Have You Ever Done A Stupid/Fad Diet? What Happened?

So so many dumb fad diets. I guess I wanted something quick, easy and something that I didn't have to think about what to eat- just tell me and I'll do it. I did WW in high school a few times- just the quick start menu but I really didn't even need to lose weight in high school at 117 (I'm 5'4"). Usually I would do it for a week, quit for a few weeks and then do it again. I also tried the "Lose 10 pounds in 3 days" diet in high school, aka the military diet- not meant to be a long term diet- I quit after about a day and a half. Let's see, cabbage soup diet- BORING and the soup takes too long to make and takes up all the space in your freezer. I tried Adkins which lasted for about a day and a half- I LOVE carbs. I have tried eDiets (not sure if it's still out there)- had some success with that as it was well balanced and had lots of fresh fruit and veggies but got tired of paying money and they offered too many choices after a while and it became confusing (choices as it types of diets they offered). I have tried "Eating for Life"- 6 small meals a day- a fist size of carbs and a palm size of protein in each one and then you can add veggies as you like. Plus you have one day a week that you can just eat whatever you like. That was okay except I didn't like to eat that often I guess- didn't last very long. I tried Slimfast in college where I would drink a shake in the morning, eat a Slender Bar for lunch and then eat a bowl of cereal with Nutrisweet and an apple for dinner and run one mile a day- lost about 10-15 pounds in a month only to gain it right back.

I was the most successful one summer about 9 years ago following the Hilton Head Metabolism diet- lost 22 pounds in 2 1/2 months. (The rest of these I would lose about 7-9 pounds and gain it back plus some). But this one was based on eating a low calorie diet for two weeks and then raising calories the third week and then cycling back to low calorie again. Also you had to walk 20 minutes per day, twice a day within 20 minutes of eating to kick in your metabolism. Well I lost so fast because it was only about 900-1000 calories a day- no wonder. I've done WW as an adult- thinking that I would stay motivated if I had to pay for it. Nope. I even tried MFP a few years ago once or twice before I actually stuck with it. Now after almost a year and a half I've lost 50 pounds.

I took this powder stuff with ephedrine in it about 20 years ago. I felt like I was on speed, since my heart was beating so fast. It scared me so bad that I didn't last more than a month.

5 years ago I want on the Atkins diet lost a lot of weight. 369 to 240 but it also gave me gout. First thing the doctor told me was get off the Atkins immediately. So after that I was diagnosed with an autoimmune disease which I know the Atkins didn't cause. But after 2 years of hell trying to get a good regimen of meds and care I am doing so much better with cico. I had went back up to 337 and now down to 302. Atkins is for some but not for me.

A water fast. Lost 30lbs in 21 days. Maintained the weight loss for 4 years till I got pregnant. Then I gained it all back. Plus some more. Wouldn't do it again.

2 or 3 years ago I purchased the 'Tone It Up' plan. It had a bunch of dumb rules that I later learned don't really matter. Such as, you must do cardio first thing in the morning (I like to work out- just not right when I wake up), no fruit or starches after 3 pm, no artificial sweeteners,,etc. It had some good information but ultimately it felt like a rip off.

Back when I was still at high school the fad was not to eat so this one day when I was at my part time job after school not ate or drunk all day I fainted and had to be carried to the lunchroom. The pressure of being in high school!

I've lost weight at a fairly aggressive pace many times, and kept it off for years at a time. One of those times it was Atkins, which was ok once you got past the first three weeks. Twice I did Weight Watchers on steroids, meaning I ate my allocated points but exercised like a mad woman and didn't eat back any of those points. When I got to maintenance, where your weight had to stay constant, I resorted to putting weights in my pockets and boots. But most of the time I just ate as little as I could stand, without really knowing how much I was consuming. Did I do damage losing weight that quickly? Hard to say, I was young and resilient. I'd never take that chance now. The other major downfall of aggressive diets was that I had to wait for periods of considerably reduced stress in my life to start one. The great thing about CICO is that you can be precise enough to lose weight slowly and with next to no suffering. No need to wait for strong motivation or a reduced workload to begin.

I tried the cabbage soup diet in the 90's *yuk* and slim fast I tried but I was working in a hotel early shift so I would have my slim fast on the way to work and by the time the breakfast shift was over, and lots of food on offer, I was ravenous so I put on about a stone over a few months there

I did the 3 day military diet. Did it twice actually. Lost about 7lbs both times. I gained the weight back both times. Basically I was starving & unhappy for 3 days.

Not a diet but I did go to a hypnotist. My friend and I joke that it worked for two hours because we didn't go out to lunch after.