How to Spot Weight Loss Fads?

Each year many people fall victim to the hypes of certain diets.  A they scramble to shed the pounds of last year, they are looking for any possible diet plan for the easy way out.  Despite being forewarned about the negative consequences of fad diets, people still get duped by their gimmicks.  For 2012, don’t be a sucker for these horrible diet plans.  They will only backfire on you and leave you feeling horrible.  To help you spot out these fad diets, here are some pointers on how to distinguish a good diet versus a fad diet.

The Infamous [fill in the blank] Diet

Any diet plan that has the following [fill in the blank] diet is sure to be a fad.  Take for example the grapefruit diet, the detox diet,  the junkfood diet, the Hcg diet,  the dukan diet, banana diet, the egg diet, the cookie diet, the leek diet, or the baby food diet.

Let’s be honest here, despite the fact that so-called “doctors” came up with these diet plans, a monkey with half a brain could also have come up with these “diet plans”.  The basic concept here is to pick out a somewhat healthy food and only consume that food.  Of course people will lose weight if they are only allowed to eat a certain amount of one type of food.

These diet plans are pitted for failure because unless you can stick to that diet for the rest of your life, you will not be able to maintain the weight you lose.  They are crash and burn diets, meaning if you are able to stick with it for a week or two, then yes you will lose weight, but don’t expect to keep the weight off.  People who try these types of diets and fail are also more likely to overeat once they are off the diet, causing them to gain more weight than they were previous to the diet.

These diets don’t work because they are quick fixes.  If you are genuinely interested in weight loss, you need to learn how to incorporate an entire food group into your diet.  It is impossible to expect someone to eat the same food, day after day.  It is also very damaging for your health as you will be deficient in other nutrients.

The Liquid Diet

Everyone probably knows what the master cleanse diet is; perhaps you’ve even considered it or attempted to try it out.  Whatever the case may be, these diets has a similar concept as the diet previously mentioned.  The general idea is to only drink a specific type of liquid (apple vinegar water, cranberry juice, lemon juice, etc) and eat steamed veggies or fruit.

The thinking is that this diet of only liquids will flush the toxins out of your body.  If you are only consuming veggies and diluted cranberry juice, of course you will encounter weight loss.  However, this is a diet that is horrible for your body.  Essentially you are starving yourself and your body of nutrients it needs to maintain normal everyday functions.

Like the fill in the blank diet, the liquid diet is a short-term diet.  Most people are able to do it for a couple of days.  Stars like Beyonce used this diet for two weeks to drop 20 pounds or so for her movie Dream Girls.  Despite the fact that she got to the weight she needed to be, she does not recommend this diet.  People who are able to lose some weight while on the short-term diet find themselves gaining it back once they are off of it.

Ques for Weight Loss Fad

Generally, any weight loss plan that claims an instantaneous drop in weight is most likely to be a scam.  Before you nose dive into the newest weight loss plan, ask yourself if this is something that you can see yourself sticking with.  If you don’t think you can do it for more than 2 weeks, then don’t even bother trying it out.

Instead, focus on tiny changes in your present diet and as always add in physical activity.  Just cutting out overly processed foods, sugary foods, or deep-fried foods in your daily diet can prompt healthy weight loss.

Emily is a writer in Atlanta.  She currently works for Look Young Atlanta and enjoys blogging about staying healthy and living healthy.