Can crash diets be good for you?

We all know the nutritional rules, don’t we? Crash dieting is just a code for losing muscle and water. As soon as we stop, we’ll simply regain the weight — and, likely, plus some. Yo-yo dieting will merely mess up your metabolism.
In spite of this, we’ve kept doing the crazy diets. The bottom line was that we were thin. So what if we fasted for 48 hours, drinking only water, diet cola and black coffee, then munched a 400-calorie meal, then fasted again for 48 hours more? We lost 1st in four days — even if it was dangerously extreme. My own life has borne witness to the Scarsdale diet: I had a green salad and no cake for dinner on my 16th birthday. I lived through “Smashgate”, a regime of Smash mashed potato, for days, until I realised that it was about 10 times as calorific as I’d thought. At university, it was all about calorie counting — anything from 700 to 1,200 calories a day. In my first job, I worked through a haze of starvation on the simple but deadly “stone in four days” plan. I picked Thursdays for the first night of a fast, so I could offset dinner hunger pangs by late-night shopping at Topshop.
Sooner or later, most of us say goodbye to this miserable way of life. When sensible women want to lose weight, we rethink emotional eating patterns, up the exercise and get sustainably healthy, losing 1lb per week tops, right?
Maybe not. We could all be about to head back to the weird world of crash dieting. For new research from Tufts University in Massachusetts says that crash diets can actually work better than slow weight loss. Susan Roberts, professor of nutrition and psychiatry at Tufts, says the latest research from her lab shows that “sensible, healthy crash diets actually do as well for long-term success as slow diets and, for some people, can actually work better”. (from telegraph)

So do you think that crash diets are any good?

Have they worked for you?

I've tried all sorts....the last crash one i did was slim fast..worked while i did it...soon as u introduce food back again ...u fail...well..i did....they are just quick fixes.......

I don't think they are good for u especially if u have a few stone to get off....

Best way is smaller portions...healthy food....and walking......or a little time in the gym....

having said that.....hmmm i am still struggling more then ever...lol

think i like the good things in life far to much !! :roll:

I lost over 4st in about 9 months a couple of years ago. Some of it has gone back on, but only because of excess eating and drinking and not enough exercise. I kept it off for over a year whilst eating normally and drinking in moderation, together with exercising 3 times a week.

I think that losing weight quickly can work if you then continue to exercise and eat and drink sensibly, if you start pigging out and drinking beer every day it's bound to come back, although having said that it's returned very slowly, only about a pound a week.

I'm actually in the process of trying to lose it again, although I'm not trying to do it as quickly as I did previously, but there again I haven't got as much to lose this time.

The biggest thing is motivation. It is no coincidence that most dieters are able to lose weight before a wedding etc.

There is nothing worse than munching on lettuce leaves and walking the same route every day. To be successful, you need to find what works for you. There are many other forms of exercise besides the obvious ones. I find cycling much more pleasant than walking and the Guernsey Bicycle Group evening rides are a great way to burn up a few calories without a struggle. I also do geocaching which turns a boring walk into a fun outing, even the kids are happy to join me. I enjoy water sports therefore a couple of hours of snorkelling or kayaking is a pain-free way to fitness.

One important thing is to do something that you can stick to throughout the year and will not get bored with after a few months, otherwise, come the winter, the exercise stops and the pounds pile on.

The bottom line here is "genes' and "metabolism"

I have one daughter who eats like a horse and is as skinny as a rake, and one that is forever struggling with her weight...the "struggling" one had thyroid problems and genes inherited from her father's family

I put on 4 kg, at one stage...and I put myself on a diet...and all I could think of was "food"...so I decided it must just be 'middle age spread..forgot the diet...and lost it all...I am still the same weight now that I was when I was 20....unfortunately... the weight has decided to redistribute itself...LOL

i am always on one diet or another.the one i am on at the moment is working well. i only eat very little of anything and will get all this weight off eventually