Does this sound like a good plan?

I need your advice & opinions. Does this sound like a good plan, or will it backfire?
This is basically the Slim-Fast diet :


Breakfast : slim-fast optima shake (190 cals)

Lunch : slim-fast optima shake & anything thats 200 calories (210 cals)

Snack : 1/2 banana, apple, salad, etc.

Dinner : a 500 calorie meal including protein, vegetables, and starch.

I'm sure you'd probably lose weight, but it doesn't sound very healthy.  One fruit, no vegetables, and it doesn't even quite total 1200 calories.  Use caution--and remember the Slim-Fast plan is developed to sell you a product.

From my experience, eating such few calories only makes you binge eat, you start to crave high calory foods and you may find you dont lose any weight at all.

It all depends on what you have for your 500 calorie meal at night...Do you plan on including a lot of healthy veggies, milk, etc?  Important to keep all the food groups, I'd watch the carbs with all the slim fast shakes.

It sounds good to me if you are full enough with that.

Original Post by mossyfern:

I'm sure you'd probably lose weight, but it doesn't sound very healthy. One fruit, no vegetables, and it doesn't even quite total 1200 calories. Use caution--and remember the Slim-Fast plan is developed to sell you a product.

You might be right, but I used the how it works page on the Slim-Fast website to come up with this plan.

Also, my snack doesn't have to be an apple. Nor does it have to be fruit. It can be 1/2 a banana, an apple, grapes, fruit salad, etc.

My dinner would include protein, vegetables, and starch.

I don't think it sounds like a good plan at all.

You are not getting anywhere near the nutrients your body needs to function. The body *needs* fruits, veggies, grains and proteins. This should not be viewed as a "diet" for you, this should be viewed as a lifestyle change.

Can you do this for the rest of your life? What will happen when you lose the desired weight?

It's so much easier eating than it is drinking your calories. I have found so many foods I like that I never would have tried if I was drinking my calories. I've been there, slimfast, ephedra and a plethora of other "diet programs".

The ONLY thing that works is eating sensibly and exercising. (That is...if you prefer to keep the weight off.) I believe, in going this route, you are setting yourself up for a weight gain in the future. Just learn portion control, exercise techniques and you'll be much better off for it.

Edited to add:  The government food pyramid.  http://www.mypyramid.gov/ ;

Original Post by hanshock:

It all depends on what you have for your 500 calorie meal at night...Do you plan on including a lot of healthy veggies, milk, etc? Important to keep all the food groups, I'd watch the carbs with all the slim fast shakes.

 Yes, for dinner I'll be eating a lot of protein, vegetables, and starch.
I can have fish, eggs, carrots, broccoli, potatoes, rice... anything! Just not a lot of it.

1/4 of my meal would be protein (fish, eggs, tofu, etc.)
1/4 would be starch (potatoes, corn, rice, etc.)
1/2 would be vegetables (carrots, eggplant, broccoli, etc.)

Maybe, I can even have a salad on the side.

Original Post by tatjanaturtle:

I don't think it sounds like a good plan at all.

You are not getting anywhere near the nutrients your body needs to function. The body *needs* fruits, veggies, grains and proteins. This should not be viewed as a "diet" for you, this should be viewed as a lifestyle change.

Can you do this for the rest of your life? What will happen when you lose the desired weight?

It's so much easier eating than it is drinking your calories. I have found so many foods I like that I never would have tried if I was drinking my calories. I've been there, slimfast, ephedra and a plethora of other "diet programs".

The ONLY thing that works is eating sensibly and exercising. (That is...if you prefer to keep the weight off.) I believe, in going this route, you are setting yourself up for a weight gain in the future. Just learn portion control, exercise techniques and you'll be much better off for it.

Edited to add: The government food pyramid. http://www.mypyramid.gov/

 Maybe you're right.

I'll give this a lot more thinking, than.

Asiyenurr,

You are 13 years old. I just noticed this. You are still growing. You should not be doing this "diet" at all. You should not be dieting. You should be getting WAY more than under 1200 calories.

Eat healthy, avoid processed and greasy foods and add in exercise. If you do this, you will be on your way to a healthy lifestyle that will allow your body to function.

I'm hoping one of the moderators chimes in to give you the teen links. They are helpful and will aide you in making good decisions that could potentially affect you for the rest of your life.

Edited to add:  I wish you all the best...I hope you decide to make some good choices here. 

Original Post by tatjanaturtle:

Asiyenurr,

You are 13 years old. I just noticed this. You are still growing. You should not be doing this "diet" at all. You should not be dieting. You should be getting WAY more than under 1200 calories.

Eat healthy, avoid processed and greasy foods and add in exercise. If you do this, you will be on your way to a healthy lifestyle that will allow your body to function.

I'm hoping one of the moderators chimes in to give you the teen links. They are helpful and will aide you in making good decisions that could potentially affect you for the rest of your life.

Edited to add: I wish you all the best...I hope you decide to make some good choices here.

Yea, I suppose you're right. I've heard the same thing from a lot of people.

Thank you!

EDIT : Would it really hurt to try it for a little while?
I want to at least try it and see what happens.

Sorry Hon, I think that's a horrible idea. You should definitely eat more food than that. And perhaps something a little more natural than slim fast. I tried the whole ultra-low calorie thing-- I'll spoil the ending for you: you stop losing weight and are hungry and miserable all the time. If you really like slim fast products, sure, have 'em every once in a while I guess. But keeping it as a meal plan will backfire something fierce.

I'm doing the SlimFast plan, it's working great, it's full of nutrients, it's okayed by my doctor, and I'll probably be drinking the shakes indefinitely because of the improvement to my immune functioning.  I was drinking it as a nutrition booster long before I decided to try the reducing plan.

That said, I'm 46 years old, I'm very overweight and I have a number of health problems that make getting my weight down medically necessary.  Before dieting, I SAW MY DOCTOR, and note that I said, above, that the SlimFast plan was approved for ME, by MY DOCTOR.  Any reducing plan of this kind should be approved by a doctor, always.  And, honey, if you're 13 years old?  This isn't how you need to go about it.  People your age shouldn't "diet", at all, unless you're dangerously overweight.  What doctors usually recommend is that young people eat healthily at a calorie level that maintains their weight and that they grow into any excess weight they may be carrying--get taller, not thinner.  It takes longer, but it's much healthier for young people who are still developing physically.  And, if you're a good weight for your height, already, and you just want to become stick thin through a reduced-calorie diet?  A big NO to that.  

If you think you need to lose weight, see a doctor and follow her recommendations.  If you want to try SlimFast as a nutrition booster, maybe have one for breakfast if you don't usually eat breakfast, for instance, don't cut food calories to allow for it--cut junk food and soda, but not real food.  Listen to those who tell you you're too young to diet--that's what a doctor will tell you, too.   

Two words: starvation diet.

While I'm sure there are some people out there somewhere who can benefit from this kind of stuff, I don't know a nutritionist in the world who would sign off on a plan to take in only 1000kcal a day. I've used slimfast as a meal replacer or nutritional supplement in the past for those really busy days, but I've supplemented it in other ways. Meals should be OVER 300 calories each for just about anyone, and I aim for 500cals per meal for myself. I'm a very active person, so 2,000 kcals a day overall intake is an effective weight loss regimen.

I should state here that using them as a nutritional supplement was just a handy way to use up the Slimfast I had left over from when I tried their diet plan myself. You know why it was left over? 'Cause I actually gained weight.  I was taking in only 1100 calories a day and exercising, and my body let out a big F-U!  and proceeded to hoard every single calorie it could get. It took months to straighten my metabolism out again.

Oh Jesus, I just saw that you're 13. DO NOT TRY IT.

When your body is developing, it is relying on all the nutrients it can get to build you into a healthy adult. What teens need to do is get rid of the empty calories (sugary sodas, chips, candy, etc.) and replace those with fruits and vegetables. When I say vegetables, I do not count potatoes. Think green and leafy here, people!

If cutting out sweets and junk isn't enough, increasing your activity level is the key. Think about it...would you rather be hiking, biking, swimming, playing basketball, running, climbing, skating, dancing, doing martial arts -- or would you rather be dieting? 'Cause this Slimfast crap isn't going to give you the energy to do both.

If you want to do anything keep the slim-fast in the morning, but try to eat a sensible lunch. And try to add fruits and vegetables to you everyday life. Dieting in not for a 13 year old, but I understand how you feel. Trust me I was heavy when I was 13 and I slimmed down when I started to exercise more. Try walking or joining a sport, or take dance classes. But do not cut calories. You are too young and this will screw up your growth as has been pointed out before in this blog.

Please think about it.

 

Dear young person,

I am very concerned for you, as are the people of our community.

I noticed that you are editing you bio, maybe you are not going to mention how few years you have been on this earth?  I am trying not to sound to stern, but have you any idea the potential harm you could do to your developing body? An early obsession with weight can lead to life threatening disease.  It can cause you to become sterile.  Your child's body is in the full throws of changing into a fully formed woman one.  I know that it is a whirlwind time of life, so many changes, so little time, yet your not growing up as fast as you want to.  There is also the little problem that you don't think anything bad can happen to you - it happens to other people.

Don't mortgage your future.  Let the Great Creator put his finishing touches to your body, TRUST HIM. 

Eat whole foods, avoid foods that are overprocessed - in reality that is what we are all trying to do!!!  Don't start eating things that have been engineered for you!!! We have no idea what they are doing to our food!!! 

Eat simple, good food. PLEASE!! SEE YOUR DOCTOR!!!

And remember, we are your community, we support you and care about you, But Do NOT, ask us to give you advice on how to lose weight, you are a growing girl, (you WILL put on weight if you are HEALTHY).  It would be a great disservice to you and to your family to continue on this self destructive path.

You are in my thoughts and prayers, Kate