Poll: Would You Try the Cookie Diet?
By: Jen Mueller,
SparkPeople Blogger
11/3/2009 9:05 AM
: 436 comments
: 18,033 Views
When it comes to weight loss, so many people are looking for a quick fix. They want to lose weight fast, easily, and don't necessarily consider the long-term. Am I making changes I can live with for the rest of my life? Am I creating new habits that are healthy? Those aren't always questions people consider when deciding they need to shed some extra pounds.
One of the latest diet "fads" is the Cookie Diet. The creator claims half-a-million people have lost weight on it. Sounds yummy, but how many have really kept the weight off? That's the statistic I'd be interested to know.
The basic premise is that you eat six prepackaged cookies a day, plus one "regular" meal. The diet claims you can lose up to 10 pounds per month, which doesn't seem unreasonable given the fact that you are eating an average of 800 to 1000 calories per day. (Each cookie contains 90 calories, plus a regular meal that would average 300-500 calories.) The program also sells shakes, tea and nutritional supplements. The supplements are designed to help make up for any nutritional deficiencies you have as a result of the reduced-calorie diet (since there's no way you can get all of the nutrients your body needs on so few calories each day.)
Besides the fact that I don't think it's very healthy (a personal opinion), I have a bigger issue with diets like this. I think they teach you to eat in ways that you can't sustain long term. So as soon as you stop eating the cookies and go back to eating normally, you're very likely to gain all of the weight back. Your best bet is to stick with a healthy diet and make changes that you feel you can live with for the rest of your life.
Would you try the Cookie Diet? I know most people are going to respond with "no way!" or similar comments. But obviously there are a LOT of people who are trying it. The Cookie Diet website boasts over 100,000 members.
With all of the talk about how "diets" don't work, why are so many people willing to give this one (or others like it) a try?
One of the latest diet "fads" is the Cookie Diet. The creator claims half-a-million people have lost weight on it. Sounds yummy, but how many have really kept the weight off? That's the statistic I'd be interested to know.
The basic premise is that you eat six prepackaged cookies a day, plus one "regular" meal. The diet claims you can lose up to 10 pounds per month, which doesn't seem unreasonable given the fact that you are eating an average of 800 to 1000 calories per day. (Each cookie contains 90 calories, plus a regular meal that would average 300-500 calories.) The program also sells shakes, tea and nutritional supplements. The supplements are designed to help make up for any nutritional deficiencies you have as a result of the reduced-calorie diet (since there's no way you can get all of the nutrients your body needs on so few calories each day.)
Besides the fact that I don't think it's very healthy (a personal opinion), I have a bigger issue with diets like this. I think they teach you to eat in ways that you can't sustain long term. So as soon as you stop eating the cookies and go back to eating normally, you're very likely to gain all of the weight back. Your best bet is to stick with a healthy diet and make changes that you feel you can live with for the rest of your life.
Would you try the Cookie Diet? I know most people are going to respond with "no way!" or similar comments. But obviously there are a LOT of people who are trying it. The Cookie Diet website boasts over 100,000 members.
With all of the talk about how "diets" don't work, why are so many people willing to give this one (or others like it) a try?
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Comments
Going back to the "cookie diet", it is being marketed as such even though the "cookies" may be nutritionally sound. No one would jump on board with the notion of a "nutritionally sound and balanced meal bar" diet. It's the old "have your cake and eat it too" appeal. Who wouldn't want to lose weight eating Chips A Hoy or Mrs Fields? - 7/26/2010 1:15:24 AM
Because the calories are so low, you can't really exercise on the diet so that is one drawback, but they have a great transitional plan to get off the cookies and on to exercising and cooking for yourself. If they weren't so expensive I would still use the cookies for breakfast on those days when I am running late. They were pretty good. - 6/1/2010 12:42:50 PM
It worked wonders for me - at first. I lost around 5lbs in one week. But most of it was water, I suppose, so I gained it back when I started eating normally again. I did feel great during the diet, my skin and hair and nails were very healthy, etc., and I had some of the best workouts ever. It also helped me "detox" - i.e. get off caffeine, sugar, high-fat, high-sodium foods. I'm not sure if keeping your blood sugar steady with constant meals is better than giving your pancreas a rest by only eating 3 squares a day without the constant in-between snacking. There seem to be fans of both strategies out there.
I am losing (albeit extremely slowly) with SparkPeople and it is something I can sustain (and actually look forward to sustaining) for the rest of my life. I find the small habit-building exercises and streaks Chris Downie talks about in The Spark much more motivating than anything else I've tried, so I think this is where I'll stay!
Just wanted to mention that there is more to the cookie diet than eating chocolate chip cookies all day long! - 5/25/2010 5:55:17 PM
First of all, I am an RN, my husband was a pharmacist but now is a patent attorney who works for a MAJOR company that manufactures nutrition products (as well as healthcare products) -- thus we know ALOT about nutrients/ingredients in food etc. WELL -- those "cookies" are NOT COOKIES for one thing -- in fact I think "Smart for Life" does their company a HUGE disservice by naming them that as evidenced by the type of comments posted on this page!! Those "cookies" are made with mainly organic ingredients and have very balanced nutrition, believe it or not! They're much more like a "breakfast bar" or some such vs. a true cookie.
No, this is not a diet that you should remain on for very long but it's a GREAT way to "jumpstart" your weight loss and it's VERY convenient! I am a very busy mom with little time for myself and I struggle with my weight. Thus at the beginning of the year, I decided to check into various weight loss programs to try to get back on track. They're ALL expensive and MOST of them are NOT healthy ways to lose weight. However, when I had my husband analyze the nutrients/nutrition of the "cookies" he was VERY impressed! And that's saying ALOT -- my husband is VERY health conscious, is a runner, doesn't eat much meat, etc etc etc. AND he "knows his stuff" when it comes to nutritional products, given his job!! SO for HIM to say the "cookies" aren't bad, I tend to believe HIM -- not the posters on here making random, uninformed comments! Plus, as a mom, being able to toss a package of those cookies into my backpack, into the car, etc was a HUGE plus and extremely convenient!!
Now, again, I wouldn't recommend it for everyone, and it isn't cheap, but if you're one of those people who gets easily frustrated if you don't start losing weight, I wouldn't pooh pooh the "cookie diet" so fast! I found it very motivating to lose quickly initially (and it's not extremely rapid -- but faster than what I'm doing now with SparkPeople and my dietician). But, as I had intially planned, I only utilized that diet for about 2 months, then moved onto something I can sustain for my lifetime eating "normal" foods -- so I think that diet should just be viewed as a "stepping stone" into your weight loss journey.
Most "fad" diets are NOT worth the money and are NOT healthy -- but don't count the "cookie diet" out quite so fast without at least researching it FIRST....
Oh, and the picture attached to this article is NOT what the "cookies" look like -- VERY misleading. The Smart for Life "cookies" are square and look much like the "breakfast cookies" that Quaker puts out.... - 5/21/2010 10:03:02 AM
Has anyone tried the "healthy cookies" at the health food or vitamin stores?
Tried one and then learned each cookie has about 450 or more in calories!
Have whole meals with less calories and fat! Guess we really have to be careful with this stuff. - 11/23/2009 11:55:28 AM
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