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How many of you YBP (males or females) have tried the “Special K Diet“? For a while, I attempted to try eating two bowls of Special K cereal in place of a meal for two weeks to see if it would really help me lose weight. But after some research and blog reading, I realized that many people had tried and failed to lose weight the cereal way. That’s because the entire gimmick is based on calorie intake.

“Special K cereal does not cause weight loss in any way whatsoever. It’s just calories. There are no weight loss vitamins, minerals, ingredients or magic fairy dust in it that makes it any different than any other calories. Sure, it’s low fat, and that’s always nice. Sure, it’s low in calories too, but so is everything else that’s low in fat. It is calories and nothing more.

Do you know what that means? It means that if someone is going to claim Special K makes you lose weight, or even just slightly helps you lose weight, you can equally claim that it makes you gain weight. Why? BECAUSE IT’S CALORIES.”

-Jared from The Lose Weight Diet

Weight Watchers has a similar (yet less misleading) approach to weight loss- eat low calorie healthy foods while also adapting a regular exercise program. Since exercise equals calories out, the result is more calories out than calories in and before you know it you are pounds lighter. So, theoretically, if you continued with the Special K diet for weeks but also added regular exercise to your routine, you could have the same results. But here’s my question- what happens after two weeks? Is the weight going to just magically stay gone? Nope, not at all. Although the average person burns around 30% of calories through daily activity, many sedentary people only use around 15%. You must stay active to burn the calories off, especially if you have a low metabolism.

The U.S. Food and Drug Administration says “Americans are getting fatter” and suggests we start by counting calories. They report that successful weight losers report four common behaviors. They eat a low-calorie, low-fat diet, they monitor themselves by weighing in frequently, they are very physically active, and they eat breakfast. If you eat good breakfast in the morning, then you are less likely to eat more late in the day.

If you want to lose weight and adjust your calorie intake, start with a specific goal. Then decide if you’re going to change your eating habits and increase your physical activity. Just be wary of quick gimmick diets so as not to put your health at risk.