Fad diet or does it really work?

[gad5264]

OK, we were having a discussion around the lunch table today about the "Master Cleanse...aka, The Lemonade Diet". It was the first time I had really heard about it and wondered if anyone knew anybody that has tried it or not and if they had any success on it?

[LinuxRandal]

A friend of mine wrote book titles he wanted to see back in High school. One of them was Cooking with Tapeworms, Now you can eat all those High Calorie meals and Lose, Lose, LOSE!

I kinda look at all diets the same way. Watch your portions, and get off your duff. The only diet I'd like to try was one a friend responded when someone said "you lost weight", to which they responded "too much s3(insert last letter).

And now my friend has a webpage where he is running as the Cannibalism party Presidential candidate "Hungry for Change".

[jackellis]

I don't think fad diets work. Eat a healthy diet, get exercise. That's the secret.

If I snack, it's fruits and vegetables. We don't keep candy bars, chips, ice cream or cookies in the house because both of us have zero self control.

I've started biking again for an hour a day, which will take care of about 400 calories.

[Black wallnut]

I've not heard of that one. I do know from experience that the South Beach Diet works. It is just hard to stay on after a few months if you like the tastes that caused you to gain weight in the first place. While I was on it I was eating whole wheat wraps instead of sandwiches and salads for lunch. I became very tired of the limited choices in my diet. Plus there is simply nothing that compares to potatoes that is healthy (and spuds are not healthy) IMHO. Cutting back on portions and getting exercise does not always work.

[Knottscott]

Never heard of that one either. I know the Adkins high protein/low (no) carb diet works, but it sure doesn't sound natural and healthy to me to avoid apples, bananas, carrots, oranges, etc and pig out on bacon, cheese, and steak.

Anyone know of those over the counter fat blockers work?

[crokett]

Cutting back on portions and getting exercise does not always work.

Yes it does. It is just slower for some than others. It can't not work. Your body needs a maintenance level of calories just to keep all systems go. So if you eat less than that the difference has to come from somewhere. If you exercise, that is an even bigger difference that has to be made up.

[headhunter636]

The "lemonade diet" sounds like the "Hollywood diet" or the "Stars Diet". The Army sent me to a class called Master Fitness trainer a few years back and it was one of the better classes I had the opportunity to attend (although Air Assault had to be one of the funnest things I've ever done.) We learned all about exercise, fitness programs, health and diet. The absolute best way to loose weight is watch what you eat and get out there and do something.

Fad diets may work at first and you may lose weight, but it's not something you can do for the rest of your life. You need to lose make the decision that you want to make a change and stick with it. A lot of people may recall the food pyramid that the FDA came up with about 1000 years ago. This is still a very good guideline to weight control, unfortunately it doesn't sound as cool as "The Hollywood Diet", which by the way is basically pooping yourself clean with some kind of high fiber juice (Sounds fun right?).

That's just my 2 cents, perhaps all that it's worth but there it is just the same.

Dave

[cgallery]

Yes it does. It is just slower for some than others. It can't not work. Your body needs a maintenance level of calories just to keep all systems go. So if you eat less than that the difference has to come from somewhere. If you exercise, that is an even bigger difference that has to be made up.

First dieters cut calories and lose weight. But, their metabolism eventually slows, so they add exercise (which increases metabolic rate) and lose more weight. But then they require fewer calories to maintain their resting metabolic rate. So they have to cut more calories or add more exercise to lose more pounds.

Numerous scientific studies indicate that if you want to live longer, you need to vastly cut the calories. People on what we would consider starvation diets will vastly outlive people on U.S. 2000-4000 calorie/day diets.

Our notions of how much and what to eat are based on bad science.

[Thalermade]

I will throw in two cents from wife, as she is dietitian.

Portion control and moderation, coupled with exercise. Easy to say but the hard part is changing your habits, not necessarily your food. You don't necessarily neet to eliminate favorite foods, just starting eating less of it, or less often.

She says that most fad diets remove one key food group, thus being out of balance and leading to the weight loss. For those on the Adkins, she recommends having your kidneys checked every month.

Have patience. It is usually better to lose weight slowly over a time period than an extreme loss in a short period of time. Thus slowly changing habits works best in the long run.

Russ

[ragswl4]

The only diet that works is the one you are on. If one consumes more calories than one burns, you gain weight. If one burns more calories than one eats, you lose weight. There are medical exceptions to this basic rule but for most folks this is reality. Fad diets have little long term effect as most people use them for a while then go back to previous eating habits and gain the weight back. Many are also not healthy.

[crokett]

First dieters cut calories and lose weight. But, their metabolism eventually slows, so they add exercise (which increases metabolic rate) and lose more weight. But then they require fewer calories to maintain their resting metabolic rate. So they have to cut more calories or add more exercise to lose more pounds.

My wife is a physical therapist/dietician/personal trainer. I've been physically active more or less my entire adult life. Therefore I'm an expert.

What you said is sorta true but nature seeks a balance. So long as calories in=calories out, you will not gain or lose weight. In other words, your metabolism will eventually balance itself based on how much you are eating vs how much you are exercising. If you eat more and don't increase the exercise, you gain weight. If you exercise more and don't increase the calories you lose weight until your metabolism rebalances. If you exercise more and eat more, you don't lose or gain weight. Now if you eat too much and don't expend enough calories, you will gain weight.

And it also depends on the exercise. Cardio exercise makes you skinnier. Weight training increases muscle mass. So if you exchange 5lbs of fat for 5lbs of muscle, you can actually eat slightly more, since muscle requires food and fat does not.

Fad diets are just that - diets. They are not healthy long term. The only real guaranteed-works-for-everyone diet out there is eat less, exercise more. Works every time.

[gsmittle]

Actual conversation with my doctor:
"Doc, what's a simple way to lose weight?"
"Eat less and exercise more."
"That doesn't sound very easy."
"You didn't ask for easy, you asked for simple. There is no easy way."
"Doc, I'm gonna change to a fat doctor who smokes."
"You'll be back when he dies."

The moral of the story is you have to change your habits if you want to make a permanent change. Now, where'd I put that cheeseburger?

g.

[TheRic]

Never heard of that one either. I know the Adkins high protein/low (no) carb diet works, but it sure doesn't sound natural and healthy to me to avoid apples, bananas, carrots, oranges, etc and pig out on bacon, cheese, and steak.

The way I understand it you cut back on fruits, NOT stop eating them. The big carbs to cut back on are the breads, and pastas.

The only diet that works is the one you are on. .....

....Portion control and moderation, coupled with exercise. Easy to say but the hard part is changing your habits, not necessarily your food. You don't necessarily neet to eliminate favorite foods, just starting eating less of it, or less often. ...

I agree. Decades ago my mom was always trying to lose weight. She would be on one diet lose some weight then get off the diet, gain the weight back and then some. Then she would try a different diet, and repeat the whole thing.

She finally lost weight when she changed jobs to one that had her off her duff and doing things. She became a janitor at our local school. Didn't take a lot of exercise, just constantly moving / doing something.

Have you noticed exchange students when they come over here for a year. They always seem to gain weight, I think it's a combination of them eating American food (a lot of sandwiches) and them not eating what their body is use to.

[BigguyZ]

Most people won't be swayed by my thoughts, but I don't care. Here they are:

In a little less than a year I've dropped about 85 pounds. I dieted and excercised. I've cheated, and I've stopped the "diet" part every once in a while, and even though I may gain a few pounds back it's small and I can get back on the wagon without taking too much of a hit.

I am on Atkins. Now people think of Atkins and they think all meat and cheese and eating 10,000 Calories a day. But Atkins can be used as a fad diet, or it can be thought of as a way of life for a healthy future. I stick to 2,000 Calories or less. I eat meat, cheese, and plenty of vegatables. After the initial 2 weeks on the induction period, you re-introduce carbs from healthy sources back into your diet. I also take a vitamin for any nutrients I'm missing from the fruit. I drink plenty of water. The biggest thing I'm missing on Atkins are the carbs from pastas, breads, sugars (candy) and starchy vegatables. Now tell me this- what, nutritionally, am I missing from removing those from my diet? Pastas and breads may be fortified with things like vitamin D, but overall they are nutritionally void. And even though the meats and cheeses I eat are higher in fat, they aren't sturated fats- and are generally healthier than the fats in many processed foods (the kind of foods I don't eat while following Atkins).

Now once I reach my goal weight (I'll be at about 14% body fat at 260lbs, I have 40 lbs to go), I'll ease up on watching what I eat. However, I'll still watch my carb intake and be mindful of it. So again, it's not a "do it only to loose weight" thing, it's a "This is how I'm going to manage my diet to maintain my health forever" thing. And for those who say you get sick of the same foods- there are a ton of resources that have recipes from simple to complex that work with low carb diets.

Ok, I think that covers it...

[cgallery]

Most people won't be swayed by my thoughts, but I don't care.

I think of the Atkins diet as a sort of a return to basics. So many people were amazed you could eat steak and lose weight. This isn't anything new, just forgotten at some point.

When my grandfather wanted to lose weight, he cut the carbs out of his diet. He'd eat a large steak dinner and skip the potato and desert, but eat the vegetable. This is 30 years ago, BTW, and he learned this from HIS father.

Advice columnists back in the sixties routinely advised writers seeking weight-loss advice to avoid sugar/carbs and eat proteins for snacks.

Good work on the weight loss, BTW.