If you’re looking to find a new diet, there are endless resources that can be found. The biggest challenge we face at Omaha Barbell is sifting through the good stuff versus the stuff that’s simply useless.
First, we want to make it clear that if you’re looking to lose weight there isn’t a simple or easy process to do it. It’s hard work that in the end will pay off. You will sweat, be sore, and be crabby because you’re craving an oreo or 20 of them. The point is that there’s a level of dedication and commitment required to losing weight and keeping it off.
Below, our weight training team at Omaha Barbell will discuss eight common fad diets, why they don’t work, and what you should do instead. If you have any questions, feel free to drop by our Omaha gym!
The 17- Day Diet
The first fad diet is called the 17- Day diet, which was created by Michael Moreno. He tells people using this diet to avoid carbs, such as bread or crackers (unfortunately, most of your favorite foods probably have carbs) and even those yummy fruit snacks after 2 p.m. In addition, you’re advised to walk exactly 17 minutes a day for 17 days.
You’re probably wondering the same thing we are–why 17 minutes? What does that do? The answer is nothing. This is a good diet for the simple fact that you’re encouraged to exercise and replace unhealthy foods for better ones. However, the 17 minutes of walking by itself won’t assist in weight loss. Our fitness experts in Omaha suggest you need at least 30 minutes of exercise a day along with healthy eating habits.
Soup Diet
If you like soup, you might not any more after trying this diet. You will eat only soup and low- calorie foods for a week and the outcome is supposed to be a ten pound weight loss. However, after you go back to eating normally the week after, you will most likely suffer the consequences of diarrhea and sickness. If you ask us, we’d stick to healthy foods and exercise instead.
The Master Cleanse
Performing a body cleanse is a huge fad, the most popular one at that. It’s definitely all over Pinterest. All the celebrities are doing it, so you should do it too, right? Honestly, you probably shouldn’t. This diet isn’t really a diet at all, it was designed to be a detox for your body instead and it was construed into being something else. This cleanse consists of lemon juice, maple syrup, and cayenne pepper. Yuck! Therefore, the pounds you lose will be mostly water weight and when you begin to eat normally again, you will gain it all back almost instantly. Our team of weight trainers at Omaha Barbell understands how discouraging that would be.
The Acai Diet
The acai berry has died out a little over the last few years, but our health nuts at Omaha Barbell still want to address it. In the beginning, it was thought that the acai berry had weight loss effects if used in juices or pills. However, the materials are known to be expensive and it has not been proven that it even works. Our fitness team says don’t waste your time or money with this one. If you still want to try it after our recommendation to stay away we suggest to ensure you’re near a toilet at all times!
The Atkins Diet
A few of our clients have tried this diet many times and quit many times as well. The Atkins diet was first introduced in the 1970s by Dr. Robert Atkins and it replaces your carbs with protein. This diet promises that you’ll lose 15 pounds and while that’s true, those 15 pounds are water weight. Furthermore, the extra protein can cause kidney and liver damage because your body has to process all that extra meat it wouldn’t have to otherwise.
The Chewing Diet
Our health conscience experts at Omaha Barbell want you to know how extremely dangerous this fad diet is; the chewing diet is the worst one of them all. It suggests only chewing your food and not swallowing so you can get the taste and some nutrients, then if spit it out you won’t be punished with all the calories. However, this diet is reminiscent of bulimia and can cause long term effects of both tooth decay and acid reflux from the continuous chewing. We don’t think it’s worth the risk!
Cookie Diet
“Cookies!” Do you hear the cookie monster’s voice when you see this? This particular diet involves cookies. Originally developed by Dr. Sanford Siegal, he created a healthy cookie recipe that contains only 500 calories for 4-6 cookies. Who doesn’t want to eat cookies for breakfast? These cookies are to take the place of two meals and your last meal should equal about 1000 calories. As good as this sounds, the diet can get old fast and cause you to feel even hungrier than before. However, if you have the self-control, then C is for cookie, it’s good enough for you.
The HCG Diet
This diet insists you count calories and only allows you to eat 500-800 calories a day. That equals only 4 cookies from the diet mentioned above, not very much for the whole day. For reference, the daily average calorie consumption is 1700- 2000 calories. In addition, you’re to take the Human Chorionic Gonadotropin (HCG), a pregnancy hormone, in pill form or injected into the body to encourage weight loss beyond the counting of calories. However, it has been proven that HCG does nothing to help with weight loss and the low calorie intake is hard to maintain. We here at Omaha Barbell say you will not get the nutrients needed to stay healthy if you continue with this diet.
As you can tell from above we recommend steering clear from ‘fad’ diets. As mentioned in our previous article, we recommend you watch what you put in your mouth, track your food (including calorie, carb, and fat count), get moving, and most importantly realize that this is a long term process. Those who lose weight fast, or with little or minimum effort usually bounce back to their old weight or worse, put on an extra 20 pounds!
