You know the routine by now. Flip the channel, open a magazine, or click a link and you’re confronted with yet another in-depth piece of journalism talking about how horrible fad diets are. “Don’t eat a diet solely of grapefruit for the rest of your life,” they wisely tell us. Um…okay. This is obvious, obvious stuff to most of us by now. They may as well start writing articles about how the sun will rise tomorrow or how the last Harry Potter book was a best-seller. Yawn.
I think what annoys me most is the way each article is written as if were delivered from the mountaintop on a stone tablet. “Hearken unto me, ye stupid masses: Eating nothing but pickles and Sweet-Tarts for six years is bad for your health.” Yes, thank you for that helpful bit of information. That never occurred to me.
On the other hand, most of us feel a bit smug reading these gems. We feel encouraged that we, and we alone, already knew that the Cheez-It and Lemon Juice diet was a bad idea. We would certainly never buy that snake oil. We’ve learned from years and years of experience that the only way to lose weight is through eating a nutritious, balanced diet and getting plenty of exercise. (Never mind very few of us has ever actually been able to employ this concept ourselves. At least we know what we’re supposed to do.)
But what exactly are “fad diets” designed to do? Easy answer: lose weight and lose it quickly. This is, of course, what the experts immediately pounce upon. “It’s unhealthy! It hasn’t been clinically proven to work! If you follow that diet then you won’t be buying my wonder diet book!”
They’re all good points when you take it from the primary point of view of long-term viability and effectiveness. They (rightly) claim that 700 calories a day is no way to live. Or that cutting out carbohydrates for seventy years is impossible. But last I checked, I don’t believe a single one of these programs actually recommends you follow the diet for seventy years.
If a diet promises a quick fix, and you’ve struggled with everything else, then why not try it for two or three days? Unless you’re actively ingesting poison, I don’t believe two or three days of anything is going to have any long term negative impact. You may just drop a few pounds. And, sure, it’s probably all water weight. But maybe that’s exactly what you need to get your butt in gear.
The detractors of fad diets make the exact same mistake the proponents of good diets make: they focus on the math and ignore the psychology. If you’re down in the dumps and feel like nothing will ever work for you, then go ahead and grab a crazy diet for half a week and see what happens. If that drops you from 212 to 209 you might just feel something you haven’t felt for a long, long time: happy. And, holy cow, if that was just enough to drop you from 202 back into Onederland, you might just go out and buy yourself a pony.
Just one word of warning. The experts are right. Don’t do this forever. Treat it for what it is: a kickstart program and go into it with a transition plan in hand. Your three days of fad dieting is more than enough time to stock up on good foods, buy a new pair of walking shoes, and purchase that doctor’s new wonder diet book.
on May 14, 2009 at 1:26 am
RE: Fad diets.
I am confused about dieting and calorie intake. Maybe someone could help me understand this.
I am considered obese. I have been on a 1000 cal a day diet for 8 weeks. I record every single item in a detailed food diary using Calorie King. I am a pro at weighing and measuring. I avg 30 min of exercise per day.
I have lost a total of 17 pounds.
The kicker is I lose less weight each week. Last week was less than 1/2 pound. I even accounted for the TOM factor. And drank more water.
The internet says that my body is in starvation mode, meaning my metabolism is slowing down.
However if that is true, then why do doctors put obese people on 500 cal a day or liquid fasting diets? Same deal with the first 30 days with gastric bypass patients. All of these people lose massive amounts of weight a month (30+ pounds).
I am tired of killing myself for 2 lbs a week. Has anyone experienced this kind conundrum? Help!
on May 14, 2009 at 7:45 am
I’m not a doctor, but I play one on the internet. I’m going to say 1,000 calories a day plus exercise is too much. As your body adjusts to its new reality, it’s definitely going to react differently. 2lbs/week is a lot and not very sustainable.
As for those people you mentioned on 500 cal/day diets who lose 30 pounds in a month, remember that’s relative to someone who weighs 500 pounds. And they’re not going on 500 cal/day diets permanently.
If you’ve been at this a month or more (you didn’t mention how long) and have lost 17 pounds, I would consider the “honeymoon” over and it’s time to re-adjust your goals and expectations. A half a pound a week is a plenty good goal. It’s not zero, and more importantly, it’s not gaining.
If that seems too slow, then you need to ask yourself, how long were you planning to do this anyway? If the answer is “the rest of my life” then you can certainly handle losing twenty pounds every forty weeks. If the answer is, “as quick as possible so I can get right back to my old habits!” Well… 🙂
Stop killing yourself. And try to mix things up. Eat more one day. Eat less the next. If it’s the exact same 1,000 calories every day your body will say, “I guess this is it!” and will settle on its new weight. It’s remarkable that way.
on May 14, 2009 at 10:44 am
I actually like anything that jump starts you to a nice loss in the beginning – it’s very motivating. But then you just have to hunker down and plod along while the rest comes off. It does take time, lots and lots of time.
on May 14, 2009 at 11:58 am
Sensible is nice. And happy is good. How nice when they are wrapped up together in the same fantastic package. Thanks, Charlie.
on May 14, 2009 at 2:33 pm
It’s just like the other way around. Going on vacation for a few days and loosening up your eating inhibitions a bit isn’t going to do permanent damage to your waistline – just as long as its a short amount of time. Same with a fad diet. I only ate crackers for a week because I was a poor and really busy college student. Crazily enough, I lost some weight, imagine that! Now, if I would have transitioned to a healthy diet, I might not have gained another 100 lbs on top of that and been in the predicament I was in 2 years ago!
on May 14, 2009 at 2:34 pm
I completely agree! Part of losing weight is pushing yourself in both your diet and your workouts.
If you lose 5 lbs of water weight and helps inspire you to push yourself more, why not?