Special K Diet: Cereal for Weight Loss?
Over the last few months there has been a lot of cereal promotion going on. Kelloggs' Special K brand have been promoting their very own Special K Diet Challenge (for a number of years now). Not to be outdone, Kraft have "lose 10 pounds" emblazoned on virtually the entire line of "Post" brand cereals (called Eat 2 Lose 10)
Both cereal "diets" are bold and upfront with their claims: "Lose up to 6 pounds in 2 weeks!" shouts Special K. Is this for real? Is it valid?
The Special K Diet
• Eat a serving of Kellogg's® Special K®, Special K® Red Berries, Special K® Vanilla Almond, Special K® Fruit & Yogurt or Special K® Low Carb Lifestyle Protein Plus cereal with 2/3 cup skim milk and fruit for two meals a day.
• Eat your third meal as you normally do.
• For snacks, choose from fresh fruits and vegetables or a Special K® Bar.
• Consume beverages as you normally do.
Special K claim that the diet is "based on valid research conducted at leading universities". In typical hard-sell fashion, they fail to provide the reference or provide a link to the "valid research". After some digging, I found the aforementioned study.
Yes - People Lost Weight
It made interesting reading, and effectively backed up some of the claims from Special K. According to my reading, the mean weight loss was less than 2 kg (4.4 pounds) in the 2 week period.
A basic low fat diet
So what's the magic? There is no magic. The women in the study ate less than they normally did. According to the study, the women in the Special K group were eating about 2200 kcals per day. When they started substituting the cereal meals they dropped daily intake by about 640 kcals per day. Furthermore, a lot of those calories were from fat (~39 grams or 351 kcals).
Good or What?
Personally I think incorporating some cereals into your diet can be good - but there are some caveats here:
Satiety - From experience, I've noticed that wolfing down a bowl of cereal doesn't always curb the hunger pangs. However having a bit more protein in the mix does keep the pangs at bay.
Nutrition - The simple truth is - Special K is better than what most people eat, but it still contains such gems as High Fructose Corn Syrup. Serving for serving, it has less potassium and fiber than oats, and more sugar. Compare here and here.
The Claim
"Lose 6 Pounds in 2 Weeks"
The Interpretation
"If you currently have a poor diet, but substitute it with our cereal - you may lose 4.4 pounds over the first two weeks. You will be probably feel very hungry while restricting your calories, and will may find eating cereal for dinner or lunch to be untenable after a while. Boredom could well set in. History shows that a low-fat, higher-carb diet can work, but in the long run it may backfire".
That said - you could do a lot worse than eating cereal, skim milk, and fruit - it's a lot healthier than the average American meal...
578 Comments(Now closed for this article)
ADVERTISING
New
- FROM DIET BLOG
- On-Off Fasting: Does It Work?
- 400 Calorie Fix
- 5 Factor World Diet
- Quick Giveaway: Powerhouse Weight Loss Game
- FORUM
- Low Carb Atkins Diet- Tips to Cut the Carbs.
- How Can I Gain a Healthy Weight and Keep it?
- How Do I Eat Healthy at University?
- Starving Myself and Exercising, But Not Losing an Ounce?
Categories
| Body Image Celebrities Diet Pills Diets Exercise |
Fast Food Funny Stuff Success Stories Teens and Kids Tips and Tools |
RSS Feed
Follow @DietBlog on Twitter
My husband and I tried to start it last week. Yum,Yum!!!! This week is serious business. We plan to substitute breakfast, lunch and eat reasonably for dinner. Wish us well, I'll keep in touch. I was 178 last week and 175 today. My target goal is 150!!!!
ReplyI am just starting the diet tomorrow, I am 13 and need to lose about forty pounds,and everyone is giving me mixed messages, so i did this- I am eating the cereal for lunch, but @ breakfast I am eating either oatmeal or fruit or toast(1 piece, w/ peanut butter) And then I dont know... I have 4 weeks until school starts and i really want to drop 10 pounds.(15 would be awesome, but im aiming reasonably) Anyone have any tips for me??? Thanks!
Replyand any tips on what to expect in weight loss? I really want to drop this weight!
ReplyHey liz thanks! I am officially starting tonight because @ 1st i wasnt fully committed, so hopefully next week friday i will have lost @ least 5 pounds! Thanks again!!!
ReplyI really need to diet, and quickly or i'll have no pets left. So far my eating habits have consumed my chickens and ducks, the neighbours cat, my mother in laws budgies, i don't know where it will stop!!
Replywill this diet help the cravings go away............
It really works it will get a little boring, but stay strong. You can also sunstitute a yuumy fruit and some milk for breakfast if ur sick of special k. DONT STARVE URSELF u will only crash and binge later trust me from expierience i have lost ten lbs on this diet and as long as you eat healthy and exercise the weight will come off easily. food wise soda is out of the question and junkfood is not allowed. follow the 90-10 rule eat healthy 90% of the time and eat what you want the other 10% IN MODERATION you'd be suprised how quickly a hungry appetite will slow down. the first three days should be the worst. Best of luck!
Replyi have just started the special k ,its been 1 week n i already see great results.thanx for such a dependable diet
ReplyIve been doing the special k diet for about 3 months on and off.. and ive lost a total of 14 pounds and have kept it off.. i think it is successful.
Replythe special k was great but wont work for me now....
ReplyHey, whatsup everybody. I have now been on this diet for a little over two months and i weight an even 200 lbs. Thats 25lbs less then what i weighted when i first wrote back in june. I no longer have "love handles just a little layer of fat on my "abs" there not abs in just my stomach. But i feel great. I look great I went down to a size 32. I can run longer. Can't lift that much though. But I want endurance and speed. So its all good. For all of you out there still doing keep it up. It works really works. Since I first started this diet back in January of 2006 I have lost a total of 76 lbs.
ReplyI just started the special k diet a 2 months ago..I woke up each morning eat a bowl, go do my other activities during lunch time I had a slim fast shake that you replace with a meal..If thats to drastic for some, than i also have a salad with a water bottle and then i run a mile a day and spend 1 hour swimming in the pool everyday...and at night i eat the ceareal again and you repeat this...it kinda sucks repeating the same thing over and over again but if you want results thats what you got to do.. i lost 40 pounds by doing that...point is cereal doesnt make a difference as long as you exersize but bacon eggs and sausages for breakfast makes a huge difference of your wieght..personaly i like this new diet im in. I weighed in at 210 pounds and now im at 170.. so yeah the cereal helped me out
Replyspecial k does work, it is up to you to control your eating habits after your diet. your tummy shrinks, so you should be eating less, than what you did before your diet. unless you are a greedy person and cant stay away from fatty foods. learn to control your eating habits. it works and helps...
ReplyIf this diet works or it don't, we should give some support to those people that are at least trying it. It might not be good but its a start,if the lose or dont they know that they need to cut down their calories..i lost 50 pound eating right and exercising but i learned this by trying famous diets and finaly realized that i had to eat healthy and work out to lose weight and keep it off!!you dont have to eat healthy n still feel hungry. if you eat the right stuff u wont be starving and eat every 2 hours..
ReplyOk, I'm going to the store to buy myself Special K. I've eaten it before....always liked it, just didnt know it could actually be a part of a diet. Looking forward to trying it.....I'll keep you posted. Also, good luck to all those of you who's trying it!
ReplyI just started the diet yesterday, and I find that when i am hungry between meals, one snack bar doesnt fill me up. For those who have done the diet, is it acceptable as a snack to have a snack bar and a piece of fruit? Also, what are some tips to feel fuller? and not want to snack late at night? I range between 145-150 now and i want to get down to the 130s. any tips, let me know
ReplyLast year I lost 37 pounds in 4 months on eating Special K for breakfast and lunch! I have kept it off by eating it for dinner 3 times a week. Very easy for me I love cereal!!
ReplySorry that was 3 MONTHS not 4. I was amazed, I lost 5 pounds the first week!! I was like the other poster I had Slimfast for lunch M-F. On Saturdays I would have poached eggs and whole wheat toast for breakfast and a Healthy Choice Dinner for lunch and my Special K for dinner.
ReplySundays was my freeday, please give yourself one of these, just dont go crazy with it.
If you get hungry have a heaping tablespoon of peanut butter, it does wonders for hunger pangs!
I weigh myself everyday to make sure I dont gain 1 pound. It is detrimental that you have scales at the house. I have lost another 12 pounds the last 6 weeks. Thats 49 pounds total and I am in a size 7,started at a size 16! Hope my advice helps~
I can't believe that you consider "high fructose corn syrup" and "sugar" nutritional "gems" .. they are two of the least nutritional items ever .. you certainaly are not aiming any of your diets at diabetics, let alone anyone else .. I was looking into your "diet", and considering it until I saw your reference to these two items as being "gems" under your nutritional section .. maybe you should think that one over .. ty
ReplyReading comprehension, Angel; Do you have it?
When he said 'gems' he meant it in a facetious manner.
"Special K is better than what most people eat, BUT..."
You see, if that 'but' was 'and', then your bawwing might be moderately justified. But he said 'but', indicating that HFCS was indeed not all that great.
And this isn't 'his diet'. This is 'a diet'. A faddy diet. Consider looking into actual nutrition instead of your cereal box.
Replyumm..if ur about 4'11 and 1/2 almost 5'0 wat is a healthy weight range...ive weighd 96 lbs b4 but i lookd sick...so idk n nomater how much weight i loose i still have wide hips...wats up with that
Replyi am doing the special k and i lost 8 pounds but i am also going to the gym 6 times a week and staying there like 2 hours and i am hopeing to lose 22 more pounds bye x-mas..
ReplyHi, I'm 5'4 almost 150 lbs and want to lose about 15lbs. I have no time schedule But ofcourse that faster I cna see results the better. After reading all the success stories here, I am starting my special K diet for the first time tomorrow. I'll let you know how it goes.
ReplyI've been on special k for almost 2 months. I have lost 4 kg to date. I think the diet works only if you stick to it, but sometimes the cravings for junk food is too much that you give in and eat.
ReplyHi, I weigh 178 pounds and I want to lose 25 pounds. I have had the special k cereal before but not on a regular every day regime. I am going to start the diet and excerising for 30 minutes tomorrow and will let you know how I do.
ReplyI have just started the Special K Diet. I am on day two and it is very hard. I find msyelf hungry all the time. The cereal and bars are very tasty and the water tastes well too, but they do not fill me up. I just work throught the pain. I hope this works, if it does not I don't think I'll stay with the challenge plan.
ReplyI have never really liked cereal or even trying new things. But I was in desperate need to lose weight so I started to work out and I tried the special K red berries and I thought it was alright.Then I thought about trying the fruit and yogurt kind. I fell in love with it. It didnt only fill me up but it didnt drag me down and I had more energy through out the day. Now four months later I have lost 40 pounds and I feel better than ever
ReplyI failed - Now I weight 450
Replyhi, i am not sure whether this cereal works or not. i started it last week and am now 4lbs lighter than i was before.i started eating kelloggs protein meal bars for variation at lunch and drink protein water or normal water during the day and some fruit, it seems that i have gained weight again. Also i havent lost any inches and now am starting to get bored with all the cereal im supposed to eat...someone please tell me does this actually work and is it worth the effort to continue?the weight seems to reduce first and then go up again.
ReplyHi I started the Special K Diet, I am on my 9th day and I have lost 8.6 lbs already. I eat 1 cup cereal in the morning, snack bar for lunch,a grilled chicken salad for dinner, and a cup cereal for my fourth meal. I have found this to be the only diet that has worked for me and I am very happy with my results thus far. And as for the comment that it only works for people over 50 that is false I am only 20, and I don;t understand how someone could gain weight from this diet. But I guess it is possible if you eat more than you are sopposed to but I really reccomend this diet to EVERYONE of all ages.
ReplyIt actually works! This is the only time I've been able to stick to a plan and lose weight (and kept it off). There are a lot of different options on their meal plan, and I've still eaten regular food on occasion. You have to have it in your mind set that you are changing your lifestyle, not just being on a diet, which means getting off your fat butt and excercising every day too. I've lost 35 pounds since August 1, and dropped 4 jean sizes!!!
ReplyI've been obese most of my adult life.Last year I was badly injured in a car accident. I had back surgery 2/12/07 . My doctor told me that if would lose some weight it would help my back pain. Which makes complete sense. I knew I needed to try something else though cause nothing else had worked for me. I weighed 215.5 pounds at that time. So before my surgery I went online to research diet plans.
I finally decided to try Take Shape For Life . I started the plan the day after I got home from the hospital 2/14/07 , yeah Valentine's Day. I asked my husband NOT to get me candy.
Anyway, TSFL is the plan & Medifast is the food. TSFL basically is REAL SUPPORT. I have a Health Coach who I can ask questions and talk to about the program. They have doctor & nurses calls every week.
ReplyTSFL is a meal replacement program .It's called the 5 & 1 Plan. You eat 5 healthy pre-portioned meals a day and 1 Lean & Green a day. A Lean & Green is a lean piece of meat & vegs.
I've done this for 7 months & have lost 70 pounds. I'm now done to 144.5 pounds. I still have about 25 pounds to go to reach my goal. I can no longer afford the Medifast since we just bought a house .
Today I'm starting the Special K Challenge. I hope it will help me lose the last 25 pounds. If not , I will come up with the money somehow to get back on the Medifast because I know it works.
I started the Special K diet a little less than a week ago. I don't own a scale, but my pants are already a little looser and I find it easier to accept smaller portions. This diet, for me, is just a little jumpstart to more long-term weight loss.
It's a LOT of calorie restriction, true, but it does make you see results right away. I'm one of those people who's encouraged by that sort of thing, and I'm more likely to stick with it if I can see that it's working.
A little bit about me: I was once very overweight. With diet and exercise, over the course of about four years, I lost 80+ pounds. I maintained that weight for a few years. But then I let bad habits creep back in, and I managed to gain back 15 - 20 lbs. When I read about the Special K diet, I figured I'd give it a try.
This diet will shock you into portion control, but it's also managable because you can have lots of fruits and veggies, and you can have one non-cereal meal a day. I'm also doing cardio - I walk for an hour, fast, 5 days a week. Hopefully this will create enough of a calorie deficit for me to lose 5 to 10 lbs in the near future. Ultimately I'm hoping to lose 15 lbs by the end of December, but I'm not planning to be on this diet for that long :)
No, it's not the best diet plan in the world, but it's pretty cheap and manageable, it's instant gratification, and I'm hoping it'll lay the groundwork for better habits in the future. I'm not going to stay on it forever, but it is helping me reshape my notions of portion control and exercise, and hopefully this time it'll help me change my habits for good.
Replyi've been on the special k diet for almost 2 weeks now and i've already lost 5 pounds. i used to eat cookies, chips and drink fruit punch all day every day. but i've cut that out of my life. i only drink water, eat special k cereal for breakfast, a special k protein bar, then dinner. i also take martial arts classes on saturdays and my morning job requires me to stand and walk for at least 5 hours a day. and its worked for me.
Replyi was gonna get on nutrisystem but thats like $300 dollars i dont have. so i like this diet because its affordable and velcro82, you're right about it shocking you into portion control. i tried eating a meal at chili's the other day and i just couldnt. my stomach cant handle big meals anymore. and i like that. because i used to eat like a pig! i'm currently 129 pounds. when i started the diet, i was 135. a year ago i was 116. now i dont want to be 116 again. i'd like to be at least 120. i was on depo (the birth control shot) and that made me gain a hell of a lot of weight. i've just recently stopped using it. anyway yeah it works:)
ReplyI have been on this diet for one week, and I have lost 3 pounds! I modify it a little, as I replace one of the special k snacks with a healthy snack of my own. It has shrunk (shrunken?) my stomach too. When I eat my 3rd meal of the day, I notice that I am getting full faster. So I eat with a smaller plate, and portion out snacks in those "snack bags" you can get from ziplock. Those bags are great to put nuts, whole wheat crackers, whatever you want for a snack into them. Great for portion control. I had thanksgiving dinner with my family early on Saturday and I did not even overeat.
ReplyI can't wait until next week as I expect to lose 3 or 4 more pounds.
if there is an MD that can tells you about
Replyhow suscefull is the special K diet
and them i will believe and do it
I'm 300lbs. I am going to start on this diet tomorrow. Along with walking. My weight went completely out of control after my daughter was born.
Now, I'm sick of feeling sick. I can't afford these crazy expensive diets out there. I went to the store and bought a variety of the Special K cereals, fruit, and some healthy snacks.
I will be reporting back here. Wish me luck.
ReplyTIA I WISH YOU THE VERY BEST AND I AM STARTING TOMORROW IF YOU WISH TO CORRESPOND ABOUT DIETING I WOULD BE VERY GRATEFUL, I NEED TO LOSE AND I AM HOME 98% OF THE TIME....NEED TO HAVE SOMEONE WHO KNOWS WHAT AM GOING THROUGH MY CLOSEST FRIEND WEARS SIZE 6 AND IS NOW SICK THT SHE GAINED 5 LBS...I AM ALMOST 300 AND SHE TELLS ME WHAT I SHOULD DO AND HOW TO DO IT SHE MEANS WELL AND I APPRECIATE THE FACT THAT SHE CARES BUT IT DOES NOT COMPUTE
Replyhey im about 5 "8 and im about 8 stone. Im also a teenager 15 on the first of Decembec to be percise. I really want to know if the special k diet works on teens or not? thank you.!!.
ReplyI see that lots of people are complaining about the size of the servings. I have been on various diets for four months and have lost 42lbs. I now feel that my weight wouldn't have been an issue if I hadn't given in the greed in the first place. I think a lot of us over eat because we don't like to waste, and we serve ourselves a larger portion, believing a smaller one won't fill us, when, in actual fact you could probably be satisfied off half of that portion. Most of us don't drink the correct amount of water each day, a glass of water before each meal will help fill you up, 9 times out of 10, when you feel hungry, you are actually thirsty. Dieting is all about self-control, it isn't about fad-diets and quick weight loss schemes, it's a new way of life, and until people begin to develop self control, and begin cutting down on what they eat, rather than eating more of it, just because it's slightly healthier and defeating the object, then they'll never lose weight and keep it off.
Reply