What's the worst serious diet advice you've ever received?

[Modem Butterfly]

When I was a kid, I had a friend who was a staunch Xian who had an eating disorder. She was 5'3" and her goal weight was 68 pounds. She was in and out of the hospital the whole time we were in high school. We were best friends, close enough that we completed each other's thoughts. I'll never forget the day we were in the mall and she told me that if clothing manufacturers would simply stop making clothes for fat people, they'd stop eating so much. Now, I've always been heavy, and I told her that I had a hard enough time finding cute clothes as it was, and she said, "You just need to remember that gluttony is a sin. Every bite of food more than you need is a little black stain on your soul, and Jesus will forgive you, but all the bleach in the world won't make it white again,"

Yikes.

[Rabrrrrrr]

1. Well, can't top that one.

Not even worth trying.

Holy crap!

That's just bizarro world stuff.

[Modem Butterfly]

6. She was bad fucked up

Good friend, bad fucked up.

I miss her every day.

[bobthedrummer]

2. High protein low carb.

It was bad for me.

[Lavender Brown]

3. I was told to try smoking

:eyes: I didn't.

[ChavezSpeakstheTruth]

4. Wow, you seem to have been around the WRONG "Christians"

Wow!

[Modem Butterfly]

7. She was a very devout Xian

I remember one day we found a wounded sea gull at the beach and we drove around for hours trying to find a vet that would treat it. She went out of her way to be nice to the "scummy" kids that no one else liked. She had a couple of horses and used to spend her summers traveling back and forth from Camp Easter Seals so the campers could ride. She tithed 10% of her after school money to the church, and, other than the eating thing, she never once looked down on my family and me, even though we were about the only open atheists in town. She was probably the closest thing to a true Xian I've ever known. But she was definitely mentally ill.

Edited to add one more thing about her:

My friend would always replace curse words with "blessed" words, like instead of saying "Damn it!" she would say "God bless it!" and instead of calling someone an "asshole" she would call them an "angel", etc. So as an adult, and an atheist, I still find myself going around blessing things I'm pissed at.

[ChavezSpeakstheTruth]

8. Well, those other things are very Christian - the eating disorder

must have interacted with the healthy aspects of her personality and her faith. Eating disorders are SERIOUS business.

[Modem Butterfly]

9. She died when I was in college

She had a heart attack. All the starvation and vomiting really took a toll on her. I suppose that's why I find Terri Schiavo's situation really compelling.

[ChavezSpeakstheTruth]

10. I'm sorry for your loss.

That stuff is really harsh.

[Modem Butterfly]

11. Thanks

She was a good friend, and I was always hoping she'd get her shit together. Left untreated, mental illness is a killer.

[Dhalgren]

5. Holy crap! (literally)

It is sad that a young person would have such a pitiful attitude toward life, the gods, and everything...

[redqueen]

12. What the hell?

Who told this child that crap? They should be punished... that's frickin child abuse.

As for me, I'm not sure... I don't remember any really bad advice right off the top of my head.

[Modem Butterfly]

15. She was sick

I think she kind of made it up on her own. Her younger sister had a pretty healthy attitude toward food and weight. Or, she might have heard it in the hospital at some point- I think this was after the first couple of times she had to go in.

[redqueen]

16. It's just SO wrong...

So crazy... I feel for her. :(

[Arkana]

13. Well, I've never been told to go on a diet...

but the worst I've ever heard is "Try Atkins."

[MamaBear]

14. Lose as much as possible as fast as possible

The side effects included hypotension, hair loss, cessation of menstruation, disordered sleep ...

I won't go into the psychological impact. Or the nightmare of the bounceback eating.

Be moderate. Take it easy. Go slow. I managed to get out of that one without heart damage, at least.

[HEyHEY]

17. The "Beer" diet

Zonks you out for a month and you wake up 20 pounds lighter.

[Red State Rebel]

18. I had a Dr. tell me once - just eat less and exercise more

I wanted to punch him. For me eating is an addiction. Dieting is like asking an alcoholic to stop being a drunk but have 3 shots a day, one in the morning, noon and evening.

You can't just drop it and go cold turkey so for people like me, it's an impossible situation.