The Most Ridiculous, Absurd and Over-Hyped Diets of 2010

I'm doing HCG for chronic pain from fibromyalgia and I am feeling much better as well as gaining more muscle to fat ratio with no extra activity.I researched it long and hard and have always ate healthy as a lifelong habit anyway.

When I was 8 years old (1967), my mom was prescribed a diet by her doctor, (because were Cuban our doctor was too and he completed his residency at the Mayo(also Cubans) brothers, Clinic in Minnesota. My mom had to lose weight because she has high blood pressure and was very overweight. The doctor told her to restrict her diet to pork/bacon, fish, meat, poultry/eggs - vegetables once a day and salad twice a day, no bread, no milk/cheese, no sugar, no fruit. She lost a lot of weight the first week, like 7 pounds, then 5 pounds the second week,then about 3 pounds every week tll she reached her goal weight. When I turned 42 I gained 125 pounds after a hospital stay of one month and 4-months at home bed rest. I could not do anything except stay in bed. After I was able to go back to work, my mom put me on the same diet she had (except I added 2-eggs at breakfast). I started September 15th, 2010 at 185 pounds. Today, 3/22/11, I am at 215, with an additional 55 pounds to go. I don't know how this diet works, because I don't exercise, and if I add up the calories I averages about 3500/day. It's been great for my employer as I joined the "Corporate Challenge" weight loss category (because they provide a free physician assessment before and after the 4 month contest), the contest monitors, have tracked my weight loss and the company won in the weight loss division. What's I find very incomprehensible is my bloos pressure went down from 145/101 to 118/83, my ldl cholesterol dropped from 190 to 129. I am going to stay on this diet until I reach my goal of 160. Then I might just stay on it forever, If I find I can add cream to my coffee (the only thing I reallly miss). since I am not getting hungry - I think it is cool!

I am on the atkins/south beach diet and have lost 40 pounds so far in 80 days..I love this diet because it allows me to have the energy to walk 10 miles at least every day.I also lift light weights several times a week and do a few crunches and leg lifts a few times a week...It doesnt matter to me if you sat it is unhealthy because it is working...I'm sticking with it until I lose 90 pounds then I will do a low fat diet to maintain my weight loss....I am committed to lose the excess weight...

After getting my knees and right hip greased, the doctor wanted me to get the lap band. NOT A CHANCE!

After doing much research, I decided on the hcg diet. This is no more dramatic than any bariatric type surgery as your calories are reduced with them, just not invasive.

Being a meat and taters guy, the thought of 500 calories per day was tough to swallow. Before starting, I made sure I wrapped my head around the 500 calories and the daily injections. I also thought about my past diets, why they did and didn't work, what my body was going to do to me when I changed my present course.

Case in point, minimal carbs. I knew the DT's of this were going to be brutal.

Today, I am on day 24, having lost 30 pounds. I started at 376. The first week was brutal as I had a horrible case of the carb withdrawls. I was geared up for this, so I was ready.

My sister and I are on the program and we cook on Saturdays for the week. We are both self employed with schedules that go eight to faint (up at 6am, home at 10pm, in bed by 10:30). We make some fantastic meals, definitely not "diet" foods.

Since week 1, I have more energy, my knees and hips feel great and my work performance has improved immensely. I am fitting comfortably or have out shrunk my snug clothes. I am elated.

My program is with New Beginnings, ours is a nurse supervised program. The money I have saved in food has already paid for my program.

The tapeworm diet, unbelievable, I'm a nurse in Nepal and we are providing medication to people against tapeworms because it's preventing a lot of health problems...

I agree with Morgan F on the hcG diet. I lost weight quickly - which was very motivating - and felt great the entire time. Lots of energy, woke up feeling better in the morning, was able to cut back on several meds, and had no problem with hunger. Lost 23 lbs and have kept it off without any difficulty even during the holiday season. People tell me I look the best they have ever seen me and the weightloss (finally, after trying just about everything else) revolutionized my life. Would like to lose 17 more, so will definately be giving this program another go 'round.

Just quit three things, sugar, salt and grease. Check out the labels and don't buy stuff with those three in them. Very simple. It works.

I'm back on the Cabbage Soup Diet - full of veggies and brown rice, this is 7 days only as a quick starter then switch to a more balanced diet. Can repete but not in consecutive weeks. Also started some home exercises and water aerobics at a public pool. 5 months to lose 30 lbs i hope.

HCG DIET.my friend K was one the hcg diet for 36 days and lost something like 40lbs. it was amazing but you cant do it all the time and i do think it was just the 500 cals that helped her lose the weight the supplements probly gave her the extra umph she needed to feel like she could do it. i don't think this diet is for everyone because of the self control you need to see it thru. i could never do it bc i lack self control when i try to diet. im thinner than average so cutting out all the bs that i eat works just fine.
TAPEWORMS?? really? are there ppl out there eating cat poop or raw bacon?? and what if that gross stuff doesnt give you the TP? you just eat and eat your cat litter by product? some people are so nasty?!
BABY FOOD?? less gross then tapeworm and a lot tastier im sure...but not by much. i would taste some of my little girls baby food bc i thought if i would eat it then its ok for her. yuck she only ate the absolute best and let me tell you they were still disgusting.
i don't know how many times i hear it from doctors and right minded people cut your calorie intake and lose the weight. simple yet life changing.

The hCG diet is just like slimfast and phen/ fen or any other fad diet. Yes it can miraculously help you lose weight because you are using an appetite suppressant and are basically anorexic. It is extremely unhealthy, and just like any time you take the quick route, the effects will not be lasting. In fact hey will most likely be deleterious to your health. When will people accept that in order to seriously lose weight PERMANENTLY you need to change your lifestyle to a healthy one consisting of a healthy diet and physical activity.

Madeleine, trust me i do not have a eating disorder lol. I find that hilarious actually. I weight 244 lbs at the moment and when i started the program i weighed at 270. i have been sick for 3 years straight and on and off for over 10 years. I have been to many doctors and have been dianosed from auto-immune diseases, PCOS, chronic migraines, among other things. I have a serious illness that had caused me to gain weight. If you ask anyone who knows me I eat healthy, i do not eat fast foods, i do not drink soda, i do not eat crap. I was always active, swimming, biking, football, rotc, etc. For most people, yes they want a quick fix and thats what they are getting. But there ARE illness's out there that CAUSE you to gain weight and whats left is programs to reduce that weight so you can live healthy again.

Please...do your research and do not judge me for you do not know me. Thank you.

No diets for me, just these 3 important things to live by...
- Eat healthy...don't skip meals, eat right amount of food and no junk food please.
- Exercise regularly...stay active, walk, jog, bike, swim, anything to keep the body moving.
- Be happy...emotionally, mentally, spiritually, and just try to live a stress-less life.

I was looking at some documentaries last year and found out the tapeworm diet has been used since the 40's in United States. They even presented ads from that time selling the stuff.

Even if you don't like documentaries... It's pure logic! If anyone paid attention to the science or biology class they would've learned that tape worms can infest a body even if only one of the little cells that compose their bodies is injested by the victim. Every tiny square in their body is an egg ready to multiply so fast that it only takes days to have the infestation.

The most important bit of information is that they run through your body eating your blood and organs and the victim dies before long in painful agony because the heart or lungs get filled with it and stop working.

More than insane.. ITS IDIOCY!!! Why can't we accept ourselves the way we are and try to be as healthy as possible instead of lookint to be as beautiful (in a copycat way) as possible? The first thing to do is look for underlying conditions that may be preventing you from losing weight.

i COMPLETELY disagree with this article. i'm on my second round of hcg and am down 45 pounds with NO side effects and NO hunger. Its not a cakewalk, but for people with real diagnosed hormone/metabolic disorders like me its a godsend. I get my HCG from my doctor so its not internet hcg. i think alot of problems that people have with hcg result from them getting it from some website and not a real doctor. i've had no side effects and alot of success, and I think we'll be hearing more and more about the efficacy and safeness of hcg.

I heard about the tapeworm diet before. that is pure nuts!!!!!!!!!!!!!!1 eww! Just simply eat HEALTHY and work out. there you go!

thing pips do for a diet,Tape worms?,HCG? ewww,.. no way, i ges i shal stick to my usual naturals....lol.

If you want to lose weight, see a registered dietician. he/she will help you find a plan that works for you. there are so many diets in America BECAUSE NONE WORK!!!

I haven't heard that any of these were going on in this day and age.
Tapeworm!? I can't even begin to think about how DIRTY, UNSANITARY and disgusting that is!

I thought this stupid article was going to be about the trendy 'cleanses' that actors are using. They are just a new name for starving yourself and pretending it's chic.
Or I thought it might have been about coffee enemas...Janet Jackson used to do those to help her starve herself.

All these crazy diets can mess up your hormones and then you're really screwed. I think peoples lower intestines & small intestines are getting messed up from hormone disruptors in all the products and processed foods we eat & they are what is contributing to obesity.

Eat probiotics, like those in yogurt to keep your gut healthy! (Along with real home-made plain foods. Plain doesn't have to mean bland, it means don't go crazy with the neon orange cheese.)
;p

My husband and I both did the homeopathic spray version of Hcg and it worked great! He lost 35 and I lost 20. I had tried everything to lose those 20 lbs. I already ate healthy, organic and gluten free. I exercised and it never helped me lose any weight. We have kept the weight off now for over 2 months. You eat totally healthy foods while on the diet, just not very much of it. We have 4 friends who have also done it with the same results as us. I find it funny that the medical community dismisses this diet as unhealthy when it's unhealthy to be overweight. The 500 calorie part is only for 40 days or less. Not longterm. I personally feel it was worth the low calories (which werent that hard to get through btw since the hcg diminishes your appetite somewhat) to lose that amount of weight so quickly and be able to keep it off. Just my opinion.

The secret to losing weight? Eating healthy and exercising, burn more calories then you consume!!! Who knew?!?!