The Special K Diet Challenge

The Special K Challenge is a two-week diet/clever marketing ploy designed to help people lose weight with Special K products.

What it is: Using Special K products, the Special K Challenge promises to remove an inch from your waist in two weeks. In one survey, the average weight loss was around 5 pounds. Kraft offers a similar diet using its cereals with “Eat 2 and Lose 10.”

How it works: The Special K diet simply replaces two meals a day with a special K cereal product, with the third meal remaining as normal. By substituting, dieters drop over 600 calories per day from normal eating habits.

What you do: For breakfast, dieters eat any Special K cereal with 2/3 C. skim milk and fruit, or Special K red berry waffles with 2 Tbs. light syrup and fruit. Dieters replace another daily meal with a Special K meal bar or a serving of cereal. The third meal is as normal. Some Special K snacks are also allowed.

Benefits: You can have any meal you like as normal, so you can choose to have a big breakfast if you like. A big breakfast might help satiate any hunger pains from reduced calories. You will likely lose weight with the overall calorie reduction.

Downside: The diet plan is designed to sell Special K products, and does not provide a long-term solution as you are unlikely to want to continue this diet after two weeks. Special K products do contain some contentious ingredients such as High Fructose Corn syrup. You are likely to feel bored and very hungry while on this diet.