Hey Everyone!

A woman at work is doing this low carb diet she found online called the "fat loss 4 idiots" diet. It claims you can lose up to 11 lbs in the first 11 day cycle. The premise of this diet is to stay on it for 11 days, go off for 3 days, then start it again. She has done two cycles already, and has honestly lost about 20 lbs.

Has anyone else every done (or heard of) this diet?

She says it's a modified version of Adkins; Except you eat fruits and veggies. She does this diet strictly for the 11 days, then eats basically what she wants to on the 3 "cheat" days. She stays pretty much on point even on those days, but that's when she goes out to eat with her husband and has, say, pizza or french fries, dessert and a few cocktails. She says its nice to know she has those days to look forward to. Nice to break the monotony.

I'm thinking of doing this plan for a cycle ... anyone have any input??

~Cathy
(ps - I HATE the name of this plan - but it looks like it works!")

It received bad reviews by a dietitian, as well as one of our mods that tried it out a while back.

The biggest problem I have with this diet, is the cost, and the fad diet nature of the plan.

Not that it is a scam exactly, but much simpler, smarter, and cheaper (or even free) alternatives are easily available. Also, any plan that allows "eat whatever you want" days can be a boobytrap for binge eaters. Eating high carb foods, I bet that I could easily undo all of the previous 11 days progress. This may not be true of everyone, but it's true for many. Many people will use the "cheat days" as a way to gorge themselves, which aside from "backsliding" can cause health issues of it's own.

The lower carb principle requires no investment, unless you want to buy books (though even then, they're very inexpensive on garage sales, amazon.com and in thrift stores). You can borrow any books from the library, and formulate your own version of this plan for free.

The Low Carb Bible by Elizabeth M. Ward was a turning point for me. I read it, and it reviews many low and lower carb plans. In reading it, I realized that I didn't have to follow ANY of the plans, I could use the information I learned (and that I learned from reading the book Volumetrics), to make better choices. Choosing foods from lower carb options more often than not is a much simpler plan, that's been working really great for me. I use an exchange plan as a backup (to make sure I'm getting in all my food groups), but there is no "cheating" so there's no going off plan. I just make better choices to control my hunger better. I sometimes make less than perfect choices, but nothing is off plan, so I don't have to feel guilty about "cheating."

Plans like this reinforce the idea, that you must buy and follow a diet plan that someone else created. I'm opposed to this in principle, because I think the plan we devise for ourselves is the best plan. And while books like South Beach and other low carb books are also technically "diets someone else created," I prefer to see people (and myself) use them as references and inspiration and/or guidelines rather than in the traditional "diet" sense -- Must follow a set of rules exactly, to get desired results, and if I make one error or mistep I am "bad" and/or magic spell is broken.

Just have to pipe up here (and you all knew I would ) and say:

This diet you are describing is Fat Loss 4 Idiots and is not related to in any way, shape or form, the way of life I am following:

Neris & India's Idiot-proof Diet

Thanks for all your replies!!

I see this "4idiot" plan is not such a hot one.
Tell me about your diet experiences .... I was on Atkins at one time, lost about 20lbs REALLY FAST, then put it all back and then some. It was TOO restrictive for me. I told my husband, "When I find myself "jonsing" for an apple! (not chocolate or pizza), then I know there's a problem".

I need something low carb but balanced... any suggestions???
(any and all contributions to my weight loss are welcome )

Sorry I'm slow to reply, DD5 starts 1st grade tomorrow and this week has been...crazy. New school clothes, registration, open house, school supplies, PTA meeting plus all the regular stuff.

And well, I'd respond and point you toward the link I posted...but you already clicked it and found what you were looking for. Hope it works out for you like it has for me.