Are You Concerned About Losing Weight

Fad diets are diets that involve rapid weight loss, but are only to be followed for a short period of time.  Another popular culture meaning for the term is a diet that becomes wildly popular for a period of a few months to a few years, and then fades into obscurity. Examples include the grapefruit diet, the South Beach diet, and Jenny Craig.

Fad diets are a subcategory of food fads. Any time one particular food suddenly becomes a superstar, that’s a food fad. Common aspects of these fads include:

-    Some elements of the food are said to have miraculous properties.
-    Other foods are removed from the diet because they have negative properties that should be avoided.

The Atkins diet displays the characteristics of one of these fad diets. Carbohydrates are avoided like the plague, because a carbohydrate low diet can do amazing things for your body. Carbohydrates take on both of the common elements in that removing carbohydrates from the diet creates a near magical metabolic state in which fat is burned at an incredible rate.  Although it is a long-term diet, it did have short phases during which carbohydrate cutting was taken to the extreme. But Dr. Atkins did intend that people could eat this way for the rest of their lives.

The Atkins diet was also one of these fad diets in that huge popularity was fairly short-lived. For a number of years anyone who thought of dieting thought about the Atkins diet .  People from Hollywood actors to politicians were all on the Atkins diet. Although still around today, the diet is far from as popular as it was at its height.

Fad diets can be unhealthy.  Even a seemingly healthy diet like the Subway diet could be dangerous. It was based on the legend of Jared, a young man who’d lost nearly 250 pounds in only a year by eating Subway sandwiches, baked chips, and diet soda. Jared’s diet was severe — going down to 900 calories a day from over 10,000.  Doctors agree that weight loss on that scale isn’t healthy. The diet did include many positive aspects such as exercise, like walking.

Beware of fad diets. You’re better off learning how to eat well on an everyday basis and maintaining a program of rigorous exercise. Visit wellness for living for more articles about dieting smart.