Pharmacy diets. Anyone tried them?

[ChrisBD]

I have used similar "potions" to the ones discussed and have for the most part noticed good losses; the One Week died being the most productive, simple and satisfying. Also, the South Beach diet worked well. These were for the most part thrust uppon me, by the at the time GF, if she's on them so am I....or else...!

Certainly give the two above a look but approach them with an open mind, and take them on board for what they are.

In principle weight loss is easy, particularly for someone engaged in athletic activity; use more cals than you take in. Easy, or is it?

I'm not racing snake; 5ft 9 and 17st with 18%bf. At my fittest - P Coy military fit I was 15st (and 1/2 ish) with bf in single figures. Its not all about end weight; at this weight I was doing multi day mountain work, sea kayaking and a lot of adventure sports. Body composition is far more important than actual weight.

The South Beach plan may well give you what you are looking for; a simple clean mediteranien type diet with a kick-in phase at the start. This may well give you the best chance of reaching and maintaining your goal in a healthy way.

But as with everything; research.....and be satisfied you have the information you need before you jump in.

Also, take a look at a book called Racing Weight, very good. Not a diet book per se but the author is an advocate of the whole body composition over total weight thing.

But do ensure you do your homework first......

Edited to add.....

A much better way of reaching your goal may well be to use a target even as a mile stone, a rage or charity ride etc, and work towards getting ready for this. This coupled with a composition not weight outlook will likely see you better maintain your goal over time.... Good luck

 

[Crankarm]

Fad diets are a waste of time and cause more probs than they are worth. Just eat properly, cut out the crap food, you know what it is, it is not rocket science, eat in moderation, drink a lot of water and concentrate on your exercise regime. Get a full 8 hours sleep every day. When you are sufficiently physically tired you will sleep well. As some one already said DON'T eat your main meal at the end of the day when your body is winding down and you are going to bed. So get running, swimming, cycling, walking, hiking, whatever. At least when you're exercising strenuously there is little chance for you to fill your belly .

For every excess pound of fat on your body you will need to burn 3,500 calories to get rid of it. One bag of sugar weighs 1kg or 2.2lbs. If you were carrying 10 extra bags of sugar around your middle and over the rest of your body, in terms of burning fat that would be 22lbs or the equivalent of 77,000 calories. So if you were to exercise pretty hard doing an extra 4-5000 cals a day then it could take 3 weeks to shift, if of course you were single minded and could put up with pain .......

 

[jimboalee]

Better not say what I ate for yesterday's 100 Audax.

Oh, go on then.

Chicken Tikka Masala. 1 Naan bread. ( this can be counted into Saturday's BMR ).
1 litre of home made butterscotch and fudge chunk ice cream.

Ride was a relaxing, easy affair through rural Warwickshire. 110 km in 4 hrs 39 mins.
Food during the ride. Two Viennese whirl biscuits and a can of Coke.

 

[Riverman]

Taken the plunge and bought a load of slimfast shakes. Not the best time to start this so will delay for abit. It cost about £27 for 10 tins in total after cashback, which seems like a lot but when you think about it that's much better than those crappy pharmacy ones as they were charging over £30 a week, and these shakes should last about 9 weeks.



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[screenman]

How about keeping some of the other guys who are thinking about a quick fix diet informed as to how you get on. My sister in law uses these all the time and she is more a bungy dieter than a yoyo one. Best of luck.

 

[andygates]

Modified protein-sparing fast, these look like. They're effective, provided you don't just revert to pies afterwards. I shook off ten winter-injury-immobility kilos using the Velocity diet over a month in spring.

The posters who say "meh, it's easy, just eat less" can all bog off down a hole. Easy for you. Well, that's nice. Don't confuse biochemical good luck for willpower.

 

[chigman]

If your doing alot of exercise and training, eating less can actually make you put on weight. Your body can panic into thinking it's burning to many calories than your putting into it, and will store fat as a defensive and a reserve.

Steve

 

[screenman]

Is there any scientific evidence to the last post? I have heard of the body going into starvation mode and using fuel other than fat, but I have not read about the body actually putting on weight when eating less calories than that which you burn.

 

[chigman]

This is the sort of thing I was trying to get across. I also read it somwhere on the web ages ago....

" Not eating enough calories. It may seem counterintuitive, but eating too little can actually stall your efforts to lose fat. As Cathy Leman, a registered dietician and creator of NutriFit! says, "...if there is a severe restriction in calories, the body may counteract this reduction by slowing down its metabolism." Be sure you're eating enough calories to sustain your body if you've increased your activity".

Steve