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February 15, 2008

Inside the Controversial '5-Bite Diet'


Hollywood has seen all kinds of extreme diets, from the cabbage soup diet to the cayenne pepper fast. Now comes perhaps the most controversial, the 5-Bite Diet, which is supposed to work like a gastic bypass without the surgery.

Is it safe? Judge for yourself.


NEXT: Bridget Moynahan on Hollywood Men She Regrets Not Sleeping With!

 


I have followed the 5 bite rule now for some 3 years, and I have to say to all of you that IT WORKS. When I went to Dr Lewis on one of my visits, he was very concerned about my blood sugar levels and blood pressure..the first time I let him weigh me, I weighed 205 (HOLY COW) I knew i had gained weight, I just didn’t realize how much…I had gained 70 pounds since high school (I graduated in 1984) I followed his diet and lost 40 Lbs quickly and have not gained any weight back, the first 3 to 4 days are the hardest, you will be irritable and hungry, but stick with it because that will pass, The trick is to do the diet till you loose what you want to loose and weigh yourself weekly, then maintain by not eating GOBS of food daily, if you feel that you are putting on weight, then go back on the 5 bites until you are back at your desired weight. Take the multi-vitamin daily ( your body needs vitamins) and drink plenty of fluids ie: water, crystal light juices, Ice tea, or diet sodas. Dr.Lewis is not some crack pot “diet” doctor, he is also my regular medical doctor and what he has come up with here “does” work. I feel so much better not only physically but mentally as well. All it takes is a discipline!
Good luck to all of you trying all the “fad” diets…I can honestly say that if you follow this one, you will be very happy that you did, Here I am 3 years later remaining at 40 pounds lighter, and eating “5 bites” again to get another 25 pounds off to be at my high school weight of 140. (i’m 5 foot 8 inches tall)
Just remember, this diet costs you nothing ( maybe just for the book at $25 ish if you decide to buy it), you don’t have to purchase special foods, matter of fact, on this diet, you actually spend less on food…it’s all about you and discipline….That’s it.
Good Luck to all of you

Hilde







- Hilde
Posted 05/03/09 07:03 PM
 

Hi Kathy,

Thank you so much for your insightful comments and concern. I completely understand where you’re coming from and appreciate what you are saying. But have you ever been about 100 pounds overweight and on blood pressure and cholesterol medications and have your doctor suggest you look into gastric bypass? At that point you’re way past worrying about how you look and body image and are seeking a way to get control and not be trapped knowing you are personally causing your own health problems. You also feel basically divorced from your body at that point.

After researching and talking to bariatric surgeons and gastric bypass patients who say they can only eat about five bites a few times a day, I decided to forgo major surgery and just try to eat basically like they do and it’s working. And I don’t have to worry about malabsorption and the other complications from the surgery.

Sometimes I do eat more than five bites two times a day and still lose steadily, but I now realize the mass quantities of unnecessary (and unhealthy) food I was eating. That’s an eating disorder of its own kind. After about a million unsuccessful and frustrating attempts to lose weight, this is finally working.

I’m not looking to get to a size 2, I’m just looking to be as healthy as I can.









- Doris
Posted 11/24/08 11:50 PM
 

Doris and Tonia,

I was anorexic for years and I can tell you this is setting us (women) up for rvrn more earing disordered thinking and body image issues. I can tell you i no longer play games with diet or calorie counting, but i am forced, due to migraines to be on a very strict migraine diet. I eat very healthy, eat good portions and maybe do some yoga. However, i did have to eliminate soda, alcohol, chocolate, high fructose corn syrup is a big one for weight control and caffeine. There’s a list of items i had to eliminate to feel better, but i eat believe me and I lost weight!! I also have kept it off….Please e-mail me at katmich651@yahoo.com if you want to talk. I understand feeling desperate and have also been overweight in my youth too.

Please reconsider the diet and read articles on the migraine diet. It’ll open your eyes to healthier eating :)

Kathy


- Kathy
Posted 11/23/08 10:59 PM
 

i have been trying to lose weight for awhile..and to be honest i want to try it..i might put my own lil spin on it and have 5bites for breakfast ..lunch and dinner


- Tonia
Posted 11/23/08 06:34 PM
 

Anonymous - regarding your comment: “This is unsafe, you lose all the weight and then some, some after you will gain all the weight and then some.” — that describes ANY diet. I’ve been on every diet known to man - healthy and otherwise - and I’ve never had a mind-shift like I’ve had with this one. With the other ones I was constantly playing games and trying to figure out what was low calorie or low points that I could shove in my mouth to “fill me up” even when I wasn’t physically hungry. I now eat like I did when I was younger - small portions and only when I’m hungry. This isn’t forever and when I get to my ideal weight, for the first time I have the tools and knowledge how to stay that way.



- Doris
Posted 11/23/08 12:52 PM
 

This is unsafe, you lose all the weight and then some, some after you will gain all the weight and then some.


- Anonymous
Posted 11/22/08 05:52 PM
 

please don’t try this diet! I lived with anorexia and diets for 2o years. There is no magic diet out there. You eat less and you WILL gain it back and more. This is where the cycle starts.

Eat right, eliminate high fructose corn syrup and artificial sweeteners, and eat food in it’s simplest form. The less preservatives the better. Believe me i lost and have maintained my weight. I also do yoga. Anyone can e-mail me i’ll be happy to talk to you.

I don’t want to see others go down this dangerous unhealthy path. It almost ruined my life.

Take Care,
Kathy


- Kathy
Posted 11/18/08 11:58 AM
 

Ohh, good idea. Five bites of fatty greasy food, 5 bites of MSG, high fructose corn syrup, refined, processed white flour,sugar laddened foods. Five sips of empty calcium leaching diet sodas sweetened with manufactured artificial crap. This sounds like a great idea. For most, birth gives us the gift of a near perfectly working body, it’s what we do to it over the course of many years that causes weight problems. The fast food, meals on the run, overconsumption of fats, lack of physical activity etc… So why are we obsessed with “quick fixes”. It didn’t take 6 weeks to get the way you are now. If you want to lose weight, take the opportunity to educate yourself and learn what is actually good for your body, and your well being. Most people would be so surprised by how good they can feel by eating healthy wholesome foods. Not how much weight they could lose, but how good they can feel. Weight loss is just a natural side effect of a healthy diet,and a healthy lifestyle, just as weight gain is a natural side effect of poor diet and inactivity. I think we should all be trying to learn how to give our body what it needs to function as it was designed to. I lost 65 pounds, it took about a year, I feel great, and have no worries about whether I can keep it off because I don’t look at food the same way as when I was overweight. And I eat more than 5 bites of everything.


- tracyh
Posted 11/18/08 08:11 AM
 

THIS IS INSANE!!! This is the worst diet in the world. After seeing this “Doctor” on the Morning Show, I thought “ok, hes crazy, but I’ll look at his website.” It asked me to type in my age and they would tell me my ideal weight. I typed in my height 5’8”…the ideal weight: 121!?!?! Are you kidding! When I was suffering from anorexia I was just a little under that weight!

This guy needs to go back to Med School if not FIRST GRADE where you start to learn about nutrition. He is promoting anorexia! This guy is an idiot!!!


- Anonymous
Posted 11/18/08 07:21 AM
 

I met my friends cousin last night and he lost 55 lbs in 2 months. I will start this diet tomorrow.


- Lena
Posted 11/17/08 10:08 AM
 

This program has changed my life. I have lost 34 pounds and now have such an awareness of what huge portions I was eating before. I crave healthy foods and not sweets like I did before -although I know I can have them. I had looked into bypass surgery and decided I would just rather eat like they do and bypass the major surgery.


- Doris
Posted 11/10/08 12:13 PM
 

my husband lost twenty-five pounds on this diet, and i’ve lost twelve pounds and 40 points on my cholesterol count … this was six months ago, and the weight has stayed off. the diet makes one more conscious of each and every bite.


- convergenz
Posted 11/06/08 04:34 PM
 

i have been on the diet for 26 days and lost 32pounds but i wonder after im done will i gain the wieght back because if i do i should probley stop now its a wast.


- Devenye
Posted 09/23/08 10:13 PM
 

A crack pot I think not!
To the guy that says we will all be in a wheel chair if we go on this diet obviously doesn’t know what he is talking about. And the ones who think this is a unhealthy way to lose weight haven’t done their homework!I have a few friends that have had the bi-pass surgery. they can only eat three bites a meal and they have lost a lot of weight..Last I checked they still do this surgery don’t they? The complications of surgery and recovery can be life threating..all to force your self do diet. 3 bites a meal…mmmm?
I think i will have the surgery without having the surgery, save myself all the complications of surgery not to mention the 20,000 dollars it cost just to go under the knife..
Anyway losing the weight and losing it fast is far healthier than keeping all those pounds on and suffering all the bad complication of being heavy..

Tim


- Tim
Posted 09/13/08 06:58 PM
 

I’ve been on this diet for 10 days and have lost 14 lbs. it’s the easiest diet I’ve ever done, I don’t get hungry. I have more energy now than I’ve had in a long time, so far it’s working for me. I plan on staying with the program until I lose the weight, I know now that once I start back eating (Normal Portions) I’ll eat to maintain my weight after all we don’t live to eat, we eat to live. it’s about making a life change…My suggestion to all you skeptics is to read the book so that you’ll understand the concept. I’ll be the first to say that I thought this was something that was impossible for me or anyone to do until I read the book and actually tried it myself.




- Nita
Posted 07/29/08 05:50 PM
 

I’ve been on this diet for 10 days and have lost 14 lbs. it’s the easiest diet I have ever done, I don’t get hungry. I have more energy now than I’ve had in a long time, so far it’s working for me. I plan on staying with the program until I lose the weight, I know now that once I start back eating I will eat to maintain my weight after all we don’t live eat, we eat to live. it’s about making a life change…My suggestion to all you skeptics is to read the book so that you will understand the concept. I will be the first to say that I thought this was something that was impossible for me to do until I read the book.



- Nita
Posted 07/29/08 04:00 PM
 

Let’s see if this works!!!!


- Judy
Posted 07/18/08 01:48 PM
 

Many anorexics/bulimics/compulsive over eaters are having success with this diet. Loosing 15-30lbs every two weeks. Also I’ve seen people who are at bmi’s 16 ween themselves off starvation diets by slowly increasing calories and gaging how much exercise they need to maintain until they are at least eating 1000cals and maintaining, so there is a way to maintain after your matabolism is severely ruined it’s just a lot of calculating… Not that I’m reccomending this because you feel better if you loose weight and treat your body with love.


- Ariel
Posted 06/17/08 02:31 PM
 

i heard this diet works and rick d’s on the radio has been doing this diet for 11 days and lost 9 pounds and he he did fail and got back on the 5 bites again but he kept tring it and lost the 9 pounds , i think if you try this diet it will help you readjust your intake and stomache size so it will help you know when you have had too much it is just like having surgery on your stomach it is alot better than going in and opening your stomach or putting a band on it try it the natural way , just modify your eating habits, i have lost 20 pounds in a month in a half by changeing my eating habit and drinking only water and 1 cup of coffee a day and lowering my fat intake to 10grams a day so make the life change of your eating habits , fruits and vegs are the way and low protein .


- guera
Posted 05/15/08 03:51 PM
 

this is not a gd idea.
it shrinks ur stomach.
i had a shrunken stomache from years of anorexia and it is so painful every time you eat even like half a piece of toast is agony


- Anonymous
Posted 05/01/08 12:49 PM

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