• Skip to primary navigation
  • Skip to main content
  • Skip to primary sidebar
  • Skip to footer

HealthyHappyLife.com logo

  • about
  • RECIPES
  • LIFESTYLE
  • BLOGGING
  • VIDEO
  • SHOP
  • Cookbooks
menu icon
go to homepage
search icon
Homepage link
  • Recipes
  • Lifestyle
  • My Books
  • Videos
  • About
  • holiday
    • Bloglovin
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • RSS
    • Twitter
    • YouTube
  • ×

    Home » This and That » Newsflash: Diets Don’t Work. Even Four Day Diets.

    by Kathy Patalsky · updated: May 18, 2022 · published: Jan 9, 2009 · About 4 minutes to read this article. 3 Comments

    Newsflash: Diets Don’t Work. Even Four Day Diets.

    I was watching the ladies on The View discuss Dr. Ian K. Smith’s (photo after the jump) new diet book, The Four Day Diet. Barbara Walters didn’t seem to buy the idea of a four day diet. And neither do I.

    Diets don’t work.
    They don’t.

    Call it what you want, the four-day, the fat smasher, the eat peanut butter diet. There is only one way to lose weight-forever. And there is only one thing that diets are even good for…..

    I’ll admit that my nutrition curiosity, and my motivation to become a wellness guru, has lead me to read up and even try several diets in my lifetime. Atkins, Coconut Oil, fruititarian, raw diets, Susan Somers, sugar-free, low carb…I know the drill.

    My First Dieting Book

    I purchased my first dieting/nutrition guidance book at an elementary school book fair for around $5.

    I was twelve.

    I loved it.

    There was a photo of a young girl on the front in a pink leotard,  eating a crunchy green apple. 

    I read it cover to cover,  several times over. I followed the diet tips. It said to of eat fruits and veggies before exercising, to never indulge in junk food,  and to eat a diet rich in whole grains and low-fat dairy products. There was even a little recipe index in the back. I made that recipe for “Brown Apple Betty” about a million times. And I loved the corn muffins recipe. In a few weeks my little book was covered in flour and vegetable oil from all the cooking I did. There was even a ‘find your body type’ chapter. Ectomorph, endomorph or mesomorph, octomorph, triomorph…I don’t remember what I was, but I remember loving that little pre-teen diet book.  Oh,  and mind you,  I was never overweight,  I was simply curious about healthy eating. Isn’t every little girl trained to be curious about food and learning about diets…?

    The fact is, humans by nature love to learn. They also love to improve themselves. And they love to believe.

    False Promises

    If I tell you by following steps one, two and three, and eating foods A, B and C, you will lose ten pounds in a week, you’ll probably want to hear more.

    Unless you are like me and have realized that a perfect diet that last forever — simply doesn’t exist.

    So Dr. Ian K. Smith. I am a skeptic just like Ms. Walters. I don’t want to change my meal plan every four days and munch air popped popcorn as a free snack. I want to eat to live. Not eat to die-et.

    WHY DIETS ARE GOOD


    The only purpose of a diet book should be to learn. It should teach you something about food and nutrition and wellness. (And no fluffy fake science please. Just cold hard nutrition truths.)

    So sure, go buy Dr. Smith’s book, read it and learn a few of the healthy eating principals he preaches. He is a doctor.  But following a food-by-food meal plan to lose weight long-term will only lead you to a state of post-diet-rage. Like Alanis, you’ll pop-you’ll rebel eventually and feel guilty because of it.

    Marilu Henner

    My favorite diet-book ever was Marilu Henner’s, Total Health Makeover. But I never really followed her dieting meal-to-meal plan. I read her principles to LIVE by, and adopted many of them for my own life.

    Diets are to learn from. And eventually, I hope you will find a lifestyle diet that you will forever be happy with.

    I did.

    Browse thousands of recipes in my recipe index.
    Snag meal plans, printables, 150+ recipe pages with photos, tips, shopping lists and so much more with the Finding Vegan Meals E-book.

    « The Curious Case of Alanis Morissette
    Save the Banana, Save Us All? »

    About Kathy Patalsky

    Hey there! I'm Kathy, lover of kitty cats, weekend baking, 90's movies, travel, beach fog and foamy lattes. Since 2007, I have been sharing my vegan recipes and photos. My goal is to make your cooking life a little easier, delicious - and plant-loaded - while sharing some LIFE and conversation along the way.

    Super Fudgy Peanut Butter Brownies

    10 Tips for Flying with a Toddler

    Spicy Stovetop Beans

    JUST Egg Omelet

    Reader Interactions

    Comments

    1. Tomas says

      May 10, 2020 at 7:54 pm

      Hi, I perfectly agree with you, I tried a lot of these particular “fast” diets but nothing worked, or they worked anyway, but if I gave up I would go back as before.
      One thing I found useful was a guide explaining a KETO diet, it was really useful and I got interested in this particular lifestyle.
      The diet was difficult, but combined with a little physical activity I achieved my results, now I am well and I feel better about myself.
      I leave you here a free guide for this diet:

      https://mwamtommi.clickfunnels.com/optinqzoo23hx

      Reply
    2. Madame says

      January 27, 2009 at 1:59 am

      Dr. Ian said it best, “Diets dont fail people; people fail diets.” I find that the 4 Day Diet, as well as his previous publications … provide wonderful guidelines for a healthy lifestyle. While I don’t plan to carry his books around with me for the rest of my life (lol), I’ve learned so much. I’m a year into the methods … and have found -87lbs of success. God Bless! ~PC

      Reply
    3. Anonymous says

      January 10, 2009 at 8:41 am

      Diet’s suck, people spend way too much money and time looking for a quick fix. If you really want to loose weight and make a lifestyle change, pay the money to see a nutritionist. It was the best thing I ever did. They can help you make the right decisions for your lifestyle, palette and even take into consideration your budget. DO IT!!!

      Reply

    Leave a Reply Cancel reply

    Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

    Primary Sidebar

    • Bloglovin
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • RSS
    • Twitter
    • YouTube

    newsletter:

    Trending

    my cookbooks

    my cookbooks

    Disqus Latest Comments

    1. Adam Edell

      Adam Edell: Thank you so much for being nearly the only single source on…

      Commented on: How to Make Soy Milk

    2. Joe in Texas

      Joe in Texas: I am making this incredible sandwich again tonight--so wonderful!

      Commented on: Preview "Spicy Peanut Tofu Sandwich"

    3. Kathleen

      Kathleen: I eat these at least twice a month with a sweet potato!…

      Commented on: Buffalo Chickpeas

    about kathy

    kathy patalsky

    featured: peach coconut water smoothie

    browse recipes

    Breakfast  |  Entrees  |  Desserts  |  Smoothies  |  Sandwiches  |  Salads  |  Beverages  |  Soups |  Appetizers |  Snacks  |  Sauces  |  Sides   /  Cooking Videos  |  Round-Ups  |  Fan Favorites  |  Holiday  /  All the Recipes

    browse:

    • reviews
    • travel
    • vegan topics
    • people
    • videos
    • beauty
    • wellness
    • Mom Life

    my ttc + baby journey

    Footer

    BROWSE BY:

    Category:

    DATE:

    looking for something?

    contact   |   about   |   kathy’s cookbooks  |  press  |  findingvegan  |  meal plans  |  shop  |  vegan recipe index  |  privacy policy  | start a blog

    • Bloglovin
    • Facebook
    • Instagram
    • Pinterest
    • RSS
    • Twitter
    • YouTube

    Footer

    ↑ back to top

    About

    • Privacy Policy | Terms & Conditions

    Newsletter

    • Sign Up! for emails and updates

    Contact

    • Services | Work with me