[GrGram]

Hi -- I'm new around here and I just wanted to ask if anyone ever heard of the Idiot's Diet and if so, have you tried it successfully. I'm just finishing up the first time around with it and have 3 "cheat" days. Then I have to go back on the diet again. One of my daughters and I are supporting each other but we aren't doing the same diet. We're lending support via email because we live far from each other. Thanks for any feed-back anyone can give. GrGram

[Suzanne 3FC]

Hi GrGram, welcome to 3FC

Funny you should mention this diet plan, because I read an expert review a couple of days ago that highly recommended avoiding it.

Here's the link - http://www.thestar.com/NASApp/cs/Con...l=969048872038

And here's a snippet from it:

EXPERT OPINION: This is a very misleading website, says Toronto-based registered dietitian Stephanie De Maio. It promises a fast, easy and customized weight-loss plan comprised of people's favourite foods. But the diet is, in fact, extremely restrictive in terms of food choices, she says.

"People who log on to the website will fall for its promises," De Maio says. "People feel in control of their diet when they can choose foods they like to eat."

Meals created by the diet generator are bizarre. De Maio lists some of the meals on her 11-day plan: "Day 1, Meal 1 is cheese sticks and cottage cheese. Another meal is 1 ounce of cheese and low-calorie salad dressing."

Foods on the meal plan are generally low in calories and carbohydrates and higher in protein. De Maio points out that many of these foods, such as luncheon meats, are high in sodium. These are poor choices, she adds, since the average Canadian already eats more more than the daily sodium allowance. The diet is also low in nutrient density and people who stick with the plan are in danger of becoming nutrient deficient.

People who do lose weight on this plan are likely losing water, not fat. As soon as the 11 days are up and people return to their old eating habits, any lost weight will be gained back, De Maio says. While there is a weight-loss concept based on zigzagging calories to increase metabolism, De Maio says it hasn't been proven scientifically.

"This is a very discouraging plan," she says. "Any weight loss will be extremely temporary. This is not a healthy, balanced way to lose weight."

The website's second weight loss plan is equally bizarre, De Maio says. "Their recommendation to avoid strenuous activity to burn fat is wrong," she says. "It is a fact that the harder you work out, the more calories you burn. Strenuous activities and weight-bearing activities that push muscles to 80 to 90 per cent heart rate do burn the most fat."

EXPERT VERDICT: "This is a low-calorie, low-carbohydrate diet that relies on foods low on the glycemic index. It's high in sodium and low in nutrients. People who try this diet will only last 11 days before they crave other foods, eat them and gain back any weight they lost. It's not worth the 20 pieces of paper I printed it on."

OUR VERDICT: Please, please, please don't try this diet.

Hope that helps

[Katpo]

I was curious so a coworker and I split the cost so we could see what it was all about. After we paid and got into the site, we could both tell it wasn't exactly something a person could sustain for more than a day (in my opinion, that is).

Here is a sample diet:
Day 1
Meal 1: Fruit Salad
Meal 2: Tuna Salad
Meal 3: Any kind of sandwich
Meal 4: Egg Omelette

Day 2
Meal 1: Egg Salad
Meal 2: Chicken
Meal 3: Tuna Salad and Grapes
Meal 4: Ham (can have pineapple with it if you'd like)

Day 3
Meal 1: Chicken
Meal 2: Oatmeal
Meal 3: Fish
Meal 4: Ham

Day 4
Meal 1: Fruit
Meal 2: Salad
Meal 3: Salad
(Only 3 meals this day)

Day 5
Meal 1: Grapes
Meal 2: Chicken
Meal 3: Ham
Meal 4: Tuna Salad and cantaloupe

Day 6
Meal 1: Mixed Fruit
Meal 2: Egg Omelette
Meal 3: Mixed Nuts
Meal 4: Chicken

Day 7
Meal 1: Egg Salad
Meal 2: Chicken
Meal 3: Fish
Meal 4: Tuna Salad

Day 8
Meal 1: Egg Salad
Meal 2: Tuna Salad
Meal 3: Mixed Nuts
Meal 4: Ham and Salad

Day 9
Meal 1: Egg Omelette
Meal 2: Chicken
Meal 3: Fish
Meal 4: Sandwich

Day 10
Meal 1: Egg Salad
Meal 2: Tuna Salad and Fruit
Meal 3: Egg Omelette
Meal 4: Chicken

Day 11
Meal 1: Egg Salad
Meal 2: Tuna Salad
Meal 3: Chicken and Fruit
Meal 4: Egg Omelette

You are given a screen with "pick one food from these three". Some of the other choices were cottage cheese, ground turkey, a smoothie, hamburger or hotdog instead of the sandwich, and scrambled eggs.

I hope this helps you with your decision-making.

[Misti in Seattle]

Wow, Kathy! Thanks for posting this sample diet! Not only lacking in nutrition but totally bland and boring! Yeeks!!! NO veggies except salad.

[rebeleagle1965]

The meal plan here looks alot like most of the low-carb diets. Low carbing will drop weight fast-but you probably will gain back a good bit of the weight you lose because carbohydrates make you retain water. most of the weight you lose initially IS water, and as soon as you start consuming them again, guess what comes back? Unless you plan on eating this way for quite some time, don't expect to permanently lose much weight. Cutting back this much on carbs/calories will make you eventually burn fat because your body has no other choice-but please keep in mind that anything drastic you do like this may end up having a negative effect on your metabolism, and since no one is likely to eat like this forever it may not be the best way to go about losing weight even if it does work.
I'm guilty of trying to do this myself-I did Atkins for a while out of desperation, and what made me stop was the fact that the only people I spoke with that had actually maintained their losses were the ones who still ate on plan-I'm talking YEARS-and I know I can't eat like that forever. Lord knows I still keep my eye open for that miracle that will magically melt away the pounds, but unfortunately I think each of us has to find something that we can keep up with even after those pounds are gone.

[Jasmine31]

Don't forget that could also burn up your muscle.