Crash diet

[floormaster]

To lose 10lb in 3 days, follow this diet strictly (and it honestly, truthfully works).

You must drink 5 x 8oz glasses of water per day, and no other drink.

Day 1:

BREAKFAST:
Black tea/ coffee
1/2 grapefruit
1 slice toast
2 tspn peanut butter

LUNCH:
Black tea/ coffee
4oz tuna
1 slice toast

DINNER:
2 slices any cold meat
1 - cup string beans
4oz beetroot
1 small apple
4oz vanilla ice - cream

Day 2:

BREAKFAST:
Black tea/ coffee
1 egg
1 slice toast
1/2 banana

LUNCH:
4oz cottage cheese
5 slatine crackers

DINNER:
2 hot dog sausages
3oz broccoli
2oz carrots
1/2 banana
4oz vanilla ice - crea,

Day 3:

BREAKFAST:
Black tea/ coffee
5 saltine crackers
1 slice cheddar cheese
1 small apple

LUNCH:
1 hard - bolied egg
1 slice toast

DINNER:

4oz tuna
4oz beetroot
4oz cauliflower
1/2 melon
4oz vanilla ice - cream

This diet works on a chemical breakdown, and is proven, and is also 100% non - risk.

Following the diet, eat moderately/ normally. Exercise is encouraged, but not required.

Good luck!!

[OneArpeggioPete]

hum... is there a meat-free option? btw - to me this sounds as if this just helped to evacuate the water from your body, not the actual fat...

:-)

oneArpeggiopete:cool:

[jenny5309]

yes, if there is a meat free, let me know.
of course you could always just swing the traditional way and cut salts and sugars out of your diet and lose weight naturally. do some exercise too, yoga is wonderful. :)
isn't 10 lbs in 3 days quite unhealthy?

[floormaster]

Originally posted by jenny5309
yes, if there is a meat free, let me know.
of course you could always just swing the traditional way and cut salts and sugars out of your diet and lose weight naturally. do some exercise too, yoga is wonderful. :)
isn't 10 lbs in 3 days quite unhealthy?
The diet itself (I've never used it, I prefer the regular exercise method, myself :)), was first designed to allow heart patients to lose weight rapidly before surgery. After the diet, you are expected to revert to your usual diet, and you are advised not to try it more than once per month. Otherwise there are no risks.

Apparantly, the diet works because it comprises a healthy balance of most of the food groups, and in relative moderation. For this reason, I don't think that there is a veggie one, (although I'll check for you), because the meat is neccesary to the chemical balance of the diet.

I don't think that this is any less (perhaps more, even) food than I would usually eat in 3 days, it's just that the chemical digestion has be honed until it works well for a person with almost any level of metabolism.

[OneArpeggioPete]

right, i've started this diet ten minutes ago.i think i'll bring my own teabags tomorrow cos our office ones are really too crappy to drink without milk, but otherwise it seems cool. actually, this diet is against most of of my usual eating principles (little or no wheat, harldy ever meat), but looking at the ingredients it seems to make a lot of sense. so i'll be checking my blue hawaii shirt on sunday, and report in if it closes properly or not. :D

:-)

oneArpeggiopete:cool:

[OneArpeggioPete]

hm... it definitely does NOT do anything about fluid retention, currently you could keep a spermwhale in my body tissues and it would have a great time splashing around. also, i forgot to bring an egg this morning which means the whole thing is probably fucked up anyway. ah well, hope springs eternal, i'll have the egg when i get home tonight, even tho i'm quite sure it won't have the same effect then. anyone know how hacing stuff at different times of the day upsets the chemical balance of a diet? i woke up really really hungry this morning, tho. that must be a good sign, it hardly ever happens to me.

:-)

oneArpeggiopete:cool:

[SusanElaine]

Good luck Astrid and thanks floormaster for printing this 3 day diet:D

I'm going to be following in your footsteps Astrid, I've just been informed by my doctor that my cholesterol levels are very high, so I really must do something and now....:(

After that it's back to Weight Watchers.*sigh*

[OneArpeggioPete]

well, i'm through with it and... i dunno. david says i've definitely lost weight, but i didn't find find it any easier to close my jeans this morning. there is the argument of course, that i'm having lots of retained fluid once again, but i really don't know - i guess i'll find out wfter a couple of days of rice and pineapple and dandelion tea. but the idea behind the diet definitely makes sense...

:-)

oneArpeggiopete:cool:

[Internet Legend]

Um...I hate to be the bearer of bad news, the thrower of cold water, the wet blanket of the thread...

I did a quick nutritional assessment of this diet. You'd be getting under 1000 calories of food a day. That's the only "chemical breakdown" that matters - if you followed this diet to the letter, you'd be taking in fewer calories than you were using. As fad diets go, this one isn't terrible (although I have yet to figure out what place "hot dog sausages" have in any healthy diet). It could use more fresh veggies, and I'd cut out the stupid saltines in favor of a nice big slice of whole-grain bread, but it's not bad.

The fact is, there is no healthy way to lose 10 pounds in 3 days. If you did lose that amount of weight, a good portion of it would be water, and that comes right back on again. The way to lose 10 lbs, or 20, or any number you like, is to eat a healthy diet, control your intake of calories, and get exercise. Low fat, low carb, whatever, just make sure your diet ends up being nutritionally balanced and a reasonable amount of calories - but generally no fewer than 1000 a day. If your body thinks you're starving, it's going to cut back on calorie expenditure (i.e., slow its metabolism) in order to conserve, and you'll be in a worse fix than before.

There's a wonderful site called Stumptuous.com (http://www.stumptuous.com/weights.html) that has a wealth of very good, very sensible information about exercise and diet (and they should really be in that order). If you really want to get to a healthy weight and maintain it, there aren't any shortcuts. And really, you don't want shortcuts, because if you're serious about it, you'll be changing your lifestyle, not going on a one-week diet. And believe me, it'll be worth it.

[OneArpeggioPete]

Originally posted by Internet Legend
Um...I hate to be the bearer of bad news, the thrower of cold water, the wet blanket of the thread...

I did a quick nutritional assessment of this diet. You'd be getting under 1000 calories of food a day. That's the only "chemical breakdown" that matters - if you followed this diet to the letter, you'd be taking in fewer calories than you were using. As fad diets go, this one isn't terrible (although I have yet to figure out what place "hot dog sausages" have in any healthy diet). It could use more fresh veggies, and I'd cut out the stupid saltines in favor of a nice big slice of whole-grain bread, but it's not bad.

The fact is, there is no healthy way to lose 10 pounds in 3 days. If you did lose that amount of weight, a good portion of it would be water, and that comes right back on again. The way to lose 10 lbs, or 20, or any number you like, is to eat a healthy diet, control your intake of calories, and get exercise. Low fat, low carb, whatever, just make sure your diet ends up being nutritionally balanced and a reasonable amount of calories - but generally no fewer than 1000 a day. If your body thinks you're starving, it's going to cut back on calorie expenditure (i.e., slow its metabolism) in order to conserve, and you'll be in a worse fix than before.

There's a wonderful site called Stumptuous.com (http://www.stumptuous.com/weights.html) that has a wealth of very good, very sensible information about exercise and diet (and they should really be in that order). If you really want to get to a healthy weight and maintain it, there aren't any shortcuts. And really, you don't want shortcuts, because if you're serious about it, you'll be changing your lifestyle, not going on a one-week diet. And believe me, it'll be worth it.

i agree that a lot of the food in this diet is actually unhealthier than what i'd usually eat - even tho decent hot dog susages are mostly ham and therefore relatively lean. i guess the idea behind the foods they chose is to make it compatible with what most people would have in their store cupboards, and from that point of view it's a success. also, there is chemical breakdown involved. beetroot, for instance, speeds up the liver enzymes and helps your body burn fat faster. btw - you're right about quick fix diets of course, but as a kick-start when you've just been sluggish recently it should do the job (hopefully - still lots of fluid retention).

:-)

oneArpeggiopete:cool:

[DrinkTheElixer]

I did a quick search on this diet and it isn't all that it seems (I agree with Donna that all that you could be losing on such a low cal diet in 3 days is fluid). It seems that this 'diet' hasn't anything to do with The British Heart foundation at all:

http://www.weight-loss-i.com/weight-loss-diets/british-heart-diet.htm

And a quote from another source:

What about the three-day diet?

Certain diets have been circulated under names such as the 'British Heart Institute three-day diet', the 'Sacred Heart Memorial Hospital diet', the 'Soup Diet', the 'Pre-op Diet' and the 'Seven-day Fat Burning Diet'. These diets are not connected with the British Heart Foundation and their origin is obscure.


So, I wouildn't let the name fool you (which to me is being used to give it credability) It has sod all to do with the British Heart foundation and it is not a diet that they endorse.

Having said that, sometimes a low calorie boost can give you a kick start to something long term, well balanced and something that isn't so rigid that it can't be stuck to, like weightwatchers for example. I have lost loads of weight using weightwatchers (around 3 stone after having Jude). It is balanced, you don't feel deprived, it teaches you good eating habits and gets you out of giving yourself overly big portions (which was my downfall, that and snacking between meals).

[s2c]

There's a wonderful site called Stumptuous.com (http://www.stumptuous.com/weights.html) that has a wealth of very good, very sensible information about exercise and diet (and they should really be in that order). If you really want to get to a healthy weight and maintain it, there aren't any shortcuts. And really, you don't want shortcuts, because if you're serious about it, you'll be changing your lifestyle, not going on a one-week diet. And believe me, it'll be worth it.

Thank you for this link, Donna. There's lots of information that I can use.

[quiet-cats]

The only thing about this diet which grabs me is the Pineapple bit-- Astrid -I am a bit obseesed with pineapple at the minute because Sainsbury's are doing them buy one get one free and I'm hooked!!--I'm really hoping you're going to tell me that they're low cal and high water expelling and just generally good for me because that will be such a RESULT! :)

[OneArpeggioPete]

pineapples are both, and absolutely delicious too! :D i had an entire carton of non-concentrate pineapple juice last night, and it was SO good - and made me pee like a racehorses! :D

:-)

oneArpeggiopete:cool:

[stargazer]

Why do get the feeling that the Atkins diet is not very Murmurs? I think there is a vegetarian version but it's not in the spirit is it? I'm afraid it appeals to my naughty, shan't, can't make me side. All the diets up to Atkins were low fat and involved very strange things like eggwhite omlettes (eww!) Atkins says - eat as much fat as you can - stuff yourself with lobster and steak. Drown the vegs with mayo and butter. That's the diet for me. It's all "headology" of course- in practice it's pretty low fat because you cut out all the fat in sandwiches/cakes/biscuits/sauces etc. You also get to eat only unprocessed food and loads of veggies so I think it's pretty healthy.

It's got 2 stone off me since last Autumn and Simon has lost about the same. You can even drink - though neat sprits are best. As I near my target I find I have to feel a bit hungry to get the scales to move, but that's OK.

[Internet Legend]

It's all "headology" of course- in practice it's pretty low fat because you cut out all the fat in sandwiches/cakes/biscuits/sauces etc. You also get to eat only unprocessed food and loads of veggies so I think it's pretty healthy.I think that's something the general public doesn't get about Atkins - they're not saying you should eat all manner of crap as long as there are no "carbs" in it, they're saying you should focus on eating foods as close to their natural state as possible.

Having said that, I admit I'm not an Atkins proponent, and my being a vegetarian probably has a whole lot to do with that. I'm also somewhat hesitant about the huge amounts of protein they advocate consuming. I believe in moderation in all things, I suppose (well, except the killing animals for food thing, for myself).

If you follow any good, balanced diet, you'll find yourself eating a sensible amount of un- or lightly-processed food, including the all-important vegetables. If your diet includes leafy greens, an adequate amount of protein, an adequate amount of complex carbohydrates (and I believe there's a lot of wiggle room in both of those), a goodly number of colored veggies and fruits (go, blueberries!), something with calcium in it, and a nice smattering of monounsaturated fat (think olive oil), then you're doing fine. If you're overweight nonetheless, it's time to look at your ratio of energy intake to expenditure. In other words...

Eat less and exercise.

[trysohard]

hi

im debbie, i have a few questions about this diet because im guessing it has to be perfect?

1- Is the toast/bread brown or white?

2- Is the peanut butter low fat?

3- How do you measure food in ounces? scales?

4- On day to egg? is that raw?

5- What are slatine crackers and are they available from uk?

sorry for all the questions, id much appreciate any help or advice about this as i cannot lose weight i have tried a milion diets lol :(

thanks again debbie xxx:)

[Internet Legend]

Debbie, you might read some of the replies in this thread as well as the original post (which is more than three years old now).

There is no such thing as a "perfect" diet that will magically make you lose weight. If you've had trouble losing weight on various diets, perhaps your problem is not with the composition of the "diet" but rather with your approach to nutrition and exercise.

Tell you what, though, just for you. I'll give you a specific diet, along with some specific behavior, that will work. You won't lose 10 pounds in three days, but if you follow it faithfully, you should be able to lose one half to one pound a week and keep it off for the rest of your life. Ready?

Day One:
If you are more than 20 pounds overweight, have any underlying medical conditions, or are over 35, consult your doctor just to be safe. In fact, if you have decent health insurance (or live somewhere with a national health plan), do that first in any case. Once your doctor has cleared you to begin a diet and exercise program, go home and clear out all the junk food from your cupboards. This means any high-sugar cereal, soft drinks, chips (crisps? are you in the UK?), and factory-made cookies (er, biscuits).

Go out and buy small amounts of whole-grain products (a loaf of bread, whole-wheat pasta, whole-oat cereal, etc). Don't buy more than a week's supply. Pick up some leafy green vegetables, the freshest fruit you can find, and maybe some legumes (peas, beans, etc). If you like meat, get some good cuts of meat. Dairy products are good, too, as long as they don't have too much added crap. For instance, hard cheeses are healthier than soft ones, and Cheez Whiz or processed cheese slices hardly even count as dairy. Plain yogurt with some fruit that you add at home is far better than the dessert yogurts that are all the rage. If you're a low-fat believer or if your cholesterol is high, get low-fat items. If not, get the regular kind. It won't really matter in the long run.

Come home and put your groceries away. Go for a 30-minute walk at a brisk pace. Come home and cook some of the fresh food you just bought, including at least two servings of vegetables and limiting the meat to about 4 ounces of pre-cooked weight (that's about 114 grams, I believe). Have a glass of milk with dinner, if you can stomach milk. If not, have water or tea or some other non-sugared drink.

Resist the urge to eat handfuls of crap in front of the television after dinner. Go for another walk, if need be.

Day Two:
Eat breakfast. Yogurt is good, as is whole-grain cereal (oats are great). Stay away from doughnuts or anything with a lot of saturated fat and sugar. Try to get some protein - don't make the mistake of eating a piece of toast and thinking it's a healthy breakfast. Fruit is a natural at this meal, and although the industry would have you believe that juice can be counted as a serving of fruit, whole fruit is a far better nutritional choice.

Go for a fifteen-minute walk after breakfast.

Eat fresh food for lunch instead of fast food. Get two or three servings of vegetables. if you have salad, try to make it one that includes dark greens instead of iceberg lettuce. If tomatoes are available, have some. Have a serving of meat, if that's your pleasure, or a serving of legumes - anything that has a decent amount of protein. Go ahead and have an ounce of cheese, too, and a serving of something whole-grain. Knock yourself out.

Go for a fifteen-minute walk after lunch.

If you want a mid-afternoon snack, have a piece of fruit and/or a small amount of nuts. Be sure you're not eating more than one serving of nuts - weighing them isn't a bad idea.

For dinner, have 4 ounces of meat or a serving of high-protein vegetables (again with the legumes). Include two or three servings of vegetables and a serving of something whole-grain (I'm thinking pasta, rice, or bread here). If you're cooking your vegetables, either steam them lightly or cook them in a frying pan with a little olive oil. Whatever you do, don't boil them.

Go for a thirty-minute walk after dinner.

If you feel hungry after dinner, have a piece of fruit or fresh vegetable. You could probably go for broke and eat some yogurt if you wanted.

Day Three, and the rest of your life:
Repeat Day Two.

Now, you can vary this. You can, for instance, do a one-hour aerobics class instead of the walking. After you get into the exercise groove a little, it's an excellent idea to get some weight-lifting in so that you'll build muscle tissue, which will help you boost your metabolic rate, meaning your body will use more calories even when you're not doing much of anything.

This site (http://www.pueblo.gsa.gov/cic_text/food/food-pyramid/main.htm) has excellent nutritional advice and also defines terms like "one serving" or "lean meat". This site (http://www.stumptuous.com/weights.html) has great advice about starting an exercise program (she concentrates on weight training - don't let that scare you) and more common-sense nutritional advice.

The problem with "going on a diet" is that it's presented as something you do for a while before going back to your "normal" routine. Most fad diets are unrealistically restrictive and it's very hard to stick to them for any length of time. Some of them are so dangerously unbalanced nutritionally that it's probably a blessing that no one can stay on them for an extended period. The one posted in this thread is not the worst I've seen, by any means, but it's very restrictive, it will get tedious after a short time, and it will not help you change your lifestyle, which is the only way to effect a permanent change in your health.

Now, if you still insist on "doing" the diet that was posted in this thread anyway, I'll give you some tips. No, it doesn't have to be perfect. Nothing in life is perfect.

First, let's just assume the bread/toast are whole-wheat. That makes me feel a little better about the whole thing, anyhow. While we're at it, let's make those "hot dog sausages" low-fat, since the low-fat variety have more actual meat in them. Tell you what, let's make them into one serving of lean meat of any variety instead...hey, I know! Howsabout we make them into 4 ounces of chicken? And let's make sure that "cold meat" isn't processed lunch meat. Whew. I feel way better now.

Second, there is no such thing as low-fat peanut butter (or peanut anything). Peanuts are full of fat, but the good news is that it's monounsaturated and, in limited quantities, is actually good for you. Use natural peanut butter (the kind that doesn't have added trans-fats that keep the oils from separating out). The stirring will give you more exercise!

Third, yes, if you're keeping track of how much food you're eating, kitchen scales are an excellent idea. If you're overweight, you probably are underestimating how much food you've been eating as one serving, and weighing your food for a while will give you a better, more realistic idea or what a serving truly is.

Cook the egg, for God's sake. Ick. If you're concerned about fat, don't fry it, or if you do, use a small amount of olive oil instead of butter. Poaching or (if you're English, I understand you'll eat these) soft-boiling eggs are probably the healthiest ways to prepare them.

Finally, "slatines" are saltine crackers. These are made of processed, white flour, provide empty calories and are full of salt, so if you insist on following this diet to the letter, get low-salt, whole-wheat crackers instead.

Ignore that part about the exercise being "optional". Exercise is never optional. It's what our bodies were designed for in the first place. It's the reason we have to eat at all, to get fuel for our bodies to use in exercise. Find something physical that you like to do and that will make you break a sweat, and do it for thirty minutes to one hour a day. If you're trying to lose weight, do it for the full hour. It doesn't have to be all at once, and the best exercise is the one you'll do, so pick something that doesn't require a lot of training or equipment (unless you already have the training or equipment).

You say that you've tried a million diets and can't lose weight. Have you considered that you may have proved that dieting is the wrong approach? Since what you've tried hasn't worked, please give my suggestions a try for, say, three months. Let us know how it works out, and good luck! You can do it.

[trysohard]

hi

thank you very very much for taking the time to reply to me i appreciate that very much and i will try what you have advised but in all honesty i have even kept a diary because sometimes people dont realise they are snacking i know i find it very hard to actually eat i have to near on force myself to consume food id say i ate around 800-1000cal a day i NEVER drink alcohol I DONT SMOKE i go to the gym 5X A WEEK AND BURN 300-500 EACH TIME I ALSO WALK EVERYWHERE clean a lot run up and down stairs, also have a gym at home i do a little extra there too i take 3 slimming tablets 30min b4 gym i drink lots of water about 2litre

for breakfast i usually have
2shredded wheat with semi skimmed milk, a probiotic drink and a piece of friut

snack apple or orange
maybe2

dinner a set meal from 230-330 cals no more usually curry and rice' or potatoe and broccoli or weight watchers lasagnya unsure of spelling)

tea is probably a bowl of cereal and 3 pieces of fruit and i also dring apple and orange juice throuout the day with no weight loss at all im lucky if i can just sustain i also dont even buy sweet things i dont have sugar i rarely have any butter i never buy anything unhealthy eg crisps sweets cakes buiscuits and no weight loss:confused:

but these past few days iv upped my calorie intake to 1500 because i was thinking maybe my body was in starvation mode? no weight loss so far its really hard for me to eat more food to i have to force it down my kneck like a chore lol im sure a lot of people wouldnt mind though lol:)

anyway thanks again for the help any advice or critisisms feel free thanks again.

xxxdebbie

[Internet Legend]

If I may get (even more) personal, just what do you weigh (and how tall are you)? If you're eating that little, working out that much, and not losing weight, perhaps you shouldn't lose any weight. If you can get your bodyfat percentage checked, that would be an excellent thing to do. It's quite possible that your body composition may be low in lean tissue, especially if you've been starving yourself for a long time. In order to put on muscle, you'll need to give your body the fuel it needs at the same time that you demand a lot from your muscles (this is where weight training comes in).

If you're exercising a lot while dieting and you stop losing weight, upping your calories is indeed an excellent idea. Your body will conserve calories like mad if it thinks you're starving, and anything under 1000 calories a day, unless you're a very tiny person, is starvation. It looks from what you've listed that you're not getting nearly enough protein in your diet, and you may not be getting enough complex carbohydrate either. You say you drink juice "through the day." Maybe it would be good to substitute water for the juice and see if your appetite improves. Fruit juice is not much better sugar water, aside from the vitamins, and it would be better to eat a whole apple or orange than to drink their juice. Eight ounces of orange or apple juice is about 120 calories of almost pure sugar.

The amount of food you should be taking in daily depends on your height and weight and the amount of energy you expend. A good rule of thumb for someone who's exercising regularly is to multiply your ideal weight by 13 and eat that many calories. In other words, if your healthy weight is 120 pounds and you exercise a half hour per day, 1500 calories would be a good amount.

Please be sure that you're not trying to meet an unrealistic weight-loss goal. It might just be time for you to consult a doctor and get some good, personalized advice about where to go from here.

[trix]

Donna has said it beautifully, but I'll add my concurrence for emphasis.

Many people (including me) would not say their body is 'perfect' or 'ideal' even when they have reached a healthy weight. Unless losing weight will benefit your health, its better to focus on your general nutrition and fitness: getting those 5 fruit/veg a day in, getting strong enough to do that first pull-up, enjoying that you can run 3 miles without getting winded.

If you don't feel you can be objective about what a healthy weight for you is, talk to your physician.

--trix

[trysohard]

hi donna

thanks again for the advice im 18 female 5.5 and 168 pounds so i definately need to lose some weight:(

im going shopping tommorow so i think ill try the 7day diet but ill eat fresh meat and natural peanut butter and wholewheat bread like you suggested thank you.

i also have a body fat scale/monitor and it says my body fat is 43%:mad:
which is really frustrating as i work out every day.:o

anyway ill be trying the 7day diet and ill let you know how it goes:)
thank you for the help and great advice much appriciated

debbie xxx

[trysohard]

and i forgot to add

iv upped my calories and lost 2lb in 5 days but its not fast enough and my weight goes up and down by the minuite.:mad:

[Internet Legend]

Okay, hold it.

It is unrealistic to hope to lose two pounds of fat in five days. Our bodies are just not designed to work that way. If your bodyfat percentage is actually that high (although I'm afraid the bodyfat scales aren't the most accurate things on earth), you've probably managed to lose an equal amount of muscle tissue and fat when you've gone on your various fad diets. The problem with this is that when you gain the weight back, it's much more likely to be fat than muscle. This is a vicious cycle, since the less muscle you have, the harder it is to lose weight.

I suspect you need to quit focusing so much on calories and weight and start looking at your overall health and fitness levels. You say your weight changes by the minute? Well, so does mine, most likely, but I don't weigh myself every minute so I don't know. An eight-ounce glass of water weighs just over half a pound. If you drink sixteen ounces of water before you step on the scale, you'll have gained a whole pound right there. That isn't a bad thing.


Why do you want to lose weight? Are you unhealthy? What's your goal - do you want to look good in a pair of tight pants, or would you like to live to a healthy old age? If you try to look at your weight and overall health with an eye to the longer term, you're likely to have more success. How are you working out? It's quite possible, if you're going great guns every day, that you're overtraining or perhaps not training effectively. The best thing you can do is to get advice from your doctor and/or a personal trainer. Many gyms have people who can help you set up a clear-cut program for a one-time fee, and then you can work on it on your own.

If you can't or won't go to a professional for help, I would suggest that you try looking at your regimen with a critical eye and reworking it to be more effective in the long term. I know that it can be really hard to stay motivated when you don't see immediate results, but if you think about it, you've probably been trying ineffective methods for a pretty long time. There's no point in wasting more time on them. Here's what I would advise you to do:

First, forget about dieting right now. For one full week, don't limit yourself, but keep track of everything you eat. Write down exactly what you eat, including snacks and drinks. Be precise about serving sizes and calorie counts. There are a number of places online you can get the caloric values of foods - I've used Calorie King (http://www.calorieking.com/foods/) and the USDA (http://www.nal.usda.gov/fnic/foodcomp/search/). At the end of the week, tally up your average daily intake. This is your starting point. Remember, the goal of this week is not to change anything at all about your diet. You're just getting a baseline.

Now, look at your exercise program. What kind of exercises are you doing when you work out, and at what intensity, and for how long? It's sensible to do 30 – 60 minutes of aerobic activity a day. An effective way to measure your intensity level is to try talking after you've warmed up and you feel like you're working pretty hard. You should be able to say short sentences without gasping, but you shouldn't be able to talk at length easily. Try to maintain an intensity level that you can keep up for 20 minutes at a stretch. Don't knock yourself out, but don't keep it too easy either. If you're not doing any kind of weightlifting now, it's a good idea to start. With weights, you really need to be sure you don't overdo it at the beginning, and you need to pay attention to your form when you lift. If you can get someone at the gym to show you how to do free weights, that's ideal. If not, remember some cardinal rules: you must keep your back straight and your abdominal muscles pulled in when you lift; if you can't do 8 repetitions with the weight you've chosen, it's too heavy, and you have to work against gravity to give your muscles a workout. Don't work the same muscle group two days in a row. You must give your body time to rest and repair the muscle fibers after you've worked them. There is a great workout routine for beginners using just two dumbbells on Stumptuous.com (http://www.stumptuous.com/weights.html).

Now, taking the calorie count that you worked out in the first week, devise a nutritional plan. If you're getting at least 30 minutes of fairly strenuous exercise five to six days a week and your weight is staying at 168 pounds, I would guess that you've been taking in at least 2200 calories a day, but there may be factors I'm not taking into account. If you're 5'5", a healthy weight for you would probably be between 125 and 135 pounds, but that's a general range, not a set number for you. Think of it as a guideline, not a rigid goal. In order to lose between one half and one pound a week (a healthy, realistic rate), you should try to cut about 500 calories a day from that intake. You will need to be sure you're still getting a good balance of protein, carbohydrate, and "good" fats (the kind of fats that olives, nuts, and fish provide). Cut out sugary drinks, including juices, and try not to replace them with artificially sweetened drinks (the jury is still out on how those affect your blood sugar levels). The easiest way to devise a healthy, complete diet is to concentrate on eating the least processed foods you can find. Fresh vegetables are better than canned, homemade soups are better than prepared ones, apples are better than applesauce, etc. Eat plenty of good, fresh vegetables and drink enough water to stay well-hydrated. If you can't get fresh food, choose prepared foods wisely. Stay away from anything that's been breaded and deep-fried and avoid fast-food hamburgers. Sandwich shops often have some good choices, especially if you ask them to give you mayonnaise and oily dressings on the side so that you can portion them out yourself. If you're looking for a fast snack, sometimes you can find apples or bananas in convenience stores. Don't be taken in by the "nutrition bar" hype – most of them are very high in calories and sugar, and they're usually so small they don't fill you up as much as something bulkier that contains the same amount of calories. Don't fall into the trap of trying the next new "miracle diet" you see. There are no free lunches, so to speak, and nobody has found a way to defy physics or bypass physiology. You didn't put the weight on overnight, and it won't come off that quickly either.

Try following this program for a full month. You should start to see some results. Not only should you begin to lose weight, you will probably start to feel healthier and stronger, too. Once you begin to put on muscle, you'll be amazed at how great you feel, regardless of the number on the scale, and the more muscle you gain, the easier it will be to lose fat. You can do this. It just takes persistence.

Here are some sites that have good advice and resources:

http://www.caloriecontrol.org/
http://www.exrx.net/Beginning.html
http://www.eatright.org/Public/NutritionInformation/92.cfm

[trysohard]

hi donna

i think you are probably rightbabout the scales because my partner doesnt have an ounce of fat on him he trains every day and cycles to work he is about 12 and a half and the scale says 74% for him id say he was 10% at the most.

i would like to weight 126pounds 9st as you have said about losing muscle in pretty tonned no wobbly bits lol.

as for the gym well i do 100cals on level10 on the rowing machine this takes about 13min then i go on excersice bike for about 40min then i go on stairclimber for 15 min then the treadmill till i burn 150 sometimes 350 then i cool down with light weights and stretches then when i get home i do some more weights steppers and 30 incline situps. i think i lift about 25-30 lbs when i do weights.

im going shopping soon but what i struggle with is when i go shopping i think i need some sort of list iv looked everywhere and they dont show u them for free so i guess ill just buy plenty of fresh fruit and veg as i always do.

thanks debz xxx
:)

[trysohard]

o i forgot

i also keep track of everything i eat even down do drinks and bubble gum
i eat from 1300-1600 tops and this is me trying to eat lots thanks debz.
xxx
:)

[BattyTrish]

I have tried this diet and it worked brilliantly! Me my mum and my dad tried it together so it was easier as we were all eating the same. after the three days, my mum lost 9lb i lost 10lb and my dad lost 11lb!! it took months for the weight to go back on so i don't believe its a fluid thing. I am now trying something new for me, calorie counting, and its working great, the weight lose is gradual therefore safe. This 10lb in 3 days is a good way to get you started.
Trish x

[Antti]

Okay. The whole thought of losing 10lbs in 3 days is pretty crazy. The thing is: do you want to lose weight in general or fat tissue?

To burn 1 lb of fat tissue demands about a 3500kcal deficit. For the average guy, recommended intake is 2500kcal a day. If you want to lose 1lb fat tissue and eat the same day, that would mean jogging about 6 hours.

Not making sure you get enough protein can mean you lose mostly lean tissue (muscle). And the less you eat, the more your metabolism slows down and makes dieting more difficult as your metabolism is really slow and thus doesn't use any of the extra fat.

I could lose 10lb in 3 days. I'd just not drink even a drop of water. Instead I do aerobic exercise 3-4 days a week and watch what I eat (been like this for a month now, it shows on the waist.). The bottom line (no pun intended) is that losing weight (weight or fat?) is definitely a long term goal. If you create a 500kcal deficit in your body daily, on a very good week you can lose 1lb of fat tissue.


(Edit: Now I notice Donna had made a longer post where she goes through most of these things!)

[inspectorjason]

I lost all of my weight and went to a healthy percentage of body fat in 2005 by avoiding sugar as much as I could. Even to this day, I make my food purchases according to the following rule: if a food item has more grams of protein than grams of sugar, then I'll buy it/if the sugar grams outnumber the protein grams, then I won't buy it.

For this reason, I eat 100% whole wheat bread instead of enriched white breads, I eat whole wheat pasta instead of normal pasta, and I (normally) stay away from candy, sweets, doughnuts, ice cream, milk products, etc. I eat any green vegetables that I want and I eat most meats that I want.

Sugar is basically a switch inside your body that tells your body to store fat. Picture in your mind a railroad train car full of fat and this railroad car is moving down the rail to a Fat Incinerator building...because your body will normally burn fat on its own normal course. Inbetween the rail train car of fat and the Fat Incinerator building, however, is a split railroad track that goes to the Fat Storage building. There is a switch beside the diverted track with "Sugar" labeled on the front because, if you flip the switch, sugar diverts the rail car of fat to the Fat Storage building instead of to the Fat Incinerator building.

I lost weight (body fat) steadily because I did an hour of intense cardiovascular exercise per day by working out on treadmills, StairMasters, ellipticals, etc. while wearing a heartrate monitor to make sure that I was reaching the metabolic target heartrate to burn fat. I don't recall, however, ever losing pounds of fat as rapidlly as on the above posted crash diet. It's better to simply change lifestyle instead of going on a diet.