The Cookie Diet

Jason: I don't know where you got the idea that I spend four hours a day at the gym. I spend less than 40 minutes a day, 6 times a week. If I go more than 6 times a week, I use half-sized workouts. I do this because I like going to the gym before and after work sometimes, so I use half-sized workouts to keep from over-training. Still, I total 4 hours a week either way. Over-exercising will just lead to over-training syndrome. Beginners should be doing less than that and should gradually ease into near-daily exercise.

It doesn't matter what reputation Dr. Siegal has. He's using an approach to weight loss that gives you a 1 in 20 shot at maintaining the weight loss. The problem comes from how we measure successful weight loss in this country. We measure in weight loss and not fat loss, and we don't care what percentage of the people manage to keep the weight off. The other problem is people don't want to hear "you need to exercise", which is exactly what they need to hear. If he could show his program resulted in no loss of lean mass, I'd probably give it a try myself.

The reason Dr. Siegal's program is popular is that it fits the American weight loss success formula. It's quick weight loss (again, not fat loss), but it doesn't necessarily have to keep the weight off. I'm after permanent weight loss, and you should be too.

I went for my first appointment today and tomorrow will see the doctor. I am psyched to succeed at this program. Barbara .. sounds like you've had amazing success. Any pointers and/or words of wisdom you can give me as I start tomorrow?

Thanks so much
Tova

Are there any other sites or message boards for this diet? I do best with intereaction from other people!

thanks

Boston Deb,

You Go Girl!!! My first weigh in is Thursday, I'm hoping to have lost about 3-4 pounds (I cheated a bit)...

Lainey

Ryan~

I just dropped off my 5 year old to her first day of kindergarden and there were some young children that seemed a heck of a lot more level headed than you are right now. What we are all trying to convey here is that YES.... the cookie diet has fast results~ that cannot be denied. Maybe if someone plans on being on this diet over an extensive period of time that yes it can harm us rather than help. We are all fully aware that we will have to exercise and make better food choices once we are put on maintenance. The thing is that when we see fast results, someone is more likely to stick with it and especially for me being a mom that used to be totally friggin hot...... I want that look and feeling back. I am sure you can find some positive people to talk to on the burn the fat website that can agree with you on your views and trust me.... we all believe in different approaches on weight loss..... hey we are all in america and we can believe what we want to. Like Miami Lakes said.... we are all doing this and come to this site for good news and support not to hear negative babbling. Maybe you will prove us wrong and this could be harmful.Hell I used to drink aspartame which is in alot of diet sodas but that causes cancer in lab rats. Yeah I cut back on it but didn't totally cut it. Hey I also smoked cigarettes up until I was pregnant with my daughter..... HMMMMMMM....... do you think that my lungs may be still polluted or do you think that they have cleaned up a little???? Bottom line is that I wouldnt go on to any sites that you use and totally trash your program so like I told my 5 year old this morning going to school........ if you don't have anything nice to say than just don't say anything at all.

Jason: Furthermore, I think it's you who doesn't live in the "real world". You think there's X diet, or Y pill, or Z magic bullet that'll make it all go away. No one just finds time to exercise; they make time. People who get lean and stay lean make healthy eating and exercise a lifelong priority. There's no way around that.

Jennifer in PA: Just as long as you realize there is a dangerous side to this. You should be scared of, and not encouraged by, fast results is all I'm saying. What I'm going to say next is not to be negative, but to help you maintain your weight loss.

When you exit this program, it's very likely you will have a low metabolism. You can't go back to your old eating habits or anything even close to it, because you'll just balloon back up. As I was discussing with my fiancee last night, you might be able to succeed at permanent weight loss with the Cookie Diet if you carefully recondition your metabolism afterwards. Your body will be used to 800 calories a day, so you should eat about that much to start with. Eat lots of lean protein and leafy green vegetables; they take a lot of energy to digest and will increase your metabolism. Eat small, frequent meals. Use a combination of cardio and weight training, neither of them gets results like the combination of the two. Note that with weight training, you may put some weight back on, but this will be good-looking weight, not fat. Every week, increase your calories slightly, by about 100-200 calories each week. When you get back to a normal amount of calories for your weight, stop. After that, keep eating healthy and exercising.

Good luck readjusting your metabolism when this is all over. It might be just as hard as losing weight the right way would have been. Once again, good luck. You're swimming in dangerous waters, but you're not necessarily up the perverbial creek.

For whatever it is worth, this should be a positive place to go and enough is enough with Ryan and his comments. You don't have to reiterate the same stuff over and over and over again. Being overweight is very unhealthy and can be deadly.

I went today and saw the dr and am going to give it my best shot.

Ryan, don't waste your breath on these people. They're not going to listen. They're going to take gimmick after gimmick, because it's more enticing than the permanent solution. In weight loss, people will go for what's easy and reject what's right, probably out of desperation more than anything. It's just human nature. You can't fix that.

While most of these people have no idea what's being done to them, they have one good point: you've done what you can; stop posting, at least to this particular board. Don't bother with these people; they've shown they're not worth it. I admire your patience though. Good to see someone out there has their head on straight. Find a smarter crowd who'll listen.

"It's just human nature. You can't fix that." You can't fix stupidity either.

Jill~
Whatever hole you crawled out frmand just appeared out of nowhere with no other posts..... do us all a favor and just "POOF BE GONE"

Todd~
I don't quite understand your comment.

Ryan~
It is extremely stressful being on any type of diet but as I said before~ I was able to lose 10 pounds in 5 weeks and I really feel good.I don't do the diet hard core because I don't want nor feel the need to do this cookie thing totally by the book. I need to lose another 36 pounds and I can do that totally healthy by next spring. I actually had an appointment with a nutritionist today. She was aware of the cookie diet and has had a few people voice concerns as to how and what to eat after exiting the program to avoid " Balloning Up". She advised the same thing you did which was to slowly increase your calories but every 10 days by 150-250 per day with low cardio the first 10 days than while increasing calories every 10 days, also increase cardio. The nutritionist was not employed by the diet center that I go to either. Also my health insurance company reimburses my doctor visits for the cookie diet 80%.... if this was a FAD I highly think Aetna would cover it. Once you reach a weight loss goal.... calories and increased along with diet and exercise.

jill: A little harsh, but yes, I agree. I adjourn from this board.
Todd: Shhh! You didn't need to say it out loud.

Jennifer in PA: Nope, it's not a true fad. It's just an old approach to losing weight that doesn't take a lot of human physiology into account. Unfortunately, this approach is accepted as "the way" to lose weight. This is why your insurance covers it. But, just because they should know what is good for you, it doesn't mean they actually do. Anyways, I have the most faith in you. I'm sure you'll do fine if you're careful.

Everyone else: I'm out. Have fun gaining the weight back.

It means you're like fish with short memories. Every time you see a shiny lure, you take it. Then, you get dropped back in the water with another wound. This is less aimed at you, Jennifer. You actually realize the dangers of this diet and are devising a good exit plan. I'm out too though; seeing people actually go for this diet is too depressing.

I think people should try this diet. Do not listen to what Ryan or anyone else says, because the best way to learn is through personal experience.

Hi Everyone,

Well, looks like the negative people have left the building, I guess that's good although I was enjoying reading the banter.

I have a quick question, has anyone actually followed this 100%? So far I haven't and my first weigh in is Thursday. I'm hoping to lose atleast 3 pounds but who knows. Two good things, 1. I don't eat past 9:00 now and 2. I am back to drinking about 100 ounces of water (flavored/unflavored) per day.

Are you all 'full' from eating the cookies until dinner time?

Lainey

"Whatever hole you crawled out from and just appeared from out of nowhere with no other posts..... do us all a favor and just 'POOF BE GONE'."

Yeah, no problem. I have better things to do than watch this foolishness. iFitandHealthy, actually, the best way to learn is from other people's mistakes. You gather a lot more data that way. And the data tells us a reduction in calories with little or no exercise carries about a 95% chance of gaining the weight back. If I were to go into a program, I'd want more than a 1 in 20 shot of succeeding.

Whatever weight loss plan you do, you should at least remember these words: "People who get lean and stay lean make healthy eating and exercise a lifelong priority. There's no way around that." I think it's sheer stupidity that you won't listen to someone who's genuinely trying to help you and has nothing to gain from it, but if you'd rather trust someone filling his pockets from you, it's your choice.

Adieu.

Lainey~

My first 10 days I did this just about by the book. If I ate anything more than I was supposed to~ it was either a few sprinkles of cheese on my chicken or a few pickles a day. My first 10 days I lost 6 pounds. Your body is still confused whether you have cheated or not and with this low of a calorie intake~ you will still lose weight. You should be fine. Dont beat yourself up over this. Even if you do cheat once in a while~ remember you are a human being and have tastebuds..... you will still lose weight.

Ryan~

You are genuine although you could be a little harsh at times. I know what you mean as far as dangers go and I am more aware ( after seeing the nutritionist today) that I have to wean back into higher calorie intake. I think this is a good thing if everyone is aware of what can happen to your metabolism if you arent careful. I plan on another 2 weeks and than I am going back on the eating very healthy and not avoiding any type of food groups and eating the correct sized portions and not eating somerthing just because my musclehead husband and daughter can eat whatever they want and not stress about it. The one thing that I did leanr is to eat 6 timesper day so my body never feels hungry:) Good luck with your weight loss and the muscle gain:) I am not being a smartass either..... this is genuine.

Jill,

Some time ago, through a friend of mine, one lady contacted me before going on a similar diet.

I told her that I will support her while she is on it. She called me from time to time with some questions and I did my best to answer them without passing any judgment. She lost 27 pounds fairly quickly and was very happy.

To make a long story short, now she is working with a good friend of mine. Last time I heard, she was doing pretty well. No dramatic weight loss, but she is well on her way to reach her target weight.

The moral of this story is simple. Personal experience is the best coach ever.

Where is everyone? Did you all bail?? Anyway, I'm going for my first weigh in tomorrow. I'm hoping to have lost 5 pounds which is my first goal. 5 pounds would get me 1 pound under the plateau that I have been on for two months ...

Well, I'll check later to see if anyone is still using this blog.

I have just finished my 2nd day. Feel ok. Not physically hungry, just mentally and emotionally missing food!

Any suggestions?

Lainey~
I am still here. I had my weigh in and I lost another 6 pounds totaling 16 in 6 weeks. I am doing another 2 weeks than I am done.

Tova~
The first 4 days were the most difficult for me because you will are not yet used to eating this way. Once you get through day 5, it is easier:)

Jennifer in PA,

So when you are done, are you at your goal weight or are you going to join WW and then reach your goal weight? Just curious as that is my goal to get down 30-40 something pounds and then lose the final 15-20 on weight watchers and use that as maintenance.

Tova, I was hungry but I have been drinking 100+ oz of water / day, that helps a little. The best advice is to keep busy so that you don't think about it ;)

My first weight-loss weigh-in is today @ 4:00, I'm hoping to reach my first goal of 5 pounds (I didn't follow the diet 100% but I still think I did good).

Lainey

Lainey~

My original goal was to lose 46 pounds and doing the cookie diet the full time. So far I have lost 16 pounds and I have enough cookies for approx. another 12 days. I am hoping to at least lose another 4 pounds to reach the total of 20 on the cookies and yep cheating a little every now and then but not going overboard. I can most likely lose 6-7 in these next 12 days. I saw a nutritionist and was concerned with going off the cookies and easing back to real food again. Once I go off the cookies... I was advised to slowly ease back into higher calorie intakes per week. The first week I have to eat about 1000 calories ( lots of lean protein and I can have veggies ( green only) and a little whole wheat bread if I feel the need. NO exercise the week of 1000 calories per day either. Week 2 I can do 1100-1200 calories same food regimen as week one. Week 3 is 1300-1500 calories per day. After that to still lost weight I can eat 1550 calories per day than run on my treadmill and burn anywhere from 200-350 calories per day and still be taking in about 1250-1350 calories per day and still lose weight. I still have to eat 5-6 times per day and will still lose weight( this is like the 3 Hour Diet by Jorge Cruise. I have the book and he was also on Oprah. If you follow this set of guidelines, you can lose 2 pounds per week and do it healthy. He recomends approx 1450 calories per day if you weigh under 200 pounds and a higher calorie intake if one is more than 200 pounds. YOur breakfast should be 400 calories, a snack 3 hours later can be 100 calories, lunch is 3 hours after snack and thats also 400 calories, another snack 3hours after lunch (another 100 calories) and dinner is yep you guessed it another 400 calories. Anytime after dinner you can eat a small sugar treat ( like 12 regular M & M's of a tiny Reese's minuature. If you exercise..... it can only help you.

The cookie diet is great however I am laid off and right now I can't continue to spend the $240 per month on fees and the cookies. I do plan on still posting my results even though I am going off of this within the next two weeks to see how everyone else is doing and also wrtie my progress with eating foods again and exerising at least 5 days per week. Good luck to everyone and I will continue to be a positive role~model on this blog to everyone:) Well if we have more haters on the blog I will most likely attack someone verbally:)

I cant wait to hear how you did lainey:)

Ok, hold on to your seats ... even with going to lunch at Chili's the first day and being totally off the program the second day and adding a few extra calories the others days .. I am DOWN SEVEN (7) POUNDS !!!! and I reached my first goal (which was to lose 5 pounds).

I think that what is really making the difference is drinking soooo much water, over 100 oz each day.

Jennifer in PA - good luck and continued success for when you 'eat like regular folks'. I'm looking forward to joining you on that band wagon once I lose 30 more pounds, then I'll be off to WW and the real world.

Gotta put the 2-yr olds to bed... Later,

Lainey

Lainey~

That is AWESOME!!! See even with cheating a little here and there ( you are human) you still lost 7 pounds!!! Thats great news!!!! I am still on the cookies for a little less than 2 weeks but I am looking to lose another 4.

Congrats to you! I bet your hubby was proud as well:)

Lainey

Congratulations! That is a great weight loss. You don't have to say, but just curious as to where you are w/your weight. i.e. usually the more you have to lose the faster you lose at the beginning.

I just finished my 3rd day. Not one ounce of cheating, except maybe an extra 1/2 oz of protein at night.

I feel ok .. missing the taste of food though!

Tova,

In June I started losing weight, lost 12 pounds. Then gained 3 pounds back July - August and plateau'd. The month of June I ordered my food from the Zone@Home Program, great food, very well balanced but very expensive.

When I started this little endeavor in June I was 211 pounds (biggest ever except for when I was carrying the twins). I am now, according to Seigel Weight Mgmt, 197 pounds. So a total of 14 pounds since June. My goal is to get to about 165 pounds on the cookies and then join WW and continue to lose weight until I hit around 145-150 pounds.

BTW I am drinking over 100 ounces of water per day, talking the girls for walks at night and eating a little extra protein (chicken or cheese) every night.

I am a diet expert, I know all the right things to do but haven't had the time to incorporate real exercise. Sometimes you just need little motivation, like quick weight loss :)

Lainey

"I am a diet expert, I know all the right things to do but haven't had the time to incorporate real exercise. Sometimes you just need little motivation, like quick weight loss :)"

That's strange, because if you were an expert, you would know that quick weight loss or reducing calories, especially down to 800 per day, will make it really likely for you to gain it all back with less muscle. Since you're drinking 100 oz of water per day, you're probably not losing water weight. Therefore, if you lose X pounds in a week, where X > 2, then you are losing X - 2 pounds of muscle. But you of course know this, as it's one of the best established facts about weight loss (by the ACSM and many others) and you're an expert. And, since you're an expert, you know this is actually losing ground. Hmmm, that's a weird thing to be excited about, you know, being an expert and all.

Well ladies it looks like we have another HATER ON BOARD and he must be a MAN.

HEY TJ~
What kind of expert are you exactly? What exactly does the American College of Sports Medicine reccomend than as far as a rather quick healthy weight loss program????

I don't claim to be an expert, but this is one of the most basic rules about fat loss. I'm surprised more people don't know this. I think there are only two more basic rules: a pound of fat stores 3500 calories and the calorie balance law (calories eaten minus calories burned equals change in fat weight in pounds times 3500 plus change in muscle weight in pounds times 3000).

It's just a fact of life that you can only lose a certain amount of fat per week before your body starts eating muscle too. Ask Jeremy Likness or Tom Venuto, who are fat loss experts. If you're are significantly over 200 pounds, you might be able to lose more than 2 pounds a week (1% of your body weight). If "quick weight loss" means more than 2 pounds or 1% of bodyweight per week, then "quick, healthy weight loss" is an oxymoron. Why is that so hard for people to accept this?

Finally, it doesn't matter if I'm male. The law of fat loss rate stands correct either way.

TJ,

BTW, I'm under 200 pounds... Did you ever hear of 'using an expression' ?? Well, that is what I was doing, so anyway, please keep your opinions out of my life. I don't diss you and your life so please don't do it to me.

Lainey

"What exactly does the American College of Sports Medicine reccomend than as far as a rather quick healthy weight loss program????"

ACSM does not recommend a quick weight loss. For women, the average weight loss diet is about 1,200, but in most cases you should never let you calories fall below 1,000 per day.

Keep in mind, 1,200 is an average. Some people can lose weight quicker than others can. It all depends on individual factors, the tricks work only for a short time. What will people do when there is no "magic" cookie and its time to eat in the real world?

Oh lord he we go again...........

TJ sounds just like Ryan somaybe it is Ryan posing to be another person. The reason I say this is because Ryan was all for the www.burnthefat.com site which Tom Venuto was the author on his e~book. Anwyay, you dont see any of us posting bullshit on any of your lean muscle sites. Why is that? Hmmmm lemme tell you because we have positive sources on this blog and we don't need to hear any of your psycho~babble horseshit that I must say is getting slightly annoying. I know how to do this cookie diet and I am also working with a nutritionist so in 2 weeks when I go off the cookies..... I wont blow the hell up. Yes the nutritionist wasnt happy with only taking in 800 calories per day but I didnt need this long term and I know exactly what I need to do as far as my food intake on top of exercise which I will be doing at least 4 days per week. No whoever you are please go find a bimbo/musclehead blogand maybe people will listen to you because frankly none of us here a rats ass aboutyou and your views.

Hey everyone,

Today is my 2nd day on the cookie diet and I have already lost 2 pounds, most likely water weight, but it's a good start.

Glad I found this site, it's just too bad that people like Ryan & TJ can't keep their negativity off the board. They may have knowledge, they may have good intentions, but this board should be a source of motavation and encouragement for those of us that are on the program.

Ryan, T.J, and other haters..
please post elsewhere...like Jennifer just said, we don't care to hear your opinions!

Jamie~

Congrats on the two pounds and who cares if it is water or fat:) As long as that scale shows a lower number... thats great and once you are ready to go off the diet, just slowly increase the calorie intake per day and exercise. Screw the haters:)

Haters? If you don’t like the answers to your questions, that is fine, but name-calling is not going to help you lose weight any faster.

Obviously, they are very sensitive. When did giving real facts about weight loss become hatred? Also, how does smart and sensible weight loss such that you maintain your muscle make you a bimbo or musclehead? Knowing what I do, an expression of hatred would be encouraging or motivating you on this diet.

Wow, the sparks are flying! It's as if I never left. I I know I said I would stop posting to this board, but I figured I should clear TJ's name. Obviously, he knows his stuff if he recommends Tom Venuto, but I'm afraid I disagree with him for recommending Jeremy Likness. Not that I don't think Jeremy knows what he's doing, but I disagree with more of his policies than I do Tom Venuto.

"Wow, the sparks are flying!"

Oooops, wrong colloquialism! Writing is much harder after you've been looking at code. Anyways, something's flying, but I don't want to name it.