If it sounds too good to be true, it probably is
Written: Feb 18 '05
|
Product Rating:
|
|
|
Pros: Give me a minute to think about this..
Cons: The entire diet is rediculous
The Bottom Line: This diet is a complete and total waste of time. It is unhealthy and quite monotonous
|
|
|
| smh32775's Full Review: The Grapefruit Diet |
I am what the world would call a "yo-yo" dieter. Through my mid-teen years and into my early twenties, I had anorexia. I topped the scales at a whopping 98lbs. After getting pregnant with my first daughter I stopped and ate as I was told to by my doctor for the health of my baby. I did the same with my second daughter. Now that I'm finished having kids and entering my 30's, my metabolism is completely shot. I can go for week long fasts and not lose a single pound. I have tried every diet known to man to lose the extra weight from my 2 pregnancies. One such diet I tried was the grapefruit diet. I love grapefruits and figured it would be really simple to follow.
What's the grapefruit diet?
The grapefruit diet promises that if followed correctly, you should lose 52 lbs in 2 1/2 months. It sounds totally unrealistic but anyone who really wants to lose weight will do whatever they can to get it off..even believe hokey diet claims. When I did research for this diet, I found that there were several versions floating around out there. I am only going to talk about the version that I followed. The Rules of the diet are fairly simple to follow:
-you must drink eight 8oz glasses of water per day.
-eat until you are full at meals. this means that if your dinner calls for meat, you may eat as much of the meat as you like until you are full.
-you may not eliminate anything from this diet
-this diet only calls for 1 cup of coffee at dinner time. Throughout your day, you must cut back on the amount of coffee that you consume.
-butter is allowed
-you must follow the diet for 12 consecutive days, take 2 days off and then resume.
What's the food like?
Breakfast consists of 1/2 a grapefruit, 2 eggs and 2 slices of bacon. I used turkey bacon since it's lower in fat and calories. I also like to put sweet-n-low on my grapefruit.
lunch 1/2 grapefruit again, a salad (see list below for items not allowed in a "salad"), meat. The meat is your choice and you may have as much as you would like. I chose boiled chicken.
dinner another 1/2 grapefruit, salad and meat again plus 1 cup of coffee
snack I don't know why they bother with a snack BUT the snack allowed is either 8oz of tomatoe juice or skim milk. I skipped the snack.
They have certain foods that are allowed and ones that are not allowed. You may eat bell peppers, red onions, broccoli, fruit, jelly or pretzels. You may NOT eat potatoes, celery, peas, cucumbers, carrots, tomatoes, lettuce (um..they said salad remember), any cheese, no green veggies or mayonaise.
Ok, here's my problem with the diet. All of their not allowed foods are negative calorie foods. Meaning, they require more energy to burn than they are worth. They have no impact on your diet and most of the foods sworn off are the best ones for you! I also don't understand how you are supposed to make a salad without lettuce, carrots, cucumbers or tomatoes. For my salad portion I had fruit.
My take
Although I enjoy grapefruits, this diet was completely contradictory of itself. It does not lie out clear boundaries for portions. In dieting, I've now learned that portion control is very important. This diet lacks in alot of nutritional areas. There is very little calcium, aside from the skim milk. I received protein through the chicken but with the lack of veggies I missed out on alot of important vitamins.
I was tired and lacked energy while on this diet. I was hungry and craved carbs. Not only did I not lose weight on this diet but I gained 10lbs off of it. I did not remain on the diet for the entire 2 1/2 months. I stayed on it for about 3 weeks before I broke down. I haven't had a grapefruit since I did this diet last spring.
Suggest it?
I would not suggest this diet to anyone. It promises unhealthy weight loss goals and there is no mention of exercise. I would suggest that if you are serious about weight loss, see a nutritionist. They can put together a diet plan that is sensible and safe to follow. Learn about your body and how food plays into it. A word of advice, if it sounds too good to be true, it probably is.
Recommended:
No
Food Variety Restrictions You eat the same thing for months
|
|
|
|
Epinions.com ID:
smh32775
|
 - Top 1000 |
|
Member: Michele
Location: Sierra Vista, AZ
Reviews written: 317
Trusted by: 124 members
About Me:
One hiatis for my pregnancy. I'll be back shortly
|
|
|
- Add to My Yahoo!: 
- Add to Google Homepage: 
© 1999-2009 Shopping.com, Inc.