The Fruit Diet

Would you like to lose 9 pounds in 3 days? Do you enjoy fresh fruit? If you answered YES to these questions, then Jay Robb may have the ideal lose-it-quick diet for you. Here is the scoop on the Fruit Diet.

The Fruit Diet (also called the Fruit Flush Diet) is easy to understand. You eat fresh fruit every two hours. Bamm, done, that's it. For three days you don't eat processed foods, complex carbohydrates, starches, alcohol or caffeine. You drink a lot of water, too, at least 12 glasses of pure water every day. Your protein comes from a protein shake that serves as your dinner.

The Fruit Flush Diet is a 3 day weight loss program. On the first day you drink nothing but protein shakes and purified water. For the next 2 days you eat strictly fresh fruit, every two hours, and a dinner of raw, non-starchy vegetables and a protein shake or small serving of lean protein.

All told, you will get about 1,000 calories a day on the Fruit Flush Diet. This is substantially below the government's recommendation of 1,200 calories a day for a safe diet. Without a doubt, fresh fruit is good for you. Fruit alone, however, does not provide the balanced nutrition that you body requires. There is a stark lack of B and D vitamins, minerals, and healthy omega-3 fatty acids.

Nearly everyone will lose weight with the Fruit Diet. Unfortunately, most of the weight loss will come from water weight, with lesser amounts from lean muscle and fat. During the diet, your caloric intake is so low that you should not expect to exercise or participate in strenuous activities; you just won't have the energy.

Jay Robb suggests doing the Fruit Flush Diet for 3 days out of each week for 12 weeks, then once or twice a month for life. He says that this will get you "in the best shape of your life" and help you to shape your eating and your thinking for a lifetime of success.

The Volumetrics Diet

One of the lesser-known diets to make the U.S. News Top Diets list is the Volumetrics Diet. This diet doesn't focus on how much you weigh, it focuses on how much your food weighs. Getting away from counting calories can be a freeing experience!

Dr. Barbara Rolls created the Volumetrics Diet to eliminate the feeling of deprivation that comes with many diets. Her diet lets you feel full and satisfied while you lose weight. And as you lose weight you adjust your outlook on food and move to an eating plan that can stay with you for life.

Dr. Barbara Rolls

The Volumetrics Diet divides food into four groups, based on the density of the food.  Density is the weight of something divided by its volume. Category 1 foods are very low density, including fruits and non-starchy vegetables, nonfat milk and clear broths.  Category 2 foods are the starchy vegetables and fruits, most grains and pastas, and lean meats. Category 3 (we're up to medium density here) foods are cheese, not-so-lean meats, most processed foods, bread, and pastries. Category 4 foods are crackers, cookies, butter, chocolate and oils.

The diet allows three meals, two snacks and a dessert. You balance your intake based on the category of foods that you desire. Category 1 foods are so low in calorie density that they're essentially unlimited. Category 4 foods are pretty much diet-busters, so you get very little from that category.

The book "The Volumetrics Weight-control Plan" is an essential part of this diet. You need to look up your meal components to determine their energy density. That can be a real drag for some people. If you didn't enjoy middle school math, pass on this diet. Once you get your favorite foods highlighted in the book, things get a lot easier.

The diet does a good job of pointing you toward foods that will help you lose weight while filling your stomach. You will feel full after dinner. Unfortunately, these low density foods don't have the "staying power" of higher density foods, so you might get hungry before the next meal or snack rolls around.

The Volumetrics Diet is a sensible approach to weight loss. Based on 1,100 to 1,600 calories a day, it will provide gradual, safe weight loss without driving you toward poor nutrition. This is a diet that can stay with you for life, so you won't regain the lost weight the month following your diet.

So, are you good at math and ready to lose some pounds? Give the Volumetrics Diet a try and let us know your results!

The Biggest Loser Diet

So you didn't make it on the TV reality show The Biggest Loser. That's sad, because you would have been a very interesting contestant. As a consolation prize, though, you can still adopt the Biggest Loser Diet. They say that 6 weeks on this diet will have you losing weight, reducing your cholesterol, lowering your blood pressure and reversing diabetes. Here are the details.

Dr. Michael Dansiger and Cheryl Forberg developed the Biggest Loser diet in collaboration with now-famous trainers Jillian Michaels and Bob Harper. Their diet combines a low calorie meal plan and lots of exercise to produce prime-time results.

The Biggest Loser diet uses a pyramid scheme that they label "4-3-2-1." That stands for 4 servings of fruits and vegetables, 3 servings of protein, 2 servings of whole grains and 1 bonus serving. These servings are spread across three meals and two snacks. This helps avoid hunger pangs, as does a real focus on high fiber foods that fill your stomach without contributing many calories. Oh, yes, don't forget to drink 4-6 servings (12 oz each) of water every day, too.

Depending on your current weight, the Biggest Loser book details 1,200, 1,500 or 1,800 calorie meal plans. They recommend multiplying your current weight (in pounds) by seven to arrive at your ideal diet calorie count. In any case, nearly half (45%) of the calories come from cabs, about a third from protein and a quarter from fat. That tantalizing "bonus" serving in the 4-3-2-1 pyramid is your choice of fat, sweets, alcohol or whatever, as long as you don't go over 200 calories.

How will this diet help you? The meal plans have few "bad" fats and a lot of the "good" fats, so your cholesterol should move in the right direction. By increasing your HDL cholesterol, the plaque buildup in your arteries should decline. This will help your blood pressure. By dramatically decreasing your calories while exercising strenuously, your type II diabetes should improve.  All in all, this diet and exercise program has many positives. On the other side, nutritionists have observed that the meal plans are a bit light on some nutrients. That would suggest that you continue to take your multivitamin make sure you include some fish in your protein budget.

Can you lose weight on the Biggest Loser diet? Almost certainly, if you follow the rules. You will be eating fewer calories than you burn, so the weight will come off. Will it come off as quickly as it does on TV? It's unlikely that you will spend as much time working out out as the contestants, or that your personal trainer will have the motivational skills of Jillian or Bob. But if you are dedicated, and your diet buddy is there for support and encouragement, this diet can be a winner.

Have you lost weight on the Biggest Loser diet? Click on that skinny Comment button and tell us your tale!