One Day Diet: Scams and Science

Apologies for this long post, I just want to voice my opinions on some of the things I've read over the past few pages.

I'm an intelligent person and am never taken in by the hundreds of "lose weight rapidly" offers i get every week. I know to take every one of their claims with a really big pinch of salt. This one is based on the solid principles of coercing your body to do something it knows how to do and over time changing your bad thinking/eating habits to suit healithy weight management. It's just a fact of life that some bodies need a lot more coercing than others.

I walk at least 30 minutes every day (usually more) and have an average calorie intake of 1250-1750 per day. I limit my fat intake and eat a high-carb medium-protein diet and eat plenty of fruit. I take multivitamins and have no existing medical conditions.

For all you used-to-be-fatties spewing out self-righteous babble, saying that this diet is a fad and anyone would lose weight following a controlled-calorie diet is unfair. More importantly I'm a contradiction. I am 22 and have been overweight since the age of 13.

Whether you really have "been there, done that" or are just bitter that some people are going about it another way and are seeing success is my question. Not all people are the same and it's unfair to dump your emotional garbage on them just because you need validation for the hard work it took for you to lose weight. I've never had anything other than a healthy diet, and i've never been anything but overweight. However, I've never been so embittered as to blame anyone else for my problems.

Please, stop hiding behind a mask of "tough love" when in reality you're just picking on people, and really ask yourself why on earth you're still looking at weightloss blogs if not to congratulate yourself that others are still struggling while you've been successful.

Anyway, to get to my real point, can someone please verify the website and email information for these people? From reading the last four pages of comments it seems like more than one organisation is maskerading as the official one day diet group.

For example some people are reporting rediculously bad customer service support over an extended period of time while others state that they've received very good support. Does this not suggest that some other company is taking advantage of people's ignorance by marketting the SAME study just to get money?

Personally, I'm not interested in taking part in the study or pinning hopes on some mystery cash prize, but I would like to get the literature and wafers. I'd like to buy from ebay if I can find genuine auctions, but if anyone can point me in the right direction I'd be very grateful.

Good luck and stay strong to anyone attempting a life change.

Sometimes, I think this is blog is about psychology much more than it is about diet and nutrition.

Quito said:
Sometimes, I think this is blog is about psychology much more than it is about diet and nutrition.
[...]

I gotta agree with you here. Especially when it concerns scams and sweeteners. Any sweetener post turns into a huge anti-corporate/conspiracy thing, and any post about... "questionable business practices", let's say, so we don't call the ones that Jim didn't outright call scams "scams", turns into a "don't be haters" type war (even if not stated in such teenage terms), with people stating "it worked for me so don't call it a scam just cause they scammed you".

OK, ONE MORE TIME THIS IS A SCAM, A LOT OF YOU DONT WANT TO BELIEVE THIS. SO KEEP SENDING YOUR MONEYS TO THIS COMPANY , AND THEN YOU CAN CALL THE BBB OR CALL FOR A LAWSUIT, BUT BE WARNED THIS AND MOST LOSE WEIGHT FAST COMPANYS ARE NOTHING MORE THAN A SCAM. IT KILLS ME TO READ ALL THESE LETTERS FROM ALL THESE OVERWEIGHT PEOPLE WHO WILL PAY ANY PRICE TO LOOSE WEIGHT. HERES HOW TO LOSE WEIGHT, EAT GOOD FOOD AND WALK AROUND THE BLOCK EVERY NIGHT,NO FAST FOOD EVER,YOU CAN EAT ALL THE SALAD YOU WANT.EAT ONLY TILL YOUR FULL , DONT KEEP ANY SWEETS , OR CHIPS IN THE HOUSE,DO THIS AND YOU LOOSE 2 TO 5 POUNDS A WEEK, THE PRICE FOR "THE BEST DIET EVER" FREE. I LOST 40 POUNDS DOING THIS,AND WILL STAY ON THIS DIET FIOREVER,

does anyone know the number to call and order the product?

DO NOT get this diet. I have researched this, and have only heard of two people who have gotten the 1k. I followed the diet to the letter ... doctor visits, etc, and NEVER heard anything back from the company no matter how hard I tried. The diet is like a starvation diet, and once you start eating normally, you gain the weight right back. You can't be on a diet for the rest of your life!!! You've gotta LIVE in there, somewhere. I wasted $300 down the drain, and they kept charging my card and sending me product after the 3 month "study", so I had to call separately and cancel. Save your money. Weight Watchers works, for instance. I got the WW @ Home program for $90 - all you need included - and it's healthier. My doctor advised me against the diet, and I should have listened to him. He told me that it's dangerous to starve your body like the diet recommends. It also gave me migraine headaches. Very uncomfortable for the whole three months. It sucks. Please don't try it.

I have just ordered my Waffers, I hope that everything they say is true. Although I do need to lose 15-20 pounds. I could really use the $1000.00. I would really like to hear from someone who has received their money. It will be a little embassing to release before and after pictures, but if I lose all the weight I guess it will be worth it.

OK YOU FAT COWS THIS DIET DOSNT WORK YES IT IS A SCAM , SO QUIT GIVING THEM YOUR MONEY...

I discovered Thomas sharkey's book from 1968 (in my vast collection of diet books and tried it faithfully. you do not have to send money...;just find the book. It is the most pleasant way to lose weight in the world. You eat 900 calories (or less if you wish) one day and the amount of calories required to maintain your desired weight on the next (my case 2100) well, that seems enormous after 900...you can have icecream anything, as long as you keep track of calories meticulously...and never ever or hardly ever deviate form diet today...eat maximum allowed tomorrow. This guy should have been knighted I've only lost 12 lbs since june 1...but it is painless and I feel great.Would love to contact this author and start a club...if he hasn't died from the diet. can't seem to get much information on him. Try it, you'll love it!!!! Old not dead in MIchigan....76 on the outside. 21 on the inside....been on every diet known to man, and some that must have been delivered by aliens. This one works. No investment...just a notebook to keep track of your calories (faithfully) and a very good calorie counter book!

Betty,
I just read your comment about the diet of alternating calories and wondered if everyone no matter their age or weight eats only 900 calories on the off day. I had never heard of the book you are talking about, maybe I'll add it to my already vast array of diet books. Is there any exercise involved.
Thanks

WTH "you fat cows"??? So I will say this again. I am still zipping up my size 5-7 jean instead of 14s. The .biz website I bought from is nolonger up and running. I wish they would of put a forum on it. Funny how some people are saying they don't know anyone that got the $1000 because I know of 3. I now follow a form of the johnson up day down day diet. I must admit that when I am going back to the thought of doing the 1 day diet again because I want to take off a few more pounds. I do have some product left and it is in a blue bottle.
Tom- thanks for the info about the fact that the wafers cost less than .03 to make. I wounder what it cost to come up with the formula?
Some times we just want to pass judgement on others and if it makes you feel better go ahead.
I took it off and kept it off for more than a year. Was it easy? no! Was it the hardest thing to follow? no! Did I change some of my eating habits to fit into this diet? yes I don't eat half of the crap I use to and I read all lables.
Would I do the diet again? yes and
Tammy- I want to go to Florida and promote the 1 day diet with you.
If any one knows of a forum for people following the 1 day please e-mail me lynnb@stitchshoppe.com
There is no reason to e-mail me of how I am going to drop dead taking this product because those low fat crackers you are eating will kill you first.
Lynn

I have tried calling 800-344-1805 and it rings twice and goes to a busy signal every time I call. Is there another number that I can call to speak to customer service? I made sure the time that I called was between 9-5 EST.

Kristie

I was driving to a doctor's appointment this morning and heard the ad on the radio for the every other day diet and you could get back $1000, and of course,I went ahead and grabbed my cell and called and signed up. After doing so, I started thinking that I should have waited and researched this after I got home and then ordered, but no, I had to go ahead and do it. Well, now I have ordered, I will wait and see how it goes and I will definitely come back and post a reply as soon as I have been taking it a few weeks. Good Luck to all!

Just heard the advet. on the radio. 10/20/07. Ms. Hawkins claims in May of 07 she got rid of the "rogue " solictors. SHE'S LYING. They're still offering $1000. The commercial hasn't changed. BEWARE!!!

i called 18009612803 just to see if this was something for me. 1000 bucks is a nice motive to do it. I am not sure if i will do it yet after reading all this, but if i can lose the 60 lbs or more that they said, its worth the money. I was a pedestrian and got hit by a car a few years ago, as you can imagine it is hard for me to work out alot. i do what i can, but if this will help me lose the weight maybe the money isn't the big picture. The promise of money may help more people stick to the diet and give them a healthy life and a real motivation to stick to the diet, and if they lose the weight and are healthy is that really so bad? i am not condoning the lies but look at it another way. if you look at all the other diet plans like the 6 week body makeover, i lost 11 lbs in a week on that, but it also cost 299 dollars. and you couldn't eat much of anything on that plan. I don't think this should be seen as a miracle cure because it is a diet which means it is work. I haven't tried it YET, so i am going off of my own opinion. those who have tried it please let me know if this makes sense and if it may have some validity to its claims of weight loss. please email me at sandi-ward@student.kirkwood.edu

You seem to be talkig about two completely different diets! the 'One Day Diet' is whatever the BBB figured out about but the 'Every Other Day Diet' is not about pills and it has a very, very solid scientific background.

Also, it IS a 'very sustainable program' - we with my husband are on this plan for olready several years. We have much more energy as long as we stick with it and we don't feel deprived!

Debbie

Spectra said:
I don't think that's a very sustainable program. Come on, how long can one realistically eat only every other day? Especially athletes! If I were to only eat fruits and veggies every other day, I'd probably feel like crap and run like crap. And I agree with you Jim...we don't need to be promoting meal skipping or fasting as a good way to lose w[...]

Have been researching this diet awhile now. Yesterday was my first fasting day. I did not use any crystals or wafers (am not planning to, either), but survived on raw fruits, some raw veggies, sprouts, tea and unsweetened juice. Oh, and lots of water too. It was hard to keep my thoughts away from food, but I was at work, hence there were distractions. I felt wonderfully light throughout the day, and this morning, I felt light enough to dance(maybe it was just euphoria for not having cheated for one full day).

Today is feast day, and I'm definitely not as ravenous as I expected myself to be.

Anything to lose 10 kgs ! Three cheers to all those who follow this diet. I, for one, am hooked !

AK

Well i started this on january 14, 2008. i called becaouse of the 1,000.00. well i think i can kiss that goodbye. they are requiring photos of before and after no doctor visits but you have to have a witness sign you ppw before you send it in. i tend to agree it could be done without the wafers and such. just eat the fruits and veggies on the diet days and get in that water. i tried WW before this and had success but got lazy, as happens with any long term diet program. i downloaded several pages of the book from the site today and printed them to give me a guide as to what to eat on the diet day. i was surprised you could have v-8 juice, go figure. i called in today and was told to go to the site for the book. that was in small print in the directions i received. i feel this is prob a scam so i will prob not continue with the full 3 months. now i know what to eat on the diet days i am good to go. i have only lost 3lbs so far but that is better than i did in a week on WW so im good with that. the guy i talked to today offered to hold my next shipment to give time to decide if i want to continue. it sounds like they have gotten alot of flak and are being more cautious. got to go and good luck to all
janice

Well I am off the diet as all i have lost is 3lbs. I have been trying to call and cancel the product but all I get is a recording stating their hours of operation. I have called during those hours and still not getting a person. I think I will advise my bank not to honor the next draft from my account if I can not get ahold of someone in the next few days.I do believe this is a scam especially after reading all the comments on it. Sorry if I sound snippy but I have better things to do with my money than throw it away.
Will let you know if I get a real person and get to cancel.
Janice

I needed to lose LOTS of weight but everything I tried never seemed to be permanent. I started the program with a 2 month supply thinking it would be great to get the $1000, but at the same time not really sure that this was going to be different from any other 'diet' I had tried. I figured that whatever it cost was well worth the money if I actually lost any weight, considering how many other diets I had bought over the years. Well, after 2 weeks and 15 pounds lost, I am happy with the results. At the end of the 2 months I lost a total of 25 pounds and have actually kept it off! (6 months and counting)
As for the comment about Grad seeming to have too much inside information, is just not a fair statement. If you follow the program you DO have a little bit of an edge. Some people will read the instructions but continue eating foods not outlined as being allowed for it to work properly. They try telling themselves that it's ok to eat just 2 slices of cake on their non eating days......wrong! Or worse yet, to avoid drinking the required amounts of water claiming they just can't stand the thought of drinking so much. So....if Grad was just trying to help explain how imperative it is to follow ALL the instructions good for her!
Carol, I did some research about the Great Lakes Fulfillment Services... from what I can determine they are a 'shipping' company only, not affiliated with the One Day Diet at all. Their website tells that they ship to any location, much like FedEx and UPS hope this helps.

I did the "One Day Diet" after hearing a radio ad for it. I called and they said I would get paid and get reimbursed for the supplements they required me to buy. I followed their plans, spent money on doctors visits for the required before and after physical and did exactly as they said. I did lose about 30 pounds, though it was very tough. The fasting days I was told I was very moody.

At the end of the diet I sent my forms and photos in and called to speak with them and they said well we aren't sure you're going to get paid. I pushed a bit and they said well we can pay you the $1000 but you are not going to get reimbursed for the supplements. I pushed on that and sent letters and got no response.

With the $1000 I spent about $350 on supplements from them and then $200 on doctors stuff and some on the photos, so I still made about $400 and lost some weight. Though I must say I did not continue the fasting as it was not realistic and after 1.5 years or so the weight did come back. I exercise and eat smaller portions, but my metabolism just isn;t want it used to be. If I could just buy the sun crystals I might do that... but I'll just find a suitable replacement.

I'd say overall the "One Day Diet" is real, but very close to a scam. The company is not one I would ever do business with again and they border on scammers.

There are better options out there! Staya away from the "One Day Diet"

I used to work in the Customer Service Dept. for the One Day Diet. When the "study" first started, I thought that my job was important...that I was helping people accomplish an important goal in their lives. Yeah, I knew the customers (and they were customers, not test subjects) had to pay the $300 refundable deposit, but it was well worth it to get the $1000 and lose weight. I would try to motivate people that were having a horrible time with the diet. They would call me and tell me that they had severe headaches, their bowel movements were not the same...and that they were completely frustrated with the whole diet.

My job was to keep the customer. I fed as much bullshit to the customer as my brain could think of. And, at the time, I was well compensated for my cerebral artwork. We had a bonus structure that paid us very well for accomplishing feats with the customer. For instance, if a customer called and wanted to quit the "study" and return all of her product because the doctor said she shouldn't do the diet, I would convince her that the doctor was wrong. I would say something like, "I understand that he is your doctor and you should probably listen to his advice, but let me ask you this...how long have you been dealing with your weigh problem?"

The customer would answer with something like, "All my life." Then I would say, "Do you think it's right that someone else tell you what you should do when everything else you've tried hasn't worked to this point? If you don't put forth the EFFORT of losing the weight, then you are going to stay in the physical shape you're in right now for the rest of your life. Good luck chasing junior around the yard when he's 4 years old." ~~~Does this sound familiar to anyone???

The worst part is that I thought I was actually HELPING theses people.

Once the three month "study" was over, the customer service department became the claims department.(just three people in the whole department. We changed our names and voices to sound differently to the customer)

With the guilt that was building up in me, I was offered a much larger bonus for those that I could disqualify from the "study" for not properly following the rules. I used all the loopholes in the contract that was signed by the customer. If a weigh-in was a day off, I could disqualify the person and not even have to give back the $300 deposit. For that, I received 33% of that customers deposit. I'll tell you what, as much as those phone calls sucked to take, I was making bank. Then, people started catching on. They started contacting the BBB. They would get their attorney general involved. The owner of the One Day Diet changed the name of the company to try to avoid lawsuits. That was the point that I couldn't take it anymore. Although I wouldn't pay the $1,000...I was telling the customer that they would receive the $300 back because they did complete the "study." Even though I told them this, the owner of the company was refusing to cut the checks. It was out of my hands at that point.

I quit the job in August of 2007. After a year of still seeing people posting to this website, I felt that I was obligated to write here and let people know the truth from an inside source. The One Day Diet is a scam, period. It is an unhealthy way to lose weight, and there could be a lot of complications in doing so. If you are reading this and thinking about joining the One Day Diet club, I would strongly suggest to look elsewhere for dieting answers. They hire anyone off the street that knows how to talk on the phone.

Bottom line, don't do this diet. It's a scam. I know from the inside. Please feel free to reply to this thread.

~~~One Day Diet Customer Service~~~

I do thank you if you were the one that pushed to get m the $1000.00 and my deposit back. I have kept most of the weight of. I am having no problems staying in the 120's but having a hard time returning to the 118 I reached with the one day diet. I think about using the product again because it worked for me but I sence wrote a book and want to do a weight loss support group with the program I use to keep the weight off. The food tabs filled me up and made the diet days easy. Every one reacts to things different but thanks for the inside scoop. With the diet industry being a multi billion industry I see where there are a lot of scams going on. Any one that is doing the one day and wants to chat go ahead and e-mail me. I had 2 people that I chated with when I did it which helped a lot. lynnb@stitchshoppe.com.

I have done this very diet. It was about 4 years ago now and I had lost nearly 30 lbs in 2 months time. I was starting to get agrivated after seeing no loss in the first month then all the sudden I started loosing it very rapidly. I finaly thought this was getting expensive to keep on with this diet I quit and was able to keep the weight off for 6 month. But during the time I was taking this wafer they call it, I began to get pretty painful leg cramps in my calf muscles. So on my regular food days I would double up on my protien. Thinking that it would solve my cramping and it did. Oh and I always took my own multi-vitamins for my nutritional needs.

I know this thing works but hell if I could manage my regular food intake as easy as chewing on a wafer every hour I bet I wouldnt need the wafers at all.

I would do it again if it wern't so darn expensive.

Oh and when I took the crystals (different name when I tried them) I would have more energy than I could handle. While at work I would have to pase up and down a staircase just to blow off the extra energy feeling that I was getting. I couldn't even sit still and concentrate with out doing so...

Grad said she lost 15 lbs and went down 8 sizes. I'm not so sure this is entirely truthful. I'm a size 20 (like Grad said she was) and would have to lose at least 75+ lbs to go down to a size 11/12. When you're a size 20, losing 15 lbs may take you down 1 size(size 20 to size 18) but not 8 sizes.

Years ago a co-worker went on another version on the every-other-day diet and lost a bunch of weight.

The thing is, she wasn't all that heavy to begin with and only 4'9" tall.

The difference in her diet plan and this one was cottage cheese eaten on her diet day. As much as she wanted.

So I think you could substitute any food low in calories on your diet day and still lose.

She ate anything she wanted on her Off Day.

I may do this and substitute salad with low calorie dressing on the diet day.I may also finish eating by 7pm on my Off- Day.Also take vitamins and try to do SOME exercise.

I'll update all of you on my progress!

My boyfriend is doing this and I am quite worried for him.

Hello and thank you all for your insight into this program. I've packed on quite a few pounds with a back injury, hormonal imbalance, pregnancy, and working night shift. I am literally sick and tired all the time. From what I've read, it seems there could be real benefits in doing some sort of fasting on a routine basis, one of which is lowering insulin and glucose levels (which I personally need to do). I've studied nutrition and the body does not actually lower its metabolism for a few days after calorie restriction begins. Rather than going on a multiple day fast, I'm thinking this program could be easier and more beneficial. However, I agree with the earlier post that the diet day could be done with fresh fruit, such as apples and oranges? Also, one of the ingredients in the wafers is Konjac, if I read it right. This is a product that has no caloric value (is basically just fiber). You can purchase Konjac noodles over the internet and at some health food stores. If anyone has just dieted with fruits/veggies on the diet day, I would be interested in hearing about your progress. I think I may go that route, as I really don't have the money for the product right now. Congratulations to all of you who are trying to improve your health and good luck!

I ordered the breakthrough Tablets supposedly from Maine on Dcember the second of 2008. They assured me that I would receive the tablets in two weeks. They promptly charged my credit card on December the third of 2008. I tried to phone the number where I ordered them [1-888-438-4391 and they told me that they are just an ordering company and cannot help me. I have phoned three times and twice they told me that the manager would call me within twenty four hours but that never happened. They gave me the customer service number and it is bogus. I have tried several times in vain to call them. the number is 1-866-508 2316. These breakthrough pills supposedly have the konjac root in them. can anyone tell me if they have actually used these tablets or have I been scammed by a bogus company
waiting in Canada