to absolutely detest faddy diets & quick fixes?

[PetPeeveBonanza]

I am sure I am going to get flamed for this, but I can hide safely behind my namechange

It is my absolute biggest pet peeve, people who go on faddy diets that are bad for their health, and another is people who say they 'cant' give up chocolate/cake/takeaways.

As somebody with a variety of severe allergies/food intolerances, and health problems resulting from this - it bugs me no end when people put their health at risk volunatarily doing diets like atkins and the cambridge diet.

It goes against all medical advice, and is just a stupid lazy thing to do. Voluntarily putting yourself into ketosis? Do you people have no respect for your bodies? I reached ketosis through illness and was hospitalised and had to be put on a drip as it got so bad. It makes me sick that people are glad when they reach this, as if they are achieving something.

Maybe it is a quick fix, but it won't work in the long run, and you are putting your health at risk...for what? You need carbs, just be sensible. How hard is it just to eat a sensible balanced diet? Toast for breakfast is not going to stop you losing weight, nor is a jacket potato with a healthy filling...if you are serious about losing weight do it the right way and don't deprive your body of anything it needs! Yes, it may take longer, but at least you won't look washed out, thinning hair and low on energy.

There is so much choice out there for a healthy balanced diet, that you will be able to stick to! And I wish every day that I had that much choice of food to eat. And if you really really want to lose weight and be healthy, it is possible, just stop eating crap! Remember that food is meant to be there for nutrition, to keep your body working in the right way. Take care of your body, don't abuse it!

[JeremyVile]

Atkins is low carbs.
This is my point really, whenever I have this conversation, the pluses about low carb are counteres with "well lowering carbs is fair enough but its the ones who take it too far, cutting carbs altogether..."
I have never met anyone has cut carbs totally, I think people get confused and assume if someone cuts out the obvious carbs then they are not having carbs at all.
I cant imagine there is anyone who exists solely on meat...

[ShinyAndNew]

There are carbs in all fruit, veg and salad. Although the levels of carbs vary, lettuce being one of the lowest.

Meat is the only thing that has zero carbs.

[JeremyVile]

Yes salad has carbs!
Veg has carbs!

Salad leaves will be on the lower end, tomatoes, green beans, peas, brocolli etc etc will all provide carbs.

[ShinyAndNew]

B vitamins can be found in meat and fish too, particularly Turkey and Tuna.

[Oblomov]

diabetic recommended:
zero or so low carb that it is considered to be sero, i.e less than 5grams =

meat
cheese
eggs
lettuce
celety
spinach
bok choi
cucumber

i am sure there are others.

ph yes, macadamia nuts.

[ShinyAndNew]

I think there is something like 0.5g of carbs in a cup of lettuce. But I don't do low carbing in the Atkins style. I just cut out bread, potatos, rice, pasta and refined sugar.

I fill up on other veg and salads.

[LittleMrsHappy]

Sorry Pagwatch was feeding ds2 x

No I knew it was not related to it pag, the reason I done it was because my IBS was awful and when going to the DRS I was being told to eat more fiber, which was making me have the IBS but they would not listen

The reason I said "diet" as I did not go on it to lose weight I wanted to get rid of all the impurities in my body which was making me poorly with the IBS (was only going to the bathroom once every 2-3 weeks, sorry for tmi) so I went on my usual IBS website and a poster tried this and it worked in clearing her body and improved her symptoms.

hence I tried it, and it worked and continued to work also, as I now dont eat any high fiber foods or any high is carb food produce, and only have a jkt potato once a week.

[Oblomov]

those foods are so low that they don't require any insulin to be injected by my pump. thus in a normal person, no insulin would be excreted by the pancreas.
surely that is nigh on the same as zero carb. 'low as to be considred almost zero carb'

[EggyAllenPoe]

fad diets do annoy, the concept of one food as'bad' and another as 'good'..etc etc..

particularly when applied to kids food.

but weight loss isn't easy - eating is so ingrained in thought patterns & habit - so i think it is a topic that deserves sympathetic treatment.

[gingernutlover]

i havent read all of this but wanted to put in my twopennyworth

when dd was a year old i was a size 20 wieghed nearly 15 stone and was miserable, suffering with pnd and low self esteem

i did the camrbidge diet for 9 weeks, lost nearly 3 stone and got down to a size 12.

3 years later and my weight goes up and down a bit but i have settled at a size 14, feel healthier and am much much happier with myself. How can that be a bad thing?

Yes of course it is better for your body to lose gradually by exercise and balanced diet, I had tried that many many times without much success. So for me, the quick fix, fad diet worked. Very well.

[Tortington]

yes you are right oblomov, as good as zero carb, but i haven't met anyone, talked to anyone, or talked with anyone on MN who live off those ingredients alone.

i had a mince and roasted veg (LC) fajita for dinner and chicken & veg stir fry {in olive oil} for tea. veggies include leek, bell pepper, sweet pepper, onion, courgette, cauliflower and salad stuff. i eat really well and mostly healthy.

[amber1979]

What annoys me most about it all, is that we all know what we should be eating. We're all grown women. However, faddy diets take the responsibility for ourselves away - they treat us like children again.

That is why, like a naughty child allowed off the leash, we usually binge on forbidden foods when the diet is over.

The diet industry grows in size every year, yet people as a whole are getting fatter??

The best thing I ever did was throw out my scales. I've been a size four and a size sixteen over the years. Now a happy 10 - 12. I eat what I want. What I did do was tackle the underlying issues I had with food and my body in general - it was much more painful and hard work than spending £6.99 on Gillian McPoo's latest excretia, but a dam site more effective.

[ImSoNotTelling]

Haven't read all the intermediate posts about carbs and fats and whathaveyou.

It is very depressing, to my mind, that these threads always end up with people discussing the finer points of different diets. This thread is about how fad diets are stupid, and everyone ends up bickering about fad diets IYSWIM.

[PetPeeveBonanza]

Of course it is a bad thing gingernutlover, it is bad for your body, and whilst in your case it has had no lasting effects (luckily) it is a terrible thing to do to your body and a quick cheat. Why did it never work with balanced diet and exercise? That's why your weight will go up and down, I bet your body doesn't know what to do with itself.

[gingernutlover]

my wieght goes up and down within about half a stone (which I think you will find is quite normal)

I find losing wieght very slowly (like if i follow ww or sw) very hard and depressing - therefore for me, the quick diet has improved both my mental and physical health at a time when it was impreative I did both. That is why it was the right choice for me.

Of course diet and exercise are the sensible, correct option. If I had not done cambridge, I strongly believe I will still be a size 20 or more.

Diets like cambridge are not right for everyone, and I too know several people who have put on wieght following them. I also know lots of people who have yo yoed for years following sw and ww - this is no less unehealthy IMO

How much do you weigh OP? Do you have problems maintaining your wieght or losing wieght?

[PetPeeveBonanza]

I don't know how much I weigh, but I am a size 6-8 and hate it. It's through lack of choice given my health problems and food allergies (severe allergies which would put me in hospital.)

But before these health problems began, before I had my DD, I was a size 10 and maintained that perfectly until I became pregnant, which was when I got very very ill and my allergies came to light.

If you have no allergies/health problems, maintaining a healthy weight should be simple, and it drives me beserk people putting their health at risk through overeating. It is obscene that it gets to that stage.

[amber1979]

There is also the side issue that rapid weight loss depeletes your bones of minerals. This can cause osteoporosis in later life.

[Kaloki]

I know someone is ner mid-twenties with osteaporosis due to diets/eating disorders, she's swung from diet to diet, via anorexia and bulimia, with periods of over eating thrown in. And in the process fucked her body.

[PetPeeveBonanza]

Indeed amber, it is disgusting to me that people are overeating to the point of it being dangerous, and then starving themselves to try and make it go away. Considering there are people dying of hunger, I find it sickening.

[PetPeeveBonanza]

That's right Kaloki, I have mild osteoporosis due to my lack of nutrition, and effects of undiagnosed Coeliac's disease. I broke my wrist three times in a year because of this...so for people to underestimate the effects is ridiculous.

[Tortington]

"If you have no allergies/health problems, maintaining a healthy weight should be simple, and it drives me beserk people putting their health at risk through overeating. It is obscene that it gets to that stage."

i am just staggared at this statement i really am

[Kaloki]

petpeeve That's a little unfair, there can be quite a few reasons behind over eating and subsequent starvation.

[amber1979]

PetPeeveBonanza I think calling it all "disgusting" is a little harsh. People who do that have mental issues which they often need professional help to deal with.

The weight is usually a symptom of a deeper malise.

The diet industry does everything it possibly can to make these issues worse and convince people to buy endless books, milk shakes and cereal bars. That is disgusting.