Fitness Romance SagaOpen Discussion: Have You Ever Been Tempted to Try a Fad Diet?
June 16th, 2010 • 42 Comments | Leave a Comment »
Well, ya. I admit it. When I first started my weight loss journey I bought these stupid Green Tea Pills because they promised to boost my metabolism. I was hoping the fat would melt off my butt cheeks, stomach(s), and feet at lightening speed. But I only took those damn pills for two days because I couldn’t do it with a clear conscience. Even back then, with very little health and fitness knowledge, fat dieting just felt wrong.
Fad dieters are like weight loss cheats.
Today I read about someone who lost 6-pounds in 2 days on some stupid Fad Diet. That’s a bunch of crap and not really fat loss at all – not in two days it isn’t. I’m almost certain they lost water weight and brain cells, and added to those results the weight they lost from taking a poop after a greedy trip to the buffet. Uh huh.
Have you ever been so frustrated with your weight that you considered a Fad Diet? Do you know someone who is on a Fad Diet right now?
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Erin June 16th, 2010 at 16:16
No I’ve never done or wanted to do that fad diets. I always lost my weight the old fashioned way by not eating and working out to death (anorexic joke sorry). seriously though I’d watch what I would eat and keep a healthy workout plan.
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Alice June 16th, 2010 at 16:17
When I was in grade 12, I did no carb. It wasn’t the Atkins diet, it was just no eating any carbs. I hated it with a passion, only lasted a week on it to.
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Lauren June 16th, 2010 at 16:19
Sadly, I probably fell for most of them. The only thing that really worked for me was Weight Watchers (and then gained it back) and just eating right and working out like mad.
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Tweets that mention Open Discussion: Have You Ever Been Tempted to Try a Fad Diet? | Yum Yucky -- Topsy.com June 16th, 2010 at 16:21
[...] This post was mentioned on Twitter by Josie YumYucky, Erin Brooks. Erin Brooks said: RT @YumYucky: new Open Discussion: Have You Ever Been Tempted to Try a Fat Diet? http://tinyurl.com/28vgatk ….fad diet are for cheater … [...]
Laurie June 16th, 2010 at 16:30
I’ve tried EVERYTHING… From Atkins to Metabolife to Phen-fen…. The list goes on..
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marisa n June 16th, 2010 at 16:56
I did hydroxycut for a while and some other diet pill things in high school. All they did was give me a racing heart (definitely not good for you) and caffeine addiction. I didn’t realize at the time I was successful at weight loss because I had also changed my diet while remaining very active and attributed the success to the pills.
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Eunice June 16th, 2010 at 17:06
I haven’t tried any fad diets, but I have a friend who is always trying something different. I’ve tried to help her time and time again and she just goes back to them. Her reasoning is that she wants to lose the weight fast because if it comes off slow she gets discouraged. She promises that once most of it is off then she will focus on eating healthy to maintain. Sigh..it just doesn’t work that way!
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Marisa (Loser for Life) June 16th, 2010 at 17:16
My whole dieting life has been one big fad diet. You name it, I was on it at some time or another. Then one day, a revelation came to me: Calories in, Calories out. It really is that simple. I joined WW to keep me eating a balanced diet and the rest is history. Now, I’m working on trusting my judgment and focusing on the reasons why I eat. No more fads!
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cher June 16th, 2010 at 17:26
I don’t think I’ve ever really tried a “fad” diet. Closest thing I’ve followed is the Zone Diet, which is more about portion control than any ONE thing, pill or anything.
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KCLAnderson (Karen) June 16th, 2010 at 18:37
OMG YES! Back in the 80s I did NutriSystem when it first came out. I also was on Phen-Fen (dangerous stuff…and thankfully it didn’t do any damage). I’ve also tried various other pills and potions, some prescription, some not. Then there was Atkins and South Beach and I have to say South Beach was the closest to “real” (although I now hate that they have packaged food-like products.
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Kelly @ Healthy Living With Kelly June 16th, 2010 at 18:57
Okay seriously get this…I had a client who actually went on a placenta diet. NOT KIDDING! She had injections of placenta given to her daily and then she ate a 500 calorie diet. Apparantly she was never hungry because she was getting all her nourishment from the placenta. This went on for 14 days. Then after that she was to resume a regular healthy diet and she got monthly “booster” shots to keep her on track! Is that not the most digusting thing you have ever heard?! Seriously she was willing to inject someone else’s placenta into her body! And get this she wasn’t hat overweight! She was 5’7 and weighed 170!! I was appalled! Needless to say she is not a client of mine anymore. She lost 20 pounds and thinks that this is much better than eating right and exercising. Let’s just say I fully expect to see her again probably heavier than 170 with her tail between her legs. I guess time will tell!
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Josie Reply:
June 17th, 2010 at 9:50 am
Why didn’t you tell me this sooner. I self-produced 4 perfectly good placentas that could have been sold for quick cash. (and now I wanna barf)
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Kelly @ Healthy Living With Kelly Reply:
June 17th, 2010 at 9:55 am
@Josie, HaHa! Pretty gross huh?
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JC Reply:
June 17th, 2010 at 11:23 am
@Kelly @ Healthy Living With Kelly,
this is freaking disgusting!
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Christine Reply:
June 17th, 2010 at 4:52 pm
@Kelly @ Healthy Living With Kelly,
I’ve never heard of such a thing. VERY GROSS!!
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LaShaune June 16th, 2010 at 19:44
Considered and done many (that shake crap – you know what it is, pills, fat burners) even considered that fat-blocker sold at Walgreens and the cereal diet. Yeah, the lazy way to weight loss.
I have a co-worker taking Healthe Trimm now. She’s hyped up because she’s lost almost 20 lbs. without working out. I’m trying to ingrain in her that she needs to change her eating habits (no hamburger everyday for lunch) if she thinks she will keep it off.
As long as people think it will come off quick, gimmicks will always be popular.
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Lori (Finding Radiance) June 16th, 2010 at 20:06
Yep – I spent a lifetime of trying to diet. Nothing worked. It took realizing that I can eat normal food and lose before I was successful at not just losing, but keeping it off!
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amanda June 16th, 2010 at 21:14
I did hydroxycut before and got the shakes. I have also tried just not eating enough food. The best that worked for me was Weight Watchers and now I count calories, portion control, and measure foods.
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South Beach Steve June 16th, 2010 at 21:51
I have been tempted, but I haven’t done one, although some people might say Atkins or South Beach are fad diets. I don’t think so.
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FatFighterTV June 17th, 2010 at 0:36
No, never wanted to try any of that crap. I’m laughing at the loss of weight including ridding of brain cells.
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Anne @ Food Loving Polar Bear June 17th, 2010 at 2:46
I’ve tried none of them but have seen friends trying and failing.
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Miz June 17th, 2010 at 6:03
I think Im an odd one too in that I never really tried the fadstuff.
not in an I WAS ALLLLWAYS FIT way but in an I DIDNT REALLY GIVE A SH*T way
until I did…
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Allie (Protein Girl) June 17th, 2010 at 7:28
I’m so irritated with emotional eating weight gain (I refuse to get on the scale, but my jeans say it’s 10 lbs) that I’m about to go on Jenna’s Paper Diet fromo 30 Rock. All the paper you can eat!!!!
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SkippyMom June 17th, 2010 at 8:11
I tried a diet I found in Teen Magazine [dating myself here] when I was in high school – at a time I didn’t need to lose weight – but hey high school – peer pressure – and the only thing it did was give me great looking skin. Thank goodness I didn’t lose any weight but sure was glad my skin looked good.
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Laura Jane June 17th, 2010 at 8:42
I guess I haven’t really tried an extreme fad diet but I have done a few things that might be kinda close to it and in attempt to lose weight very quickly. I did try Atkins, but only lasted a day or two. Also tried going super low calorie which left me feeling sluggish. And I’ve paid a ridiculous amount for Jenny Craig. Never done diet pills, although I have been tempted by Alli.
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Josie Reply:
June 17th, 2010 at 9:45 am
My friend did Alli. It is NOT recommended in you’re out on a date.
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JC Reply:
June 17th, 2010 at 11:26 am
@Josie, LOL. give details!
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Jody - Fit at 52 June 17th, 2010 at 9:01
I never really did any fad diet. I may be one of the few… but I just did not. Do I know people that are on one.. I have known people that did try them & gave up. I also see them every day on TV, the clebs, a lot of them so the fad stuff….
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Tracey @ I'm Not Superhuman June 17th, 2010 at 9:05
I was tempted to try the Master Cleanse–the lemon, maple syrup, and cayenne pepper tea. That lasted all of one afternoon, when I realized it was stupid.
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Christine June 17th, 2010 at 10:11
Oh boy. I think I’ve tried every single fad diet out there: Master Cleanser, Atkins, South Beach, Weight Watchers, diet pills, pure starvation, overexercising, blahblahblah,. Clearly none of them worked for me. I did actually have success using prescription weight-loss pills (Adipex and Phentermine)…I lost 50 pounds and kept the weight off for about five years, but then all the weight crept on, and then some!
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Rebecca June 17th, 2010 at 10:14
I have never followed a fad diet program, but I have taken diet pills sporadically over my life. I took Trim Spa for a while until a friend my mine explained that the reason they curbed your hunger is because they were sponges that expanded in your stomach. I didn’t believe him until he took one of my pills and put in a glass of water, watching that pill grow got me to stop taking them quickly!
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Jenn @ Watch My Butt Shrink! June 17th, 2010 at 10:48
Back in the day I did quite a bit. Pills, the Cabbage Soup Diet – obviously they didn’t work, and probably screwed up my metabolism even more than it was before I did them.
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JC June 17th, 2010 at 11:25
one time when I was really young (11-12) and fat, I went on the “food combining diet” which consisted of eating certain foods that were supposed to magically make one lose weight due to how they “reacted in the body.”
I quit on day one because I couldn’t stomach the canned tuna!
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Joe June 17th, 2010 at 13:33
I hate diets. How about the cabbage soup thing? How stupid are these gimmicks.
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Hungry Jenny June 17th, 2010 at 17:47
Aaargh, fad diets really aggravate me and I’ve never even tried one! I guess some types can work for some people but it’s probably safe to say that they’re not that great for helping to maintain a healthier lifestyle.
I cut out ‘bad’ foods every now and again but would never try gimmiky fads – surely your body must reject the sudden change and make you crave real food even more!
Hungry Jenny x
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Ami @ Writing: My Life June 18th, 2010 at 8:35
I’ve never been the type of person who could be seduced by the too-good-to-be-true promises of fad diets, although I have to admit that, on occasion, I wish I were. But when I hear friends or acquaintances talk about fad diets they’re on or have tried, I get so frustrated. First, they’re never healthy or sustainable, and when the results don’t last, it creates a cycle of crash dieting. Second, I can’t understand why people feel like they deserve a quick fix for losing weight when I have worked extremely hard to change my eating and exercise habits and get healthy. I feel the same way about procedures like liposuction (and, to some extent, surgeries like gastric bypass and lapband, although I understand that in some cases these surgeries can be life-saving). Maybe it’s elitist and judgemental of me, but I often feel that if someone (including myself) is not willing to work for something, then that person doesn’t deserve to have it.
Sadly, I think that in our society of insta-everything, fad diets are just another symptom of our inability to accept delayed gratification and dedicate the real effort it sometimes takes to reach our goals and realize our dreams.
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Christine June 21st, 2010 at 7:36
I tried slim fast for a couple of weeks. It had no effect as far as curbing my hunger. It was delicious though , especially if I added a little bit of frozen yogurt. No I am not kidding….#fail
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Leashieloo June 21st, 2010 at 22:59
I must admit that Lunchbox diet intrigued me, but it seemed more reasonable than most fads.
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merri June 22nd, 2010 at 19:23
Yes when I was about 22 maybe, I did the atkins diet. I did not really need to lose weight but I was just gotten over anorexia and never exercised and felt weird about my size. And my best friend at the time “k” was doing it. I ate kielbassa sausage w cream cheese for breakfast. It wasn’t so tasty. I went from eating almost no meat to mostly meat. And I got super grumpy. An all meat and cheese and fat diet has few endorphins and it made me hungry and cranky. I felt like I was becoming a bitch, so I stopped. “k” and I also tried the Hollywood diet juice (did nothing) and some diet tea which just makes you poop. The thing was, she used to be overweight through the beginnng of college, and she did lose her weight to become very skinny, using atkins & laxatives. She was also a little crazy, maybe from the dieting. We are not friends anymore, but I saw some photos through fb and she has gained the weight back. However, maybe she is now less crazy. I am much happier and more well-balanced when I eat, and exercising too has let me have an ok body without clogging my arteries so yay. No, I don’t know anyone on a fad diet now. As far as I know, my friends all eat normally.
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Alisha R June 29th, 2010 at 23:43
I TRIED SO MANY FAD DIETS BUT THEY DIDN’T WORK, I JUST GOT TO SOMEHOW STAY FOCUS AND MOVIATED AND STOP GETTING SIDE TRACK THATS WHY I BOUGHT ME A SWEAT SUIT.
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Cat July 10th, 2010 at 20:35
When I was 19 (and a size 12… yeah okay I really needed a diet, suuure) I bought TrimSpa when it was brand new.
I did lose like 10 lbs in 2 weeks, but I was never hungry and if I didn’t go and DO something, I felt like I was twitching out of my skin. So not worth it. But it was always sparkling clean at work, since I’d clean it like 3 times a day…
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Leah July 12th, 2010 at 15:09
I just got off Atkins because I was super grumpy & in a brain fog..
Years ago ehen I wasnt overweight at all I took Metabolife pills (when it still had ephedra in it) I got down to 135 lbs but wanted to crawl out of my skin & my kidneys hurt (NOT GOOD!) I tried Herbalife, Slim Fast…….The only thing that works for me is calorie counting. I get all the nutrients and I feel best eating a variety of foods!
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