Diet Methods

Although it is laudatory to keep health and fitness at the forefront of everyday life, too much focus on weight and appearance can lead to eating disorders and poor body image. Millions of Americans repeatedly try dieting but still struggle to lose weight. Some diets can be beneficial, but others can be worthless and even harmful and dangerous.

Personality Centered

Diet proponents often suggest dieters choose a plan that resounds with them and matches their personality (the Personality Type Diet). It may have them eating food they find attractive (the What Color Is Your Diet?), relating to other cultures (French Women Don't Get Fat) or considering their lifestyle (Eat Right for Your Type).

Calorie Restriction

Although doctors do not recommend restricting the body from taking in the calories it needs to perform, calorie-restriction diets, or fasts, remain common. Most require dieters to eat fewer calories than they expend throughout the day, which is how they lose weight as 1 lb. is equal to 3,500 calories. These diets include the 3-Day Diet, 3-Hour Diet, 4-Day Diet and Fruit Flush Diet.

Food Specific

Some diets restrict dieters to eating only certain foods. Most physicians do not approve of these methods because it does not provide the body the full range of nutrients required for functioning. Among food-specific diets are the Lemonade Diet, Cabbage Soup Diet, Grapefruit Diet and the Morning Banana Diet.

Brand Name

Brand-name programs such as Jenny Craig, Weight Watchers and Nutrisystem all provide a method of dieting that is tied to group support, whether it's online or at in-person meetings and weigh-ins. These programs require food purchases, coaching and weight monitoring.

Health Conscious

Creators of diet methods want dieters to think they're well-informed and the expert on dieting, so they name their diet methods imperative, commanding titles such as Eat This, Not That; Master Your Metabolism; Thin for Life; and the Hallelujah Diet. If they appear to be the expert, dieters might believe their instructions and attempt to undertake that particular diet method.

Fads

It is hard to imagine a day spent consuming cookies could be considered a diet. But The Cookie Diet and other fad diets such as The Cheater's Diet and Fast Food Diet have the premise that if dieters are allowed to consume "forbidden" foods, they won't eat as much of it.