5 Fad Diets
Written by Suzanne on July 11, 2008
Americans love diets, and they also love when celebrities endorse them. Famous people seem to drop pounds in miraculous time. With the latest reality shows like Celebrity Fit Club, we can watch stars go from flab to fit and feel good that they’re just regular people working hard to fight the battle of the buldge like the rest of us. Here are 5 fad diets, or 5 healthy lifestyles, depending on who you talk to.
1. Nutrisystem
The ad campaign for this diet usually employs at least one celeb spokesperson for the year. Recently, the lucky dieters in the spotlight were the weather/sports girl, Jillian Barberie, and Marie Osmond, the recent Dancing with the Stars contestant.
With Nutrisystems food sent right to her door, the Osmond’s famous singing sister almost got back to her “Paper Roses” teenage weight.
2. The Atkins Diet
This low-carb lifestyle plan was all the rage a few years ago, creating a lot of controversy with celebs such as Geri Halliwell, Catherine Zeta- Jones, Renee Zellweger and Minnie Driver rumoured to be saying goodbye to bad carbs and hello to bacon.
Sceptics began voicing their opinions about the dangers of Atkins. At www.atkinsexposed.com they say Atkins book sales rival that of Harry Potter. Heaven forbid!
In the book, Carbophobia, Dr. Gregors reveals facts about the Atkins diet. I never understood what all the fuss was about because eating more protein and fresh vegetables like spinach seems much healthier than eating microwaved low-cal dinners. What do I know? I had a frosted pop tart and a banana for lunch.
3. The Fat Smash Diet
The Fat Smash Diet, written by Dr. Ian Smith, was the nutrition program for VH1′s Celebrity Fit Club. While looking for a video clip from Celebrity Fit Club’s past, I found this one of the infamous internet crooner Tay Zonday. I found this clip more entertaining then the interviews of club alumni Dustin Diamond, aka Screech. Not to mention the Cherry Chocolate beverage advertised in this ad is diet, not sure if Dr. Smith would recommend it but Tay seems to like it.
4. The Biggest Loser Club
This is a diet program based on the TV show of the same name. I’m always amazed at how much weight people can lose on these extreme programs. I’m having a hard time dealing with an extra 15 pounds but losing 100 pounds or more seems impossible. I guess anything’s possible when there’s a TV film crew, a trio of professional trainers, and sponsors like Extra chewing gum to keep cravings at bay.
5. Jenny Craig
The controversy surrounding this diet isn’t about the plan itself but the yo-yo weight fluctuations of Kirstie Alley their former spokesperson. She’s been on Oprah in her swimsuit celebrating her Jenny Craig success, only to be put on the cover of every gossip mag in unflattering pics showing off her weight gain from falling off the celeb diet wagon.
No worries for Jenny Craig because they have Valerie Bertinelli and Queen Latifah
to help promote their weight loss plan.
This won’t be the first makeover for Latifah. She went from hip hop fly girl to dressed up lounge singer.
With so many diets to choose from I haven’t a clue which one is best for me. Maybe just get rid of the pop tarts and up my work out schedule. I need to re-read my own post about getting high with The Chemical Brothers. What are your thoughts on these healthy lifestyle/fad diets? Any loyal dieters out there that want to give some advice? Leave a comment and let me know which one you prefer.
July 11th, 2008 at 9:02 am
Good post. I am a fan of the Atkins diet, though everyone will swarm around you telling you about your impending heart attack.
I remember being at work during a birthday party, I had the whole company telling me how unhealthy I was for not joining them and eating cake, this came just after I finished lunch of spinach and chicken. Good thing I don’t listen to anyone :)
I have heard good and bad for each diet, so if something works for someone, I say more power to them.
July 11th, 2008 at 10:19 am
Diets do not work, period. It has to be a lifestyle or the wait just comes back.
July 11th, 2008 at 3:17 pm
The only ones I like are Nutrisystem and Jenny Craig. But Jenny Craig has gone even more way up in price so almost impossible except for those celebrities. I did lose weight on Nutrisystem foods from how much I weighed while I was working. Not that the foods are that great but neither are those frozen dinners from the store that I get so often. Those don’t seem filling but I try them anyway.
July 11th, 2008 at 9:36 pm
i haven’t tried any of those diets.
what i am doing now, (as of about 2 weeks ago) is simply watching what i eat.
instead of getting white bread on my sub sandwiches, i get wheat. instead of pepperoni, ham, and all the regular meat, i’ve been getting turkey/chicken breast. i’m now eating the fat boy mayonnaise that is only half as bad for a person. i’ve stopped eating the steakhouse burgers that i absolutely LOVE from burger king. believe me, it takes all of my willpower to keep driving past that stupid place. (i drive by it twice a day!!!) and exercise. i’ve begun to walk and soon will be jogging on a regular basis. my dogs are FANTASTIC suppporters of this and they have no problem “convincing” me to walk daily. lol.
my mom says “anything white is bad for you.” she said i need to stay away from white bread, salt, sugar, etc. so thats what i’ve been doing.
i don’t know. this is really the first time in my life that i’ve been “out of shape” and i can’t stand it anymore so i’m doing something about it.
i think if a person watches what they eat (eats healthy) and exercises on a regular basis, they aren’t going to have a hard time being healthy or “in shape.”
just my 2 cents. hope this helps…
July 11th, 2008 at 9:38 pm
oh yeah. i’ve lost 7 lbs in the first 2 weeks on “my plan.” lol…
July 11th, 2008 at 9:57 pm
@Chad, 7 pounds in 2 weeks is great! Keep up that willpower when you do a Burger King drive by.
@Mel, I think you’re right on.
@Peter, Atkins seems like it can be fairly healthy if the main focus is eating lots of low carb veggies and not cheeseburgers sans the buns.
@Diane, aka Aunt Diane, I still remember those weight loss bars you brought with on our trip to Texas back in 1976, they melted in the trunk. LOL
July 12th, 2008 at 8:52 am
Chad’s comment is an inspiration. 7 pounds in 2 weeks! Does that include eliminating alcoholic beverages?
July 12th, 2008 at 12:22 pm
The trouble with me is I have to go on something more regulated, otherwise I think well I think a little wine will be okay, but then with those giant wine glasses-its not a little.
July 15th, 2008 at 8:51 pm
lol Donna…
No. That does NOT include eliminating alcoholic beverages. I haven’t really drank much beer since new years but i’ve been KILLING the Vodka and cranberry juice. lol.
mmmm…Pinnacle Vodka is the BEST! Check it out. i HIGHLY recommend it.
besides, its much better to drink 2 or 3 vodkas as opposed to 12-15 beers.
God i miss beer. :( *Sniff *Sniff…
July 15th, 2008 at 9:02 pm
Never tried Pinnacle Vodka. I’ll have to look for it. All alcohol has calories and lots of them but I have been hearing lately that beer really packs on the pounds quicker than other alcohol. It’s like the fad diets. Who knows what works. I guess whatever works for an individual is the answer. I think HIH needs to consult the celebrities on this one.
July 15th, 2008 at 9:40 pm
Well most celebs do seem to pack on the pounds when alcohol is involved. I think they’d say do a detox after your Pinnacle Vodka or a few hours of personal Pilates training.
March 24th, 2009 at 10:07 pm
The best diet is to eat normally(500 calories max per meal) and drink a lot of water.
March 25th, 2009 at 6:48 am
@Brian wow 500 calories! Sounds good to me. Is that the 1500 Diet? ;) 500 cals, 3 times a day.