So I was reading about this Special K challenge, where you replace 2 of your meals with Special K. :wacko: It sounded quite funny actually, but very interesting. I'm not sure how it works exactly, but I'm guessing something to do with fibre, digestion and portion control? Anyway, being the nosey person I am, I thought I have to see what the buzz is about, how does it make you feel, does it really work, what happens at the end, does the weight stay off? I am starting tomorrow and I will be posting my progress here.

PS...I am not endorsing diets, you guys know how I feel about quick fixes and stuff, but I JUST HAVE TO KNOW.

lol good let us know!

it sounds similar to the "slimquick" diets where you replace two meals with the shakes...

does it tell you how much special k to eat? it can't be a special k free for all!

:lol:

Hahaha Special K free for all... 45gms per serving with a measured amount of skim milk. Two things I hate - Special K and skim milk in cereal LOL.

And hows this for funny - I'm watching TV and what do you know? Kelloggs All Bran 2 week challenge! Exactly the same thing. First time I've ever heard of these cereal challenges and now I am seeing ads for them on TV. Must be a sign...

Ok so that is 170 calories of special K each meal, plus say 1 cup skim milk = 90 calories....i already don't approve, that is far too low calorie value for one meal ..be careful

Okies Fluff, let us know how this goes... whether you are hungry at the end of the day, whether you have adequate energy, whether you get tired of eating the same thing, and what you eat for your one good meal a day... I'm with Shy, be careful girl... you want to make sure you get at least the daily minimum requirement calorie wise, but we know you know that! ;)

Yeah I know it can't be good for you replacing lunch or dinner with cereal, but on the plus side, with 30g of cereal you can add like 1/2c of fruit, some juice or yoghurt, I like that idea. As long as I can get in about 1300-1500cals I'll be satisfied. Two weeks doesn't seem long, but the thought of it is killing me already LOL.

I don't think I could handle that much Special K... I did get a slim fast portion control plate which came with muffin bars and the shake mix (which I only use occasionally) but I really wanted the plate and I used Shoppers Drug Mart points to buy it so it didn't cost me anything...

Just a short update -

The first day, the cereal didn't hold me and I had a terrible headache in the arvo (I don't usually get headaches), so I've been adding fruit with every serve, to up cals and tie me over. This afternoon was a lot better, even though I was feeling slightly hungry, but no headache. Let's see what the rest of the week brings.

Nice job listening to your body!!! :happydance:

Oooh, thank you for the update!! This is interesting, from a research point of view, and I am so happy you are not just a 'blind dieter' but a well informed and experienced healthy lifestyle'r! :P I hope I just made sense! LOL

Hehehe thanks for the support girls. Yep yep Teach you made perfect sense. I like that - healthy lifestyler lol!
This morning I woke up feeling 'light' and energetic. I don't know if thats an effect of overdosing on SK (can 2 days of SK do that?) or the ginseng tab I took yesterday before I went to the gym. One thing that's really bothering me though is yesterday and today my number 2's are out of whack. I kinda like having them at a regular time, but now I don't know when to expect them. I'll give it 'til the end of the week though, to see if they become regular again.

Will update again in a couple of days. :)

some interesting "special" reading:

http://www.diet-blog.com/archives/2006/03/...weight_loss.php

THanks for the link Shy! It probably brought up everything I initially thought about the whole thing. I may be cheating a bit. I have only gone down about 200-300 cals, in that article the majority went down about 600+ cals (yeah, I'd definately die). Instead of snacking on the recommended fruit, veges and snack bars, I'm snacking on fruit in protein shakes, yoghurt, soup, crackers and dip, stuff like that. I can't afford to be eating low cals, so I'm trying to make up for them as much as I possibly can. As for the boredom - I put my hand up to that. Funny how I never ever got bored of eating a burger everyday though huh? Yeah, I'm expecting this to backfire on me at the end. I mean they don't really give you any plan as to what happens afterwards, which is what I really am curious about. Do I just replace the lunch with a normal meal and keep eating SK for brekky for the rest of my life? One thing that is great though, I haven't had any heartburn or stomach cramps which I get with every other cereal out there JOY. Oh, this arvo, I am feeling great. Maybe it's the low fat thing. :)

PS...Hey Nic, what is that plate you were talking about? I've seen portion plates on tele, but never actually seen them anywhere.

It's a divided plate 25% protein/25%grains/50%veggies and comes with a lid.

It's over, done, call me weak, but I won't do it anymore. NO MORE SPECIAL K!!!
The shocking truth of it is...
I started off ok. I ate enough to just scrape in over the 1300 cal mark.

MON: 1328
TUE: 1156
WED: 1277
THUR: 984
TODAY: 1028 (with what I had planned to eat)

I have been struggling to even reach the 1200 cal mark. The first day my cals were not high enough, so I went back after dinner and ate garlic bread to get me over. My no 2's are out of whack and I've had a slight hungry feeling in the afternoons. Yesterday and today nausea. I weighed in at 64.5kgs/141.9lbs this morning. 3lbs loss after 4 days - absolutely shocking. I know another week couldn't possibly hurt me much, but I have to ask people that do these things, IS IT REALLY WORTH IT? Is it really worth the nausea and hunger? I say NO. I have that light headed feeling as I sit here typing this. You know, the feeling you get when you get up to fast and feel like you're gonna faint? I can't funtion for another week like that. I can lose 2-4lbs eating my regular healthy ways. I really wanted to know what happened after losing the weight, but I'm sure it's like everything else. Eat too much and move too little, you're definately gonna gain. Kelloggs will not get another cent out of my via SK. Special K is now banned from my house.

Let the tapeworm experiment begin...

OOOOO it's the nummy nummy tape worms again!!! :bouncy: :bouncy: How very exciting!! :jumping:

Ok, seriously. Good on you Fluff for listening to your body. You are very right when you say you can lost weight a different way that does not make you feel so yucky all the time. I personally don't think that kind of restriction is good for you, physically and mentally. And you are also right in wondering what happens when the 2 weeks are done. Most diets don't address that and realistically you cannot just go back to what you were doing. I guess that is how they make money. I'm glad you did not do this to yourself another week.

Wow! Fluff you are a trooper... I would not of had it in me to do this experiment and as Cherri says, good on you for listening to your body!! Wow, what an experience...

:lol: well, I can understand why! I hope those searching for weightloss help out there in this big www find this thread and are led to choose a healthier way to loose weight than the 'restrict the diet, super low cal' way! OK, girl I gotta 'draw the line' at the 'tape worm experiment' ROFLOL... I mean NO, DON"T DO IT!! :P

:lol: Nic has flashbacks of cabbage soup diet my mom and I tried when I was a kid...

OMGosh, the 'Cabbage Soup Diet', that craze was huge back in the day! UCK! :P

Oh my goodness, I remember my Mum doing some cabbage soup diet!!! So tapeworms are out, cabbage soup is in??? LOL.

i can't say i'm too surprised with your results ! Any diet where you are restricting your food so much is bound to fail, this is obviously not a diet that can be sustained for life, or even 3 mo nths really...and you haven't learned any healthy habits at the end of it!

I'm sure the special k executives would cringe if they saw this thread and realized their marketing ploy backfired on them :lol: