Should I try Dr Bernstein diet?

Sorry to say that the weight you are losing is muscle mass. I am a registered dietician and I have gone to school for this. I also work at a government sponsered weight loss clinic with internalist doctors. Any time your are losing a lot of weight rapidly, it is your muscle that is being used as your body thinks that it is starving. When you decrease your muscle, your metaboism drops. So once you come off the diet, the weight will all come back on and increase even a little more than orginally because of how drastically your metabolism has slowed down. All that being said, you do lose weight and quick. It is just not the right type of weight which is coming off. Every patient I have seen which has tried this diet in the past has regained all the weight back and then some. The true test will be keeping it off in the long term which is near impossible considering the amount of muscle mass loss.

I've been on this diet since August 4th -- so far I'm down 105 pounds and it is all fat -- I've been working out with a trainer to keep muscle mass -- I'm never hungry and I have way more energy on this diet than I did before beginning it. I'm off 5 of the 6 medications I was on. I know several people who have taken off over 100 pounds on this program and have kept it off -- the trick is to not go back to old eating habits and staying active.

I'm presently on the program.  Yes, I've lost 30 pounds in 6 weeks.  Yes, I've learned I was eating too much and how essential it was for me to eliminate starches and sugar from my diet in order to lose weight.  Exercise alone wasn't enough for me to get the results I wanted.  When I'm finished with the program, I will continue to eat  sugar-free and handle pasta, rice and potatoes with care.  

However, I do not like the program.  I do not like having to avoid healthy foods I enjoy such as many types of seafood, fruit, and vegetables: peas, corn, carrots, mangoes, bananas, kiwi, plums, watermelon, blueberries, yogurt, fruit/vegetable juices, plain popcorn are all taboo.  Salmon, 3.5 oz, is only allowed once a week.  Only one slice of bread per day.  One cup of caffeinated coffee per day.  No alcohol.  I craved potatoes like crazy the first week.  Then I started having strange cravings like fried bananas the second week.  My cravings are now gone fortunately.

The LPNs (they aren't registered nurses) told me I don't need to exercise: "it won't help you lose weight faster" and "you could gain weight."  Bullocks, I tried not exercising for a couple weeks and I only traced for ketones.  The weeks I've been exercising, I've been +1 and +2.  So why they don't encourage exercise .... I can't even hazard a guess.  

I've seen their doctor a couple times, but nothing helpful has come from those visits except a blood test that showed my uric acid was high and iron was low.  I will be talking to my regular doctor about this.

There is no support, except, the occasional "hooray, you lost ... pounds."  There is no guidance and help for emotional eating or eating disorders.  It's just a diet program.  That's all.  

As a Nutrition Student i completely agree with this Guest! 800kcals a day is not safe! its how u loose soo much weight because your basically starving yourself! you shouldnt half to be repremanded for bad urine testing thats just stupid!

I have completed a plan with Spectrum Nutrition - Registered Dietitians who teach you SAFE medical weightloss 1-2lbs a week! they go step by step through PROPER Healthy Eating your Plate Model aka your plate should be 1/2 non startch Veggies, 1/4 Startch Carbs like whole grains and such and 1/4 Protein! Each person based on a number of factors has a different calorie intake! as a 28 yr old male with a 30.0 BMI i get 2,000 calories a day and since im also type 2 diabetic i also get to enjoy 225g of carbs per day 45 at breakfast, 60 at lunch and dinner at 15g each snack in the afternoon and my bedtime snack! I eat very healthy choices that I pick! i can eat out if i wish and i can choose the healthy things i put in my body! A women smaller than me with less to loose will probably eat less maybe 1300-1500kcals a day

ive lost 49lbs on this program since october and totally changed my life and now im going to nutrition school in my 2nd sememster and have learned alot and these money scam fat diets just dont work!

I guess you don't know your stuff at all. Dr. B is a ketogenic diet, you do not lose muscle mass. Alot of body builders use this genre of diet in a different format (i,e more proteins and more calories) to make their bodies ripped.

Blueberries are allow -- 5 oz is a fruit serving. There are lots of options for bread -- Little Big Bread is 1 slice per serving so you can make a sandwich from the 2 slices allowed per day. There is lots of variety in the fruits and veggies -- picky eaters may have a problem with finding something they like but with 29 pages of allowed foods I've never had a problem and have discovered lots of new foods I'd never have tried -- like the beans section with edamame, mung beans, black eyed beans as well as the tofu noodles. I have now lost 113 pounds and have 49 pounds to go -- I'm over 60 and if I'd continued with Weight Watchers I'd never have lived long enough to see myself thin so I opted to lose if fast so I could enjoy my retirement!

Hi there. I saw your question and I thought I would give you advice. I lost 60lbs by eating more. I ate 6-7 times no more food than the size of my fist. Lots of lean protein. That is the key. Egg whites with a little Pam int he pan with some veggies that you like (i like mushroom). 12 almonds as snack, fat free cottage cheese or yogurt , lunch, 1 fruit, veggies, dinner. Eat about 2.5 hours and dont eat after dinner, or dont eat after 7pm. BAD!!! Stay away from carbs. You will drop weight in a month. It takes about 2 weeks to see results but once you start its great.

If you want to be miserable, get treated like a 2 year old, and take any fun out of trying to feel better about yourself, than go ahead. Otherwise, select anything ANYTHING else.

I have a family member and a friend on Bernstein. It's a joke! While they are out spending a ridiculous amount of money and stuck on that ridiculous diet for years, I have lost 20 pounds eating healthy and doing low impact cardio! I have watched them gain weight back as soon as they get off the shots and they go right back and spend more money on this diet. It's quite sad that people capable of excersise is on this diet! My doctor told me to STAY AWAY and just eat right (use my fitness pal) and get up and excersise!!! Diets don't work! You need to realize that if you want to be healthy you need to change your lifestyle for good! Not these stupid diets.

It seems as though people who have done the diet recommend it, whereas the people who haven't have stronger opinions on it. I've seen the diet work for myself, if you are able to lose the weight quickly then maintain it afterwards following a healthy lifestyle , then go for it!

You're right, this diet is wayyy to expensive for a blue collar individual like myself. I might be able to afford the initial weight loss, but not the maintenance.

I've been on the diet for 10 days and have lost already 9 pounds. I was 5'6 and started at 184lbs. I've felt great so far, and never hungry - the key is to PLAN and prep your meals for the day ahead of time and drink LOTS of water. I find it flexible enough to accomodate my lifestyle - I've been to restaurants, a cottage for a few days and a baby shower and haven't cheated once. I'd recommend this to anyone!

1 or 2 meals is not enough and is NOT safe. Your body will go into starvation mode and you will gain even more weight. As a personal trainer I suggest exercise and 3 meals a day with snack in between.

you should do the Dr Bernstein diet. I did it and i lost like 10 pounds in the first 2 weeks