The Cookie Diet Works, if you don’t Mind being an Unhealthy and Unfit Mess
By: Keith
Is it really a shock that restricting calories causes you to lose weight? The super secret miracle of the cookie diet is nothing more than protein and low calories. Yup, you’ll lose weight for sure. You might even be able to suppress your appetite thanks to the high protein cookies. But, it can’t be that easy, can it? No, and you knew it wouldn’t be. In fact you’ll be losing the weight at the expense of a balanced diet. The diet allows for 1 cup of fruits and veggies per day (and I’m not talking about a Big Gulp cup) and dinner. You’ll also get 6 super secret special cookies that are whipped up in Dr. Siegal’s super secret underground laboratory by Dr. Siegal himself (according to the website). One meal plus 6 cookies per day equals 800 calories. Conclusion: Lose weight at your own peril. There’s a reason we’re supposed to eat a lot of vegetables and fruits. Fiber, vitamins and minerals are the most important reasons (he sells a multi-vitamin on his site too). And there’re also the little things. Things have been recently deemed important like the many different antioxidants found in fruits, berries, teas and vegetables.
What Makes the Cookies Effective:
I’m not going to concede that these cookies are as effective as Dr. Siegal says they are. But, let’s give him the benefit of the doubt that they are. What makes them effective? Predictably, Dr. Siegal isn’t telling us. All he says is that it’s a combination of high protein (proven to suppress appetite) and a secret blend of amino acids (notice how many times I’ve used the word secret?). Whatever. Don’t get me wrong, amino acids are a vital part of our diets. I just seriously doubt that Dr. Siegal has hit upon a miracle blend that takes the place of real food, chlorophyll and phyto nutrients. I’ve heard of 800 calorie diets before. They’re undertaken by obese people under a doctor’s supervision. They have strict rules, administered by dieticians and medical professionals, that ensure all dietary needs are being met. Dr. Siegal, on the other hand, is relying on a gimmick and a photo of himself in a lab coat (because you need one of those for baking). Yes, you’ll lose weight. But, you won’t be healthy. Seriously, he relies entirely on the shady claim that protein and amino acids alone are all you need. Sorry, life isn’t that easy. If it were, there wouldn’t be so many people struggling; they’d all just pop some amino acids, eat cookies and live to 100.
Exercise:
If you see his website, you’ll be treated to a long list of testimonials and media mentions as if that’s evidence. Evidence of what exactly? That there are people who lost weight? Of course they lost weight; they were only eating 800 calories. Besides, would they post the comments from people who tried it and realized how deficient it was? Testimonials look good; they just don’t mean anything on a diet website. Furthermore, where’s the exercise plan? Every doctor I know recommends 30 – 45 minutes of moderate exercise per day. Walking, yoga, weight lifting, swimming, etc… . Exercise keeps things (and by things I mean your bowels) functioning right. Sitting around eating high protein cookies all day is no way to, echem – eliminate. So, if you want to be a constipated and unhealthy mess who loses weight in all the wrong ways, go ahead and do the cookie diet.
No Gimmicks:
Gimmicks are all around us. People think they’ll get rich by participating in pyramid schemes while willfully blinding themselves to the ethical problems of such an enterprise. They think there’s an easy way to parent their unruly kid so they spend 300 dollars on the Total Transformation scam instead of doing the only things that work (but that takes effort), spending quality time with their kids and making tough decisions. Exercise and diet are perhaps the biggest areas in which people think there are short cuts. There are short cuts. They just happen to be the kinds of short cuts that can kill you. 800 calories a day is always a weight loss solution. Dr. Siegal says the problem with the other diets that do the same thing is that they don’t properly suppress appetite. The real trick is not to suppress the appetite, doofus, it’s to fill it with healthy things, not cookies.
How to Really Lose Weight:
1. Figure out your metabolic rate plus the calories you burn working out.
2. Eat a balanced diet, including all your greens and fruits, and workout. For details please visit the many articles I have written on what constitutes good food and exercises. Here are some options:
On Food
Starting to Get Fit: Hydration
Breakfast: Cereal is a Good Choice
10 Foods Parents Shouldn’t Skip
Cook You Veggies: Raw and Cooked Yield Different Benefits
On Fitness
Getting Fit: Setting Goals and Getting Results
Four Exercises that Will Make you a Better Parent
Getting in Shape After the Holidays
Executing a Successful Fitness Plan
Workouts
The All Legs Wednesday Workout
How to Workout While Traveling
3. Do not eat more calories than what you burn daily. You’ll need to write things down if you’re not attuned to your body yet.
4. Plenty of protein is, indeed, a good thing. But, don’t sacrifice your other essentials to get it.
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You’re just trying to keep us from the truth– that you actually can lose 50 pounds per week just by eating cookies or only steak or various Acai diet pills. This is all a big conspiracy of the health care industry to keep us dependent upon their expensive treatments. I’m fat only because I don’t want folks to suspect that I know the secret to losing weight, which is to eat lots of bacon, steak, cheese, and pure lard.
.-= Dennis Yu´s last blog ..Facebook deals a MASSIVE blow to small business =-.
Dude, what’s wrong with baking in a lab coat? I always do that
All of these diet fads are just that, fads. None of them work long term. I remember my friends father going on Atkins. He wouldn’t go near a carb, but he’d consume half a pound of bacon for breakfast. We told him that he’ll be a fine looking corpse for his funeral from heart failure.
Being a big guy I’m that last person that should be offering anyone advice, but I know enough to realize all of these things are nonsense. Without lifestyle change and a commitment to healthy eating whatever weight that is lost will be gained back in time. I speak from experience. I’ve gained a bunch of weight back over the past few months (partly from a combination of medicines whose side effects are excessive weight gain and from my own stupidity). Now I’m working it off my watching what I’m eating, hydrating properly and doing what I can to be more active. It will take time, but I know I’ll get there.
.-= PJ Mullen´s last blog ..Orange we glad scurvy’s not an issue =-.
PJ: You’re right, it’s all about lifestyle change. people who want to eat cookies to lose weight probably aren’t interested in lifestyle change. You should try cooking in a lab coat.