I tried a fad diet from the 1980s and i only lasted two days

THE GM DIET HAS BEEN EXPERIENCING SOMETHING OF A RESURGENCE ON SOCIAL MEDIA SO I DECIDED TO GIVE IT A TRY 06:30, 30 May 2025 I sometimes think the TikTok algorithm knows me better than I

know myself. There are days where a thought will enter my head, and minutes later my For You Page will serve me a video related to this random topic. I've got a holiday with friends

coming up this summer, and my social media feed has been filled with recommendations for bars and restaurants in the European destinations we're travelling to, probably because of the

amount of time I've spent researching and booking flights and hotels recently. But with summer holidays just around the corner, the algorithm also seems to have picked up on my

trepidation when it comes to donning a bikini for the first time since having my son this summer. I don't feel entirely comfortable in my body, and I'm sure I've been

searching and engaging with content that makes this very clear. So I shouldn't have been surprised when my TikTok For You Page started serving me videos about something called 'the

GM Diet'. The origins of this fad diet are disputed but it's generally agreed to have emerged in the 1980s as a 'quick-fix' diet plan than can help people drop 10-15lbs

in just seven days. My first impression was that such a huge weight loss in such a short amount of time couldn't possibly be healthy or sustainable. But having seen so many people on my

feed trying it out and sharing incredible results, I foolishly decided I would give it a try. Spoiler alert - I only lasted two days, and I wouldn't recommend this diet to my worst

enemy. Not just because it was no fun, but because I also don't believe it's nutritionally sensible. DAY ONE - FRUITS Day one of the GM Diet is focused around fruits - excluding

bananas. I can only assume bananas are left out of the plan on days one to three because of their high carbohydrate content, but it's hard to actually find any justification for the

different stages of the diet plan online. I ordered a huge Tesco delivery with tonnes of fruit and veg to see me through the week, and the night before starting the diet I meal prepped boxes

full of fresh fruit to take to work with me. Breakfast was a box of grapes and pears, which I covered in lemon juice. This was nice, refreshing and didn't feel like any form of

hardship. But by the time I got to lunch, I was underwhelmed when I opened the next box full of strawberries and raspberries. I was already craving something savoury and substantial, but I

pressed on. My snack was a bowl of blueberries and blackberries, plus two easy peelers, and although I was eating a large volume of food, I still felt unsatisfied - probably because all of

the food was so high in water content. For my tea I ate half a watermelon, another pear and more easy peelers, all while hiding in another room while my husband ate a pizza, because I knew

that watching him tuck into a Tesco Finest nduja creation would tip me over the edge. Serving up my son's fish fingers and beans for tea I have never been so jealous of a toddler's

meal. I used MyFitnessPal to calculate the calorie content of all the food I'd eaten throughout the day, and the total was a pitiful 650 calories. This is not enough to sustain an

adult woman and is not a healthy calorific intake. I went for my usual evening run, and although I felt like I had plenty of energy, I did notice I felt quite light-headed by the time

I'd finished my 5km run. The diet states that you should drink eight to 10 cups of water per day, which I also stuck to religiously and which definitely left me feeling better than my

usual routine of forgetting to drink anything all day and then wondering why I feel dehydrated at 5pm. I went to bed on night one feeling hungry, sad and deeply unsatisfied. I was already

dreaming of my 'treat' the next morning. DAY TWO - VEGETABLES Depressingly, this 'treat' was one boiled potato, which I ate at my desk in work while my colleagues looked

on with a mixture of concern and disgust. I was absolutely ravenous by the time I got round to breakfast and I wolfed down the potato in about four bites. I felt that this carby-hit offered

some much-needed sustenance, but I was starting to worry about the lack of protein in the diet. I knew that if I hung on until day five I would get to eat 500g of meat, but given that it was

only day two and I was already struggling, I didn't see how I was going to make it that far. My snack was two peeled carrots, followed by a lunch of steamed cauliflower and broccoli.

Normally I like all these foods, but it was quickly becoming apparent that I like them when they are accompanied by seasonings, salt and a variety of cooking fats. Everything was so plain,

so boring and so light in calories. The diet says you can eat as much cabbage soup as you want, regardless of which day of the plan you are on, so I'd made up a large batch of that to

try and offer some ballast. I don't know if you've ever tried frying off onions and garlic without any oil, but I can tell you from experience the result is a flavourless slop. The

soup has green pepper, cabbage, carrot, onion and garlic in it, which should all taste lovely, but without the addition of any sort of stock, seasoning, salt or pepper, it was just a pot of

boiled vegetables that I was forcing down. I once again calculated the calorie count of this day's food and it was well under 800 calories. It was at this point I decided this was

ridiculous and, ultimately, not for me. Although I was eating plenty of fruit and vegetables, the macro nutritional content of my 48 hours on the diet were essentially carbohydrate and sugar

- there was no protein and no fat, both of which are essential for a healthy and balanced diet. Article continues below Had I continued, my upcoming days of dieting would have included a

mixture of fruits and vegetables, before a day of eating only six bananas and 750ml of skimmed milk, and then, finally, some meat or cottage cheese or brown rice. Fad diets offer people a

quick fix, and that's certainly why this plan appealed to me when I first spotted it. But healthy, managed and sustainable weight loss is only possible through eating a healthy and

balanced diet, which includes all the main food groups and enough calories to stay healthy. I wouldn't recommend following this plan, and nor would the NHS, which recommends panning

your meals, making healthier food choices and getting more active.