Dr. Siegal’s Cookie Diet
What is it?
At first blush, the idea of a Cookie Diet seems absurd. Really, could a food be more anti-diet than cookies? But give credit to Miami, Florida’s Dr. Sanford Siegal for creating a cookie diet that has some merit. First off, you need to know that the Dr. Siegal Cookie Diet is designed to produce fast results. The daily calorie count is just 800, which puts it in the same league as Medifast and OptiFast. Losing weight through steep calorie reduction has its downsides – not the least of which it is not sustainable. If you don’t have a plan for when the diet ends, you’ll more than likely regain the lost weight in fairly short order.
That said, rapid weight loss has its place. Sometimes the reasons are medical. On other occasions, personal factors make us feel the need to shed pounds quickly. What Dr. Siegal offers is an easy-to-follow diet in which the cookies serve as energy boosters and appetite dampeners.
How it works
Under the Cookie Diet, your daily food intake is six high-protein cookies and one prepared dinner that includes six ounces of lean meat and a cup of vegetables. When he started baking his cookies more than 30 years ago, Dr. Siegal made them available only to his patients. Now, he sells them to the general public over the Internet, and he’s also launched a chain of kiosks in shopping malls that sell cookies, shakes and soups. Dr. Siegal’s
Recipes
So how do they taste? The good doctor is definitely not competing with Oreos or Chips Ahoy in the flavor department. But you knew that already. Flavor is never the first order of business in formulating diet supplements. There are five cookie varieties to choose from: Chocolate, Oatmeal Raisin, Coconut, Banana and Blueberry.
The good
The cookies-as-snacks concept help dieters avoid becoming so hungry between meals that they fall off their plans. The high frequency of the snacks (six cookies daily) will contribute to a feeling of fullness come the once-daily dinner, so dieters will be less likely to gorge themselves. Ordering is easy over the Internet.
The bad
Despite the cookie snacks, this is a starvation diet. It is unsustainable and does not provide a long-term weight loss plan. To maintain a healthy weight over the long term, the only viable strategy is to eat less, make better food choices and exercise more.
The bottom line
The cookie concept is a gimmick. What matters is the content of the cookies and the make-up of the other parts of the diet plan. Dr. Siegal is offering a meal-replacement product that has worked in his clinics over the years and is gaining popularity among the public. But it is not a complete weight loss program. If you need to lose weight fast and think you would like to try this product, discuss it with your doctor first.