I may have found the secret to permanent weight loss! Why isn't this all over the news?

Arlight, first of all, THIS IS NOT AN AD. I know that it's going to sound like an ad, because I'm really excited, but it is NOT. How do you know it's not? I'm not trying to sell you anything. I'm 16.  

The secret to permanent weight loss - here is what it promises:

Eat 2,500 - 3,000 calories a day, any food that you want, and you only have to diet 2 days a month in order to maintain your weight.

Who came up with this miraculous miracle?

Curves. It is known as their metabolic tune up. Basically, the metabolic tune up makes it IMPOSSIBLE to regain the weight. You would have to eat upwards of 3,000 calories, which is nearly insane.

So far, its been working amazingly for me (not to jinx myself)! I'm actually having trouble eating 3,000 calories... so I've had to resort to ice cream.

I feel like that skinny girl who could eat whatever she wanted without ever having to worry about getting fat! I can't believe it, but I'M having trouble getting enough to eat!

(I haven't reached my goal weight yet, but I'm stuck at a plateau and I'm using it to break free)

The amazing thing is, no one seems to mention it. WHY?!?!! Before I started it I looked up diet reviews, and there was no mention of the metabolic tune up on the review for the Curves diet. There were a few nutritionists who missed the point entirely, stating that, "The book has no maintenance plan. It suggests that dieters stop dieting once they reach their goal weight. If a lifestyle change is not established, dieters will gain the weight back." 

I've scoured the internet - no positive reviews, no negative reviews. No mention at all, which is weird, because the Curves diet book was a bestseller. You'd think that SOMEONE would want to cash in on this?

Here is a link (It is known as phase 3):

http://www.curvescomplete.com/www/cms/content /view/ViewContent.aspx?contentID=4622#section 4

Curves is stupid. This is a stupid ad. Curves is for people who haven't picked up anything heavier than 3lbs in years.

I'm not an ad.

I don't GO TO Curves, I just follow their diet. On my own I run about 2 miles at the gym 3-4 X a week. 

I'm being totally serious! This is AWESOME! I'm not trying to sell you anything, because I'm only a 16 year old high school student. You don't even have to go to Curves, or buy the book, I just want more people to know! I went through years of yo- yo dieting which eventually lead to an eating disorder. I feel like if I had had this, I might never have had an ED.

so basically, you restrict your calories for a little while and then eat a lot so that your metabolism doesnt get messed up?  Im confused.  It sounds like a lot of people here do that without following the curves plan.  I hear about a lot of people eating their maintenance calories once a week or so.

I'd love to hear from other people who have tried phase 3 of the Curves diet, because while it does sound too good to be true, I'd love for it to actually work.  :D

Also, I have to disagree on the "Curves is rubbish" post - I joined Curves this January, and so far I've lost 25 pounds due to going to Curves 5x a week, and counting calories.  (I'm 5'4, 140 pounds).  It's not the most intensive workout, but I do work up a sweat, raise my heartrate, and work out my muscles.  So far, I've been really really pleased with Curves.

This will be detrimental to you in the long run.

This is not a good diet plan, you're buying into a fad diet.

Nothing good will come of this.  :P

I went to the website, but didn't really get what it was all about. What are you supposed to eat while you're on the diet? And how many calories?

I'd be highly suspicious of any diet that claims to work for everyone.

From what I can see it isn't saying that you only have to diet two days a month, I interpret it to say that when you are eating the higher calorie diet that if you start to gain weight, that you need to eat less until you lose it again - that could happen 5 times a month and could take you 4 days each time to lose it again.

It is just a version of "calorie cycling" which in itself certainly isn't dangerous, and from my personal experience, just reminds your body that you aren't starving it and helps stop you from hitting a plateau (or gets you off of one).  If you Google "calorie cycling" you will find tonnes of articles that explain the theory of why and how it works.

Thanks for this post. I think it totally makes sence, and allows you to know you can eat pretty much anything in moderation, and you do not have to starve to lose weight. So many of us feel like it is feast or famine. I am kindof doing their plan....but not on purpose...I just calorie cycle "loosely".....I have between 1500 and 2300 calories a day, depending on how hungry I am :)

My grandma has been going to curves for 4 years and looks better than she ever has, has toned muscles, and is at a healthy weight. I am a curves supporter.

I believe you.  You're not an ad!  You're just excited, and I can understand why.  Weight loss is exciting.  And you want to share that with everyone else here.  I hope the people reading this will understand that.  I do.

I checked out the Curves info, and it seems solid.  Someone above mentioned Calorie Cycling, which I take it this is a modified version.  It isn't a "fad".  Someone above said "nothing good will come of this", and I beg to differ.  Whenever I'm dieting, I always "mix it up", especially to prevent or break plateaus.

From what I understand, there is this chemical called Leptin that controls your metabolism.  Leptin is designed to make your metabolic process more "efficient", which means that if you're dieting on the same amount of calories for a lengthy period of time, at some point, your metabolism becomes accustomed to what you're eating.  Eating more or less will tell the Leptin that it needs to reconfigure its "efficiency parameters" to fit the new amount of calories.  And then when you go back to your regular amount of calories, Leptin has to start all over again in figuring out how to handle them efficiently.

Meaning that "cycling" your calories is perhaps the best way to keep Leptin on its toes, and your metabolism running at optimal speed (well, exercise may be the best thing for your metabolism, but we're talking about dieting here.)

I know my explanation isn't the most technical.  Here is a Wikipedia article on Leptin http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Leptin. ; And here is a cut&paste from a place that explains it better than I can:

Over time our bodies adapt to the lowered calorie level. Our body becomes more efficient at using energy (lowered metabolism), and therefore burns less fat.

This is why most of us reach a weight loss plateau. At this point, the only option is to boost metabolism; increased cardio, weight training, 'cheat' meals (i.e. ocassional high-calorie meals), cycling (or zig-zagging) calories, and even manipulating macro-nutrient ratios can all help to do this (don't forget adequate sleep and hydration). You often find that the nearer you get to your goal weight (or body fat percentage) - the harder things get!

Yes! It's basically calorie cycling, but over time your high calorie days become longer. You start with 3 high calories, 2-3 low calorie, 5 high calorie, 2-3 low calorie, 9 high calories, 2-3 low calorie, and so on and so forth until you eventually reach 30 high calorie, 2-3 low calorie. The theory is that your metabolism will rise to the challenge.

16and your doing something like this..I do not believe it is healthy.

Get a medical check up and confirmation from your Doctor or Health Care Professional before continuing on such a program.

The body works great when it includes a healthy daily well balanced diet with  moderate exercise.

Original Post by spirochete:

Curves is stupid. This is a stupid ad. Curves is for people who haven't picked up anything heavier than 3lbs in years.

Curves (as a workout, I know nothing about the diet) is not stupid.  It is a light workout for people who are not/have no wish to be athletes, but want to be more fit.  It is relatively cheap, easy to fit into a busy schedule, and much better than doing nothing at all to work your core muscle groups.  The music, however, does suck (imo).

Original Post by tealpenguin326:

The amazing thing is, no one seems to mention it. WHY?!?!! Before I started it I looked up diet reviews, and there was no mention of the metabolic tune up on the review for the Curves diet.

It is probably not on the first page of any google diet search because it can't be patented and have money made from it.  However, it's pretty danged close to what is recommended here on CC for free:  Eat and lose weight.  What a novel concept ;-)

I am so glad that you're 16 and posting this!  So many teens waste their teen metabolisms NOT eating and tormenting themselves and your post is just a refreshing and healthy perspective from your age group... or for that matter from any age group.  I am definitely looking forward to hearing from you once you've broken your plateau.  I know you can do it and be happy while doing it!! 

Thank you for your post. It's really made me look  closely at calorie cycling and now I have  a plan in place for the next month. These kinds of debates are really great for exploring different ways to approach this whole thing.

Good luck on your weight loss quest. Hopefully, you have hit upon something that will work for you.

Original Post by dkenworthy:

Original Post by spirochete:

Curves is stupid. This is a stupid ad. Curves is for people who haven't picked up anything heavier than 3lbs in years.

Curves (as a workout, I know nothing about the diet) is not stupid.  It is a light workout for people who are not/have no wish to be athletes, but want to be more fit.  It is relatively cheap, easy to fit into a busy schedule, and much better than doing nothing at all to work your core muscle groups.  The music, however, does suck (imo).

 "it's better than nothing" really isn't a glowing recommendation for something. I mean lifting popsicle sticks is better than nothing. I stand by my statement.

>>During Phase 3 you will eat 2,000 to 2,500 Calories. The calorie level is up to you. During Phase 3 you will not allow yourself to gain more than 3 pounds. If you happen to gain 3 pounds you will reverse that weight gain with 2-3 days of Phase 1 to arrive back at your low weight.

The thought of increasing calories when you want to lose or maintain weight can be scary. Remember, Phase 3 involves dieting when you reach your high weight, so you will maintain your current weight with Phase 3 while you raise your metabolism.

Sorry, but this sounds just plain silly.  Why the heck would I want to have to constantly be worried about having to diet back down 3 pounds??  No freakin way would I ever do this. Yo-yo dieting. And if I ate 2500 calories, my scale would be up 3 pounds almost overnight.  Nonsense.  I'll eat sensibly everyday, thank you.

Original Post by spirochete:

Original Post by dkenworthy:

Original Post by spirochete:

Curves is stupid. This is a stupid ad. Curves is for people who haven't picked up anything heavier than 3lbs in years.

Curves (as a workout, I know nothing about the diet) is not stupid.  It is a light workout for people who are not/have no wish to be athletes, but want to be more fit.  It is relatively cheap, easy to fit into a busy schedule, and much better than doing nothing at all to work your core muscle groups.  The music, however, does suck (imo).

 "it's better than nothing" really isn't a glowing recommendation for something. I mean lifting popsicle sticks is better than nothing. I stand by my statement.

I guess we will just have to agree to disagree.  I think that your statement promotes the "all or nothing" mentality that is quite harmful to many people who struggle with obesity.  Any program that encourages naturally sedentary people to get more movement into their lives (and, I hope, learn to enjoy the activity and the results) is a good thing as far as I am concerned.  If they go on to really challenge their bodies in a more exacting way, well and good.  If not, they can at least be healthier with more movement than they previously enjoyed.

Whether we are trying to lose weight by restriciting our diet or moving more or a combination of both, we have to make changes we can sustain for the rest of our lives.  Even if we start with popsicle sticks!

Well yeah, you gotta start somewhere and yes, something is better than nothing. We agree there. I just don't like Curves being sold as a serious work out program when it is NOT. I have seen their marketing person on shows. She sells it by saying things like "you don't have to break a sweat!" and "you don't get sore the next day!" and my favorite "it's barely like working out!"

I mean really. Their very own message is "this is worthless"

LOL, Spirochete, your posts consistently crack me up.

Maybe it's the cheapskate in me, but aren't people paying for these memberships? Wouldn't their money be better spent on a more challenging workout? I agree with Baby Steps, but apparently, Curves, doesn't even give you the option of amping up your routine.

Eating 3000 calories a day isn't good for you regardless. Even if you lost weight doing it you wouldn't be healthy. Unless you worked out an extreme amount to where you NEEDED that many calories.

If you could eat all the ice cream you wanted and stayed thin, your lifespan still wouldn't be what it would be if you were the same weight and eating right.