[aphil]

Originally Posted by MsCrockett

Isi606~ Well, the way I see it is,, I am on the South Beach Diet,and it is working for me, but there are peeps who are skeptical of it.. any diet is going to be broken down and talked bad about..

Well, I think that there are many healthy plans out there, that are different, but healthy. I think South Beach, Weight Watchers, calorie counting, Sonoma, Body For Life, etc. are all healthy plans-but they are different plans. People have their preferences on their particular plan, and some stick to one plan better than another and that is simply a personal thing.

BUT-I think the negativity in this thread isn't because it is a diffrent plan than what many of us are following, but because this plan IS very unhealthy.
Eating a few supposed "healthy" cookies through the day...and then eating only one small meal is not healthy.

This diet plan is not balanced with enough fruits/vegetables-and no matter how many vitamins are added to those cookies, they cannot compare with the natural vitamins and antioxidants, etc. present in NATURAL foods. (Just like breastmilk's nutrition can never be copied and perfected by a formula company-no matter how hard they try...)

The second part of the equation, is that an 800 calorie diet is unhealthy-no matter what you are eating. There is no way that you can fufill your body's requirements and needs properly on 800 calories-especially if most of it is "fake fortified food".

I think that a successful plan has to be healthy-but for it to be truly successful, it also has to re-teach you how to eat. South Beach teaches you to stay away from many processed carbs-and concentrate on lean proteins, fruits, veggies, etc. for the bulk of your diet. Calorie counting, WW, Body For Life, etc. teach you about limiting your portions...lifestyle changes. Eating one meal a day doesn't teach you anything-and after you have lost weight on this plan, you have not learned any life skills to keep that weight off. You have not learned how to eat for LIFE-which is what a successful plan should do.

[MsCrockett]

aphil~~Great post. and very helpfull

[Mrs Snark]

FYI, there are risks associated with VLCD (Very low carlorie diets):

The most common serious side effect seen with VLCDs is gallstone formation. Gallstones, which frequently develop in obese people (especially women), are even more common during rapid weight loss. The reason for this may be that rapid weight loss appears to decrease the gallbladder's ability to contract bile. But, it is unclear whether VLCDs directly cause gallstones or whether the amount of weight loss is responsible for the formation of gallstones.

More about VLCD: http://www.webmd.com/content/article/46/2731_1665


Doesn't sounds appealing to me!

[aphil]

My mother actually had to have her gallbladder removed when I was a child. She did fad diets/crash diets quite a bit when I was very young. The doctors never said that dieting was what it was from, but that info may have not been available at the time. I suspected that was the reason for her procedure, though, as an adult when this info became known.

She has seen the light, though, and as an adult has concentrated more on nutrition, and exercise.