Woman Sheds 170 Pounds With 'Backwards Diet'

[Puddles]

WEST PALM BEACH, Fla. -- Tricia Cunningham used to be overweight. She has lost nearly half her weight in one pretty bizarre diet she calls "the backwards diet."

With her diet, you can eat, enjoy life, and lose weight without Atkins or South Beach diets, and counting points or enrolling in expensive programs, reported WPBF-TV in West Palm Beach.

"If I can do it, anyone can do it," said Cunningham. "I tipped out at a maximum weight of 292 pounds. My joints and back would hurt. Even the vehicles I drove had to be bigger, because I was bigger."

Cunningham has lost a whopping 172 pounds with her diet. She now weighs 125 and just came in second in a bikini contest.

"I woke up one morning, and looked in the mirror and said, 'this is it,'" she said.

Cunninham likes vegetables, fruit and fish, but she didn't want to starve herself or turn vegetarian, so she cooked up a plan.

Her secret is, admittedly, a little weird: Eat what you would normally eat for dinner for breakfast.

Cunningham cooks salmon, cod, or any protein she wants in a marinade of orange juice every morning.

She also likes to dump any vegetable she has into a saucepan and crack two eggs over them, making a veggie soufflé.

For dinner -- you guessed it -- she eats breakfast. Usually she eats oatmeal with shredded wheat in orange juice, not milk.

Cunningham also eats up to five cloves of garlic a day to boost her metabolism.

Her favorite drink is lemon water -- she swears by it.

On this backwards diet, Cunningham went from a size 22 to a size 1 in nine months. She has kept the weight off for more than five years.

[toinette]

my dad actually says that this is a good idea. since most peopel eat their heaviest meal at night, this way they start out their day with more sustenance than they need at 8 or 9PM. this also gives them a chance to burn off the larger caloric value if the heavier meal throughout the day. but she lost 172lbs in 9 months?? that;s crazy. i wish i was her :lol:

[landakaye]

My father used to do that when he worked shift work. It seems like a good idea.

[Puddles]

I was thinking about trying this....except the orange juice in my cereal.:barf:

[Puddles]

The lemon water is the Fat Flush Diet and Master Cleanse revisited.

[BAILEYSCREAM]

Puddles, this diet sounds really good, I used to eat raw lemons and my mother would always say lemon makes you skinny, so I can see her diet working like a charm. Good info.:)

PS: I was reading your siggy and your hair's grown alot.

[Ipanema]

I don’t remember where I heard this, but I heard that people are most successful at losing weight & keeping it off when they follow an eating plan that they make up themselves. So I am not surprised she lost all that weight like this. I am surprised about the bikini contest, though.

[Puddles]

Puddles, this diet sounds really good, I used to eat raw lemons and my mother would always say lemon makes you skinny, so I can see her diet working like a charm. Good info.:)

PS: I was reading your siggy and your hair's grown alot.

Well I guess I'm gonna start drinking lemon water with honey.

Baily....I've gotten lazy on the baggie no heat...so lately I haven't been roller setting my hair....it's been in a baggie. I really feel me not combing, no heat, and wearing the baggie has helped. Also all the protein and carrot juice.

[BAILEYSCREAM]

Well I guess I'm gonna start drinking lemon water with honey.

Baily....I've gotten lazy on the baggie no heat...so lately I haven't been roller setting my hair....it's been in a baggie. I really feel me not combing, no heat, and wearing the baggie has helped. Also all the protein and carrot juice.



Puddles,

I better start drinking that lemon and honey mix myself....I'm all out of green tea too, that seems to help with suppressing my appetite because I always eat late at night, so instead I make a huge cup of green tea instead, I'll have to alternate.

I haven't used my blowdryer in a good few weeks now and I think my hair thanks me for it. I haven't used the baggie in a while but I've been greasing up the ends, plaiting it, then pinning up the plait, that seems to be working well too. You're right about the protein and carrot juice because it's working for me too.:yep:

[Puddles]

Puddles,

I better start drinking that lemon and honey mix myself....I'm all out of green tea too, that seems to help with suppressing my appetite because I always eat late at night, so instead I make a huge cup of green tea instead, I'll have to alternate.

I haven't used my blowdryer in a good few weeks now and I think my hair thanks me for it. I haven't used the baggie in a while but I've been greasing up the ends, plaiting it, then pinning up the plait, that seems to be working well too. You're right about the protein and carrot juice because it's working for me too.:yep:


Ooooo Baily that's my probem too. I'm a late night eater. I will eat some chicken at 10:00 at night.:look: Hey ain't nothing better than some leftovers.:lick:
I'm gonna try the green tea as well.
I wonder will adding the lemon to the green tea have the same affect?


I also do the braiding and pinning it up. I put my moisturizer and vaseline on the ends. We're basically doing the same things. :yay:

[bluediamond0829]

i caught this on tv also...really i just thought that i read somewhere where u can buy garlic pills....u can add lemon to the water to make it more tasty(do not make lemonade)....most of the things i saw her cooking like the veggies and fish and i think i saw her with some fruit...kind of reminded me of the Dana's plan...i mean i think she just bascially took a couple of things and just flipped it around for her having dinner at breakfast time...which when she was talking about adding a egg to the veggies reminded me of a veggie omelet...and then eating breakfast at night..which is good because like someone said its not good to eat heavy at night....

[good2uuuu]

But this isn't new. I'm happy for her, but this is and old school idea. Breakfast like a king, lunch like a queen and dinner like a pauper. I know a lot of people who do this and have been for many many years. In fact, this is Denise Austins mantra. I like this idea a lot. I've tried to do it, but it so hard to do more than grab a bowl of Kashi on the morning when you gotta run. Guess I gotta really plan.

[BAILEYSCREAM]

Ooooo Baily that's my probem too. I'm a late night eater. I will eat some chicken at 10:00 at night.:look: Hey ain't nothing better than some leftovers.:lick:
I'm gonna try the green tea as well.
I wonder will adding the lemon to the green tea have the same affect?


I also do the braiding and pinning it up. I put my moisturizer and vaseline on the ends. We're basically doing the same things. :yay:
Tell me about the leftovers, especially leftover chicken, just yummy :yep:....

I suppose you could add some lemon juice to the green tea, I think it will work, it will definitely benefit the skin drinking that everyday.:)

Yeah, I got the idea of pinning it up instead of clipping it up from a lady I saw on the bus.

[Shawnee66]

I've actually been doing this for almost a month and so far I've lost 8 lbs. I have dinner food for breakfast and by 7:00pm I'm not feeling hungry so I have a soy milk and fruit smoothie. I use to eat late at night and my sister suggested this idea to me because I couldn't stop eating at night. It definitely works.

[karezone]

This sounds an doable. Because I do eat my heaviest meal in the morning. I just munch for the remainder of the day.

[lalabanks]

I guess to do that I would need to get up earlier in the morning..hmm.

Did this woman have before and after pics?

[Shatani]

I don’t remember where I heard this, but I heard that people are most successful at losing weight & keeping it off when they follow an eating plan that they make up themselves. So I am not surprised she lost all that weight like this. I am surprised about the bikini contest, though.me too!!!! i mean, over 100lbs in under a year should have left her with loose skin for DAYS! :eek:

[lkg4healthyhair]

The OJ is interesting. I stopped drinking it because of the sugar and calories. I used to do the lemon water years ago when I had a hard time drinking plain water. Lemon juice is a diaretic (sp?) so it makes you loose water weight.

I usually have egg white omlet with brocolli for breakfast (protein). Then grilled Salmon w/ veggies or chicken with salad for lunch (heaviest meal), then a very light dinner.

[Ipanema]

I was thinking about trying this....except the orange juice in my cereal.:barf:

I actually tried the orange juice in shredded wheat yesterday. :barf: I thought it might taste um different, but I wasn’t prepared for the pure acid nastiness of it all.

[Lorraine]

That makes a lot of sense. I still don't understand why we eat our heaviest meals right before bed.