There are two ABC diets being used by dieters worldwide, and both are quite different. As a dietician and nutritionist, I always analyze, test and review all diets for quick weight loss before placing my clients on the diet. Here I review firstly the standard ABC diet (AKA Ana Boot Camp diet), and then the Robert S. Wieder’s ABC diet.
Ana Boot Camp
The first ABC diet has links with anorexia and simply involves limiting caloric intake to levels well below the healthy average and over a period of 50 days. The 50 days equates to 8 weeks, and during the last week, the plan requires a complete fast. The daily calorie intakes range from the maximum of 500, to the lower of 100 calories and includes other days of fasting.
The diet is based on the well known and successfully used theory of ‘calorie shifting’. By changing the caloric intake daily, the body is tricked into thinking that it is NOT starving, and will therefore not go into a state called ‘starvation mode’. Dieters do not want this to happen, as it is when the body goes into defence mode and slows the metabolism due to the food shortage. I use the theory of ‘calorie shifting’ very successfully with my clients.
Results
This diet has a simple and very obvious flaw. Because the calorie limit is so low even at the maximum (500 calories) the calorie shift will never be enough to fool the body. In a good diet of calorie shifting, feast days of higher than 1500 calories are advised. By reducing your diet to a maximum of 500 calories, your body is in a constant state of starvation as you are practically fasting.
You will of course lose weight on this diet as you will be starving your body. By starving your body you will lose muscle, lose bone density and put pressure on your heart. There are many healthy diets to try, I do not advise anyone to attempt this diet.
Robert S. Wielder
From the on-
‘A’ foods are: abalone (snail), antelope, asparagus and apples.
‘B’ foods are: beluga caviar, bouillon, bean curd and baguettes.
‘C’ foods are: chard, celery, catsup and carrots.
The rules are simple, you only eat these foods until you reach the desired goal.
ABC Diet Success
This diet would work as long as your calorie intake was less than the energy you have used, as with any diet.
The problem here is the food limitations and also the cost of the food. To be honest, I have never bothered to test this diet! How can any diet be taken seriously by a man who has written such diets as the ‘4-
Finally, I leave you with Robert S. Wieder’s ‘X Diet’. On this diet you can only eat while exercising, no extra helpings, you must expose yourself in a mirror in a bathing suit before eating, and if all else fails take a laxative right after eating. I rest my case!
If you are seriously considering a diet, please do not try either of these mad fad diets.
