird diets like the one where you eat on alternate days.
    It sounds like water weight to me and not healthy at all because you are disrupting the balance of your electrolytes.
    On a side note, I am a teacher and it is a major misconception that we get "loads of time off".
    In fact, once the school day ends I have meetings, then after school sessions with kids who need my help, plus I teach Special Ed and ELA so there's paperwork in addition to lesson planning. On weekends I grade and do 8+ hours more of planning and then there are prof development workshops throughout the year including summer we are required to do.
    So no...we don't lie around getting loads of time off. I wish my job was as you described.
    I'm heading into work now and my first child of the day is one who needs to be evaluated for emotional disturbance/autism.
    **end rant**

  • Liftng4Lis
    Liftng4Lis Posts: 15,151 Member
    Ahh and she has to keep doing this why?? Because there is no sustainability to it.
  • lorib642
    lorib642 Posts: 1,942 Member
    If there was a shortcut you would know about it. There are people who lose weight by diet alone but not crash diets. I think losing 1 lb/ week is pretty good.
  • paperpudding
    paperpudding Posts: 9,271 Member
    Yikes, the lounging around in bed for 10 days sounds like worse torture than going to the gym! :)

    Yes that's what I thought - what a waste of a week of your holidays.
  • itsbasschick
    itsbasschick Posts: 1,584 Member
    we all resolve to eat properly after losing weight, but none of the folks i know who go for quick results have succeeded. they end up on a treadmill of losing the same weight and gaining it back over and over and over, at least in part because you don't learn healthier eating habits with crash diets/weight loss plans.
    oremus1 wrote: »
    what if someone wanted fast results then resolved to eat properly and healthiliy once they were slim?

  • PRMinx
    PRMinx Posts: 4,585 Member
    Well, this certainly sounds like a great way to spend valuable time here on Earth. Where do I sign up?
  • queenliz99
    queenliz99 Posts: 15,317 Member
    Yikes, the lounging around in bed for 10 days sounds like worse torture than going to the gym! :)

    Like a bear in hibernation, all fat and gooshy.
  • I have M.E./CFS (Chronic Fatigue Syndrome) so when I'm not working, I'm in bed. You'd think I'd be losing loads of weight like your friend too, but I'm not! In fact, it's slow because I'm pretty sedentary! Therefore your friend is wrong!

    Just lose weight the healthy way! Eat right, exercise right, then it will stay off! The reason your friend keeps having to do it is because she's doing it the wrong way.
  • mitch16
    mitch16 Posts: 2,113 Member
    Getting a tapeworm can help you lose weight, too. That doesn't mean it's a good, healthy idea.
  • I_Will_End_You
    I_Will_End_You Posts: 4,397 Member
    JenniDaisy wrote: »
    Put it this way; If it works, why does she keep having to do it?

    ^ This. She isn't losing 10lbs of fat, it's mostly water weight.
  • psuLemon
    psuLemon Posts: 38,426 MFP Moderator
    glevinso wrote: »
    Well lets be scientific about it then. A typical BMR for an average woman is around 1400 calories per day. In a week that's 9800 calories, since she is entirely sedentary and in bed for a week lets only add maybe 300 per day of movement. Let us also assume she eats absolutely nothing with calories during that week (somehow I doubt this but let's play along). So in a week she "burns" 11760 calories which equates to 3.36lbs of "stuff".

    In a week she loses 10lbs you say? But basic thermodynamics indicates only 3.36lbs of "stuff" could possibly burn off. Therefore the rest is water. Water is usually stored up in glycogen, usually in a 4 to 1 ratio of water to glycogen by weight. So it sounds like all your friend managed to do was deplete her easy-to-access fuel (glycogen) and dropped the equivalent water stored with it.

    Your friend is an idiot.

    There are no shortcuts.

    I love math...
  • trinatrina1984
    trinatrina1984 Posts: 1,018 Member
    This is the stupidest thing i've heard all week.
  • JoRocka
    JoRocka Posts: 17,525 Member
    so you're friend makes her self miserable for a week- every couple of months- just to lose 10 pounds for a party- then gains it back on- and has to repeat the process.

    Or you could > not be miserable- and permanently lose the weight.

    how does this POSSIBLY sound like a good idea to you?

    You're friend... is an idiot.
  • oremus1
    oremus1 Posts: 100 Member
    edited October 2014
    can this actually be harmful if fopr a short while and taking multivits? like the weekend before a party? thinking Beyoncé and master cleanse
  • oremus1
    oremus1 Posts: 100 Member
    does the body need fasting, detoxing and cleansing?
  • yopeeps025
    yopeeps025 Posts: 8,680 Member
    oremus1 wrote: »
    does the body need fasting, detoxing and cleansing?

    Do you have liver and kidneys(s)?

  • glevinso
    glevinso Posts: 1,895 Member
    oremus1 wrote: »
    does the body need fasting, detoxing and cleansing?

    The body needs fasting, it's best to do it while sleeping. You break that fast every morning.

    You only need detoxing if you are full of something like heroin or cocaine.

    I recommend cleansing every day. In the shower. Because you usually get dirty during the day.

  • terar21
    terar21 Posts: 523 Member
    oremus1 wrote: »
    what if someone wanted fast results then resolved to eat properly and healthiliy once they were slim?

    You'd probably just end up going on a binge after you were done. That's what happens to people after they do something like this. You'll end up with more weight than you even started with. It's not effective or healthy.
  • I_Will_End_You
    I_Will_End_You Posts: 4,397 Member
    oremus1 wrote: »
    does the body need fasting, detoxing and cleansing?

    If there is something toxic in your body, you'd need a hospital ASAP, not water and a multi vitamin.

  • MizTerry
    MizTerry Posts: 3,763 Member
    Now if sex was involved.....
  • Alidecker
    Alidecker Posts: 1,262 Member
    Yikes, the lounging around in bed for 10 days sounds like worse torture than going to the gym! :)

    Agree with this! Why not lose weight and get fit?

  • PRMinx
    PRMinx Posts: 4,585 Member
    MizTerry wrote: »
    Now if sex was involved.....

    I think you might be on to something...

  • BrianSharpe
    BrianSharpe Posts: 9,248 Member
    glevinso wrote: »
    Your friend is an idiot

    I'll second that......

    Slow and steady may not win the race but it does give you a fighting chance of developing the habits that will help you keep it off for the rest of your life. Doing something extreme like your teacher friend may yield very fast results but, apparently, has taught her nothing about eating properly, portion control etc etc etc

    If you're losing 1lb a week or so you're doing it right.
  • jeffd247
    jeffd247 Posts: 319 Member
    I would do what your friend recommends, but substitute vodka for the water/tea
  • glevinso
    glevinso Posts: 1,895 Member
    jeffd247 wrote: »
    I would do what your friend recommends, but substitute vodka for the water/tea

    Oh hey now this is starting to sound like a good time!

    I am thinking I should write a book "The Vodka Diet". I'll make millions!
  • justcat206
    justcat206 Posts: 716 Member
    You know when I have my best looking body ever? Right after the stomach flu. You know what else I have? A headache, muscle aches, dizziness and fatigue from lack of nutrients, water and physical activity. I'm not sure I'd want to go to a party feeling like that no matter how thin and lean I looked. Frankly, whatever weight you lose by fasting for a week will likely be much less noticeable to everyone else than you - so just focus on being healthy and fit and don't worry too much about the crash diets and quick fixes.
  • libbydoodle11
    libbydoodle11 Posts: 1,351 Member
    Who has time to stay in bed for ten days and not eat? I like eating and getting my chores done.
  • PRMinx
    PRMinx Posts: 4,585 Member
    Who has time to stay in bed for ten days and not eat? I like eating and getting my chores done.

    Lazy people who, coincidentally, are too lazy to put in the work to lose weight and get fit in a healthy, reasonable way.

  • caitconquersweight
    caitconquersweight Posts: 316 Member
    Yuck, that sounds miserable as hell to me.
  • Alluminati
    Alluminati Posts: 6,208 Member
    Does she get up to pee? Or does she just go in the bed. Can you ask her?