Nutrition How many "fad" diets did you try before you found what worked?

[steve-in-kville]

Honestly, like 20 years ago a neighbor pushed the Atkins thing on me. Yeah, she looked good lost a bunch of weight. But guess where she is now?

Did full on Paleo a few years after that, but wasn't sustainable for me.

Now, I simply don't consume much wheat products and I limit processed food as much as possible. So far, so good.

Like to hear other's journeys through the fad diet industry.

 

[Kenny Croxdale]

Honestly, like 20 years ago a neighbor pushed the Atkins thing on me. Yeah, she looked good lost a bunch of weight. But guess where she is now?

Atkin's Diet

This diet has been around for approximately 60 years.

It's not a fad diet because fads don't last that long.

Also, many individual refer to Atkins as being a Ketogenic Diet; which it is not.

Where Is She Now?

Based on what you posted, she gained the weight back and maybe more.

The issue isn't the diet, the problem has to do with the individual...

Diet Stastics

Dieting Statistics: What the Research Says About Diets

Marcia Pell, RDN shares statistics on dieting, what the research says about dieting and why most diets will fail.

marciapell.com

95% of diets fail and most will regain their lost weight within 1-5 years.

Underlying Factor

The majority of individual fail in a large part because they are motivated to stick with the diet.

Did full on Paleo a few years after that, but wasn't sustainable for me.

This illustrates that point that the majority of individual have.

The Paleo Diet has been around since around 1970; 50 years. So, it not a fad.

The irony is that you friend may be asking the same question in regard to you being on Paleo, "Where is he now?"

Now, I simply don't consume much wheat products and I limit processed food as much as possible. So far, so good.

It's A Start

One of the keys is finding a diet that you like and is easy to maintain.

A secondary, key is motivation. If you don't have it or can maintain it, nothing works.

Ketogenic Diet

As I have noted in previous post, I have been on the Ketogenic Diet since July 2016 due to metabolic condition. What motivates me is my metabolic issue.

Another component is the my wife now cook Keto.

 

[IMayAgainKnowChris]

Honestly, like 20 years ago a neighbor pushed the Atkins thing on me. Yeah, she looked good lost a bunch of weight. But guess where she is now?

Did full on Paleo a few years after that, but wasn't sustainable for me.

Now, I simply don't consume much wheat products and I limit processed food as much as possible. So far, so good.

Like to hear other's journeys through the fad diet industry.

I think the problem with most diet trends is people lacking the discipline to continue them.

I don’t know if they’re “fads” but paleo, keto and carnivore all have worked great for me. Depending on where I was at with my training.

I worked at Whole Foods for about 8 years and I did see all kinds of trends take off there. Most everything I saw seemed to work for people if it involved adequate protein and caloric deficit if they were trying to lose weight.

I remember one time, as I have a curious nature, asking this bodybuilder who came through once “dude I hate to bother you but what do you eat in a day, I gotta know” (this was around 2012 and paleo was really taking off). He said “I eat a lot of pancakes. Mostly pancakes right now”. It’s hard to get the real picture of what someone’s done in their life by a snapshot span of time.

it’s like the old bow flex ads or any fitness equipment. Highly doubt the people in those commercials put in years using the equipment they’re selling to get the body they have. Guessing the same goes with diets.

One weird trend I remember was that like “cleanse” of water, honey and cayenne pepper. Something like that.

Anyone have any stories about BULKING diets?! That could be fun!!!

 

[Kenny Croxdale]

I don’t know if they’re “fads”

Does a fad last 50 or 60 years?

Most everything I saw seemed to work for people

The Twinkie Diet that Mark Haub, MS Nutritionist with Kansas Stated worked.

Haub lost 27 lbs and improved his cholesterol.

Haub did the diet to prove that, not matter what diet you use, the key to weight loss maintaining a calorie deficit.

Anyone have any stories about BULKING diets?! That could be fun!!!

Actually, Bulking amount to force feeding yourself when you are full. It is not fun.

 

[Steve Freides]

How many "fad" diets did you try before you found what worked?

None. I've always been OK at managing my bodyweight. Worst case scenario for me has been maybe 15-20 lbs too much. A long time ago - about 40 years ago - when I was very busy and also was feeling a little overweight, I tried not eating until mid-afternoon some days. I hadn't read anything about it - this was early 1980's - but I just sort of fell into it as a person who never liked to eat breakfast, anyway. Shortly after beginning my diet "plan" I realized that I was content not to eat until dinner, and doing that got me back to the weight I wanted to be at.

When I read about the Warrior Diet book, which I'm guessing is 20 years ago, it felt like something I wanted to try so, having long since gone back to eating several times a day, I slowly converted my schedule over to a WD schedule. At first I tried it on Mon/Wed/Fri and ate "normally" on the other 4 days. Next iteration was WD on Mon/Tue and Thu/Fri, eat normal on Wednesdays and the weekend. And gradually it just started to become a lifestyle and that was that.

-S-

 

[Pavel Macek]

I was a vegetarian for a couple of years (I would not call it "a fad" - works great for some folks, plus I absolutely respect the ethical reasons).

I switched to Primal/Paleo, worked great, and gradually went to Keto (most of the time, not always), including intermittent fasting. Suits both my nature and lifestyle.

 

[steve-in-kville]

Some great replies. I see using the word "fad" may have not been the best choice of words on my part.

I like hearing about other's dietary journeys, trying different things until they see what works best for them.

 

[Hung]

Macrobiotic and still in

 

[North Coast Miller]

Have never done a fad diet. I have gone vegan/vegetarian, but that's been around for thousands of years, so not really a fad even by ketogenic diet standards.

What works for me is to evaluate my food based on protein and fat content primarily, and limit portion sizes to control my weight. If really trying to gain I'll add snacks/extra protein bolus. If I know I'm going to eat some chips while watching TV later, I'll cut back on my lunch.

- lots of protein with fats or carbs = eat freely
- lots of carbs, low fat = eat freely unless highly refined carbs, then eat sparingly
- small amount of protein, plus carbs = eat
- small amount of protein plus fat = eat sparingly
- mostly fat = eat sparingly

 

[LukeV]

Over the course of two years I went on approximately 70-80 different diets - pretty much every diet identifiable via Google search. I was in quite a manic/depressive phase (not as in clinical diagnosis but simply as in manic and depressed) due to a longstanding health issue that I became convinced was due to my weight. It was ultimately found to be something else (parasite) but by then I had lost 30kg by (1) adopting a diet I found online (2) weighing myself daily (3) quitting that diet 7 to 10 days later due to what I perceived as lack of progress (4) Rinse and repeat. The most effective diets from my experience were very low carb, very low fat and Weight Watchers (points) and they all worked about the same. I'd also add, from that experience, that alcohol, is a bigger problem in weight loss than is explainable by calories alone. Anything more than about one standard drink reduced the amount of weight loss significantly even when eating less to match the calories

 

[SteveR]

-Vegetarian for about a year but ultimately couldn't handle all the carbs I had to consume to get enough calories. Residual takeaway is eating more vegetables now and we've shifted a lot to fresh and/or organic foods.
-Blood type diet - used the ideas on foods for my blood type to help transition from vegetarian. I'm feeling more alert and less crashes from ingesting a ton of carbs. Plus apparently rid me of significant heart burn/GERD.
-Keto - not full blown but using some of the ideas to dramatically cut down my carbs and help lean off some excess stored calories I accumulated during the year of the pandemic.

It may be obvious, but it seems that the various diets from all over the spectrum that have stood some test of time have a common component and that is stop eating low quality junk, especially processed sugar in its many forms. I believe that in itself could do some wondrous things for a lot of people without having to subscribe to a particular popular diet.

 

[silveraw]

Ooof. I’ve probably done everything.
I think the first one I ever did was the Scarsdale medical diet because a roommate had the book and suggested it. Grapefruit and chicken baby!

Ate vegetarian for a few years in college while dabbling in Buddhism. Wasn’t bad and still like a lot of vegetarian dishes.

Tried low carb, never felt satiated and ended up gaining weight. Not so much a fad but a stepping stone to a series of fad diets

Did keto because my wife was doing it, made my low carb problems worse. But added brain fog. Wife is actually a featured case study in one of the bestselling keto books. She ended up with similar issues to me after as well. Should note this was more Gary taubes keto fad diet. Back when people thought carbs and insulin made you fat.

Did a novel “cheat mode” strategy that some guy on Reddit thought up. It was fun but not great for me. Basically warrior diet with more heavy lifting and kfc.

Did the carb cycling thing (found out carbs make you superhuman). At the time the carbs insulin model was big, so this diet made sense. Now, why not just eat carbs all the time and get the benefits the time?

did slow carb for a long time. Was really fun and easy... cheat day was a problem though. Managed to lose 5-10 lbs every week, then gain it back every cheat day. I have a problem with pastries and pizza.

Did paleo for a while because all my friends were really into it (like moderating panels at paleo fx conference). Got fed up with arbitrary rules with what foods are and aren’t paleo. I still don’t follow the logic with that diet with what is and isn't paleo.

Did a few whole 30 challenges.

Did Whole Foods Plant Based Vegan for a couple months because Arnold’s documentary claimed it would make my... never mind

I will say I recently read about potato hacking. I was at the grocery store in front of the potato bin and didn’t buy any! So I am learning.

Now it is just meal prepping my meals. Keeping the calories at about 2000 and the protein around 40%. I mostly eat lean meats, veggies, don’t shy away from starchy veggies, and whole grains. If I go out to eat I enjoy it. I’m real glad I found Dr Israteal and Dr Norton. They really make things simple and principle based.

 

[silveraw]

Diet Stastics

Dieting Statistics: What the Research Says About Diets

Marcia Pell, RDN shares statistics on dieting, what the research says about dieting and why most diets will fail.

marciapell.com

95% of diets fail and most will regain their lost weight within 1-5 years

Have you ever been able to track down the source for that statistic of 95% failure rate?

 

[Kenny Croxdale]

Have you ever been able to track down the source for that statistic of 95% failure rate?

No

I didn't take the time to look for it. However, the percentage sound right to me.

If the percentage is in the ball park, this principle applies...

The 80/20 Rule

This principle applies to just about everything in life.

If 95% aren't failing on a weight loss plan, I'd bet money that 80% are. I only bet on that tend to favor my odds of winning.

You a good researcher you can probably find something on it as fast or faster than me.

A another quick look found this.



Data from Anderson JW, Konz EC, Frederich RC, et al. Long-term weight-loss maintenance: a meta-analysis of US studies. Am J Clin Nutr 2001;74(5):579–584. Maintenance of lost weight and long-term management of obesity

 

[North Coast Miller]

As a side note that ties in with the other thread re warrior diet, researchers have found that long term obese people will metabolically develop a resistance to mobilizing fat stores and preferentially burn glucose for more of their resting energy needs. This effect seems to last for about a decade after balanced body comp has been achieved.

Recovered anorexic do the opposite, they develop an increased ability to mobilize fat for resting energy needs, again this effect persists for about a decade. This is compounded initially by the individual going hyper-metabolic for a year or so as their health is restored, effectively doubling their nutritionally needs during this timeframe.

This partly accounts for the continued difficulty in maintaining stable bodyweight after recovery from either condition, even on a diet that would work for someone else.

 

[silveraw]

No

I didn't take the time to look for it. However, the percentage sound right to me.

If the percentage is in the ball park, this principle applies...

The 80/20 Rule

This principle applies to just about everything in life.

If 95% are failing on a weight loss plan, I'd bet money that 80% are. I only bet on that tend to favor my odds of winning.

You a good researcher you can probably find something on it as fast or faster than me.

A another quick look found this.


View attachment 13513
Data from Anderson JW, Konz EC, Frederich RC, et al. Long-term weight-loss maintenance: a meta-analysis of US studies. Am J Clin Nutr 2001;74(5):579–584. Maintenance of lost weight and long-term management of obesity

I went down the rabbit hole for an hour or so a week or two ago when I saw that stat elsewhere. I didn’t come up with anything concrete and ended up in one of those blog loops where they all cite each other.
You are way more organized with your research than I am, so figured I’d ask if you had it handy. Thanks for taking a look.

It is one of those things that sounds right-ish, but it bothers me that it is so specific (I always see 95%).

 

[wespom9]

I'm one of those lucky ones that never had to diet, ever. I dabbled in IF (mostly 16/8 window), dabbled in lower carb but that was mostly to see if there were cognitive benefits some people claim, and to experiment on doing strength/cardio work at differing levels of fasting.

Even in my university days where pizza, mcdonalds, alcohol was consumed twice a week at a high volume, my sport career/exercise kept me at ~155 with 12-14% body fat. Nowadays I'm 145, 7-8% every day. Just eat 3 meals a day, tons of whole foods, not much alcohol, next to no fast food, minimal sweets, minimal snacks. I'm happy with that strategy and will continue it forever.

 

[silveraw]

As a side note that ties in with the other thread re warrior diet, researchers have found that long term obese people will metabolically develop a resistance to mobilizing fat stores and preferentially burn glucose for more of their resting energy needs. This effect seems to last for about a decade after balanced body comp has been achieved.

It is looking more and more like a chronic disease. Appetite regulation gets all out of whack too.

 

[North Coast Miller]

It is looking more and more like a chronic disease. Appetite regulation gets all out of whack too.

The good news is that moderate exercise seems to help with everything.

 

[Essexman]

I went down the rabbit hole for an hour or so a week or two ago when I saw that stat elsewhere. I didn’t come up with anything concrete and ended up in one of those blog loops where they all cite each other.
You are way more organized with your research than I am, so figured I’d ask if you had it handy. Thanks for taking a look.

It is one of those things that sounds right-ish, but it bothers me that it is so specific (I always see 95%).

Ben Carpenter on Instagram did a short video on this subject, hope this link works