Special K Diet

Substituting cereal in place of a high calorie breakfast of "pancakes and sausages" or "bacon, toast and eggs" would naturally save a tremendous amount of calories from being ingested. If this new breakfast were to be eaten on a regular basis it would logically follow that a few additional pounds of weight would naturally be encouraged to drop from your frame. So with this very concept in mind, along comes the Special K Diet, claiming to help you drop 6 pounds in as little as a short 2 week period of time.

A logical concept. Most cereals run between 120 to 150 calories per bowl, add a half cup of low fat or skim milk which adds approximately another 40 to 60 calories, and cereal still adds up to a very low calorie, low fat meal choice.

To participate in the Special K Diet, you are asked to eat one cup of any of the Kellogg's Special K cereals combined with no more than a 2/3 cup of skim milk for two of your three daily meals. Your third meal you are to eat as you would have if you were not on the diet. You can snack on fruit or vegetables throughout the day and also combine fruits or vegetables with your cereal meals to make them more filling. The diet is to run for a two week period.

To add variety to this diet Special K has created a wide variety of snack and meal replacement bars, these can be used while you diet to replace one of more of your cereal meals, or as an additional daily snack.

As an added feature you are encouraged to join a "Special K Diet Support Group" through Yahoo groups. This is a nice feature as support groups do often greatly increase a person's chances of success.

A study of 28 participants at Purdue University who lost 6 pounds over 2 weeks found that their weight loss was based on the fact that these participants cut their fat intake by about one half, and their overall average food intake by approximately 27 percent during the diet. Throughout the diet period they consumed on average 1590 calories per day.

So does the diet work? As a quick weight loss program yes, but as a long term solution to maintaining weight loss, probably not. Although it encourages people to eat breakfast on a regular basis, it just does not encourage healthy eating patterns throughout the remainder of the day. Special K cereal is not a great source of protein, neither is it a whole grain, so it is also not a great source of fiber. People may lose weight quickly on this diet, but when they return to their regular eating habits, their weight will probably also return.

If you are just looking for a quick jump to get you started on your way to losing weight then this may be a diet that you would want to look into.

If you do decide to give it a try then here is the full scoop on the Kellogg products that you will be consuming for the next two weeks:

Special K cereal is no longer the boring cereal that it once was, it now comes in a variety of taste tantalizing flavors including Chocolaty Delight, Cinnamon Pecan, Red Berries, Vanilla Almond, Fruit and Yogurt, Protein Plus and of course the Original Special K! A cup serving will give you 120 calories without milk and 160 calories with cup of fat free milk or skim milk. The nutrients in this meal are Vitamins A, C, D, B6, B12, Thiamin, Niacin, Riboflavin, Folic Acid, and 2g of Protein.

Protein Meal bars which can replace the cereal meal come in a variety of chocolaty flavors you can choose from Chocolate Peanut Butter, Chocolaty Dip, Double Chocolate, and for those who are looking for a little different flavor experience, they also come in Strawberry. Each serving consists of 190 calories and the nutrients you receive are as follows: Vitamins A, C, D, E, B6, B12, Calcium, Zinc, Iron, Thiamin, Riboflavin, Folic Acid, Niacin, 10g of Protein and 5g of Fiber.

Protein Snack Bars come two flavors, Chocolate Peanut Butter and Chocolate Delight., packed with real peanuts, nougat, toffee, crispy rice wrapped in a chocolate coating they are almost like dining out on a chocolate bar. They have 110 calories each and contain such nutrients as Vitamins A, E ,C, B6, B12, Magnesium, Calcium, Iron, Niacin, Thiamin, Folic Acid, Riboflavin, Phosphorus and 4g of Protein.

Special K Snack Bites in flavors of Chocolatly Crunch and Strawberry. With 90 calories per package this snack contains Iron, Vitamin A, Vitamin E, Vitamin C, Vitamin B6, Vitamin B12, Thiamin, Folic Acid, Niacin, Riboflavin, Zinc and 1g of Protein per each serving.
Special K Bliss Bars currently come in two flavors, Chocolatly Dipped Orange and Chocolatly Dipped Raspberry. With 90 calories per serving, vitamin benefits are Iron, Niacin and Vitamin B6 and 1g protein per bar.

Special K Cereal Bars come in a variety of flavors including Strawberry, Blueberry, Honey Nut, Chocolatly Drizzle, Vanilla Crisp, Peaches and Berries. These contain 90 calories each and a serving will give you the benefits of thiacin, Niacin, Vitamin B6, Riboflavin and 1g of Protein.

Enjoy!

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http://www.specialk.com/
http://www.chooseyourdiet.com/articles/65/1/Special-K-Diet