BROWSE DIETS

Fat Loss 4 Idiots

Fat Loss 4 Idiots on-line program

FatLoss4Idiots (formerly WeightLoss4Idiots) was released in late 2004. The diet is based on an on-line generator that will create daily meal plans based on your food preferences. The diet follows a 14 day cycle - 11 days of planned meals, followed by 3 days of “cheat” meals. The diet has been called many things - the “Fools Diet”, the “diet for idiots” - and many other condescending terms.

Meal Plan

Day 1 Day 2 Day 3
Meal #1: Flavored Oatmeal
Meal #2: Tuna Salad
Meal #3: Sandwich (any type)
Meal #4: Scrambled Eggs		 Meal #1: Banana Milk Shake
Meal #2: Chicken
Meal #3: Scrambled Eggs [and] Mixed Vegetables
Meal #4: Cottage Cheese		 Meal #1: Chicken
Meal #2: Fruit Salad
Meal #3: Fish Filet
Meal #4: Cottage Cheese

Fat Loss 4 Idiots food is made up of lean proteins, fruit and vegetables, and the sources of fat come from whole foods (such as cottage cheese or eggs). There are some starchy carbohydrates (such as oats and pasta). The day is divided into 4 meals that should be eaten at a minimum of 2 1/2 hours apart. There is no calorie or carb counting, no limit on portion size - Fat Loss 4 Idiots says you “just eat short of being full”.

Look for low fat recipes here.

Nutritional Breakdown

It is difficult to obtain an exact caloric breakdown because meal sizes are based around eating short of being full. An analysis of a typical days meal indicates the diet is high in protein, low in fat, and with reduced carbohydrates. However all the foods listed are good choices.

Weight Loss

Fat Loss for Idiots claims 9 pounds lost every 11 days. However this is extremely unlikely (and unsafe). This weight loss is often possible during an induction (typically a phase where you drop out starchy carbs). The weight lost is a mixture of water and fat (and possibly muscle). This kind of weight loss would be difficult to sustain, and would almost certainly be accompanied by a drop in metabolism.

The diet is a budget offering (at $27), and provides little in the way of recipes or ideas on meal preparation. There also appears to be no support of any kind from the site.

UPDATE Nov 2007: Is now priced at $54.

See More

Fat Loss 4 Idiots - Official Site.

User Reviews

  • Jana
    June 23rd, 2009

    I am very interested in trying this diet but, I have questions on the meals. It says you eat chicken for meal #1, is that all you eat? Just trying to find out more info. on the meals. thanks for any help you can give.

  • Aimee
    June 6th, 2009

    you know it says chicken with a meal. does it mean u can have veggies with it?

  • shabi
    May 28th, 2009

    hi i just started the dite it my second day when i started the dite my wait was 67kg after 2 day now its 70kg why is that i am folling the dite proply. please help me

    thank you very much

  • Mon
    May 11th, 2009

    5 STARS FOR SURE!!

    Rating: Mon gives a rating of 5Mon gives a rating of 5Mon gives a rating of 5Mon gives a rating of 5Mon gives a rating of 5
  • Mon
    May 11th, 2009

    To be honest, I never really noticed myself that I had lost any weight (not my clothes or anything), although I’m sure it’s evident, but my scale is what showed me I have lost the weight.

    Rating: Mon gives a rating of 5Mon gives a rating of 5Mon gives a rating of 5Mon gives a rating of 5Mon gives a rating of 5
  • Mon
    May 11th, 2009

    I wanted to add that I did follow this diet exactly & I also didn’t excersise, at all. I’m a female & started out at 226lbs & I am now at 210lbs. Sometimes the food does get to be a bit repititious, however, there are many foods you cannot eat on other diets, but not this one, this is great! My HARDEST days are the fruit only day (but you do get a sandwich for dinner) & then the veggie only day (that is veggies only all day). Other than that, it’s a pretty good diet that really DOES work! I give it FIVE STARS!!!!! P.S. I am very pessimistic when it comes to these diets, as pills have NEVER worked for me, other diets have NEVER worked for me, so at 37 years of age, I have finally found something that works, ALL you have to do is stick with it, then go off it & eat what you want (without stuffing yourself) & go back on it when you are ready to lose some more weight. Good luck to all!

    Rating: Mon gives a rating of 5Mon gives a rating of 5Mon gives a rating of 5Mon gives a rating of 5Mon gives a rating of 5
  • Mon
    May 11th, 2009

    I bought this diet in October of 2008. I lost 11 pounds in 8 days…I went off the diet for 2 months & never gained any of the weight back & I was eating whatever I wanted.

    I then did the diet again for only 5 days this time & lost 5 pounds exactly & that was over a month ago & I still haven’t gained ANY of the weight back & am eating whatever I want.

    I have to say that this is an AWESOME diet & I’ve tried SO many that didn’t work. It’s obvious you can lose weight on this & the BIG POINT here is that you don’t gain it back like you do with most “fad” diets, if you want to call this a fad diet. It’s the only diet that has ever worked & kept the weight off when I go back to regular eating. I have told MANY people about this diet, it DOES work & it IS awesome!!

    Rating: Mon gives a rating of 5Mon gives a rating of 5Mon gives a rating of 5Mon gives a rating of 5Mon gives a rating of 5
  • Dawn
    May 2nd, 2009

    I am on my 6th day, I am not sure if it is working thought…I have been following it pretty strictly, when do you start seeing the results? And is exercise important?

  • AZWildkitty
    March 24th, 2009

    I purchased this diet in February when my husband and I decided to go on vacation to the beach. At 5′6”, I was tipping the scale at 180. I could not believe how heavy I was! I lost 9 pounds the first cycle (on the accelerated version called “Beyond Calories.”). On Cycle 2, I lost 4 pounds, and now I am half-way thru Cycle 3 and have lost no additional weight so far. I have gone down one dress size, and I feel more energized and sleeping better. I am working out 6 days per week, and recently added some strength traininig. Perhaps I have not lost more weight because I am building muscle… but I am not sure. Overall, the diet is easy (very easy) to follow and I can eat some of my favorite foods (including cheese and different types of deli meats).

    I would recommend the diet because it teaches you about food portions, knowing when to stop eating and how often to eat. However, this diet fails to provide long-term weight-loss support and tips on workout routines. The diet is an e-book, and there are no counselors available to help you if you have questions. If I had to rate the diet on a scale of 1 to 5, I would give it a 3. It is a good “base” to start a weight loss program, but I would benefit from more personalized support and more food preparation instructions. Overall though, it is a straight-forward and easy program to follow.

    Best wishes to all on your weightloss goals! I will stay on this program for another month to see if the weight keeps dropping.

  • Lydia
    January 28th, 2009

    This diet is Fab (for me) I would give it 5 stars!!! It is well worth the money… it tells you exactly that you need to know and will truely re-educate the way you think of food! So when you reach your goal you should easily be able to keep the weight off!!!!! (:

    I chose this diet after trying all manner of diets from the tv, the papers and the internet. I spent a couple of years doing weigth watchers and my weight just went up and down each week. My mum on the other hand lost weight easily with weight watchers and managed to keep slim afterwards (she finished over 5 years ago).

    The thing with this diet is thst it is so easy, providing you have enough imagination to cook different things. There is a wide choice of foods to pick from (I am refering to the Diet Generator) and the generator usually gives a well balanced selection of meals… but if you don’t like the combinations it gives you, you can just go back and resubmit your choice and it jumbles them all up again… its a bit of trial and error!

    Anyway, I agree that it is not likely you’ll lose 9-11 lbs each and every fortnight, and weight loss will slow down, as with any diet when you get to those last few lbs! But between the beginning of August and mid December last year, I lost OVER 3 STONE!!! (from 13.10 to 10.7) I had a 3 weeks off over christmas, and after 1 fornight cycle had got back to the weight I was before i took my “time off”. My weight loss has now slowed, but its still working so I am over the moon.

    Mickey…
    If you are still checking this… sometimes it is a case of just eating chicken on its own, but as I said before, you just need to keep submitting your choices and in a few attempts a you get the right combinations! You can also eat lots of foods which you often cant on many diets (frozen yogurt- any type!, cheese- any type!!!, nuts, sausages, bacon, the list goes on…) and dont be put off by what seems like a really boring list of foods… just use your imagination! And the price hasn’t really doubled… what the review doesn’t say was that they put it offer for a little while… I think theres an offer on now too!

    Nic Dias…
    I hope you see this… the diet will work if you follow the menu above but probably only for a month or so as the diet works on a theory that you need to shift the types of foods (and therfore calories) you eat during each cycle.

    Anyways, Hope this review helps!!!

    =^..^=

    Rating: Lydia gives a rating of 5Lydia gives a rating of 5Lydia gives a rating of 5Lydia gives a rating of 5Lydia gives a rating of 5
  • Nic dias
    January 9th, 2009

    Hi i don’t have the money for this diet so i was wondering…could i just repeat the 3 day meal plan above for 11 days? And should the cheat days happen the last three days of the second week or in between the 11 days? And will i gain on the cheat days

  • John
    December 17th, 2008

    Update, now I lost 9lb the first 11 days and currently I am losing a pound a day for the last 3 days! Woohoo!
    Shortly before I did this I tried a low carb diet from an internet doc I trusted but it didn’t work despite feeling terrible and tired and very bored with the food (though mostly tired).

    But with this despite being not low carb really works like a dream, I am enjoying the meals, the easyness, the weight loss, I just hope it keeps on trucking because if it does I am going to be over the moon as I reach 220lb in the first quarter of the new year. (at 220lb I’ll be pretty slim and light enough to go skydiving)

    Right now I am at 288.4lb, that’s 11.6lb from the approx 300lb when I started. (I did however put on a few pounds by being super bad over the 3 day break)

  • From the Inside
    December 1st, 2008

    Another review from an industry insider.

  • John
    November 30th, 2008

    I just don’t believe you Lisa, a site this popular and long running can’t fail to give refunds and get away with it.

    I have started on this program and already (2 days in) lost a bit (but it’s within random variation so far), but even if it doesn’t work for absolutely everybody it sure seems to work impressively for most people.

    Things I like (besides it hopefully working for me):

    It’s so easy, many diets fail not due to lack of willpower but the effort and time that goes into creating a menu that fits the specs.
    I like cooking but it is a chore and these meals require so little effort.

    That it is low in starchy carbs but not a low carb diet. (I have had success with them but I have also felt awful and tired)

    That it doesn’t tell you what percentage to eat of protein, fat and carbs.
    How on earth are you meant to calculate such things?
    Meat contains a set amount of fat, you can’t just dial it up or down, if the fat is too low do you just pour oil on?
    What if it is too high?
    If it is to high despite best efforts do you fix it by eating more of the other 2 somehow? (how?)
    And when something says x amount of protein, well it’s very hard to get accurate protein figures for even things as simple as meat.

    I also like that it doesn’t require blood tests, or question tests or any other kind of ‘identify which type you are’.

    To those who say ‘Just eat healthy’ well I have been doing that and eating organically and I did lose weight at first but just ‘eating healthy food’ and being healthy in other ways is NOT enough.

  • Joni
    November 11th, 2008

    I went on the “Beyond Calories” which was downloaded with “Fat Loss for idiots”. Cost $54. My Husband and I went on it for 3-1/2 months. I lost 34#’s and he lost 28#’s. I loved this diet and the variety of foods you can eat on it. The only thing we did not like was eating 6 meals a day. It seemed like all we did was fix our plates and eat. Didn’t take that long but just seemed like every two hours it was “Come and eat”… I do believe it was worth the money. I have given it out to several people and they all have lost weight. We went off of it at Christmas time last year and I have gained back about half. Only because I love to eat the wrong foods. I do plan on going back on it here in the next few days. I would recommend it.

  • Mickey
    November 11th, 2008

    Does anybody know why the price has doubled? Also, anybody that’s already on the plan. Are these meals or what. For example, when it says chicken are you just eating a piece of chicken or that plus some side items? I want to try it but i’m not sure. Please help.

  • Lisa
    November 4th, 2008

    I feel like an idiot for trying this diet and for believing the website’s guarantee. They do not refund your money as promised.

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    Last modified: February 16, 2009