Fast Weight Loss Diets Reviewed

As long as people have been overweight, there have been diet plans. But as obesity sweeps America and the world at large (no pun intended), more and more diets have been popping up all over the place. Conventional wisdom from past decades is now scoffed at and you can't open a periodical without being assaulted with the latest fad diets.

At the end of the day, the only sure weight loss plan is one that involves a sensible diet, combined with a sensible exercise plan. But you might have varying levels of success with other popular diets out there. I wouldn't classify these diets as fads, because they are at least based on research and fact, and dieters have been able to achieve long term success with them.

I write these several short diet reviews as a fellow dieter. I've never been more than 40 pounds overweight in my lifetime (I'm 230 pounds right now), but I absolutely, positively hate dieting. So I've tried everything. And I generally have good results with most diets I attempt because my body is fairly responsive to dieting. But that gives me at least some anecdotal evidence at which diets work best for me; of course, what works for me might be just the opposite of what you need. Just remember that you will never go wrong with a sensible eating and exercise plan.

The South Beach Diet

One popular fast weight loss plan is the South Beach Diet. A Miami, Florida cardiologist, Arthur Agatston, created this diet; hence the name. The diet involves three phases that are supposed to help a dieter modify his or her eating habits and make lifestyle changes that last well into the future.

The general idea is to consume proteins, good fats, and low-glycemic carbohydrates while avoiding bad fats and high-glycemic. Examples of bad fats would be trans fat and saturated fats. Examples of low-glycemic carbohydrates are sweet potatoes, and whole grain breads and pastas.

So the bad foods would contain foods like bread, fruit, cereal, potatoes, snacks, and candy. Instead, the dieter eats vegetables, fish, meat, nuts, cheese, and eggs. This initial phase lasts for two weeks, and allows dieters to eat snacks along with three meals a day.

In Phase II, the dieter is again allowed to eat fruit and whole grain food, but in small amounts. Dieters are also allowed to drink red wine. The last phase, Phase III, is the maintenance phase; by this time, the dieter has reached his or her ideal weight. The general idea is to consume three servings of fruits and three servings of whole grain in a day.

All-in-all, the South Beach Diet is a sensible plan and I was able to steadily drop weight on it.

The Atkins Diet

Though less popular now than it was a few years ago, people still flock to the Atkins diet. Plain and simple, then Atkins Diet involves depriving your body of carbohydrates in any form: even things like lettuce must be eaten in very small quantities. The idea is that if your body is in a state of ketosis, it must burn stored fat (or muscle) for energy.

The first phase of the Atkins, called the Induction, restricts the dieter from eating too much food rich in carbohydrates. However, the dieter is allowed to consume meat, fish, eggs, fowl, cheese, and low-carb vegetables. Because of this, dieters lose as much as 10 pounds in the Induction phase.

Be careful here, though. It is permitted to eat things like eggs and bacon every day for breakfast, but that wouldn't be too sensible. I did try it however!

In the Ongoing Weight Loss or OWL phase, the dieter increases his or her carbohydrate intake, but is still able to lose weight. The Pre-maintenance phase follows, and the goal of this phase is to determine the maximum number of carbohydrates the dieter can eat each day without gaining weight. To maintain the effects of the diet, unprocessed and whole food choices are given importance.

One big hurdle with the Atkins diet is that when your body is starved of carbohydrates for so long, when they are reintroduced, your body wants to immediately store them. For this reason, you must come out of the Atkins diet very slowly and gradually, and this is difficult for many. After all, diets have a high rate of failure, and with the Atkins diet, the price you pay is even higher because your body tends to springboard up several pounds when you begin eating carbs again.

During the Induction phase of the Atkins diet, I gained 1 pound and I followed it to the letter. I even monitored my state of ketosis with testing strips (yes, urine strips). I was in ketosis for several weeks solid and didn't lose a single pound. Giving up on this diet, I didn't heed the advice on coming out of the diet slowly, and I slingshot up 10 pounds in a week. Net result = I gained 11 pounds on the Atkins Diet.

Another word of warning: the Atkins Diet is just plain dangerous! It's hard on your organs.

The Best Life Diet

The Best Life diet is another plan that has been gaining popularity. Unlike other diets that restrict the dieter from eating certain types of food, the Best Life diet allows the dieter to gradually change his or her food choices. The idea is that fruits, vegetables, whole grains, and low fat dairy replace bad food like white bread, soft drinks and fried food.

This diet does not involve counting calories, but instead relies on the dieter to moderate his or her food portions and make healthier choices in eating. Since the steps are gradual, dieters feel less intimidated about changing their lifestyle drastically.

The Hay Diet

The Hay Diet is a precursor to many of the glycemic-based diets you see today. The Hay Diet classifies foods as alkaline, acidic, or neutral, and instructs you to not mix more than two categories at once and eat one purely alkaline meal a day.

What this results in is a very sensible diet combined with portion control, as an alkaline meal really just consists of veggies. Whether this combination approach or the calories restriction was to thank, I lost weight rapidly with this diet, averaging a three-pound weight loss per week for 8 weeks.

The Cheat to Lose Diet

The Cheat to Lose Diet focuses on the glycemic index of foods, and also introduces the concept of a weight loss hormone in the body. The diet consists of three phases (after an initial break-in period): a low carbohydrate period of two days, a low glycemic index period of two days, and a high-glycemic index period of two days, followed by a cheat day. That is, one day per week is a cheat day!

The rationale is that when the amount of this weight loss chemical is high (after a cheat day), you'll be burning the most weight, so you starve your body of carbohydrates, Before your body goes into starvation mode, you've moved on to low-glycemic days. Then, you prime your body for the next cheat day with two high-glycemic days. The cycle is supposed to represent the ebb and flow of this weight loss chemical in your body.

I achieved good results with this diet, losing 2 pounds per week for 8 weeks.

Fat Loss 4 Idiots

Fat Loss 4 Idiots is gaining a lot of press because it's so simple to follow. Fat Loss 4 Idiots combines some of the best aspects of the Cheat to Lose diet with even more leniency. With this diet, you follow an 11-day on, 3 days off cycle, giving you 3 cheat days every two weeks. That's one of the things that makes this diet so maintainable.

It results in a bit of weight yo-yoing as you drop weight quickly during the 11 on days, but you gain several back on the off days. If this kind of progress is disheartening to you, this diet is not a good bet, but if you focus on trends, it's a good option.

Which reminds me of a recommendation: regardless of which diet you are on, weigh yourself daily, but don't track your daily results. What I do is setup an Excel spreadsheet, add in my weight each day, and calculate a 7-day moving average for my weight. This smooths out the natural day-to-day fluctuations is gives you a more accurate picture of the weight coming off. I can't tell you how helpful this is!

There are other diets that are becoming well known, but the only rule of thumb applicable to most diets is that dieters must first consult their physician before deciding to follow to a certain plan.

About The Author:

Christina sometimes feels that she'll be dieting for a lifetime, but that means that she has a wealth of practical experience with fast weight lose diets. For advice or encouragement on quick diet loss, visit Christina's weight loss blogs.

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