Crash diets - any advice?

[EleonoraDuse]

My weight has always been a fairly steady size 10/12, but my mum died a few months ago after being ill for a year. I spent this period eating ALL THE THINGS.

So I now need to lose about a stone. I have no interest in long-term healthy eating plans. I want to drop the bereavement-belly super quickly and once I've done this I can return to not really thinking about my weight, I hope.

So...crash diets? Any recommendations for a good one? I don't mind if it's super-hardcore as long as it works and it's quick.

I would say dont do it.

You'll wreck your metabolism and end up heavier when you've finished it and go back to your usual eating habits.

Atkins.

Don't bother. They don't work. Change your eating habits slowly and you'll keep the wait off.

Eat slowly, don't watch telly as you do it. Focus on your food.
Get your 5 a day, from vegetables as much as poss.

As others have said, don't do it, you'll make your body go into starvation mode. You'll lose a few pounds really quickly, than plateau and then put all the weight back on and more.

I doubt anyone is going to endorse crash diets really, as they are so bad for you.
I think at best even if you did the cabbage soup diet you might shit 8-10 lbs in a week if you were lucky but then you would probably go up another couple of lbs once healthy but normal eating was reintroduced. Could you not just aim for a weekly loss of 2lbs over a 6-8 week period so that your health wasn't affected?
Sorry about your mum.

Obviously that was meant to say shift 8- 10lbs

'shit" is probably more correct :-)

I'm another one who wouldn't recommend a crash diet, especially with so little to lose but "I spent this period eating ALL THE THINGS." made me laugh as it is the kind of thing my geek-boy says.

Nooooo...no healthy eating plans!

I can do hardcore short-term pain, no good AT ALL at sensible long-term moderation.

Honestly, I've been a size 10/12 for 35 years. I've never dieted.My usual eating habits are fine-ish to maintain a weight. I just want to be at the right size to maintain.

If I were you I would do a calorie controlled diet - 1200 calories tops, per day, until you drop the excess weight. Try to cut down on sugar and get the calories as much as possible from healthy food. This is what I am doing and have lost 6lbs in the first 2 weeks.

OP a crash diet isn't going to work. It's just not. Like others have said, you'll fuck your metabolism and put all the weight straight back on. How do you think Weight Watchers et al stay in business? It ain't because it works.

Cut out all the crap. Sugar. Processed food. Salt. That's the only way to do it.

Ive always been an 8/10 but when i put on 4 stone i still needed to lose it slowly and sensibly.
If you do a crash diet, you will lose it, put it back on when you start eating normally and fuck up your metabolism so you spend the rest of your life in a yoyo situation.

The only way to go whatever size you are is to eat sensibly and exercise regularly

Dukan. I lost 5kg in three weeks. Put it back on within a whole year so not a drastic weight gain after stopping. Will be doing it again this month

I was going to say exactly what bandersnatch said, but had to at the irony of swoosh's post, proving what everyone else has said about quick fix diets not working!

Very low calorie diets can work for a short period but then you go into starvation mode and will plateau and most likely regain more than you lost However I lost 13lb in a month by following Paul Mckenna's rules from I can make you thin and running three times a week. I think exercising is key actually.

Join SW best thing I ever did 1 year later 3 st lighter and have kept it off and i am never hungry as soo many things are free foods :) it is a really easy eating plan :)

I put on LOADs of weight after having my babies and was so unhappy with the way I looked if you really wanna do somthing about a weight problem you will be able to there is no need to crash diet at all.

God just read my post back I sound abit like an ad lol sorry !! :)

You don't actually need a diet of any sort. You just need to go back to eating the way you were a year ago and stop shovelling the crap in to your gob. Radical eh?

It's taken you a year to put the weight on, it will take a while for it to come off, long term

I dont believe exercise is the key...it helps a bit and of course can't hurt but it's what you put in your gob , or specifically what you DONT that makes the difference

I lost 7lb a few years ago doing the cabbage soup diet for one week. I was in your situation OP. My weight was usually stable but I'd put on half a stone in a short period because circumstances at the time led me to eat a lot of junk food ie comfort eating. I lost weight quickly and got back 'on track' with my usual sensible eating. Since then I've done the diet for three days when I've had a period of overeating which leads to a weight loss of about 3 or 4 lbs, and again kick starts my usual diet which is quite healthy.

cybbo - exercise AND diet are the key. I generally eat whatever crap I want, but I walk everywhere and do classes, not overweight at all.

Just don't :)

I'd use something like MyFitnessPal (I think you can use it online if you don't have an iPhone). You enter everything you eat and you set your calorie limit.

I used it when I was in a similar situation to you and lost a stone in a about 4 weeks. You can be as hardcore as you want.

Be warned though, it gets addictive! I was trying to get lower and lower daily amounts, and was down to 500 some days. Raspberries in zero calorie jelly were a favourite!

I didn't put the weight back on (well apart from when I was pregnant!)