A mid-journey "crash" diet?

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7/24/12 2:20 P

Here's a couple of articles that may help you figure out what to do to break through your rough patch:

Plateau Busters Part 1:

www.sparkpeople.com/resource/fitness_artic
les.asp?id=516

3 Reasons why you're not losing weight:

www.sparkpeople.com/resource/nutrition_art
icles.asp?id=1605

current weight: 187.4

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155

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7/24/12 11:57 A

Thanks for all the great advice! My instinct was that this would be a horrible idea, so I think I'll just try to add more cardio and try to pinpoint any places that my diet could use a little cleaning up!

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7/24/12 11:52 A

Yeah, doing a special K diet or a sweetened yogurt diet would not be very helpful. Cereal is one of the worst kind of carbs you can eat, unless you're talking about whole grain cereal with no added sugars, or oatmeal.

Sugary yogurt isn't much better.

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7/24/12 11:17 A

Have you updated your goals since your weight loss? Sparkpeople recommends you update every 10-15 lbs, because it doesn't automatically adjust your caloric intake as you lose weight.

Go over your program, and make sure your weight loss goals are still reasonable for your new weight, and save. Then go to your fitness goals, make sure you're showing your current activity level, and save.

There are plenty of ways to break through plateaus without bothering with silly crash diets. They are little more than marketing gimmicks intended to make their products look "healthier" than other products.

current weight: 187.4

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155

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7/24/12 11:05 A

The Special K diet and things like that aren't reallt that effective. You just replace your meals and snacks with special k cereal and snacks, and then eat a normal dinner. It would be healthier to just eat a variety of low calorie snacks and meals instead of limiting yourself to the plan.

It is a good idea to adjust your diet and exercises to mix it up. For example, I started by eating mostly fruits and vegetables with a nearly vegan diet, and biking for exercise. This worked great, but half way through, I found that I was just too hungry a lot of the time. I got tired of only eating salads when I went out or went to social events. So I switched to a diet high in lean protein, high in vegetables still, and low in breads and grains. It's working. Now, both of these times, my diet was still "normal" enough that I could work these preferences into my everyday life. I may switch things up again in a few weeks.

current weight: 175.0

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7/24/12 11:00 A

No. Because the weight lost is unrealistic, because you don't normally eat that way, and chances are you'll gain some of that weight back.

Yogurt diet? - full of added sugars.
Special K? - highly processed diet composed of grains sprayed with vitamins to make it "healthier".

If you're stuck then you need to change something that you're already doing, especially if you goal is long term weight loss.

Increase duration and intensity of exercise. Try a gym class you've never tried before.

Eat fewer processed foods and more whole foods (lean meats, veggies, fruits).

Some may not like me for saying it, but eat fewer carbs (especially processed carbs, more protein (which will help you feel fuller longer), and lots of of veggies (low in cal, high in fiber that will also keep you full)

Don't drink liquid calories. No juice. No soda.

Drink water, and if you need something with carbonation try naturally flavored seltzer water. There's lot of flavors so you won't get bored with that.

You want to nourish your body.

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7/24/12 10:57 A

I definitely agree that it's a good idea to change up your exercise routine. Switch to a different kind of cardio on some days, try something new you don't usually do, add in interval training.

But here's a 2 week I've been doing and have had GREAT results with so far - I've lost 3 lbs. in one week and ultimately probably more than that because I'm about to start my period. Also, 3 lbs in one week is a LOT for me since I had only 10 lbs. left to lose total.

Here's what I've been doing: A vegan whole foods detox for 2 weeks, small meals and frequent snacks, eating 5 times a day. That means no eggs, added sugars, white flour, meat, dairy, or processed grains like bread, cakes, cookies, etc.

That leaves only fruits, vegetables, beans, nuts, nut butters, soy products and salad dressings with wholesome ingredients and no additives I don't recognize, vegetable oils, homemade smoothies, hummus, Amy's vegan soups and veggie burgers, and whole grains like brown rice, quinoa, and oatmeal. I'm also eating the Baker German-style bread, which is made differently from regular bread, and the only ingredients are whole rye and flaxseed.

Here's why it works: it's high in fiber, avoids sugar except naturally occurring sugars in whole foods, and avoids empty carbs. Pretty much everything I eat has either fiber or protein in it, so there's very few empty calories going in. I'm doing more cooking and food processing at home, but ultimately it's been good. Most of the foods contain water and fiber, so that means whatever your body can't use for fuel, it gets rid of as waste. If you eat enough fruits and veggies, most of your carbs will come from those, instead of from grains.

After 2 weeks, you can gradually add back in foods that you miss. For me, it's going to be cheese, occasional home baked desserts with unrefined sugar and whole wheat flour, and sprouted multigrain bread. I'm going to keep some of the changes permanently.

I'd say, treat it like the "induction phase" of a mainstream diet, adding back foods you can eat in limited quantities later on, long term.

It's very do-able for two weeks and I would HIGHLY recommend it over a crash diet. I've had tons of energy, am very happy, and still love what I'm eating!

But then, I was already vegetarian and ate lots of fresh fruits and veggies before doing this, so it's been easier for me than it would be for your meat-eater. Let me know if you want to do this and want any suggestions.



Edited by: KFWOHLFORD at: 7/24/2012 (11:00)

Posts: 51,645
7/24/12 10:49 A

How long has it been since you lost any weight? I wouldn't recommend one of those "crash" diets- any weight you lose while on it is likely to come right back as soon as you start eating normally again. Here's a series of articles you might find helpful to get the weight loss going again:

www.sparkpeople.com/resource/fitness_artic
les.asp?id=516

Coach Jen

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7/24/12 10:42 A

Are you always doing the same exercises? Maybe switching up your exercise routine would be more effective. Not sure about the "crash" diet thing - I've done them for most of my life (until now of course) and it seems they do more harm than good.

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7/24/12 10:27 A

I'm looking for people's thoughts about the well-publicized, seemingly harmless "crash" diets like Yoplait 2-Week Tune Up, Special K challenge, etc. (not talking about fasts, cleanses, juice diets, etc.) Do you think they're helpful at getting past a hump or breaking that threshold to get into a better weight range?

Before signing up for SparkPeople, I lost 20 lbs. in just a couple of months after overhauling my diet, getting a bingeing problem under control and starting an exercise regimen. Now I'm stuck. I was thinking about doing one of these two-week things that would put me back at a weight that I never thought I would be but I don't want to do anything to hurt all of the hardwork I've done so far (and all of you here know: It's effing HARD!) and messing up my metabolism but I also just kind of want to get this show going again!