Deconstructing Fad Diets

Every week there's a new best-selling diet book that says it's absolutely, positively the best way to drop unwanted pounds. It typically makes one or more of the following promises as well: You'll lose weight quickly, you'll lose weight effortlessly, your weight loss will be the result of some newly discovered scientific theory, and you'll look like a movie star by the time you're through.

Do these miracle diets work? Unless they're based on sound, well-researched nutritional advice, probably not (in fact, if they did work, it would be a miracle). And with so many of these newfangled fad diets out there -- how do you know which ones are dreams and which ones are duds? Read on to get the skinny.

1. A diet is not like having a second job.
Avoid any eating plan that has strict, complicated rules. Often you'll have initial success simply because of the restrictions it places on you. But such a system is so unrealistic and artificial that you can't remain on it for more than a few weeks. Take a pass on any weight loss plan where success depends on restricting certain foods, eating foods in specific combinations or timing your meals at precise intervals. A diet should be easy to follow and easily adaptable to your lifestyle.

2. If it's too low in calories, take a pass.
Know why you lose weight so quickly on those Hollywood grapefruit diets? Because they severely limit the calories you take in, often to just a few hundred calories a day. Too few calories means missing out on important nutrients, which can hurt both your short- and long-term health. Don't follow any plan that asks you to dip below 1,500 calories a day unless you're under a physician's supervision.

3. Expensive supplements should not be essential.
Go ahead and take a multivitamin as a health insurance policy, but forget about gobbling down high-priced supplements that claim to burn fat or block the absorption of fat for faster weight loss. Most of the popular weight-loss supplements make claims that stretch the truth to its breaking point. Even supplements that may show promise in the laboratory are no substitute for good nutrition and adequate exercise.

4. No effort means no effect.
Though you may not want to hear it, realistic, long-term weight loss takes some work on your part. That means limiting your intake of high-sugar, high-fat, high-calorie foods and exercising regularly. You'll lose weight more slowly, but you'll stay healthy and keep the weight off. Any product or plan that tells you otherwise is attempting to sell you a fantasy. Run, do not walk, away from a plan that claims effortless weight loss.

5. Anything that sounds crazy probably is.
Pills that wring fat cells dry. Foods that burn off more calories than they contain. Eating based on your blood type. All are assertions made by a popular diet now making the best-seller rounds. And all are absolutely unfounded and ridiculous. Remember, if it sounds too good to be true ... well, you know the rest.

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