A few weeks ago, we all “weighed” in together and shared some of the best advice we’ve ever given or gotten in this quest to get healthy and fit. We shared responses such as putting yourself first, exercising on a consistent basis and listening to your body.
I thought it would be fun on this Fridaythe 13th to share the worst diet advice you’ve ever heard. I lost my weight over 12 years ago, but both before I lost weight and after – I’ve heard some pretty strange diet advice.
Here’s the top three:
1 – Just chew the “bad” foods like chocolate and cookies and then spit it out.( I hear that you don’t consume nearly as many calories this way!)
2 – You just have to find your willpower. It’s in there somewhere. (I never did find that guy!)
3 – Eat only grapefruit or boiled eggs. (I tried this. Sad, but true.)
I did try a lot of ways to lose weight, but it wasn’t until I ate less and moved more that I was successful. Imagine that!
What’s the worst advice you’ve ever heard? Diane
do lots of cardio.
LOTS.
Weights will make you bulky.
Miz´s last fabulous musings ..Exercise- strong & support defined Tornado video post
Yes heard the above as well as the weights comment by Miz..working at a gym for over 20 years I heard many things and even was stupid enough to give some a try.
The worst advice I ever got was from a doctor. A diet doctor, who handed me a bunch of prescriptions and said, “Take these.” I was only about 20 years old at the time, and so I followed his instructions fairly blindly. Thank goodness I didn’t do so for very long. I’m pretty sure at least one of those pills was one of the drugs causing so many people cardiac problems these days.
Cammy@TippyToeDiet´s last fabulous musings ..Best Compliment Ever
The worst advice I ever heard about dieting was that I should join Dr Bernstein. I don’t know if American’s have this diet, but basically you eat 900 calories a day and they inject you with an appetite suppressant and a bunch of vitamins.
You know why they inject you with vitamins? Cause you can end up MALNOURISHED WHEN YOU EAT 900 CALORIES A DAY. They also provide you with VERY specific list of products you can eat in a day (down to the brand specific diet, non-caffinated soda you should buy).
Thankfully, it’s also insanely expensive, or I probably would have joined.
Tara´s last fabulous musings ..A Little Something Refreshing
Cabbage soup diet, my worst.
Mbini´s last fabulous musings ..Apartment Metal Kitchen
When I was in my 20′s, I went to a GP (male) for sinus problems. He told me I was disgustingly fat and I should starve myself till I lost 20 pounds. I was 138 pounds (5’5″) at the time.
Marsial2010´s last fabulous musings ..Flexibility
Wow, No. 1 is scarily similar to what people with an eating disorder do! I once read the advice to only drink your calories (think smoothies or real juice drinks, not soda). Sounds like a great idea if you want to hate your life forever.
Tracey @ I’m Not Superhuman´s last fabulous musings ..This One Time- On the Oregon Trail…
Oh I have heard lots of bad advice and even tried some of it out! I think the worst for me was those diet pills they used to sell in drugstores in the 80′s (do those even still exist?)
Amy´s last fabulous musings ..This and That
“Oh come on, you’ve got to try this. Just a bite or two won’t hurt you.” (Ha, ha, ha – famous last words!!)
Sharon´s last fabulous musings ..Stuck In Limbo
2 things –
1.weights will make you bulky.
2. You will never lose weight if you eat bagels (said *after* I lost 100 pounds)
Lori (Finding Radiance)´s last fabulous musings ..Bagel day and vacay!
Sadly, this came from my dad regarding strength training,
“There’s no such as over-training, only under-eating and under-sleeping.”
He hit me with it so early in life, so often, that I still find myself repeating to others today though I know better. Shame on me this time
Emergefit´s last fabulous musings ..Definitions For Those In Quest Of More Definition…
I went to a doctor in my twenties who told me I needed to lose weight. I told him I was trying, and had been walking for an hour every day and lifting weights three times a week. He told me to cut out the weights, as I was already big and weights would just make me bigger, and that walking an hour a day wouldn’t help with anything. Not that he had any advice about what I should do. No, he just told me to lose weight.
Desert Agave´s last fabulous musings ..Fully Recovered
I am a member of a low carb community and there was a babe on there touting her own version of low carb – under 500 calories and as few carbs as possible. She also advocated lengthy fasts on nothing but diet drinks.(because, yanno, you can live off your fat indefinitely.) Someone hired a private investigator to find her. Instead of the 110 pound lady she claimed to be, she was over 300 pounds. Sad to say, some followed her advice and suffered the consequences.
Mary´s last fabulous musings ..Day 6 – The Voice of Truth
Many, many bits of bad advice, but some of the top would be
1. The Ayds Appetite suppressant candy. Take 2 of these candy squares before eating with a hot beverage, follow a 1,000 calorie a day diet and weight comes off. Nope !
2. The Dr Stillman Weight Loss plan- basically eat nothing but meat, eggs and water. Extremely rapid weight loss, followed by an episode of potassium depletion
3.The Cabbage Soup Diet
4. The Hot Dog, egg, grapefruit diet
5. The Slim Fast plan- a shake for breakfast, shake for lunch and a sensible 300 calorie dinner. Potassium depletion and Vitamin B deficiency.
Diane´s last fabulous musings ..Chronic pain can be paralyzing for women – CNNcom
Great post Diane.
1. A calorie is a calorie. No not really, what is the nutritional impact of those calories and what about some foods that cause you to crave more? All calories are not created equal.
2. Low fat or fat free is better. But what about all the sugar that is used in it’s place for flavor?
3. Sugar Free is the way to go, so eat all those products that are made with fake sugar substitutes. Have you ever noticed that only over weight people seem to be buying those products so maybe they don’t work after all!
I was told not to do sit-ups because they will make me look fatter.
I think one of the worst advices Oprah received was to go on that liquid diet (Opti-fast??) way-back-when, and then the “world” copied her with Slim-fast and such (including me). We all suffered the consequences for that.
Gina Fit by 41 Maybe 42´s last fabulous musings ..The Silver Lining Without My Lining
I just had to click through to see what others had to say…my WORST advice from a very unhealthy non-friend…smoke and drink lots of coffee..so YUCK!
sian-girlgetstrong´s last fabulous musings ..Know Why You Gained Weight- It May Stop Your from Regaining It
CalorieLab is working! OK, I know when I said that before it was the worst advice ever, but now it is on the new server
“Only eat when you are hungry.”
The willpower guy I’m still looking for too
I’ve heard a lot of worst diet stories, most of them are stupid diets where you can eat nothing, lose a lot and gain it back within a few weeks. As I’m stubborn and believe in healthy eating and exercising I never tried one of those.
“Eat one can of pickled beets every day”.
I lasted four days. Horrible
“Fat is bad. Avoid fat.”
slimfast.
Who even knows what’s in that anyway?
Sugar?
that and vitamin fillers and fiber supplements.
great.
JourneyBeyondSurvival´s last fabulous musings ..Strong Children Supporting Exercise
Worst advice I’ve heard was to eat 100-calorie packs, cereal, and snacks full of artificial sweeteners all the time. I can understand eating those kinds of things every once in a while, but having them ALL the time can’t be healthy. Just because it’s low calorie doesn’t mean it’s good for us!
Sagan´s last fabulous musings ..Creating your own Health Insurance
There is so much bad advice out there… Any diet advice that tells you to eliminate an entire food group as well as diets that focus only on low calories and totally disregard the quality of the food you are eating. Yes, it is possible to lose weight by eating chips and cookies if you keep the calories low enough…
Andrea@WellnessNotes´s last fabulous musings ..Nature Beats Any Gym
I love the ones that tell you to drink so many ounces of water for each pound you weigh if you want to lose weight. At one point, I think I would have had to drink three and a half gallons a day…if I wanted to lose weight.
Pam´s last fabulous musings ..Weigh In Friday- August 13th
Eat all those low-fat diet things. They will give you the taste and you’ll eat less.
Nope I eat the entire 6 package box.
I remember doing the “3-day diet” in high school where you were supposed to lose 10 pounds in 3 days. It had things like beets, 2 hot dogs (plain) plain tuna, 5 saltine crackers, you could have 1/2 cup vanilla ice cream every day. It was insane, and probably about 500 calories a day! Not good!
Jenn@slim-shoppin´s last fabulous musings ..Healthy Vending Machine
I love this post! The worst advice I got was, “Eat whatever you want, just take these little diet pills”
SheFit´s last fabulous musings ..Chocolite Chocolate Bar Giveaway
Any elimination diet, for me, is bad. People tell me to eliminate fat, carbs, red meat, trans fats, etc etc, rather than focusing on healthy behaviors and foods as God created them. The simplest answer is often rightly, especially with diet and exercise. Eat a healthy, diverse, moderate diet and move a bit, your weight WILL pattern after your habits!
Taryl´s last fabulous musings ..Baby stuff
Most believable sound bad advice: it’s best if you 100% OP while you lose weight. Not so. I did that and didn’t ever learn how to deal with the inevitable celebrations that pop up in our lives. Learned how to ride on the wagon, but not how to hop back on if I got jostled off.
Tish´s last fabulous musings ..Monday- Monday
Worst advice..eating too few calories & avoiding all fat.
Jody – Fit at 52´s last fabulous musings ..Homemade Pickle Recipe!
Sugar won’t hurt you and fat makes you fat.
It was cutting edge science at the time!
Larkspur´s last fabulous musings ..And a Short One
Reminds me of being 14 in the girls’ room at school and overhearing one of my more sexually precocious classmates talk about her lack of protection her first time. Thankfully, she didn’t get pregnant. But I thought it was scary that someone actually believed that drinking orange juice and jumping up and down afterward would have any protective effects…
I think the worst advice was to “just eat less.” (And inevitably, it’s someone skinny who eats huge amounts who says this!) I do eat less now, but it’s not just “eating less”–it’s changing what I eat to have more protein and fat and less carbs proportionally to stabilize my blood sugar, that enabled me to cut back on portions.
From my mom, who eats everything and anything, in huge amounts: There’s no reason AT ALL, EVER, that I should eat anything other than fruits and veggies. Especially not fat. Go to binge almost immediately, do not pass go, I failed that one big time. She still thinks that’s a good idea, but I no longer listen to her craptastic advice, on anything. My sister, who tells me to go for a walk (um, I spend about 8 hours/week in the gym, beyotch,), isn’t much better.
julie´s last fabulous musings ..Even the gym won’t help me here
“Everything in moderation”
There are certain foods that I should never eat. They’re bad for me, that disturb my blood sugar level, they bring on cravings and horrible mood issues.
I only had about 20 pounds to lose, but did some diet which was lots of carbs and no fat. Worst thing ever for me. I was hungry all the time and ended up gaining instead of losing.
Siobhan´s last fabulous musings ..I missed Jillian
Tell someone else what you will eat for the day, and then you must eat exactly that. If you deviate one morsel, it must be because you are willful and have defects of personality. If it happens three times, the person who is helping you will ask you to find someone else to help you. This is the way you must eat for the rest of your life.
Jane´s last fabulous musings ..EARLY BEGINNINGS OF A CHRONIC DIETER-HAS IT BECOME A GAME
what a great post! not sure i can add much more except….hmmm….if you exercise you can eat whatever you want. not true! (unforunately.)
I can’t think of anything really crazy, but I can say that the cabbage soup diet was horrible for me and I never saw great weight loss.
Actually, let me add that I didn’t see great loss with The Rice Day (eat nothing but rice for three days, and a tiny bit of fruit), nor anything I tried that were only week-long, etc. etc.
So, maybe I should say, the worst advice I’ve ever received is that quick diets work, because they don’t. Not even Metabolife or anything else.
Eating less and moving more is the only answer to true weight loss success. I’m learning it and know it’s true by the examples I’ve seen in others who have lost weight and kept it off for a significant amount of time.
Great idea, Diane!
Leah´s last fabulous musings ..My Heart Hasnt Been In It
Anything written on a wrapper.
Alan (Pounds Off Playoff)´s last fabulous musings ..How to Find a Good Bike if Youre Overweight
I would say — all the fat-free rage in the early 90′s!
Jenn Barley | The KickStart Coach´s last fabulous musings ..Why Are We Drinking Sand
Umm … the Cabbage Soup Diet, hands down. That was horrible.
I’d have to agree about eating low-fat and fat-free foods, too. Just this week I’ve been focusing more on whole foods like oats, Greek yogurt and beans and I’m a lot less hungry. I’m eating more food but consuming fewer WW Points.
Arlene @ Adventures in Weight Loss´s last fabulous musings ..Walking in flip-flops