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The Truth About Fad Diets

What's with all the fad diets out there? Whether low-carb, low-calorie, or low-fat, someone always has a gimmick to sell that's supposed to help you lose weight (and look as hot as the models who advertise these products).

But wait! Has anyone been able to stay on these deprivation diets for a long period of time? And if they did lose weight, did the pounds stay off once they went back to a more normal eating style?

If you've followed a fad diet, you have plenty of company. Problem is, if a diet really worked, we'd all be on it, and we'd stay on it. The reality is that fad diets don't work to help you lose weight and keep it off.

So what does work? Eating fewer calories than you burn off or burning more calories than you take in. That's it, plain and simple. Calories really do count -- no matter what you've read in magazine articles. If you really want to trim down, the most effective way is to eat a variety of healthful foods, exercise regularly, and stop super-sizing your meals.

Variety Is Key for a Healthy Diet

Just as a car needs the proper gasoline to make it run, a body needs a healthy diet -- the right balance of protein, carbohydrates, and fat to develop properly, as well as a host of other nutrients.

When you go on a fad diet and exclude any of the necessary nutrients, you're putting yourself at risk for illness. Getting too little of a specific nutrient may not cause a problem immediately. But if it's depleted for a long period of time, you may suffer health consequences.

Practice Portion Control

Researchers have concluded that it may not be just the type of foods we're eating causing America's obesity epidemic but also the portion sizes. Food servings have grown larger and larger over the years. And fast food restaurants aren't the only places you'll find super-sized meals.

In a study published in the Journal of the American Medical Association, researchers looked into foods such as hamburgers, burritos, tacos, French fries, sodas, ice cream, pie, cookies, and salty snacks. They found that between the 1970s and the 1990s, portion sizes increased -- whether people ate these foods at home or at restaurants.

And just what does a healthy serving size look like? Here are some guidelines to keep in mind:

A cup of fruit should be no larger than your fist.
One ounce of meat or cheese is about the same as the size of your thumb from base to tip.
Three ounces of meat, fish, or poultry (a normal serving) is about the size of your palm.
One to two ounces of nuts equals your cupped hand.

Here are some more tips to help with portion (and calorie) control:

Serve your meals on salad plates instead of large dinner plates.
Store snack foods in tiny sandwich bags so you are sure you're eating no more than one portion.
When ordering out, share your entrée with a friend.
Ask for a kids' meal or small size. Never go for a super-size portion.
Fill up on fresh green salads, fruit, and vegetables instead of high-fat foods, breads, pasta, and desserts.