I've often thought that if I did a month or 2 of a liquid diet that it would kick start some weight loss. My issues are more around mindless eating than emotional eating. I've often felt that if I could take a pill that would supply all my nutritional needs that I could easily forgo eating. I've done the Master Cleanse and found it very easy to get into the mind set that all I am going to drink is the lemonade drink. The problem with that particular deal is that it is not really intended for weight loss, it doesn't supply you with any protein, fiber, minerals etc etc whereas a good meal replacement or liquid diet drink will. I've been thinking that doing this for a couple of months might break those mindless eating habits, re-establish my ability to feel hunger and get my stomach back down to a normal size. Then I could make a plan to re-introduce food gradually and learn to make better choices. Also I think losing a significant amount of weight would really motivate me to continue. I don't want to do an Oprah or anything like that, I think 2 months is about as much as I would want to do because being aware of what I am eating is really the goal here, not losing half my body weight in a few months. Any thoughts? BTW please don't flame me for this idea, I'd like some constructive feedback. I did get this idea from a hospital nutritionist who was telling me about a particular patient who lives off this one meal replacement, it has all he needs to live and it got me thinking that if this guy has been going on this stuff for months that it would be okay for me for a couple of months (he's not in the hospital related to anything nutritionally or that nutritionist would have said that she'd been trying to get him to eat and she didn't).

I've never really thought of doing that. I LIKE eating and it's not something that I want to give up I honestly don't think that you can get the same nutritional balance from a drink as you can from whole healthy foods and I think that eventually your body would suffer.

But on the other hand it's probably better than a steady diet of dorito's and coke so... I dunno!

I've never given something like this a lot of thought, and I'm not sure exactly what you'd plan for your liquid diet to encompass. Would it include certain diet drinks, various juices or broths? Or just the meal replacements and nothing else? And what kind of meal replacement drinks are you thinking about?

What I can tell you is that I drink smoothies every single day, which I guess you could consider "liquid." At this point I blend whole fruits and sometimes veggies with plain yogurt, flax, nuts, and sometimes cranberry juice. I've thought about adding some kind of protein powder so they can be an actual meal replacement rather than a "supplement" when I'm on the go, but haven't looked into it yet.

If you're thinking about a liquid diet, maybe something like these smoothies would help you as a transition, either on the way in it or out? Or maybe they could be a part of the diet itself? In my case, I just love how I can have my healthy, nutritious fruit every day without actually having to "eat" any (the flavor of real fruit tends to be too intense for me), plus they taste great and are extremely satisfying.

Anyway, hope this helps. Good luck with whatever you go with!

I think overall you would suffer for this kind of diet because when you do decide to introduce food back into your system your body would retain all the fat contents from the food from being starved of regular food

Hmmm... not necessarily. Calories in and calories out are really the only staples of weight loss. So if you were taking 1500 a day in liquids and then started taking 1500 in solids a day... you would experience a brief gain due to your bowels filling with solid waste but then it would be pretty much the same. This is in my own experience.

I think I can see what you're aiming for. Totally removing food from the equation and starting over. Interesting concept - not sure I'd last. I need to CHEW! But interesting. You could definitely meet your nutritional needs - we tube feed folks all the time and that's their only source of food. B12 shots are often necessary, but you can live a long time on nutritional supplements. To use it for weight loss in the way you're talking about is something I'll have to think about.

I personally think that sticking to a certain calorie allotment is all one needs to "kick start" their weight loss.

I'm also wondering, are you speaking about a doctor supervised liquid diet or one that you do on your own?

Perhaps those 2 months could be put to better use by getting some sustainable lifetime good and healthy habits and behaviors into place. Perhaps those 2 months could be put to better use finding/seeking/developing and solidifying a plan that you will be able to follow for the rest of your life. Perhaps those 2 months could be put to better use finding new and healthy recipes and foods that you enjoy. Perhaps you could use that time to develop coping skills, strategies and techniques to help you deal with eating health-ily in a society that's not quite set up for it and the inevitable tough times.

In the end of course, only you can decide what method is best for you. You've got to decide what will work for you and then of course be willing to MAKE it work. Good thing is, when you find something isn't quite doing it for you, you get to look again.

Traci, we posted at the same time. But I'm with you. I need to chew my calories. And yes, I too would never, ever last on something like that. But then again, we ARE all different, though apparently some of us are the same .

I can see where making certain, well I guess in this case it would be ALL, foods off limits. You can't overeat them if you're not eating them at all. But that's what I basically did WITHOUT doing a liquid diet. I made certain foods definite NO'S. Totally banned them from my plan. That was MY way of gaining control. But during that time, I developed a LOVE of OTHER foods.

I personally was anxious to start finding a new and permanent way of life. I had accepted the fact that I could no longer go on like I was - with those poor eating habits. I was excited for the change. Didn't dread it, but embraced it. Made it an adventure.

It really is a very personal thing and therefore it's one we all have to personalize.

Personally - absolutely not.

If you decide to proceed, talk to your doctor and get under a supervised plan. Being thin is not worth your health.

A few years back I kind of tried that (and I was bordering on ED), and now I can say certainly : no. It's too depriving, you have to 'feed' your brain too into thinking you have enough/ are satisfied. Otherwise it'll (and it will) find a way to compensate.

I have done an all smoothie and juice diet...drank my food...it worked! I didnt gain the weight back but I only wanted to lose 15lbs and I did...But I dont eat junk and fastfood so I didnt gain the weight back...I slowly went back to solids and worked out hard...I dont recommend it though...I just did it for ME...SO for those of you who have a problem with it Im just answering her question..YES I have considered it...

I guess I just don't understand how drinking your food will make you lose weight vs eating it. You don't eat junk food (and limit starches) and limit your portions (and exercise), and you'll lose weight.

The only thing I have a problem with is risking one's health to lose weight. No one should ever consider doing that.

i'm not sure if slim fast counts, but i did that for a while and found it very effective. i felt really full after it and you only replace 2 meals with it, you have to have 600calories for your dinner. they also recommend 3 snacks worth 100 calories each during the day. while i was on it, i never felt the need to eat them because i was full from the last "meal", but did because it was part of the plan. i lost 12lbs in 3 weeks, i got bored of it and realised its not sustainable, but if you just want to give yourself a kick then maybe its worth doing it that way?

If you only drink SlimFasts for a month, you'll become malnourished. SlimFast is meant to be a meal replacement, not food replacement. You're totally right, you should combine it with food. I guess SlimFasts are Ok, because they do have protein and fiber in them, but it shouldn't be permanent.

slim fast dont intend for you to only eat their products all day. i didnt decide to add in meals and snacks of real food, thats the plan they have on the back of the tin. it wasnt my bright idea to combine it with food! lol!