Facebook, my friend, and my diet.... :(

[Gingersmaps]

So I started this extreme diet that is suppossed to last for a week (7 days started on monday). It's basically eating fruits and vegetables ONLY and it flushes out all the bad chemicals from processed foods in your body.

 

I made a comment on my facebook status of starting this diet and one of my friends that I've had for a really long time (haven't seen her in person in more than a year) commented on it. Her response was basically "diets are stupid and you should just eat healthy and exercise" and she left several little rude comments under my status for my family to see. I tried to explain to her that it was just a one week thing and then in the following weeks I'm going to plan to go to the gym 3 days a week and put dairy, grains, and meat back into my diet.

 

I'm being monitored and supported because my family is actually doing this diet as well. I've been taking a multi-vitamin with iron in the morning and a calcium pill at night. I checked the scale last night and I've lost 7 pounds in 3 days. My problem is that every time I make a status on facebook my friend makes these rude comments below saying I'm stupid for doing this to myself. My friend is really pretty, has had multiple boyfriends, and has always been super skinny since I've known her. I, on the other hand, have been overweight my entire life and I would like to loose some weight and stop eating cheeseburgers and chocolate bars every day.

 

I'm already 3 days through the diet and today is my fourth. I had to eat 2 slices of ham last night because I had a really bad headache and was getting stomach cramps. My dad stopped the diet completley, and my dads girlfriend wants to start eating meat again because she is not feeling good too. Should I keep going? I feel so hungry, fruits and vegetables don't make me full no matter how much I eat them, and I am so sick of eating vegetables that it makes me a little sick to look at them lol.

 

I guess this is just venting, but if you want to leave a comment below you can.

[mhowe]

Here's a thought --- stop posting on FB. This is a personal journey for yourself.

 

Or, here's another -- this person who you refer to as a "friend" is not. So block her.

 

And there are many people in the world who only eat vegetables -- they are called....vegetarians. Staying with it for a few more days won't hurt you. However, as soon as you add bread and meat back in you will regain some of the weight.

[Moontiger]

Ok, she is rude and you should really consider if she is a true friend.

 

That being said perhaps she is just worried about you. This diet doesn't sound healthy at all. It sounds dangerous to be. You should loss on average two pounds a week on a healthy diet. Did you speak with your doctor before starting this?

[laninaperdida]

Posting on FB is a lot like posting on ENA:

When you get the comments you want or think you deserve you're happy, but when someone brings you down (either by truth or hating) you get pissed off, mad, or feel a negative emotion of some kind.

It's a risk you take.

Good news is it sounds like this girl was just plain hating.

She's prob jealous you're trying to try @ something.

Also, I don't think this is a horrible diet as it's only temp.

People are such gluttons.

You've probably binged for a week straight so undereating for a week to get a little flush & some self-control is a good thing.

GL

[ba35sta]

Congratulations on taking the initiative to be healthy and lose weight! I just want to make a little comment here, the reason you might be getting these headaches is that your body isn't getting enough protein to support your system and its fighting back. You can totally finish this extreme diet by eating tons of vegetables that are high in protein (beans, lentils, nuts etc).

 

About your friend, stop posting on facebook! Its nice to get public recognition from all your other friends, but this diet should be a personal journey and not one to brag about all over facebook. You should be losing weight for yourself and be healthy and not just for others. She isn't much of a friend if shes trying to bait you for an argument...

[Captain Obvious]

Yes she was rude. Just dont post it on facebook in the future or block her. Also there is no such thing as flushing out bad chemicals and if youre getting headaches and feeling rubbish it doesnt sound like a good diet. Make sure youre getting enough protein, carbs and fat.

[Angler]

As soon as you add back the grains, those 7 pounds are going to come right back. Fast.

 

I eat low carb paleo and go to the gym 3x per week, and I'm active outside of the gym too. I'm pretty fit.

 

If I eat a couple slices of pizza, or some pasta or rice, I will be 5 pounds heavier the next day, without fail. It's all water. With a hard workout and carb restriction, those 5lbs are gone in 2 days.

[buddha55]

She might be rude, but she is also right and you are posting in a public forum...(Facebook) I don't know why people treat Facebook like their diary??

 

You didn't need to eat two slices of ham because your stomach hurt. Your stomach most likely hurt because you were 1. Hungry or 2. A very sudden increase of fiber in your diet....

 

Being healthy is a LIFESTYLE change. Not a one week fruits and veggies fast. I understand what you are trying to do... If its too difficult or doesn't feel right, stop. You should be eating clean foods and going to the gym and lifting weights. You need to go get a book and read up on this stuff or hire a professional.

[Deciduous]

Hello Gingersmaps,

 

In January 2012, I did a 10 day vegetable and fruit fast. First time in my life and it was through desperation. I had a terrible diet and had pulled on a stone in excess weight. I looked blotchy and ill. What a surprise because I was getting zero nutrients from my diet. I also had a massive sugar addiction.

 

I watched a documentary called "Fat, Sick and Nearly Dead" which gave me the encouragement, guidance, nutritional information and the push that I needed. link removed

 

What worries me, Gingersnaps, is that you haven't done your home-work. You haven't discovered how it will affect your body and moods. I do find that frustrating. This a massive thing that you are doing.

 

It takes an enormous amount of mental and emotional strength, and you aren't giving yourself the best shot.

 

I remember having obsessive food fantasies and emotional upsets during the first three days. The only thing that pulled me through, is because I DID MY RESEARCH. I also subscribed to an on-line web group which could give me specific advice on vegatable fasting. link removed

 

I didn't discuss it with anybody because I knew that there would be comments such as,

 

a) "Ohhh, you starving yourself and you are going to die" or

b) you are going to put all of that weight back on in three weeks.

 

None of that happened. A year later, I'm still the same size as when I finished the fast. That's because I used it as a catylst to change my diet. I changed the way I thought about food, totally.

 

If you are using this vegetable fast to drop a few pounds and then go back to the burgers, you will do yourself no favours at all. You will just yo-yo Oprah Winfrey style, which puts a strain on the body.

 

It always puts a strain on the body when you stop eating (or particially stop eating.) Your metabolism is suddenly forced to convert dormant fat into fuel.

 

This is no easy task because a lot of minor toxins within the body are left within the fat cells, and suddenly your body is having to clean everything before it can convert it. (Fasting also puts an additional strain on your heart, so you need to rest and be house-bound for the first three days, before your energy comes back)

 

Captain Obvious is incorrect, if he doesn't mind me saying so. The fast does flush toxins in a roundabout way. It has to, because it cannot have dodgy fuel going to the brain.

 

The body uses the energy saved on digestion, to repair the immune system. This also increases the removal of toxins. (So much so that most people feel quite ill in the first three days when this process begins. It isn't pleasant, like going down with flu.)

 

Suddenly toxins that had be happily buried in your fat for years, are swishing about the blood stream before being cleared by the liver and kidneys, which are somewhat overwhelmed. That is why you are advised to drink loads and loads of water.

 

Make no mistake. Fasting is not something to do lightly or in a cavalier fashion. It's more of mental strain that a physical though.

 

Even so you will feel tired, drained and unwell in the first three days. This is because the body leeches fuel from your muscles, to deal with it's imediate needs. (Remember, converting fat takes time and it takes the body at least three days to kick start that process) Your muscles will shrink and lose power. You will feel quite weak. (It's wise to remain house-bound during this time)

 

On the forth day (or there abouts) your body will stop using fuel from the muscles and has go into Ketosis (fat burning) Many people feel quite good at this stage. In fact some people talk about a fasting high. Your skin will look better, your eyes clearer etc etc.

 

There are special ways to break a 7-10 fast and they do not include, downing a piece of ham.

 

Only you can decide whether it is time to stop and do this another time.

 

Deci

[Captain Obvious]

link removed

[Moontiger]

I'm wondering if anyone here can give a definition of "toxin" or "bad chemicals"? It seems to me that if you are trying to rid your system if these things you should be able to define them. Or maybe a list of them.

 

99.99% of the time these "cleanses" are very unhealthy. Unless a trusted medical professional tell you it's safe I would be very concered about trying something like this.

[Deciduous]

link removed

 

Hello Captain Obvious,

 

Owwhh, you are good. Many thanks for that article and I agree with it 100%.

 

There are no medical benefits to changing your diet for 10 days, then resuming business as normal. If anything you are doing more harm, because your body has to leech calcium from your bones and fuel from your muscles.

 

So unless you are planning to adopt a highly nutrious diet following the fast, all you have done is deplete the body of vital nutrients that it can ill afford.

 

Fasting is not a magic bullet that heals the body and immune system, so that you can go back to downing burgers and chips with a clear conscience.

 

In my case I was downing half a bottle of wine a night, drink litres of coffee, ate saturated fats like they were going out of fashion, no vegetables and was highly addicted to sugar. And I mean highly addicted.

 

Although the immune system is a very robust system, it couldn't keep taking the abuse I was dishing out. I had lost control of my sugar addiction and the fast helped me deal with that cold turkey.

 

You are quite right to pull me up on the term "detox". It is not about that at all. It is about giving the immune system a goddam break. That is all.

 

Instead of drinking coffee, I drank water. That was naturally going to have an effect on my kidney and liver. Ain't no magic about it. Instead of downing a burger dripping with processed meats and saturated fats, I had a vegatable smoothie.

 

We already know that vegatables and fruit mop up free radicals, and free radicals can cause cancer within the body, ec, ec. So naturally I'm going to feel better fairly quickly. And of course this is going to have some effect on the body in terms of lowering blood pressure, lipids etc. link removed

 

Because my system was no longer being overloaded with a diet that could fell a horse, lymph nodes on my neck began to go down, also persistent eczema patches at the back of my neck, suddenly stopped itching and began to heal. And that was just in those 10 days. In other words my immune system could go about doing a normal job.

 

You are quite right to point out that immune system wasn't suddenly super charged because of the vegetable fast. It felt like it to me, but all that was really happening is that it was allowed to behave normally. It was allowing normal healing to commence.

 

I think you are absolutely right to state clearly that the word "detoxify" is a misnomer. And it is misleading. And it promises things which it can't possibly deliver.

 

I really hate to think of young women blithely starving themselves in the belief they magically cleansing there body for evermore. And paying a fortune in the process. Also women do need to be careful because they already lose a lot of iron and nutrients during their monthly cycle. That's why I would say they must consult a doctor before beginning the fast.

 

If people are interested in fasting to regain control of their eating habits, then they might want to look at this link link removed

 

But it is also important to read Captain Obvious's link, to get a balanced view of what they are getting into.

 

 

Deci

[Deciduous]

I'm wondering if anyone here can give a definition of "toxin" or "bad chemicals"? It seems to me that if you are trying to rid your system if these things you should be able to define them. Or maybe a list of them.

 

99.99% of the time these "cleanses" are very unhealthy. Unless a trusted medical professional tell you it's safe I would be very concered about trying something like this.

 

 

 

Saturated fats

 

Trans fats

 

Highly processed meats

 

Mechanically recovered meats

 

High levels of salt

 

Monosodium glutamate

 

Corn syrup

 

Mercury within tuna (link removed)

 

Coffee

 

Alcohol

 

Sunset Yellow (E110)

 

Carmoisine (E122),

 

Ponceau 4R (E124)

 

Sodium Benzoate (E211)

 

Tartrazine (E102)

 

That's off the top of my head, but I could probably look up some more. Hee-hee!

 

Deci

[Angler]

Saturated fats are not toxins they are essential to good health.

 

edit - but I'll agree with the rest of your list, even though I do enjoy coffee in the morning and scotch at night!

[Deciduous]

Saturated fats are not toxins they are essential to good health.

 

edit - but I'll agree with the rest of your list, even though I do enjoy coffee in the morning and scotch at night!

 

Saturated fats are essential, but damaging at the levels, we currently eat them. They are also damaging in the forms that we currently eat them, unfortunately.

 

Downing a tub of butter, cakes, buscuits, sausages and bacon, will not make you more healthy. link removed

[Angler]

link removed

 

Read the user comments.

 

"Very bad article based on bad science and straight lies."

 

"I still can't believe that some many official institutions are giving such misleading advice."

 

"I am so glad to see from all these comments that people are developing such an interest in nutrition and recognize that this war on saturated fat is pure nonsense"

 

"This page is a disgrace. This website has tons of comments disputing the "facts" because it doesn't take much research/common sense to work out that "advice" like this is based on bad science. Unfortunately, the majority of people don't care enough to think for themselves and instead trust the "authority" on diet and nutrition; in this country, the wonderful NHS."

 

[Moontiger]

Saturated fats

 

Trans fats

 

Highly processed meats

 

Mechanically recovered meats

 

High levels of salt

 

Monosodium glutamate

 

Corn syrup

 

Mercury within tuna (link removed)

 

Coffee

 

Alcohol

 

That's off the top of my head, but I could probably look up some more. Hee-hee!

 

Deci

 

See, these are not "toxins". You list high levels of salt, but anything you have to much of is bad for you so you have to put "large amounts" or "Not enough" for every single good.

 

Alcohol is a poison not a "toxin" it does not stay in your system.

 

Coffee, how exactly (when take in moderate does like salt) is it bad for you?

 

Various fats are needed for good health. There is no "bad" fat.

 

Again, I ask for a specific definition of "toxin" in the context we are talking about.

[Deciduous]

Hi Angler,

 

I think we all have to make our own individual decisions on what we choose to eat to support our health. If you feel that your diet is lacking saturated fats and you would like to up these levels because you believe it to be beneficial for your health, then by all means do so.

 

If you feel that butter, cakes, buscuits, sausages and bacon will have a postitive or indifferent effect your health, then by all means eat them. And why not. They taste lovely. I have several treats a couple of times week, these days.

 

I can only speak to my own former experience, when I used to eat these things every day. I put on weight, I experienced sugar cravings, my cholestral went up and I felt sluggish and unwell.

 

However I'm equally sure there are people who eat these items every day of thier lives, never eat vegetables, smoke like chimmy's and live to 92 - and also feel quite well on that diet

 

Deci

[Angler]

It's misleading to lump cake and biscuits with sausage and bacon, just as much as it is to lump smoking and not eating veggies with the consumption of saturated fat...like somehow they are related as poor lifestyle choices. You are showing a huge bias here.

 

Our body fat IS saturated animal fat. Of all the ways nature could have stored and retrieved energy, it chose to do so with saturated fat. We are a mammal no different than the others we consume for food. Saturated animal fat is healthy.

 

The cholesterol "myth" is going to take a long time to go away.

[Deciduous]

Alcohol is a poison not a "toxin" it does not stay in your system.

 

But is this statement true, Moontiger?

 

The problem is that some products generated during alcohol metabolism, like acetaldehyde, are more toxic than the alcohol itself. In addition, a group of metabolic by-products called free radicals can damage liver cells and promote inflammation, impairing vital functions such as energy production.

 

If that’s not enough, the body's natural defenses (like antioxidants) against free radicals can be inhibited by alcohol consumption. This sticky wicket leads to more liver damage and a vicious cycle that places bodies in direct line for nasty things likes hepatitis and cirrhosis among other ailments of the liver.

 

Deci

[Deciduous]

It's misleading to lump cake and biscuits with sausage and bacon, just as much as it is to lump smoking and not eating veggies with the consumption of saturated fat...like somehow they are related as poor lifestyle choices. You are showing a huge bias here.

 

Our body fat IS saturated animal fat. Of all the ways nature could have stored and retrieved energy, it chose to do so with saturated fat. We are a mammal no different than the others we consume for food. Saturated animal fat is healthy.

 

The cholesterol "myth" is going to take a long time to go away.

 

Like I said, if this is working for you, you should go ahead and eat them in daily quantities. If you feel that processed and mechanically recovered meats are a positive way to gain animal fats, then eat them.

 

Why would you stop?

 

Deci

[Angler]

It's pretty simple - I don't eat industrial meat.

 

I eat a lot of saturated fat though.

[Deciduous]

You list high levels of salt, but anything you have to much of is bad for you so you have to put "large amounts" on

 

Actually you don't have to put large amounts of salt on your food to suffer from negative effects. It is already there in processed foods. Too much salt in our diet has been linked to higher than average blood pressure, which may lead to an increased risk of heart disease or a stroke. Around three-quarters of all the salt consumed is contained in processed foods, ranging from bread and breakfast cereals to bacon and stock cubes.

 

The amount added to food at home accounts for a very tiny percentage.

 

Deci

[Deciduous]

It's pretty simple - I don't eat industrial meat.

 

I eat a lot of saturated fat though.

 

Gosh. I'm very interested in this thread. I'm quite enjoying myself. I hope I'm not becoming a food bore, but you and Moontiger are keeping me on my toes. Hee-hee!

 

Angler, What do you eat your saturated fats in, if you don't mind me asking?

 

Also have you considered monounsaturated fats (Olive oil, rapeseed oil and nuts and seeds) - And polyunsaturated fats (oily fish, the omega 3 etc, walnuts, tofu and dark green vegetables)

 

Deci

[Angler]

I get my fats from cuts of meat like most people recognize, only from clean sources.

 

Beef, pork, chicken, but from small local farms...no large scale CAFO meat.

 

I eat a lot of nuts, some olives/olive oil, and I supplement with about 5x the recommended dose of fish oil daily...that's in addition to eating fish once a week. Most of the fish I eat are wild fish I have caught, so I know the water quality, age, and condition of the fish before I decide to harvest it.

 

No grains, very little dairy, and nothing that requires a label to describe what it is.

 

I feel fantastic eating this way - I'll never change.