Monday, 17 September 2012
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The Starbucks Diet
Christine Hall of Alexandria, Va., 66, claims to have lost close to 80 by consuming nothing but foods and beverages from Starbucks. The law librarian has dropped from 190 pounds to 114 pounds. Hall, who tracks her calorie intake online via MyPlate calorie tracker at livestrong.com, began eating exclusively at Starbucks because the franchise is convenient and reveals its calorie information. Hall told USA Today: “I have a busy schedule, so it just works for me. I know exactly what I’m getting. I can plan my day in advance because I’ve memorized the calories in everything. It’s not like I’m having a bagel every day,” she said. “I’m mixing it up and making sure I get protein, fruits and vegetables.”
While it's easy to be impressed by her results, there are a few factors you should keep in mind:
- A Starbucks-only diet must be very expensive
- Some days Hall only consumed as little at 876 calories. Most doctors agree you should be consuming at least 1,200 calories a day.
- Hall consulted her doctor and, hopefully, met her nutritional requirements.
There's no denying that hall's weight loss method is unique, but is it really fair to give Starbucks the credit? I, for one, don't think so. It seems that she applied the basic principles of dieting--calorie tracking and controlling dietary intake--which is why she saw successful results.
What do you think?
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- From: larabs@xanga
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Comments (22)
Sounds like a publicity stunt to me.
she was 190 and was able to go down to 114?!? damn, i went from 177 to 123 and feel like i'm at my plateau. hmm maybe i should try this. or just replicate their food and count my calories.
heh, that's the way (not) to starve her body. Just wait, those calories will be back on in no time.
Coffee and the snacks there do not supplement actual meals.
I agree with you - this just looks like basic dieting knowledge applied to food at Starbucks rather than anything about the food itself. Cutting down on intake will help you lose weight (or, at least, gain it slower). That's true regardless of where the intake is coming from.
Sort of as an aside, this woman seems like she's trying to lose it the "easy way" - convenient food that's probably not super high in nutritional value instead of cooking meals and eating under 1000 calories instead of integrating more exercise into her routine. If the goal is being thinner, I suppose that's a valid way to go about it, but I'm skeptical about the longevity of this diet and even more skeptical that it's doing good things for her health.
I think Starbucks meals are tasty and there's more variety than one might think. ;)
I would love to only eat at starbucks if my budget allowed it haha. People will say 'no nutrition blahblahblah', but a lot of people eat more shit without realising it and will be hypocritical. If she's happy then who cares.
Also, myfitnesspal is so much better than livestrong!
One, I'm jealous. That she can afford a Starbucks diet. And that she had the will power to not order the sugar-y-est drinks there, lol. my weakness is a starbucks frap.
Two, this reminds me of the subway guy. Did she walk to Starbucks everyday too?
that's just as ridiculous as the mcdonald's diet. She must have been doing something else other than eat/drink starbucks products.
Well... Obviously she lost weight if she was eating around 800 calories lol. Your body goes into starvation mode when 1000 and under calories are consumed in a day. It is true that the minimum should be 1200 for women, and 1500 for men.. That's when trying to lose weight, of course. A person eating normally would eat a lot more than that. I am currently on a diet and eat 1200 calories and have lost over 40 pounds so far. I also dont excersise too often, but if I encorporate that into my diet, I would lose it faster. But I am laaaaazy :P
@Jennifuk@xanga - I've heard the best thing to do while at a plateu is to change your calorie intake each day for a bit. I haven't tried that yet, since I haven't been at a platue yet, but from what I have read :)
They always say to consult your doctor before going on these weird-ass-ridiculous diets, but i just don't get what kind of doctor/health professional would at all agree to this happening.
ive been a crazy starbucks daily customer for 4 years.. I gain so much weight from all the lattes.. i know a starbucks diet would def. not work for me.
Maybe she only consumed 800 calories because she couldn't afford to eat 1200 every day.
Any kind of restriction will have you losing weight because it forces you to think about what you eat. I don't think it's so much about the actual food as it is about restricting yourself from eating "anything other than ____." at these times of the day, etc. You could do this with a lot of restaurants.
sounds like the subway diet except about a million dollars more expensive. i traded starbucks for panera bread coffee because it's cheaper and you can have free refills. panera bread diet might actually be healthier since they have more than just bagels, sweets, and coffee
xoxo K
wow. Totally insane.
Loosing weight but being unhealthy (lake of vitamins,minerals...) is not a goal to reach.
wow I love Starbucks!
ilena holder
I definitely see it as a possibility, but yes its very expensive. There are a lot of tasty low calorie and healthy options at Starbucks, but every item costs about $5, even the small little plates.
@light_blue_fables@xanga - Yeah, like she's trying to be Jared from Subway or that girl who was on the "Taco Bell" diet.
@surelyslim@xanga - they actually do have meals! I recently had an asian tofu pasta lunch from there.
yeah, it sounds nice but i doubt she meets her nutritional needs.