Dr Bernstein Diet

How effective is a quick weight loss plan?

The Dr Bernstein Diet is a diet that is medically supervised in a clinical atmosphere. It was developed by a Canadian physician and has over 50 clinics in Canada and the United States. The program involves three weekly visits to the clinic with goals of three to five pounds per week.

Although I questioned the safety of losing that much weight each week, I had been struggling for several years to lose the fifty pounds I gained when my child was born. Nothing seemed to work, and I was becoming depressed over it. My husband wasn’t real fond of the idea of me choosing a fast weight-loss program, but he knew how much I had been struggling.

The diet includes low calorie foods that you buy in the grocery store, behaviour modification, education, and vitamin and mineral supplements. The calories you consume on the diet are individualized to each person’s needs and vary between 800-1350 calories daily. The claims of this diet are that only fat tissue is lost during this rapid weight loss phase while other tissue remains in tact.

The vitamin supplement supplements that are an integral part of the diet are administered by injections. The Dr Bernstein diet includes a weight loss phase, maintenance phase, and a tune up diet for those who only have a few pounds to lose.

Although you will find a reasonable variety of foods on the Dr Bernstein diet, the only bread products are triscuits and Melba toast. This was the most difficult part for me because I enjoy potatoes, rice, and pasta. On the other hand, wanting to lose the fifty pounds made me decide to make the choice to try the Bernstein Diet.

The clinic originally wanted me to place me on the 800 calorie per day program because of the amount of weight I needed to lose and my level of activity, but I knew there was no way I was going to be able to stay on a program that low, so I insisted upon 1,000 – 1,100 calories. Even at that level I had difficulty adjusting.

On my Dr Bernstein diet program I averaged three to three and a half pounds a week of weight loss and lost the weight in just a little over four months. It was a struggle, and I can’t say I was never hungry, but I forced myself to work through it.

After I had lost some of the weight, I began walking and doing some other exercises to help with my energy level and to take my mind off eating.

Unfortunately like many quick weight loss programs, once I lost the weight and returned to normal eating, the weight began to creep back on. Even with the maintenance program I had to be careful what I ate.

It took me about three months to stabilize my weight and discover how much food I could eat to maintain my weight loss. I have kept it off for about six months now, but it took a great deal of diet adjusting in order to reach that point. 

Although I can’t deny that I lost the weight I wanted on this diet, I do not feel the quick weight loss helped me change my lifestyle in order to keep the weight off—I had to develop that pretty much on my own.

Review by Sally Foreman