The Cookie Diet

FYI .. I have only had the new cookies, having started 12 days ago. I have been 100% for these 12 days and have lost just about 10lbs. So, I don't have th ability to compare the new to the old, but based on my results and how I feel, I would have to say they work.

Nancy .. why do you have them shipped?

Tova
You are doing great!
I don't have them shipped.. Jennifer said she has them shipped..

Nancy ... sorry, thanks for the confusion!

Tova~

I usually get the cookies from the center however I am about 40 minutes from the location. They had advised me before that if you didnt want to come for weekly or bi~weekly weigh ins, they could give you up to 28 packs at a time. The King of Prussia location can ship them to us if we cant get in to the center. I have been back on track since Friday and I think I lost about 2 pounds.

Jennifer in PA,

Thanks for the positive vibes! I do eat sweets now and again but they taught me how to do it in moderation. I am never going to put that weight on again! I know that if I have a slice of cheesecake on a Sunday afternoon, I need to go for a 20 minute swim on Sunday night. I guess it's a good thing I like the water :)

Ryan

Body fat percentage and BMI (body mass index) are two completely different things. The smart for life center measures both of them once a month before each doctor visit. BMI is something that doctors use to measure how healthy you are and not just how much fat you have, but how much muscle mass and how much water you are retaining. Measuring it requires a special tool I've only seen at the doctors office.

A BMI of under 25 is considered healthy. When I started I was at a BMI of 35 which is considered obese. Now I am 23 which is considered a healthy weight and healthy ratio of muscle mass to fat/water in my body. On top of that, my body fat percentage is down 20% too.

Jason,

The way it was explained to me is that Smart for Life bought the rights to the cookie diet over 3 years ago. Dr Siegal just wanted to stay in Miami but Smart for Life wanted to branch out to other cities and states. When they did that they found out patients wanted more options/flavors but Dr Siegal didn't think that was needed. The new cookies started getting developed and when Dr Siegal decided he didn't want to be part of the franchises anymore then Smart for Life started using the new cookies instead. I know that the new cookies are mostly organic and even kosher. The old cookies weren't as healthy as the new ones actually. The new ones have the nutritional content listed on the back. When I was on the diet I had the old cookies and they never showed the content.

I'm not surprised you haven't heard anything about the new cookies yet, the cookie diet has only been using them for a couple of weeks right now. Dr. Siegal has had about 40 years worth of time to build up information. I'm sure more information will come out s time goes by, that's kind of how the media works:) Smart for Life is offering the exact same diet it has always offered, it's just using new cookies/flavors.

Jenny from Tampa

Jenny from Tampa: BMI is just a function equal to your weight in kilograms over the square of your height in meters. It says absolutely nothing about how much fat, muscle, or water you're carrying. It requires a scale and a ruler taped to a wall. It is by far the worst measurement of how healthy or overweight you are. Skip La Cour has a BMI of at least 32.3 when he's competing, and you can't pinch fat off anywhere on him.

Now, body fat percentage is the real measure of how overweight you are. However, many methods of testing for it are inaccurate, so I need to know what they're using. Hydrostatic? DEXA? Skinfolds? BIA? Also, what I really want to know is if there was any change in muscle mass. You can lose some muscle mass and still have your body fat percentage go down.

Ryan--ha, I was just going to post a comment about the flaws of BMI and how you don't need any special equipment to do it and you beat me to it! All it is is a height/weight ratio that is indeed by far the worst measurement of health out there. Body fat percentage is by far more accurate. BTW, Ryan...how would you recommend measuring body fat? I use a calipers and I also have a bioimpedence monitor...the calipers are more accurate, I think. What do you recommend?

If you can get access to it, hydrostatic will always be the best option. DEXA is supposed to be very accurate as well, but it's even harder to find and get an appointment for.

Now, as far as testing at home, I wouldn't use bioimpedence. Any tester that puts the current between the feet or between the hands is fundamentally flawed. It should be between a hand and a foot. Calipers are your best bet. If you are reasonably lean, then they become extremely accurate.

Ryan/Spectra,

My doctor disagrees with you both. BMI is what doctors use to diagnose obesity. Among the world wide medical community it is considered the BEST measurement. There are countless articles about this in medical journals.

You're correct that BMI can be a flawed measurement if you are a body builder, but that is not a cookie diet patient. Smart for Life tracks both BMI and body fat percentage. One of the devices they use tests electrical signals going throuh the fat, muscle, and water in your body. To get a truly accurate measurement of your BMI you actually do need electronic equipment. A ruler and a scale would only give you a rough estimate at best. From what I've read, when most people use a scale and a ruler they are off by 2 or 3 points.

Ryan & Specta,

The one thing I agree on with you is that Smart for Life does NOT do accurate Body Fat analysis, all they do is look at your current weight, look at your height and then look on a spreadsheet. No calipers, no pinch of fat of the tricep, no measurements what-so-ever.

What I can tell you is that they monitor your blood pressure every week, before you start they check out your Cholestoral (sp?) levels and they do a very quick EKG.

But ... I am losing weight and I am losing fat. My waist has gone done and my clothes are looser. I know that I'm losing water weight and I know that I am losing fat, the one thing that I'm not sure of is how much muscle mass I'm losing but ... at this point/size in my life, I don't have that much muscle mass left.

I still take walks with my daughters and play tennis on the weekends and I take a couple of meals off of the cookie plan. Thursday nights I have a slice of pizza with the my girls and a salad. I used to have two slices of pizza plus whatever they fed me. Saturday nights, Brian & I go to dinner, I order 'real' food.
I am drinking a lot more water, before I hardly drank anything, than before so now I am staying hydrated.

I go for my next weigh in on Thursday and hope that I will have a total weight loss of 10 pounds, this is my third week on the program, although last week I only followed it three days :(

Back to work,

Lainey

Lainey,

Your center is different then. The centers in Tampa use special equipment to monitor BMI, they don't just look at a spreadsheet. Each center is a franchise so I guess some of them do things differently.

lainey: If you're drinking enough water, then you shouldn't be losing pure water weight. Usually, the way it works with muscle loss is there's some amount of fat you can lose in a certain amount of time. Beyond that, your body burns up muscle. You lose fat first and muscle second.

Jenny from Tampa: No special equipment is needed to monitor BMI! All they need to calculate your BMI is a scale and a ruler. Either you're talking about something besides BMI, or you're getting brutally scammed.

Jenny from Tampa,

Maybe what they did was use the EKG, but I can't see how that would have given them any information on my muscle to fat ratio ... What else did they do in Tampa?

Either way, I'm losing weight and that is the goal, fat, muscle, water, I'm happy but I'm only doing cookies until I lost 30 pounds, and then I will join WW to lose the last 20ish and I'll have my BMI done at the gym to see where it is by then.

Lainey

Lainey,

It's different than the EKG. They have you stand with your arms straight out and you hold this little machine. You feel a slight tingle and then your BMI and body fat % are displayed. From what I understood, the machine measures electrical responses from your skin. That tells the machine about your body composition because electric current travels through muscle, fat, and water quite differently.

But yes I agree with you about the loss! Losing the weight was the healthiest thing I ever did for myself and now I've kept it off! If I had done another diet, I know I wouldn't have stuck with it long enough because the results aren't quick enough or I would have been hungry.

I guess if I was trying to be a body builder then I would do a diet like Ryan's, but I don't want to be a body builder lol :)

BMI is not a good diagnostic of obesity for certain people. You can have a BMI of 19, like me, and be considered "normal" but my body fat percentage is only 10% which is technically too low for a woman. I'm trying to gain back the fat, actually, because the lack of estrogen is making me skip my period which isn't healthy. And I'm not a body builder, either, I'm a runner. I don't really know anything about this cookie thing, but I do know that I kind of enjoy eating my real food.

Jenny from Tampa: That's Bioelectrical Impedance Analysis (BIA). It does give body fat percentage, but it can also be quite inaccurate. Let's assume that it was accurate though. Did you get a change in muscle mass?

Also, note I don't encourage people to be bodybuilders. It's a very hard life to live, and it's something only those who really want it should do. However, people can learn a lot about fat loss from bodybuilders. They have learned how to lose fat as fast as humanly possible without sacrificing muscle mass or metabolic rate, which makes the weight loss maintainable. They also tend to be able to eat quite a lot while losing the weight.

Ryan and Spec...........

What is the easiest way to check your body fat?
The calpiers? Also arent you supposed to take that from the waist, biceps and thighs?

Ryan/Spectra,

Well like I said before, I don't think the cookie diet is for body builders or runners. It's for obese people. And Ryan you touched on metabolism, I had my thyroid tested before and after I was on the diet and my metabolism is much better now than it was before the diet. My doctor said it was because the cookies helped me regulate my sugar/insulin levels during the day which naturally boosts metabolic activity. Now that I'm off the diet I have adopted the "small but often" approach. I graze throughout the day and eat several meals but all small portions and healthier foods than I used to eat. I'm kind of on a whole foods/organic kick right now. That stuff is so good! I definitely don't feel like I was scammed. The staff gave me all of the tools I needed to get the weight off and keep the weight off. Again, I only know what the centers in Tampa are like but they sure impressed me.

When I was done losing the weight, I was full of energy and still just as strong as before the diet. My muscles felt nice and toned (I played softball in highschoo and college) but I did have a little bit of a problem with excess skin. So I'm working out with weights to tone that up. I'm lucky that my skin is still pretty elastic. I've been excercising frequently (2-3 times a week) for cardio, I usually swim.

Jennifer in PA: Calipers are the easiest measurement that is reasonably accurate. The pinch sites you use vary based on the formula.

Jenny from Tampa: I'm glad you're eating and exercising properly now to maintain weight. Proper diet would have fixed your thyroid and metabolic problems too though. Nothing special there. Just don't believe in the BMI scale.

Jenny from Tampa~

If you dont mind me asking a few questions......

How old are you?
How tall?
How much did you weigh when you started the diet?
How long were you on the cookies?

BTW....... I have been bck on track since Friday and I stepped on the scale and I lost 3 pounds in 3 days!!!!!

Ryan~
Thanks for the info on the calipers:)

Spectra~
isnt it kinda dangerous for your body fat only being 10% as far as Osteoperosis?I didnt spell it right but my sister is around 5"2 and weighs around 105 and her body fat was I believe 9% and her doctor is making her have bone density tests done because of this as well as she also shrank an inch in the past year. She is only 28 years ols and she is also a runner. She does marathons and stuff like that. What are your thoughts?

Ryan,

You're probably right but it would have taken me far longer. I was lucky that I didn't need the thyroid supplement. One of my friends who is on the cookie diet had a thyroid problem that was undiagnosed until she met with the smart for life doctor. It's not something that a primary care doctor would usually test for.

Jennifer in PA,

I don't mind at all I want to share my success story here so people can get motivated to do something for their weight :)

I'm 27 now
I'm 5'8"
I was 196 lbs on my first visit and I got down to 138 on the cookie diet. I took another 3 lbs off myself since maintenance so I'm around 135 now it fluctuates a little bit but always seems to come back to 135.
I was on the cookie diet for 4 months and I was 100% compliant the entire time. It was really tough but sooooo worth it. I've been on maintenance for 2 months.

One other thing, when I started the diet I was single but now I'm dating a really great guy!

Jennifer in PA--I am indeed worried about possible health issues...that's why I said I'm trying to gain some fat. It's also a prime reason why BMI is a terrible measure of overall health. My doctor weighed me and said I was normal weight and was healthy. I told her about my period stopping and she initially blamed my birth control, but I asked her to do a body fat test and it came out to only %10, which she said was too low. I used a calipers and the formula for athletes, which takes measurements from certain sites. I'd like to get a hydrostatic weighing, but we'll see. I don't think my insurance covers it.

Jenny from Tampa .... that's a great success story!
What is their maintenance program like?

I have been 100% now for 15 days and down about 10 lbs or so.

I have a personal trainer who I have been going to for months and he is a fan of this program specifically because being overweight in itself is unhealthy and one needs to get the weight off to begin being healthy. I spoke to him about losing fat vs. muscles (etc) and he said esp. since I am continuing my training with him (3x week for 30 mins) and perhaps not as strenuous as before the program, I would be fine.

Your success is very encouraging!

Jenny from Tampa: It depends what you mean by a "thyroid problem". People like to be told they have a thyroid problem because it makes them feel like it wasn't their fault that they gained weight. It's one of those ways they pull you in. No one likes to hear "it's your fault". And, indeed, people do have problems with their metabolism. However, in nearly all cases, it's just poor diet. People who have true thyroid failure may need to take special measures, but most just need to improve their diet.

Spectra: After reaching peak condition when I competed in different sports, I would have to put back on fat. I used whole milk, eggs with yolks, weight gain shakes, natural peanut butter, and fatty cuts of meat. Fats have a low thermic effect, so not as much energy will be used in digestion. Just remember to stick to natural fats. Also, you may want to cut back a bit on running.

Hello everyone!
I've been off the diet for 2 weeks and gained 4 pounds enjoying BurgerKing, Sushi, Fries, and lots of sweets. I am back on the diet as of today and I hope to stick to it this time.

It's really hard for me to get into the center to pick up my cookies, I'm going to ask if I can get them shipped to me.

Is there any way around those periodic Dr. visits that you have to do in order to stay on the diet?

Good luck to everyone and happy weight loss!!

Ryan-thanks for the tips. I have been adding in things like nuts, avocado, eggs w/ yolks, olive oil, etc. to my diet and it seems to be helping. I am gaining the weight pretty slowly because I can't really eat too much dairy (especially full fat dairy) without getting sick. And yeah, I've been cutting down on the running from 50 miles a week to 35-40. Do you recommend I lift heavier weights during my strength training?

"Do you recommend I lift heavier weights during my strength training?"

That's a hard question. If you want to gain the weight faster, I might cut back on that too. Weight training really kicks up the metabolism. Your period has stopped because your body thinks it's in a crisis. More weight might just reinforce that signal.

If I were you, I would actually lay off exercise. I know it can be hard once you've set up a routine, but you may come out of it stronger. Even when I was in my best shape, I would occasionally take a whole week off to give my body a breather. Nearly every time I did I came back and broke some of my previous plateaus.

"However, people can learn a lot about fat loss from bodybuilders. They have learned how to lose fat as fast as humanly possible without sacrificing muscle mass or metabolic rate, which makes the weight loss maintainable."

Comparing a professional bodybuilder to a typical person, would be similar to comparing a NASCAR driver to your average driver on a street. What are you talking about Ryan?

Who told you that pro bodybuilders can quickly lose fat without sacrificing muscle mass or metabolism? Have you ever trained with them? Or do you also believe that Ronnie Coleman and others got "huge" on skinless chicken breast, vegetables and brown rice?

"Even when I was in my best shape, I would occasionally take a whole week off to give my body a breather."

That is a very good advice. Some people even take two weeks off, if they have been training hard for at least 4 month.

Ryan,

Nobody was "pulling me in" :) I've read in medical journals that about 25% of obese people actually have a problem with the function of their thyroid. Smart for Life told me they see the same percentage among their patients. Some people are born genetically pre-disposed to abnormal thyroid function. My friend just happens to be one of them. She's always had issues with energy and regulating her body temprature. With her supplements, she doesn't have those issues any more.

Miami Lakes Babe,

You've got to see the Dr once a month. Otherwise you can't get your perscription (the cookies and meds/supplements) refilled. It's not so bad if you've got a good doctor. Maybe I lucked out :)

iFitandHealthy: When I say bodybuilders, I mean natural bodybuilders. If there's anything wrong with bodybuilding these days, it's steroids. I don't really consider steroid-users as being participants of the sport. They say they're bodybuilders, but what they are doing is twisted and contorted. A real bodybuilder builds a smaller, but better proportioned and more tastefully developed physique.

That being said, natural bodybuilders have a much harder time without the synthetic hormones, both in gaining muscle and losing fat. As a result, they have developed some clever and powerful tricks to accelerate their results. On the fat loss side, their most effective weapon is carb-cyling. It's so effective that some need to tweak it to slow down the weight loss, in order to avoid loss of muscle mass. It will consistently hit that 2 pound/1% per week barrier without affecting the metabolism. In fact, some even get a metabolic boost out of it.

Hello All,
I am on the cookie diet day 2. Any suggestions.. besides dont cheat.

And how about exercise for the first week should i really stay away?

janell

Ryan,

Bodybuilders [natural or not] use many tricks - just because they do - it does not mean that these tricks are applicable to someone who is untrained and overweight.

Carb-cycling could be effective - in a form used by bodybuilders, carb-cycling is an advanced technique, because it is part of a larger cycle. Bodybuilders purposely gain weight [bulk up] during off-season.

When they start training for a show, some of them, use calorie-cycling, carb-cycling, etc to get “shredded” for a contest. But you cannot really compare a bodybuilder to an average person, because there is a substantial difference in muscle mass.

In addition, cycling of calories and carbs has been criticized even in bodybuilding circles. It is not healthy and can lead to a number of adverse health effects, which almost all bodybuilders have experienced.

They do not just cycle carbs alone. They use a specific training program to go with it.
Even with carb-cycling, all “natural” pros admit to using diuretics and other “supplements”.

In most cases, comparing a bodybuilder to an average Joy is comparing apples and oranges. Supplement companies do that all the time with “overweight” before and after pictures of bodybuilders.

iFitandHealthy: Calorie-cycling is effective enough, and it works for anyone at any time. This shouldn't result in any health problems, as long as you don't do anything horribly drastic. The dangers you're talking about may be due to really weird or drastic cyclings. Still, carb-cycling is less dangerous than any ketosis diet. While carb-cycling and calorie-cycling can be taken to extremes, a milder form shouldn't present any danger to anyone.

The diuretics are used not for the weight loss, but to create that dryness of the skin that is required on-stage. In the association I plan to compete for (if I ever do compete), diuretics are a class of banned substances and will get you banned for 5 years on the first offense, for life on the second. I don't consider someone who uses diuretics (or diet pills or anything of the sort) natural.

Neither extreme carb-cycling nor diuretics are even necessary; some bodybuilders just use them to hasten the process of contest preparation. I don't condone any kind of contest preparation that is even questionably unsafe. In summary, the carb-cycling I'm thinking about and the carb-cycling you're thinking about are probably two different things.

"Bodybuilding should actually be a health-oriented sport instead of a drug-oriented sport."
"[Bodybuilding] can and has proven to work wonders in creating real men of substance, as opposed to what it's now become: a creator of men of real substance abuse."
- Steve Reeves

Ryan,

"In summary, the carb-cycling I'm thinking about and the carb-cycling you're thinking about are probably two different things."

I am talking about carb and calorie cycling used by professional bodybuilders. It is a common knowledge that what they do with it is not safe. It is not a secret.

I agree, it could be done safely, but statements like “it works for anyone at any time” are misleading. In addition, bodybuilders do not face the same issues that untrained and overweight individuals do.

Your other claim about learning from bodybuilders to lose fat as fast as humanly possible to maintain a weight loss is not accurate, at best. Average person cannot maintain a weight loss, because it is challenging to stick with healthy eating habits.

But than again, comparing athletes with someone who need to lose weight is like comparing apples with oranges.

“…diuretics are a class of banned substances and will get you banned for 5 years…I don't consider someone who uses diuretics (or diet pills or anything of the sort) natural.”

Well, no offense Ryan, but don’t be naïve. It doesn’t matter what you consider, or what the rules say. What does matters is what goes on in the real world. If one has not been cut using it, he is not using anything, other than skinless chicken breast and vegetables of course.

iFitandHealthy: I suppose I should clarify. Carb-cycling can be done by anyone and will work for anyone who is willing to count calories, do some rough macronutrient manipulation, and prepare 6 small meals a day. I suppose I'm making some assumptions about normal people maintaining weight loss too, but I like to think highly of others. I think everyone has the discipline and motivation to maintain healthy eating and exercise habits in them somewhere. I think everyone has an athlete in them too. Everyone can certainly exercise for 30 minutes 6 times a week.

As far as the diuretics, the organization I want to compete for puts everyone through either a polygraph, a urine test, or both. No exceptions. This isn't the IFBB, who barely tests, if at all. Again, you're thinking about a different type of bodybuilding.

When I go to compete, I will not reduce myself to a ridiculously low body fat percentage, nor will I do the water/sodium tricks to pull the water out of my skin. I will enter each competition just as Steve Reeves or John Grimek would have. This probably means I will lose, but it doesn't matter. This is what I can do to honor what they worked for. This should be a health-oriented sport, and today's practices are not healthy. The freakish definition displayed at competitions today is both gross and unnecessary, and the focus is mass, not elegance.

Janell
Good luck to you... they tell you not to exercise the first month as it could slow your metabolism as the lower calories could make your body go into startvation mode.
Make sure you drink enough water..

I question the use of a "fixed" calorie intake for diet like this and seriously question a level as low as 800/day. It may work for many, but fasting will also work and we know that is not healthy.

I tried many diets and gimmicks like this. In all cases, the diet was functionally unhealthy (eat a lot of one type of thing), or it sapped my energy so much that I was always tired, or it didn't work/was hard to stick with.

A very simple and healthy way to lose weight -

1) Purchase a heart monitor with a calorie-counter function. I bought the Polar F11, and it has been GREAT! I wore it for the first 24 hours and it told me that on a normal day (no exercise) I was burning about 1980 calories. That was my base.

2) Determine the number of "net calories" you want to lose per day. I use 750, which equates to 1.5 pounds a week.

3) Count and log ALL of the calories you eat! I use the figure 1980 as my target limit from my Polar calculation.

4) Execise to gain the difference. In my case I bike for about 1 hour & 10 minutes or do eliptical for about 1 hour & 5 minutes for 750 calories loss per day. This is another case where the Heart Monitor/Calorie Watch comes in handy (i.e. I keep exercising until I hit my number).

5) Use common sense! If you are tired and hungry - eat somthing, get some sleep, or take the day off. If you feel good, exercise a little longer (and maybe have a twinkie - GRIN).

6) Eat healthy, and always eat a snack an hour or two prior to strenuous exercise. Figure this in when you plan yur day.

As you get healthier, increase your exercise time for more loss, or to enjoy a few more treats.

I reached the point last spring when I would do an 80-mile bike ride every week or two. Even with energy bars on the ride, I burned over 4500 calories for the day, with a net loss of 2500 in one day!

This plan has resulted in a steady loss of about 22 lbs, over 15 weeks - and I feel MUCH healthier than any other diet.