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"Eat cookies and watch the pounds melt away." Ever heard this claim? Chances are you have--because it seems to be everywhere.
For instance, maybe you've read that Nicole "Snooki" Polizzi--star of MTV's Jersey Shore--is using "Dr. Siegal's Cookie Diet" to shed 20 pounds from her 4'9" frame.
Or perhaps you've seen the commercial for the "Smart for Life Cookie Diet." This is the one with the jingle, "Who stole the cookie from the cookie jar?" (Followed by a happy woman singing, "I stole the cookie from the cookie jar...and lost 105 pounds!")
So what, exactly, are these "cookie diets?"
The general idea is that instead of giving up cookies--as you do on many diets--you snack on them throughout the day. The upshot: You take a food that often contributes to weight gain, and use it as a weapon to fight fat. Is it magic?
Of course not.
To show you how it works, we purchased Dr. Siegal's version of the plan--a week's supply of cookies (42) for $59.95.
The directions are simple:
* Eat six cookies a day. (One cookie contains 80 calories.)
* Each time you have a cookie, drink a glass of water. (The water should help you feel more full.)
* Then wait 15 minutes. If you're still hungry, you have another cookie. (You shouldn't need a third, according to the instructions.)
* In addition to your six cookies, eat a dinner of 500 to 700 calories. (Warning: Not one of these 20 Salads Worse Than A Whopper would qualify.)
That's it. In total, you only take in 1,000 to 1,2000 calories a day. So you will lose weight--if you can follow it. However, you'll lose weight on any diet that limits your calories this severely. Just ask the contestants on any season of the CBS reality show Survivor.
The bigger question: Is this a healthy way to lose weight, and is it easy to follow, as the marketing material suggests?
Well, 1,000-calorie diets, in general, aren't a healthy way to lose weight. Research shows that when you follow such an approach, about 75 percent of your weight loss will be fat, while 25 percent of it will be muscle. You may think you don't care about muscle, but losing it increases your risk for diabetes and boosts the likelihood that you'll regain those lost pounds. Losing muscle is bad, period.
For instance, maybe you've read that Nicole "Snooki" Polizzi--star of MTV's Jersey Shore--is using "Dr. Siegal's Cookie Diet" to shed 20 pounds from her 4'9" frame.
Or perhaps you've seen the commercial for the "Smart for Life Cookie Diet." This is the one with the jingle, "Who stole the cookie from the cookie jar?" (Followed by a happy woman singing, "I stole the cookie from the cookie jar...and lost 105 pounds!")
So what, exactly, are these "cookie diets?"
The general idea is that instead of giving up cookies--as you do on many diets--you snack on them throughout the day. The upshot: You take a food that often contributes to weight gain, and use it as a weapon to fight fat. Is it magic?
Of course not.
To show you how it works, we purchased Dr. Siegal's version of the plan--a week's supply of cookies (42) for $59.95.
The directions are simple:
* Eat six cookies a day. (One cookie contains 80 calories.)
* Each time you have a cookie, drink a glass of water. (The water should help you feel more full.)
* Then wait 15 minutes. If you're still hungry, you have another cookie. (You shouldn't need a third, according to the instructions.)
* In addition to your six cookies, eat a dinner of 500 to 700 calories. (Warning: Not one of these 20 Salads Worse Than A Whopper would qualify.)
That's it. In total, you only take in 1,000 to 1,2000 calories a day. So you will lose weight--if you can follow it. However, you'll lose weight on any diet that limits your calories this severely. Just ask the contestants on any season of the CBS reality show Survivor.
The bigger question: Is this a healthy way to lose weight, and is it easy to follow, as the marketing material suggests?
Well, 1,000-calorie diets, in general, aren't a healthy way to lose weight. Research shows that when you follow such an approach, about 75 percent of your weight loss will be fat, while 25 percent of it will be muscle. You may think you don't care about muscle, but losing it increases your risk for diabetes and boosts the likelihood that you'll regain those lost pounds. Losing muscle is bad, period.