The Cookie Diet

Hi Everyone,

next weigh in tomorrow, but I don't think I'm doing that good. During the day, I do great, just the cookies and lots and lots of water. Most nights I do pretty good to, but sometimes, like last night, I have to sit down and eat with my kids (2 yr olds). We had pizza, I only had one slice plus whatever they 'fed' me ... Today I feel bloated from the pizza.

Oh well, hopefully I have lost atleast 2 pounds :)

Janell: Good luck on the program.

Catch y'all later.

Lainey,

I'm sure it's tough when you've got the little ones. Jus remember, though, you are always in control of what goes into your body. That's one really important thing I learned.

Janell,

Make sure you drink your water that is the biggest thing. It keeps you from getting headaches and it makes you feel full. I drank a glass of water with every cookie and then I had a glass of water between each cookie. So I was getting 10-12 glasses of water a day. Also, make sure you eat all of the cookies each day or you won't lose as fast. Good luck with it, I'm sure you'll do well if you stick to it!

Happy Thursday,

Lost 3 pounds this past week !! Next week they do my BMI again (weight, height, waist measurement). I think my biggest saving grace on this program is that I drink more water than the recommended 64 ounces.

I was talking with one of the workers today and I guess they don't test thyroids anymore. They tested mine and it was a 6.7 (not sure what that really means so I'll ask the doctor next week or try to find the information on line).

Hope the rest of you are doing well :)

Hi

Went for my weekly weigh in .. I have been on the program for 16 days and lost 12 lbs .. not to shabby!
... (3lbs since last Thursday's weigh in).

No complaints from my end!

Hello All,
I am sticking to the program drinking alot alot of water. Its only been 4days today. But i have not seen a 1lb move on the scale. I am not going to weigh myself again till my weigh in on monday. i am not going to think about it. I wish monday was here already!!!!

Give it time Janell the weight will come off! :) The first week was the best week for me

Janell ... the first 3 days I saw the scale move just a bit, and then for 4 days it didn't. Then it just dropped. Talk about frustration! Be patient (I know that's a hard thing to do when you are trying so hard and not seeing the results as quickly!)

ok.. i am drinking tons and tons of water and not cheating and in am not exercising.. which is hard for me..i will let you know how i do on monday..

Even though scale weight really doesn't matter, especially compared to retaining lean mass while losing fat, I do weigh myself regularly and track my progress just for my own entertainment. What you can do is take either Excel or graph paper and just mark down a point for each day. I make days the horizontal axis (day 0, day 1, day 2, ...) and weight the vertical axis. Note that if you skip a day, you should move 2 days, not 1. You should see a falling trend over time. It'll take some time before you really get some good data though.

Tova: When I started my fat loss program, the scale did not go below my initial weight for 3 weeks. I even gained 2 pounds in the first week. However, within 10 days, I could already see considerable improvement in the mirror, despite being heavier.

Jenny from Tampa~
Thats s great success story!!!! Keep up the great work!!!!

Miami Lakes babe~
So you screwed up by gaining a few pounds but you are back on track and you know now that if you fall off the horse ya gotta get back on and start over. You will do great if you stick to the program!!!!

Tova~

Thats is wonderful news on your loss!!!!
keep us posted!!!

Lainey~
My daughter is 5 and I never like to throw out food that she doesnt finish and I used to eat the rest of her food so it didnt go to waste. I have a Pure~bred Siamese cat named Suki and I wish that I could give him her leftovers LOL:) I now just throe whatever is left out rather than eating it!

Tomorrow will be a full week back on the program and I will weigh myself again. Tuesday I think it was I lost 3 pounds. I ate bad yesterday but I had a very stressful day.... I was sitting in traffic and some idiot younger kid plowed right into the back of me and hit me so hard that my trunk is now in my backseat. I have a chest wall contusion and a strain in my right shoulder. I am loaded up on pain killers and muscle relaxers:( I ate Burger KIng after I got out of the hospital and for dinner I ate pasta ( another no~no)

Jennifer from PA.. sorry about the day you had... I know its really hard when stressed to eat right.

What are you all eating for dinner? I eat the same things often.. shrimp and brocoli, chicken and brocoli/cauliflower, big salad with chicken.. those are my three staples.. Maybe someone out there has better ideas for dinner?

Janell,

Take a laxative, your scale will definitely move after the affects kick in. You’ll be surprised how much weight will come off. That's what I do when I've cheated on the diet and have a ton of junk in my system. There’s nothing like a good pipe cleaning.

I have now taken off those 5 lbs. that I gained and on my way to loosing some more.

For those of you who don’t like to drink water, like me, add crystal light. I love the iced tea mix and the strawberry-kiwi, you can also drink Coke Zero or Diet Coke. I usually have a cookie and a coke zero at lunch time and that fills me up for a couple or hours.

Good luck to everyone.

"Take a laxative, your scale will definitely move after the affects kick in. You’ll be surprised how much weight will come off."

Whoa, whoa, whoa. I wouldn't resort to that immediately. Before you take this advice, try a natural way first. Try eating lots of fibrous, low-calorie vegetables and up your water intake. Carrots and celery should work well. Also, since your bowel content doesn't affect how much fat you're burning, this shouldn't be necessary anyways. Don't try to force the scale down. Your progress should be evident in the mirror.

You should drink things like Crystal Light or diet sodas only as a transition to pure water if you're having trouble making the switch.

When I was on the diet I did have some issues with constipation so I talked to the doctor about it. She said it's common because the intake of food is low. She told me to increase my fibrous veggies and she gave me a softener. Talk to the doctor about it Janell that's what they are there for :) There's no need to take matters into your own hands.

Nancy~

I eat a lot of grilled chicken, shrimp, canned tuna in water and also fresh tuna steak is the best. Squirt some lemon on it and I use a No Salt marinade. Also I have been eating alot of broccoli, cauli, and romaine lettuce.

Hi Everyone,

Jenny from Tampa - Was your daughter in the car with you? Hope you recover quickly :) I am good with NOT eating their food, but when they won't take a bite unless I take a bite ... they are only 5% for weight so I need them to eat.

Don't worry about one bad day, I've been on the program for about three weeks but have taken a few days off here and there and I'm still down. My pants are getting bigger in the waist so I know I'm losing.

Nancy - mostly for dinners I have been having salad with chicken breast or turkey meat but sometimes I splurge and have Mozzarella Cheese. I have been pretty good with just using either the Walden Farms dressings or the Wishbone Spritz's. I also stocked up on the Frozen meals that they recommended (I picked the ones that did not need additions). Good luck and keep us posted.

Janell - Keep up the spirits, the weight will come off, my first week (I was 100% strict), I lost 7 Pounds the first week. The second week I went on vacation and forgot to bring the cookies, gained 1.5 pounds and the third week I was 90% strict and lost 3 pounds ...

Tova - Congrats on the loss, That's GREAT!

Jennifer in PA - How are you doing?

Hello to everyone else, Hope you are all having a great day.

Lainey

P.S. I'm in the Boston area, who else is?

I started the "cookie diet" 2 and half weeks ago. I have lost 18 pounds, my friend did the same dies 3 years ago and lost 35 pounds, and has kept it off. I have read some of you writing things about this diet like if it is horrible. I was treated very nice and I am very pleased with it. If you want to loose weight, do something about it. I could not loose weight by my self, I have a boost now and I am very pleased with what I am doing. No matter what you do, it is always how you do it. Does of you on the diet, keep it up!!!!! Does of you critizing, get a life!!!!!

"Does of you critizing, get a life!!!!!"

Are you a native English speaker? Anyways, nearly all of the boards about other diets contain some criticisms about the diet. And yet, when someone comes to criticize this particular diet, they are immediately "haters" or just receive a lot of backlash in general. It's something I find interesting.

Yeah now that i think about it i dont know if i have gone to #2 in a few days. lol.

Janell,

The center should have given you a stool softener like colace (sp?). If they didn't give them a call, it's covered under their lovely monthly fee. They said it would be normal to not go # 2 for 2 - 3 days but if it goes beyond 3 days they want to know.

Good luck!

What about alcoholic beverages.. i realize beer wiht all the sugar is out. But what about vodka with seltzer?
Is anyone haveing any drinks on this diet?

Let me know because its happy hour soon and i would love a beverage but i am being so good i can also pass.
~thanks janell

Janell~

With any diet, alcohol is strictly forbidden. We all do cheat but I think if you choose to have a few drinks every now and then, it is safe to go with something like flavored vodka and diet sprite zero( this tastes really good and the only calories you are comsuming are the calories in the one shot glass of alcohol). I like Stolly Raspberry and Diet Sprite zero... tastes pretty good. If you have a few too many and dont feel like crap the next morning from being hungover, go for a long walk to get those extra calories off. It will make you feel better.

Lainey~

No luckily my daughter was not in the car with me when I was carelessly hit by a young kid driving under his mommie's insurance. If Kylie was in the car, sh would have been hurt since my trunk is not in the backseat. I have been sore since this happened and I have also had a headache that will not go away. I see a lawyer Tuesday. The kid was estimated going 55 MPH in a 35 MPH zone and slammed into me while I was at a complete stop sitting in traffic. There were also no skid marks so he never even attempted to hit his brakes. He had the nerve to say " Look at my car compared to yours". Right than I lost it and said " I dont give a crap about your car... you hit me" I was soooooo mad and everyday when I am driving now, I am always looking in my rear~view and I am so paranoid. I am scared to drive now.......

My wife has been on the Siegal diet several times and devised an alcoholic beverage that kept her close to the caloric intake limits on "happy hour" days where such diversions were either desirable or necessary.

Here's the recipe:

1.5 oz Vodka
2 Lemon wedges squeezed
1 packet of Equal
(well shaken and served in a martini glass)

Our best guess on the Calorie content was 80 but do not quote me on this as it is just a guess.

Hi everyone! Just wanted to say this site has helped me tremendously so far..thank you for all the pros/cons. I began the diet on Sept.1st and the lbs. are truly coming off...13lbs. to date..next weigh in on Thursday. No one said this will be easy but so far I feel the best I have felt in a long time. I checked this out with my doc first and got the sign of approval. Good luck everyone..keep up the good work!

Hey everyone, I start the test tomorrow monday and i start the diet on tues just wanting to hear positive feedback on this diet my friend has been doing it for 3 months and shes lost 40 pounds which sounds awesome also a great motivator for me. I love to eat food im hispanic so when it comes to food theres no limit. Anyways i know this will be a great way to force myself to not eat to much ive been reading all of your postings and its very motivating to hear its working well for all of you. well thanks and congratulations to everyone who have lost their weight!!

Gina,

Good job keep it up! It looks like you probably go to the clinics that I went to, you're not too far from me.

As for drinking, I'm not much of a drinker any more. That pretty much ended with college so I didn't have any trouble cutting that out during my time on the diet. I would think if you have a few drinks here and there it wouldn't hurt but you might not lose as fast so you'll have to be on the diet longer. I just wanted to get it done with lol.

But I'm thinking it wouldn't take as much to get you drunk because there's not much in your stomach! Just make sure you have extra fluids that day because alcohol dehydrates you pretty badly. Do whatever it takes to make you stick to the diet and get the weight off that is the ultimate goal.

Hello, I am on week number two. Just came from the dr. and i am down 6lbs. I feel great and I am not hungry! Till next week.

Janell
you are doing great!

Jennifer in PA, I will buy the cookies off you. Email me at Stephvemail@yahoo.com

Georgia,

The cookies won't work like magic. They are part of a larger program you have to be on the program for them to work right :) It's not safe to do this diet without doctor supervision

Georgia~

I didn't have anyone interested for a while so I didnt want them to go to waste so I wound up going back on the diet last Friday. Do you have any of the Smart For Life Centers near you?

Hi everyone! Just had to share a dinner idea I made tonight. Always looking for ways to be creative on this diet so I don't get bored with just chicken and turkey. I used 4oz. of eggbeaters, about 1 cup of spinach (frozen not fresh!), about 2oz. of no-fat feta cheese, and a few slices of tomatoes chopped. Sprayed the pan with butter flavored Pam and made the most delicious omlet ever! My kids even loved it!

I plan on starting the cookie diet this week. I have lost and gained, lost and gained a few times over the past several years. Each time I did it the "right" way, healthy eating, LOTS of excersise, and lots of water. However, it always takes me a LONG time to lose it (usually 1/2lb or 1lb a week). I have never reached a goal weight no matter how much I've tried and believe me, I've worked VERY hard. But, I'm now 42 yrs old, have gained a lot of weight in the past year due to stressful life events and just want to get it off. I know how to lose it and know that I am capable of losing it but I just don't want to spend another two years try to "maybe" reach my goal. I really want to make this happen, and I want it to happen fast.

Obviously I am new this blog and have read every comment. This diet may be a gimmick, a fad and possibly not the most healthy thing I could do to my body. But, if you could see how I am living now, this diet would be a great improvement! As far as losing water weight, what is wrong with that. Most people who are overweight are so bloated, that water weight is just as good to lose as fat weight. As long as you taking in an adequet amount.

Kim: If you haven't already, try reading BFFM. It's the "right" way of losing weight, but it might have a few (and quite possibly many) refinements of the "right" way that you haven't incorporated before that will greatly accelerate your results. For example, getting your Omega-3's will increase your metabolism and your body's ability to metabolize body fat.

Losing a pound of fat a week is about the best you can expect. You can potentially lose 2 pounds of fat a week, but this is pretty difficult. You may do this on occasion, but not consistently.

The faster your weight loss is, the more likely it is to fail in the long run. If you lose more than 2 pounds per week, it is highly likely that you are losing muscle and/or water. Losing muscle is damaging to your metabolism, which will hurt you in the long run. If you do go on the cookie diet, you will have to carefully build up your metabolism when you go off of it. This is something you should consider carefully.

We in America have decided that the best way to lose weight is to cut calories. However, another way to approach it is to work on increasing your metabolism and use that to burn the fat off. This is the idea of BFFM.

On the cookie diet, losing will be easy but maintenance will be tough. On BFFM, you will have the opposite situation.

Ryan, I do agree with you in that dieting is not the answer. For me at least, I really need to excersise to include carido and weight training to get the best results. Dieting has always left me hungry and with headaches. I have used the healthy eating approach and not focused on calories, you know, eating low on the food chain.

However, my reason for doing this is to lose the tremendous amount of weight I have gained in the past year. Due to stress, depression and life events, I turned to food for comfort and dramatically decreased my exercise. I don't plan on relying on this plan as a way of life, that would be crazy and I think that weight training would need to be incorporated in order to keep the muscle mass. But what about the water issue that I mentioned, what is wrong with losing water weight? I would be happy with a 20lb water weightloss, my God, I feel so bloated right now.

Kim: Bloating is usually a sign you're dehydrated. If you don't drink enough water, that sends your body the signal that it should retain some. When you drink enough water, your body takes that retained water and drops it. I'm not sure if you will gain/lose water weight in the end, but at least the water will be evenly distributed in your cells and not stored somewhere you don't want it. Water is important for clearing toxins from the body; give it a helping hand.

Now, I am no expert on women's health. It's possible some other condition is creating the bloating. However, if you happen to be dehydrated, that will cause bloating.

Kim~
Welcome t the blog. Have you consulted with one of the clinics yet? it is a great way to get the pounds off fast. I did great than I stopped. I was able to stay at the weight by not gaining anything back however I still need to lose more so I went back on the diet. This works and is not a fad. It has been around since the 70's.

"This works and is not a fad."

Indeed it is not a fad nor a gimmick, and it certainly works if what you want is weight loss. If you want fat loss though, I don't think it's any better than losing weight the "right" way.

Suppose you have three 200-pound men. It is almost universally accepted that they can only lose 2 pounds of pure fat a week before their body resorts to cannibalizing muscle. Also suppose that each of these men has 150 lbs of lean mass and 50 lbs of fat mass, so they start with a body fat percentage of 25%. They all go on a 10-week quest to better their bodies.

Man A decides he will do the cookie diet. He loses 4 pounds a week, 2 from fat and 2 from muscle. He finishes with 130 lbs of lean mass and 30 lbs of fat. His body fat percentage is 18.8%.

Man B does some smaller calorie restriction and does cardio, but not weights. He loses 2 pounds a week, all from fat. He finishes with 150 lbs of lean mass and 30 lbs of fat. His body fat percentage is 16.7%.

Man C uses calorie zig-zagging, cardio, and weights in combination. He loses 1 pound a week, losing 2 pounds of fat and gaining 1 pound muscle. He finishes with 160 lbs of lean and 30 lbs of fat. His body fat percentage is 15.8%.

Man C is heavier than Man B, and Man B is heavier than Man A. However, Man C is also the leanest and will look better than Man B, and Man B is leaner and better looking than Man A.

So, in short, the cookie diet will without a doubt succeed if followed; the real debate is whether you want the kind of success it yields.

Why is it that people under 200 pounds lose less than someone that weighs over 200??