7 Ridiculous Fad Diets ...

Yeah, I wished this diet worked. I'm serious, I like cookies. Of course, this diet doesn't apply to good things, like Keebler and Pepperidge Farm (what? Don't judge me!). Rather, Dr. Siegal comes up with his own cookies that are supposed to control your appetite. They look sort of like fiber bricks and taste pretty much the same way. Basically, one cookie fills up your stomach and just heavily hangs out there forever, so you physically can't eat anything else.

I think by now everyone knows this probably isn't going to work the way the commercials say it will. I don't care how many low fat or fat free options Subway puts on the menu, you're not really likely to lose a lot of weight if all you eat are sub sandwiches. Plus holy goodness, that could get expensive. Really expensive.

Likewise, it's not realistic to think you'll lose weight if you supplement two meals a day with cereal. I mean, I guess you could, but odds are it's going to come back on you, plus how healthy can this possibly be? Most of the cereals recommended for this diet contain a lot of sugar – even the so-called healthy ones.

Okay, this is funny. Once upon a time, until my sophomore year of college whereupon I spent a lot of time flunking various chemistry courses, I wanted to be a doctor. I didn't make it to physics or anything, but I took a lot of bio and medical classes, plus a really rocking genetics course, and I never saw any evidence that you need to eat certain foods based on your blood type. Especially, I never read anything saying that people with type O blood are hunters and need to go heavy on the rare meat. What?

Okay. I eat cabbage once a year: either on New Year's Day or on St. Patrick's Day. Every other day? Yeah, no thanks. I don't want to suffer the gastric consequences of cabbage the rest of the year. This is just a bad idea. Aside from the smell, people who have tried it complain of some pretty serious side effects, like no concentration, no energy, and feeling light headed. No thanks, man!

This diet is basically about starving. What worked for Soviet soldiers isn't so great for civilians. Sure, you get to use a variety of condiments – Worcestershire sauce, salt and pepper, various herbs, vinegar … but guess what? Breakfast is coffee. Lunch is a tomato and two eggs. You get a tiny bit of meat at dinner, plus a salad. I'm sorry? What? Not even Worcestershire sauce is potent enough to make that healthy.

Also known as the Three Day Diet, this one requires hot dogs for your dinner. The problem is that all your foods are ridiculously regimented. You may lose as much as ten pounds in as little as three days, but that's because you get no calories and you can count on gaining back every pound you lose – plus some more to grow on.

It's so much better to implement a healthful diet and to exercise regularly. Those are the only sure fire ways to lose weight and keep it off. Have you tried any of these diets? What is your silliest fad diet experience?

Top Photo Credit: Mr. Tender Branson