Origins
The origins of Fat Loss 4 Idiots are not clear,
although the idea that there are ways of ‘‘tricking’’
the body’s metabolism into burning more calories
has been around for many years. This diet was released
on the internet in late 2004. The diet is owned by a
company named ‘‘Internet Made Simple’’ which is
headquartered in Newport Beach, California. The
diet is mainly a downloadable meal plan created for
each dieter depending on the dieter’s personal food
preferences. It is only available on the internet.Description
The idea behind the Fat Loss 4 Idiots program is
that the dieter is provided with an 11 day meal plan
that continually rotates the kind of calories consumed.
The diet claims that this calorie-type changing will
‘‘trick’’ the dieter’s metabolism into not only burning
the calories eaten during the day, but into burning
calories stored as fat as well. The diet claims that this
calorie switching works because a perosn’s metabo-
lism burns calories based on how many and what type
of calories were consumed in the past few days. The
metabolism has no way of knowing what the person
will eat today, or on any day to come. So by continu-
ally changing the types of foods eaten the metabolism
will continually be ‘‘surprised.’’ The body will then
supposedly burn not only the foods provided to it
during the day, but will continue to burn energy after
those calories are used up. The extra energy expected
to be burned is supposed to come from the body’s fat
stores, allowing the dieter to lose weight and fat. The
diet is not clear about how this tricking of the metab-
olism is expected to have this effect.
Fat Loss 4 Idiots does not require counting calo-
ries,proteingrams,carbohydrates, or anything else.
This is part of the idea behind the diet being ‘‘idiot
proof.’’ Instead, the dieter is allowed to eat as much as
desired of the foods listed on his or her meal plan, and
is encouraged to eat until just full. The meal plan
provides four meals per day. The meals are to be
eaten at least two and a half hours apart.
The diet begins with a questionnaire about the
dieter’s food preferences. The 11 day meal plan
designed for the dieter can then be downloaded.
Although each dieter’s meal plan may be different,
there seem to be some general themes. Because the
diet is created around the idea that the types of calories
consumed need to be changed frequently, many days
of the meal plan may contain a lot of one type of food,
such as protein, but none of another type of food, such
as dairy.The diet contains a lot of lean protein, such as fish
and chicken. Some dieters may find that their meal
plan contains fish or chicken nearly every day. The plan
also contains some fruits and vegetables, although they
do not seem to be included in every day.
Simple carbohydrates seem to be especially lim-
ited on the Fat Loss 4 Idiots diet. Some days have
carbohydrates in the form of oatmeal or pasta, or the
bread from a sandwich. Other days seem to contain no
significant sources of carbohydrates at all. Many days
seem to contain some dairy, such as cottage cheese,
although others may contain no dairy at all.
The diet contains no preserved, pre-packaged, or
processed foods. Most of the foods are to be eaten in a
very natural state and minimally prepared. There is
very little sugar allowed while on the diet, and none of
the days seem to contain any type of desert.
The meals that are on the created meal plan may
often seem more like foods than actual meals. Often
the dieter will be allowed to eat chicken for one of his
or her meals. This means that he dieter can have as
much chicken as he or she would like to eat, but it must
be minimally prepared (that is, not breaded, fried, etc.)
and it is possible that nothing else will be listed for thatKEY TERMS
Diabetes mellitus—A condition in which the body
either does not make or cannot respond to the hor-
mone insulin. As a result, the body cannot use glu-
cose (sugar). There are two types, type 1 or juvenile
onset and type 2 or adult onset.
Dietary supplement—A product, such as a vitamin,
mineral, herb, amino acid, or enzyme, that is
intended to be consumed in addition to an individ-
ual’s diet with the expectation that it will improve
health.
Mineral—An inorganic substance found in the
earth that is necessary in small quantities for the
body to maintain a health. Examples: zinc, copper,
iron.
Obese—More than 20% over the individual’s ideal
weight for their height and age or having a body
mass index (BMI) of 30 or greater.
Vitamin—A nutrient that the body needs in small
amounts to remain healthy but that the body cannot
manufacture for itself and must acquire through
diet.Weight Loss 4 Idiots