Fad diets dont work

Not in the long run, anyway. I promise you I've experimented with every fad diet known to man. Special K diet, SlimFast, South Beach, Atkins, Cookie Diet... you name it, I've tried it. I can tell you from my many years of diet-obsessed experience that the skinny on these diets is that skinny doesn't apply.

At first, you will lose weight. I doesn't matter which radical diet you decide to go with. Any major sudden change or shock to your system is going to produce instant weight loss results. The bulk of this instant loss is almost always water weight, but losing actual fat and keeping it off long term is simply not in any of these carefully prescribed cards.

When preparing for tour, DragonCon, or dance competitions, I've found that I do resort to my favorite fad diet at least in the few weeks prior. Out of all the crazy diets that you see on TV and in bookstores, the on that I feel best about and that works for me in the short term is a modified Special K diet. I say modified because I usually eat cereals like whole grain Total, Kellogg's All Bran, or plain Shredded Wheat (sweetened with Stevia and/or agave syrup), cereals with density that will fill me up. Special K tastes great, but after an hour, you'll feel like you ate oxygen for breakfast.



The fact that cereals like Total, All Bran and Multigrain Cheerios have 35-100% of my percent daily value of over 20 vitamins and minerals and only 180-200 calories per bowl helps me cut my calories for a few weeks without any fear of malnutrition. In fact, it almost seems like I could stay on this diet forever.

:::imagine Borat's voice::: NOT!

I will say that it worked for a while. I lost a few pounds before tour, pounds I refer to as "desk job cushioning," and I managed to keep it off and maintain my exercise and diet for about six months. But recently, in the last two months, I've started to notice that the cereal diet isn't working anymore.

I gained three pounds, and I started to blame it on the pizza restaurant I work at. ut I've come to realize, that while Libretto's has an abundant supply of tasty, non-diet foods, it wasn't the food that made me gain weight. It was the fact that only eating two bowls of cereal all day turned me into a ravenous, compulsive eater, and all there was around me was pizza and white bread. Gee...



So while the diet did work for a while, it effectually stopped working and had n opposite effect after my body adapted to it and needed more to survive on. No wonder I've been so tired. NO wonder my workouts are getting cut short.

So my advice today is about fad diets and what I've learned. Some of these diets are great for a jump start. I will always recommend certain diets like the cereal diet or SlimFast as a great way to lose some initial water weight, but don't do these for more hat a couple weeks. That's when you have to start finding your own balance between exercise and nutrition, a balance that you can sustain in the long term. I'm gonna have to find my balance now that I've realized my plateau.

I'm going to take the next week or two and find out what works for me. Please feel free to share your ideas. What works for you?

**Pictures are the works of Jhonen Vasquez, creator of Johnny the Homicidal Maniac, in his cartoon strip: Happy Noodle Boy.