Jul 20, 2009 12:43 am

The famed "3 Day Diet" goes back to 1985 and today can be found all over the net and on at a book store. The 3 day diet and its different forms boast fast fat loss, a cleaning of the system, lower cholesterol and more energy all through a "specific metabolic reaction" that no adaptation of the 3 day diet has ever proven. The diet is to be followed for only 3 days, with an off period of generally 5 days in between diet times. All the variations of this 3 day diet include specific steps that must be adhere to and foods that must be ingested in order for the diet to work. What better way to blame the dieter when it doesn't work than "you messed up the diet."

Breakfast on day one comes with coffee (no sugar), one half a grapefruit, and a piece of toast with 1 Tbsp peanut butter. Lunch is a can of tuna, a piece of toast, and black coffee. For dinner it's 3 ounces of chicken or lean meat, a cup of green beans, one cup of carrots, one apple, and one cup of regular vanilla ice cream. The other two days are about the same but with some exchanges such as hot dogs instead of lean meat. Supposedly it's attainable to lose as much as 10 pounds in just three days.

Baloney! How's that for dead on answer? And no baloney is not found on the 3 day diet. As stated the metabolic reaction has never been examined much less proven. Any weight loss would be mostly water loss due to a insufficiency of carbs which help the body store water. That could result in dehydration.

Once the three days end the weight will return, primarily because it's mostly water. But also after the 3 day diet is finished because any weight lost from the missed calories will be regained when the starving diet person returns to normal, or in this case heavier than normal, eating.

To prevent quick weight gain I found the best use for the 3 day diet is to use it to fast track my weight loss before starting a healthy weight loss program.

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7/20/2009 12:01:00 AM

Jennifer Parks
Staff Writer

ALBANY - As fast-food chains and fried chicken dinners have become increasingly popular, so has the desire to eliminate the signs of over-consumption, even if they are minor in nature.

The folks in Southwest Georgia are no exception. There are options for those who need a helping hand, whether it's to just to shed a few pounds or to accomplish major weight-loss goals.

Officials with the Phoebe Putney Health System offer two options - gastric band surgery and wellness programs.

"Diet and exercise is, by and large, the best method," said Elizabeth Yesbick, family nurse practitioner for the surgical weight loss and wellness program at Phoebe.

Support, often in the form of accountability, may ultimately be the best way to ensure weight loss methods will work, Yesbick said.

"You have to look at what you can realistically do," she explained. "It shows when people have accountability, they will have increased weight loss. People need to look at: 'Can I maintain this; can I have accountability?'"

At Phoebe Northwest on Dawson Road, there are wellness programs available for people determined to go the diet and exercise route.

"This is a lifestyle choice you would have to make," said Chauncey Keith, an athletic trainer at Phoebe Northwest.

Keith explained that one-and-a-half to two pounds a week is the healthiest pace for weight loss.

"It's important to start off slowly and go up," he said. "It's unrealistic to expect to lose 10 pounds a week."

Attempting to set goals that are too high can often lead to trouble, Keith said.

"People overdo it and get hurt or discouraged," he explained. "It's a bad situation to get yourself into."

If weight loss becomes difficult, though, Keith stresses that it's important not to give up.

"Consistency is important," he said. "It does no good to work out three to four days a week for a month and stop."

Keith is one of three trainers at the facility. They conduct general wellness, aquatic exercise and individual personal training programs - most of which involve fees and doctor referrals.

SURGICAL OPTIONS

There also are situations where surgery is the only option for people still attempting to grasp their weight loss goals.

"You lose weight when you burn more energy then you take in," said Dr. Chris Smith with Albany Surgical. "All (weight-loss) regimens should be done and are preferred."

Smith's specialty, known as gastric band surgery, is a procedure that is performed by placing a band around the top of the stomach. The result is ultimately a smaller stomach, meaning the patient feels full faster and therefore is likely to eat less - an effect that comes at a lesser cost physically.

"Gastric band complications are much easier to manage," Smith said. "There are a lot of 'gastro-cripples' who have tried to have (other surgeries) reversed. It leads to a lot of problems."

One such procedure includes the gastric bypass, which involves constructing a small pouch and surgically connecting the bowel to the pouch. The bowel is stapled in three places, which can cause problems later.

"There are three places it can leak," he said. "(Patients) are prone to bowel obstructions; we have one or two each year."

The definition of a successful operation, according to Smith, is losing 50 percent of excess fat. The band is 100 percent successful by that definition. The average weight loss from the procedure is 60 percent to 70 percent.

"The more you put into it, the more you lose," Smith said. "It's not an end-all. This is a tool."

The services at Palmyra Medical Center in this regard are primarily through the Bariatric Institute of Southwest Georgia, which also provides the gastric band procedure - also known as lap band.

"It's a restrictive procedure for weight loss," said Amy Grasman, the institute's director. "It's definitely a life-changing procedure, and it's had excellent success."

The band itself is adjustable. Although, like her counterparts at Albany Surgical, she stresses that the procedure is by no means designed to be an end-all.

"So much of what we do is education," Grasman said. "From the get-go we let them know it's a tool. They do have to change their diet."

Patients who have a body mass index of 35 or greater or who are 100 pounds overweight can qualify for the procedure. The institute does follow-ups with their patients at one week, at six weeks and once a month for a year.

"We have a lot of close contact with patients," Grasman said. "We are always accessible to our patients."

FADS FADE AWAY

Whether it be through diet, exercise or surgery, those that have extra pounds are encouraged to lose them. Weight issues have been known to be linked to other health concerns including high blood pressure, diabetes, cancer, high cholesterol and sleep disorders.

Among all the options that are out there, there are some that are bound to cause more problems than others.

"On diets, (patients) do good for a while but eventually feel deprived," Yesbick said. "There are many fad diets that people do; almost anything will work short-term. I'm very hesitant to pooh-pooh anything, but there are safety issues with some things.

"The best one is the one people will do."

Data collected over that last two decades indicates that the American population is getting bigger with no signs of backing down. In fact, it's a problem that is moving up on smoking as the dominant cause of preventable death in the country - which is a trend officials say can be linked to a number of things.

"It can be attributed to a number of things," Yesbick said. "We don't walk to places anymore, a lot of us eat a lot. A variety of things come into account."

Georgia, as most other states within the Southeast, tend to have some of the nation's heaviest residents.

"Obesity is going to be one the the No. 1 issues of the 21st century," Smith said. "In Georgia, and in the Southeast, we unfortunately lead the nation in citizens who are obese. (The data) is hard to watch. Nobody has gone down."

Although, as Grasman points out, extra weight might not necessarily be the fault of the one who bears it.

"There is so much negativity about obesity; it's been proven it's genetic," she said.

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