Why is the 21 Day Fix Diet Blowing Up Online and does it Actually Work

Naturally, we had to ask the experts if it's really worth the hype, or if the 21 Day Fix is just another weight-loss gimmick. The lowdown:

How it Works:

The diet revolves around the idea that it takes 21 days to successfully create a healthy habit, and was created by National Academy of Sports Medicine certified celeb trainer Autumn Calabrese who, fun fact, is also a bikini competitor. "This diet combines portion control with regular physical activity to promote weight loss in three weeks," says Leigh Tracy, R.D., a dietitian at The Center for Endocrinology at Mercy Medical Center in Baltimore. 

The Plan:

Despite the fact that controlling your portions and working out aren't exactly groundbreaking, dieters seem to be drawn in by the way the diet organizes each meal.   

As part of the program, 21 Day Fixers receive color-coded containers to measure your portions, says Ashvini Mashru, R.D., author of Small Steps to Slim. These include an 8 ounce green container for veggies, an 8 ounce purple container for fruits, a 6 ounce red container for proteins, a 5.3 ounce yellow container for carbs, two 2.7 ounce orange containers for seeds and dressings, and a Shakeology cup for shakes.

To find out how much you can eat each day, you start by calculating your specific caloric intake. Multiply your current weight by 11 and add 400 (which covers the calories burned during your daily workout.). That number is the daily calorie intake you need to maintain your weight. To find out how much you need to eat to lose weight, subtract 750.

Based on that calorie intake, the plan assigns you a daily container allowance. For example, if you're within the 1,200 to 1,499 calorie range, you're allowed three green (veggies), two purple (fruits), four red (proteins), two yellow (carbs), and one orange (seeds and dressings) per day.

The guide breaks down each container with a list of foods that you can eat, which makes it easier to create a weekly meal plan.

Along with the portioned containers and eating plan, dieters receive two workout DVDs and an exercise schedule that includes seven 30-minute workouts for each day of the week. (Sweating yet?)

Check out other diet trends throughout history:

1. Diet Trends Throughout History
2. Weight Loss Trends Throughout History

The Pros and Cons:

Though the containers eliminate the need to track your meals and the plan encourages whole foods, if you don't love prepping your meals ahead of time or expanding your grocery bill, you might struggle with the general structure. "Most of the meals are expensive or time consuming to make," she says. "And you might find the small portions of food to be too restrictive," she says. That could lead to falling off the wagon or bingeing after the 21 days are up, says Mashru.

At the same time, requiring workouts every single day for nearly a month can be super frustrating, she adds. Especially since these workouts aren’t for beginners.

Lastly, like most trendy diets, the 21 Day Fix doesn't go beyond the three weeks it was designed to fit into. Though some people might continue to watch their portions and work out on the regular, others might revert back to their previous lifestyle habits, which could lead to gaining back the weight they lost.

The Verdict:

It may not be the best course of action, says Mashru. "It's true that most people will be able to lose at least some weight on the 21 Day Fix, but for a long-term weight-loss solution, it may be better to find a program that's more flexible," she says. In other words, you'll probably find that living life by a "container diet" isn't living at all.

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This Trendy New Diet Encourages Drinking Wine and Eating Chocolate

What’s on the Menu?

The sirtfoods that make up the diet sound pretty yummy, not to mention healthy. Apples, citrus fruits, parsley, capers, blueberries, green tea, soy, strawberries, tumeric, olive oil, red onion, arugula, kale, red wine, dark chocolate, and coffee are all fair game.

Think this diet sounds crazy? Check out some of the nuttiest weight-loss strategies people have been trying throughout history.

Diet Trends Throughout History:

Unfortunately, the plan doesn’t involve eating as much of those nutrient-packed foods 'til you're stuffed. The diet breaks down into an aggressive two-phase approach. The initial phase lasts for one week and requires eating no more than 1,000 calories for three days, and then no more than 1,500 calories for the rest of the week. 

Meals include sirtfood green juices and one to two sirtfood-rich meals per day. The second phase lasts for 14 days to ease you into the long-term plan, which is to eat three sirtfood-rich meals and one sirtfood green juice per day.

Does it Work?

Increasing your intake of foods like apples and kale is definitely a healthy way to lose weight, but the beginning phases of the sirtfood diet also make this a crash diet, and that’s something we are never going to get behind. And while you might shed some weight, it's not likely that you'll keep it off for long. You might even gain more back. 

When you restrict calories below 1,200 per day, you throw your body into starvation mode, slow your metabolism, and drop water weight and maybe even some muscle. Trying to live on liquids and one meal a day, even if it's just for three days, isn’t healthy.

So why does the diet have such tough restrictions? Studies noting the weight-loss benefits of sirtfoods suggest that calorie restriction is what causes sirtfoods to activate sirtuin, those healthy proteins, explains Laura Cipullo, R.D., author of The Women’s Health Body Clock Diet. But if you dig into the research, the study authors say that it's not the proteins that lead to weight loss, it’s resveratrol, a type of polyphenol antioxidant contained in foods like chocolate and red wine. 

Previous studies have found that the reveratrol may boost your health and help you reach a healthy weight. For example, a 2015 International Journal of Obesity study found that resveratrol actually helps turn calorie-storing white fat into calorie-burning brown fat.

Your Best Move:

You can totally eat more "sirtfoods" as you work towards your weight-loss goals, but don’t bother trying to follow the diet. Eating more of these plant-based, antioxidant-packed foods is going to help fight inflammation and help you lose weight while decreasing your risk of chronic disease and upping your lifespan, says Cipullo. 

But if you are trying to lose weight, don’t think that OD'ing on resveratrol-rich olive oil, wine, and chocolate will help you reach your goals (though that would be delicious).

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This is the Most Weight you can Safely Lose in a Month by Only Changing your Diet

We hate to be the bearer of bad news, but that's not how weight loss works, at least the lasting kind. "Aim to lose one to two pounds in a week for long-term weight loss," says Marissa Lippert, R.D., author of The Cheater's Diet and owner of Nourish Kitchen + Table in New York City that's four to eight pounds in a month or about a half a dress size. 

Oh, and crash diets that promise you'll lose 30 pounds in 30 days don't work drastically slashing calories can sabotage your efforts, ultimately stalling weight loss. "Your metabolism is going to slow down because it's not getting the fuel it needs to burn calories efficiently," says Lippert, who warns women not to go below 1,200 calories a day.

Science agrees: Research shows that calorie-restriction plans often fail, with one-third to two-thirds of dieters regaining more weight than they lost on their diets. 

You know what else fails? Calorie counting. Sure, it can ultimately whittle your waist one pound of weight is equivalent to 3,500 calories, so skimming 500 calories a day means about a pound a week but number-crunching every meal is tedious and time-consuming and can take the joy out of eating. "If you get wrapped up in the numbers, it's very hard to sustain long-term changes," says Lippert. "Focus on eating whole foods instead and the calories will fall into place as they should."

Little Changes Really Do Add Up :

"Small steps are the key to changing your eating habits," says Lippert. "If you do something that's extreme, it's tough to feel motivated to keep doing it." And there's plenty of research to back it up, with studies showing that those who make small diet changes lose more weight and are more likely to keep it off than those on traditional diets. "Everyone is different, but focusing on three to five specific goals allows you to hone and solidify them to ensure lasting habit change," adds Lippert. 

On that note, here are the simple tweaks your diet needs for slow, steady, and lasting weight loss.

If you cut out your daily soda habit, you'll lose one pound in a month. One 12-ounce can of soda has 140 calories and a whopping 39 grams (15 teaspoons) of sugar.

CALORIES SAVED IN A MONTH: 4,200 calories

If you replace a glass of orange juice with an orange, you'll lose a half a pound in a month. Swapping the juice for whole fruit saves you 48 calories per day. 

CALORIES SAVED IN A MONTH: 1,440 calories

If you skip your weekly ice cream binge, you'll lose 1 pound in a month. Polishing off a pint of Ben & Jerry's Chunky Monkey is 1,200 calories a pop.

CALORIES SAVED IN A MONTH: 4,800 calories

If you skip the whipped cream on your Starbucks beverage, you'll lose one pound in a month. A Starbucks Grande Mocha Frappuccino is 280 calories, but add the whipped cream and it shoots up to 390 calories. (Maybe reconsider that Starbucks coconut milk latte, too.)

CALORIES SAVED IN A MONTH: 3,300 calories

If you cut back from two glasses of wine to one, you'll lose one pound in a month. You can still have your vino, just cap your Cab at one glass per day.

CALORIES SAVED IN A MONTH: 3,660 calories a month 

If you go meatless for dinner on Monday, you'll lose a half a pound in a month. Swapping your usual steak and potatoes for a hefty Grilled Vegetable Stack sandwich saves you 423 calories. (Try these five delicious meatless meals.)

CALORIES SAVED IN A MONTH: 1,692 calories

If you skip the bread basket, you'll lose half a pound in a month. Even just indulging once a week when you're out to dinner can add up (three breadsticks = 420 calories).

CALORIES SAVED IN A MONTH: 1,680 calories

If you downsize your salad dressing, you'll lose one pound in a month. Yes to a daily salad, just trim the olive oil from 2 tablespoons to 1 tablespoon and you'll cut 120 calories per day.

CALORIES SAVED IN A MONTH: 3,600 calories

If you don't get everything on your burrito, you'll lose one and a half pounds in a month. Adding sour cream, cheese, and guac adds an extra 1,230 calories per burrito.

CALORIES SAVED IN A MONTH: 4,920 calories

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The Truth about “Teatoxes”

What is a 'Teatox'?

Brands such as Bootea, SkinnyMint, and Flat Tummy Tea say that drinking two cups of their tea a day can lead to ‘detox’ benefits like weight loss, a suppressed appetite, less bloat, and more energy. The companies are big fans of using ‘before and after’ shots to convince you that their products bring results.

Why it's Bogus?

“There’s no evidence that teatoxing can help you lose weight,” says dietician Sharon Palmer, R.D., author of Plant Powered For Life.

Regular teas (like black, white, green, and oolong) are brimming with disease-fighting compounds, and green tea has metabolism-boosting EGCG, but detox teas usually pack in some not entirely benign herbal ingredients. 

Take senna, for example, an ingredient found in a number of the nighttime teas that’s used to produce a laxative effect. And Possibly Dangerous

“The National Institute of Health has said senna can have a negative impact on your GI tract (irritation, cramps, diarrhea)," says Palmer. They also discourage people from using it for more than two weeks because it may lead to more serious health effects, she adds. And since many of these ‘teatox’ programs are 28 days long, that's probably pretty hard on your plumbing.

In the fine print, some weight-loss tea brands even suggest that you spend your first few nights close to a bathroom. #Subtle. Sure, pooping your brains out may temporarily give you a flat belly, but we promise it’s not sustainable or at all healthy even if you have a thing for diapers.

Takeaway:

If you’re looking to lose weight and de-bloat, help your body’s natural detoxifying process (that’s the kidneys and liver) do their job by eating nutritious foods and drinking loads of H20. 

“Focus on lean protein choices (seafood, legumes, nuts, seeds), whole grains, fruits, vegetables, healthy fats, herbs, spices, and regular exercise,” says Palmer. When it comes to tea, it’s better to be basic.

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The Most Inadvisable Things Celebrities have Done to Lose Weight

A-listers have unbeatable access to top notch nutritionists, doctors, trainers, and chefs, which is why we’re all ears when they spill the beans on shedding pounds. But let’s be honest here sometimes their tips and tricks are just plain dumb. (Or, um, dangerous.)  From surviving without solids to eating dried oatmeal, here are the more batshit ways stars have tried to stay trim.

Adriana Lima’s Victoria’s Secret Diet:

The supermodel told the Telegraph that nine days before the big Victoria’s Secret Fashion Show, she skips solids and exists on protein shakes made with powdered egg, vitamins, and supplements all while exercising twice a day. Then, 12 hours before the show, she doesn’t drink anything. We hope this is too terrible to be true. 

Beyonce’s Master Cleanse:

To prep for her role as Deena in Dreamgirls, Bey said on the Oprah Winfrey Show that she embarked on a master cleanse (which involves pounding a mixture of lemons, cayenne pepper, and maple syrup) in order to drop 20 pounds in 14 days. At least she admitted it made her grouchy and eventually turned to a healthier option to lose weight. 

Anne Hathaway’s Oatmeal Squares:

Two squares of dried oatmeal paste a day. That’s all Anne Hathaway ate for two weeks while filming Les Miserables so that her character Fantine looked "near death." We’d say she succeeded, though not sure near-starvation is worth an Oscar? Hathaway told Vogue, "Looking back on the whole experience and I don't judge it in any way it was definitely a little nuts.” 

Snooki’s Cookie Diet:

Fresh off the Jersey Shore in 2010, Polizzi told Us Weekly that she wanted to drop some of the party weight, and turned to Dr. Siegal’s Cookie Diet, which consists of eating six appetite-suppressing cookies made of beef and milk protein, per day, plus one normal dinner. Beef. Cookies. Yum?

Lady Gaga’s Whisky Diet: 

Back in 2011, the New York Daily News reported that Gaga said, “I'm on the drunk diet, I like to drink whiskey and stuff while I'm working. But the deal is, I've got to work out every day, and I work out hung over, if I'm hung over.” Hopefully by "and stuff" she meant eat healthy meals and snacks, but who knows. 

Megan Fox’s Vinegar Trick: 

We know apple cider vinegar is good for your hair (and taking the itch out of poison oak) but, according to E! News, Megan Fox reportedly throws the stuff down the hatch as a cleanse. Gah! As you might have guessed, experts say that drinking apple cider vinegar won't actually help you drop weight but it does make a great salad dressing.

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The Mediterranean Diet is Being Hyped Up, but is it Legit for Weight Loss

What’s on the Menu?

Despite its name, there’s really no “one” Mediterranean diet, says Delbridge. There are no strict macronutrient or caloric guidelines, no outlawed foods, and no “you have to eat this or else” ingredients. It's more of a rough sketch of what people in Greece and southern Italy ate around 1960, when the Mediterranean region boasted some of the world’s lowest rates of chronic disease and longest life expectancies. Cha-ching!

During this time, researchers found that most people within the Mediterranean region followed a whole-food, plant-based diet that emphasized filling up on fruits, veggies, beans, nuts, legumes, and whole grains. They also ate fish and seafood at least twice a week.

Their meals included a ton of herbs and spices, along with a moderate amount of olive oil for flavoring, and modest servings of poultry, eggs, cheese, and yogurt. It scaled back considerably on both desserts and red meat, but included daily red wine consumption. Processed foods were basically nonexistent.

If you eat like that, then you’re on a Mediterranean diet.

Will It Help You Lose Weight?

Yep. And it even leads to better long term weight loss than low-fat diets, according to a 2016 review published in The American Journal of Medicine. What’s more, if you break down the diet, research shows that many of its components, like swapping out refined grains for whole ones and eating more fruits and veggies, are linked to weight loss, says Delbridge.

“The diet isn’t about any one magic food or formula,” he says. “It comes down to eating healthy foods in healthy portion sizes. With the Mediterranean diet, you're consuming lots of protein, fiber, whole carbohydrates, unsaturated fats, and lots of vitamins, minerals, and antioxidants. You're eating foods in their most natural state.”

That pretty much explains why everyone and their mom has recommended the diet to those at risk for heart disease, diabetes, dementia, or cancer. You know, because it’s actually good for you, he says.

It's a novel concept amidst a never ending array of fad diets, huh?

Make It Work for You:

The Mediterranean diet isn't a strict, rule-based diet. Instead, it allows for a lot of customization, which we love. So if you’re lactose or gluten intolerant and want to forgo dairy or wheat, that’s OK. If you love yogurt, go ahead and ramp up your yogurt intake, says Delbridge. In the end, the best diet is one that you can stick with for the rest of your life. 

However, there’s a fine line between making the Mediterranean diet work for you and totally veering off course.

Here are some of Delbridge’s top tips for following a Mediterranean diet, no matter what:

• Limit your intake of processed foods as much as possible.
• Make veggies half of every meal.
• Eat seafood at least twice per week.
• Swap refined grains for whole ones.
• Increase your intake of beans, lentils, and other legumes.
• Limit portion sizes (e.g. pasta should be a side dish, not a main dish!).
• Incorporate plant-based fats like olive oil and avocado into every meal.
• Eat lean proteins over fatty ones.

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The Lazy Girl’s Guide to Shedding Fat Without Exercise

Exercise is important. It's healthy and you should do it.

BUT, there's times where you are either unmotivated to go to the gym, don't feel like working out or where you are unable (injured for example). And when you can't or don't want to exercise, but REALLY want to lose weight, what's a girl gonna do??

Introducing... The Lazy Girl's Guide To Shedding Fat Without Exercise!

Below are 25 fat loss hacks to help you lose weight without setting foot into a gym, or even breaking a sweat!

Food & Diet Tips:

How to lose weight without regular exercise:

Eat more protein:

A significant portion of the calories in every gram of protein are burned off during digestion and absorption. On the other hand, over 90% of carbohydrate calories are absorbed. It's protein for the win!

Nibble on dill pickles:

They have one calorie for every slice and can help to get you from meal to meal.

Downsize your dinner plate:

Furthermore, purchase littler ones. That way, regardless of the possibility that you fill your plate to limit, you're at last eating not exactly what you would likely heap on your current platters.

Cut carbs:

Yes, you've heard it a zillion times. The reason: It works. In only one of numerous late studies, a Journal of Nutrition report found that ladies who lessened their carb admission to only 8% of their day by day calories lost seven pounds of fat and increased two pounds of muscle in six weeks.

Fiber for the win!

If you are going to consume carbs, make sure you're going high fiber. Fiber is processed by the body first during digestion and whilst the fiber is being processed and broken down, a portion of your fat intake in the same meal will pass through the body unabsorbed.

Top your plate of mixed greens with vinaigrette dressing:

Acidic foods, for example, vinegar and lemon juice work like lighter liquid in your muscle to fat ratio ratios' incinerator, expanding carb burning 20%-40%. Matured nourishments like pickles and yogurt are additionally great acrid choices.

Avoid fasting:

Your body has a survival mechanism to ensure that it doesn't expend more calories than it takes in, which kicks in during times of prolonged energy decline (or a cease of calorie intake over a period of time). When calories become non-existent or inconsistent short supply, the body lowers it's metabolism to increase the duration of the existing energy stores (fat).

This lowered metabolism can remain in place for quite some time, so future fat burning and weight loss is inhibited. After fasting, when you finally eat your next meal, the body will store the majority of the energy content within that meal just in case another "famine" is around the corner. Not good for fat loss!

No potatoes:

In any form mashed, baked or french fries - are no good for fat burning. Potatoes cause an insulin spike in the blood, which causes reduced fat burning. Stay away from potatoes.

Consume water prior to eating:

Having a glass of water immediately prior to eating (and between meals) works fantastically well for helping you to feel full quick as the water takes up space in your stomach.

Call for a substitution:

Whenever choosing a meal at a restaurant, or when preparing at home, substitute pasta, rice and potatoes for some wholesome vegetables instead. You'll feel just as full afterward, but having consumed far less carbohydrates in the meal.

Take a time-out:

Rather than eating a full plate of food without a break, try eating half your plate and then waiting 20 minutes before eating the remainder. It takes a few minutes for your stomach to receive food and tall your brain that it's feeling full and sometimes half a plate is all you actually need!

It's ok to cheat:

Nearly every successful bodybuilder (you know those Facebook posers with hardly a slither of fat on their body? Yeah, them) allows themselves a cheat meal. But only one.

If you eat well 85% of the time, the 5% of the time will not matter. A cheat meal is a great little reward for effort and gives you something to look forward to if you struggle to put "regular food" out of your mind for long periods of time.

If you're gonna eat bread, avoid the white stuff:

White bread is just full of energy and empty calories. If you absolutely must have bread, go for grainy bread as a far higher portion of grainier breads will pass through your body without adding to your stored energy (fat) supplies.

Change up your eating routine:

Mix up your eating regime. There is a school of thought that mixing up the volume and timing of meals from day to day can "keep your body guessing" and fire up the metabolism. Might sound a little wacky, but every individual's body reacts differently. So why not try mixing up meal quantities and timing over the next couple weeks and see how your body responds to a change?

Eat consistently:

Research from Harvard and Boston's Children's Hospital has shown that individuals who eat breakfast carry significantly less body fat than those that do not. A meal in the morning is said to help manage insulin and hunger levels, which prevents your from gorging on food during the day due to hunger.

Stay away from packaged foods:

Eating food that is in as close to it's natural forms is the best way to go. Packaged foods contain higher levels of preservatives and empty calories. They're processed. Natural food on the other hand, contains all the natural goodness, and often a lower calorie count than packaged options.

It's ok to snack:

Snacking in between meals keeps your digestive system stirred and firing, in a consistent energy burning state. Burn baby, burn!

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The GM Diet is Blowing Up Online, but Really WTH is it

What You Can Eat:

The diet itself is a weeklong program that involves uber-strict eating guidelines, says Mashru. Day one involves eating only fruit, except for bananas (probably because of their higher sugar and calorie content). By eating only water-based fruit (such as watermelon, cantaloupes, and apples), the uptick in fluids is said to flush out toxins and prepare your bod for the rest of the diet plan.

Day two is an all-veggie extravaganza. You start out with a baked potato and butter for breakfast, which is supposed to provide the complex carbs necessary for all-day energy. Meanwhile, the unlimited veggies of any kind provide oodles of essential nutrients, like fiber, and are very low in calories.

On day three, you're allowed to nosh on both fruits and veggies (except for bananas and potatoes). And day four is devoted almost entirely to milk and bananas to make up for the lack of potassium and sodium during the first few days of the diet. On this day, you're also allowed to eat unlimited amounts of a veggie soup recipe. The same soup is allowed as often as you want for the rest of the week (cha-ching?).

Check out all of the wacky weight loss trends throughout history:

• Diet Trends Throughout History
• Weight Loss Trends Throughout History

In addition to the veggie soup, day five allows for lean beef and tomatoes reuniting you with the lean protein you've probably been dreaming about since the start of the diet. Day six allows for beef and veggies (and veggie soup), and the final day of the diet consists of the soup, brown rice, veggies, and fruit juice. 

Throughout the entire diet, you're encouraged to drink as much water as you can stand (roughly 12 to 15 glasses a day) in order to aid the "detoxification" process and nix dehydration.

The Results:

Let's get one thing out of the way first: Drinking more water isn't going to help your body detoxify itself any more than it's already doing. You'll just be peeing a lot.

And, sure, the GM Diet could be one of the quickest ways to shed pounds, but don't expect lasting results. "The biggest problem with the GM Diet is that its guidelines are unsustainable and unrealistic," says Mashru. "Even if you lose weight by strictly following the seven-day plan, you'll gain the pounds back once you return to your regular eating habits." 

That's because the weight you're losing is most likely water weight, not fat. Calorie-deficient diets, like this one, send your body into starvation mode, says Mashru. Not only does your metabolism slow in order to preserve energy, but your body instinctively stores fat instead of burning it in order to "survive."

What's worse, the drastic calorie reduction can eff with your overall health if you use the program over the long-haul. That's because it severely restricts your intake of whole grains, seafood, and dairy products, all of which contain nutrients that can contribute to a lower risk of chronic medical problems, such as cancer, heart disease, and osteoporosis, says Mashru. To top it off, by cutting out so many food groups, you're likely to experience dizziness, fatigue, muscle weakness, and headaches. Bah.

The Verdict:

"The GM Diet is not a safe or sustainable way to lose weight," says Mashru. The program doesn't encourage dieters to build habits that encourage a lasting change, like exercising regularly. It also doesn't teach dieters to incorporate nutritious foods, cooking techniques, or well-balanced eating habits into their normal lifestyle, she says.

Instead of looking for a quick fix, make maintainable changes to your lifestyle and fitness routine. "Long-lasting weight-loss success is possible, but it takes a consistent, sensible approach not detoxes, cleanses, fad diets, or special products," adds Mashru. 

Those small changes aren't the quickest way to see results, but last if you stick with them. No urban legend required.

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The Beyond Diet is Blowing Up on Social Mediabut is it Legit

You can try the Beyond Diet by purchasing packages ranging from $15 to $67 per month. They include recipes, meal plans, and access to an online community of coaches and other program members. After going on a 14-day jumpstart cleanse of whole foods, members undergo testing to determine their metabolic type, which establishes the amount of carbs, protein, and fat they should be eating. (No word on what this metabolic testing actually entails.) 

To get more info on what this diet is all about, we asked a few registered dietitians to weight in with their thoughts. 

What’s on the Menu:

You'll be looking at meals made of whole, organic foods, including grass-fed beef, free-range chicken, cage free eggs, coconut oil, whole grains like quinoa and spelt, and lots of veggies and fruits. Sounds legit, right?

“Nutrient dense, whole foods are usually a better choice than processed foods because of what's in them,” says registered dietitian Alexandra Caspero, R.D. That doesn't mean processed foods are bad, but vegetables, fruits, whole grains, lean protein, nuts, and avocado are packed with phytonutrients, vitamins, minerals, and fiber, which should be part of any healthy eating plan, says Caspero.

Apart from the dolla, dolla bills involved in going organic and grass fed (on average, organic foods are 47 percent more expensive, per a recent Consumer Reports study), these clean eats might actually help you lose weight and get healthier. Research in PLOS One and Environmental Health Perspectives has linked chemical pesticide exposure to weight gain and insulin resistance.

What's Off Limits:

Besides ultra processed foods, the Beyond Diet also declares artificial sweeteners, margarine, orange juice, soymilk, and whole-wheat bread no gos. And the exclusion of these five common fridge staples worries some experts.

While artificial sweeteners and margarine don't exactly qualify as health foods, completely banning certain items from your diet doesn't seem to promote sustainable eating, says Wesley Delbridge, R.D., spokesperson for the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics.

“The interesting thing to me is that she [De Los Rios] promotes a plan of ‘life without dieting’ but got famous by promoting ‘five foods never to eat,’" says Caspero. (You’ve probably seen the ads online.)

Soy, including soymilk and tofu, can be beneficial for those who are lactose intolerant, vegetarian, vegan, or who just like the taste. It’s rich in protein, calcium, and is often fortified with vitamin D and B12, says Vandana Sheth, R.D. However, De Los Rios claims that unfermented soy products, like soy milk and tofu, cause digestive distres, mineral loss in bones, and contributes to levels of toxins in the body.

Check out our video timeline of wacky weight-loss trends:

The Beyond Diet also claims that wheat causes inflammation, which often leads to weight gain. But Delbridge, Sheth, and Caspero all maintain that the rich fiber and B vitamins in whole wheat products are needed to help maintain healthy blood sugar levels, promote satiety, keep energy levels up, and promote a healthy metabolism.

Delbridge notes that only two percent of people have a gluten intolerance or Celiac disease. Even in those with the intolerance, cutting out whole wheat can lead to vitamin deficiencies. Plus, a super-low carb intake can result in the body breaking down muscle for fuel, he says.

“Yes, many of us are eating too many refined grains, but it's way too easy to pin it on bread,” Caspero adds. She recommends swapping out refined grains for whole ones, including whole-wheat bread.

Going Beyond the Diet:

It's worth noting that nutrition coaches, like De Los Rios, don't have the same credentials as registered dietitians, Delbridge says. Yet, De Los Rios claims that her plan has helped thousands of people lose weight.

And that's probably true, says Sheth. After all, prioritizing whole, nutrient-dense foods and a healthy caloric deficit, and giving women an online community for support, are all proven to aid weight loss. 

But you don’t need to purchase a diet plan, ditch whole-wheat bread, or risk nutrient deficiencies to do that. Just eat real food.

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The 4 Types of People Who will Benefit from a High Protein Diet

For most of us, the answer is no. David Katz, M.D., director of the Yale University Prevention Research Center, believes the protein craze is for the most part just that another craze, like low-fat in the 1980s and low-carb in the early 2000s. 

"All the focus on macronutrients has been a massive boondoggle we cut fat and got fatter and sicker; we cut carbs and got fatter and sicker," he says. "We need to stop focusing on macronutrients and focus on wholesome foods and healthy combinations and let the nutrients take care of themselves."

Besides, we already get plenty of protein. The Dietary Guidelines for Americans recommend getting between 10 percent and 35 percent of your daily calories from protein. Just 10 percent that's around 46 g of protein per day for women would be enough to meet the Recommended Daily Allowance (RDA) and prevent deficiencies, and CDC data shows that we tend to get closer to 16 percent.

And yet, Katz says, certain types of people can benefit from greater protein intake. After all, we all have different bodies with individual nutritional needs, so no single protein guideline will fit all. (Take back control of your eating and lose weight in the process with our 21-Day Challenge!)

The best protein sources, he says, are eggs, fish, poultry, and small amounts of lean, grass-fed meats (a few four-ounce servings a week), along with beans, soy, and lentils combined with nuts and seeds or rice and grains. In other words, don't be tempted to pile on the bacon. 

Although meat is certainly a high-quality protein meaning it has the right distribution of amino acids for our body's needs it brings along other "passengers" that are harmful, namely saturated fat, high total fat, cholesterol, and, depending how we cook it, possibly carcinogens.

Here are the four types of people Katz says may benefit from higher protein intake, which means getting a bigger proportion of calories from protein not just piling extra protein onto your regular diet.

Bodybuilders:

If you're doing a lot of resistance training or taxing endurance exercise, you're tearing down muscle tissue that needs to be repaired and rebuilt. "Protein is a source of essential amino acids that are the building blocks of the body's own proteins and we can't make them. We get them from food or we don't get them at all," Katz explains. 

"And that's clearly detrimental." (We like this organic grass-fed whey protein powder for postworkout recovery.)

People who are prone to weight gain:

"There's a reasonable amount of evidence to suggest that higher protein, depending on where the protein comes from, may help with low-calorie compliance by providing satiety," says Tom Rifai, M.D., regional medical director of metabolic health and weight management for the Henry Ford Health System in Detroit. That's because protein takes longer to digest, leaving us feeling fuller. It also stabilizes blood sugar, which has been shown to lower our desire to eat helpful when trying to shed pounds.

"During weight loss, you want more protein to prevent hunger, enhance satiety, and minimize muscle loss, as long as there's some degree of physical activity." Legumes are a particularly great source of protein, as a 2014 study in the journal Obesity found that eating a daily serving of beans, chickpeas, lentils, or peas increases fullness, potentially improving weight management and weight loss. (Here are 16 types of protein that can help you lose weight.)

People with a very sugary, carby, crappy diet:

Anyone eating the typical American diet (think: bread, pasta, and snack packs) can benefit from shifting toward more high-quality protein, like egg whites, fish, and lean meat. "If you're getting a higher percentage of calories from protein, you're getting less of the other stuff, like added sugar and carbohydrates," says Katz.

In other words: "More tuna, fewer doughnuts." In a randomized trial known as the Optimal Macronutrient Intake Trial to Prevent Heart Disease (OmniHeart), people who replaced some carbohydrate with healthy protein (or healthy fat) saw lower blood pressure and lower levels of harmful LDL cholesterol than people on a higher-carbohydrate diet that was otherwise healthy.

People in middle age:

Getting a little extra protein may be helpful after age 50 to counteract the inevitable muscle loss that comes with aging. "Older adults at risk of sarcopenia, the gradual loss of lean muscle mass, would benefit from more high-quality protein in their diet," says Katz. In a 2015 study from the University of Arkansas for Medical Sciences, adults ages 52 to 75 who doubled the recommended daily allowance were better at building muscle and keeping muscle after just four days. 

For people in this age group, who may already have high cholesterol or other cardiovascular risk factors, it's a good idea to grab extra protein from beans, seeds, whole grains, nuts, and fish instead of red meat, dairy products, and eggs, which are high in saturated fats.

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The 3-Day Military Diet is One of the Worst Crash Diets Ever Period

On day one, breakfast is one cup of coffee or tea, a slice of toast, and a half-cup of canned tuna. On day two, dinner is two hot dogs (this is not a joke), a cup of broccoli, one-half cup of carrots, half a banana, and one-half cup of vanilla ice cream. No snacks allowed. You get the drift.

The result: You quickly drop water weight, burn minimal fat, and may also lose muscle, says Katie Ferraro, M.P.H., R.D. Yeah, that's not good. 

Just Another Fad Diet:

“It is so ridiculous… If I had a patient who said, ‘I’d like to lose 10 pounds in three days and then regain 15 pounds the next week,’ then this is the diet I would recommend,” Ferraro says.

Though the diet claims that following the three day plan with four days of eating 1,500 calories of whole foods will keep your metabolism running on high, that's a big fat lie, says Ferraro.

On the diet, you'll be bringing your calorie intake down to about 1,100 per day, according to Ferraro’s analysis. “The problem with cutting calories this low is that it sends your body into starvation mode," she says.

When that happens, your metabolism slows down. Then, when you go back to eating normal amounts of food on days four through seven, your body perceives that as a state of starvation and starts storing your calories as fat, leading to rebound weight gain, she says. 

It also cuts carbs down to about half of your recommended daily intake and reduces fiber intake along with slew of other nutrients, she says.

And while hot dogs and ice cream can be a part of any balanced eating plan, they definitely don’t qualify as health foods.

Check out our timeline of crazy weight-loss trends throughout history:

• Diet Trends Throughout History
• Weight Loss Trends Throughout History
• Who Came Up with This?

While the diet's name implies that it's something the U.S. military invented to help people lose weight, there's no indication that this plan has any affiliation with the military at all.

On top of that, it's not even clear who invented the hot dog-packed diet, let alone if they're a reliable source of nutritional information. 

You Don’t Have to “Go Hard” to Lose Weight:

What's even scarier is that this diet (like so many crash diets before it) glorifies unhealthy eating as the key to weight loss.

According to the website, “The people that fail on the Military Diet simply don’t have the drive and determination that you do. They complain about hunger or low energy because they are used to eating way more calories in a day. That’s how they gained weight in the first place, by eating more calories than they burned off. Most importantly, some people aren’t committed to weight loss. 

Ugh. What’s a three-day diet in exchange for losing 10 pounds in a week? Poor nutrition, a slowed metabolic rate, muscle loss, rebound weight gain and a terrible relationship with food. None of those things contribute to healthy and sustainable weight loss.

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New Study Says Exercise is Better than Dieting for Cutting Calories Let's Discuss

When people were put on a food restriction, scientists found that they had increased levels of the hunger hormone ghrelin and lower levels of the hunger-fighting hormone peptide YY. They also ate almost a third more at a buffet meal than people who exercised more.

On average, people who exercised more ate 660 calories at the buffet meal vs. the 944 calories eaten by people who simply ate less before the meal.

As a result, researchers concluded that exercise is more effective than restricting your diet if your goal is to cut back on calorie consumption as most people looking to lose weight do. 

“Some researchers have claimed that women's appetites, appetite hormones, and food intake are more likely to increase after exercise than men's our new study shows that this is not the case, at least over the course of a single day,” says lead study author David Stensel, Ph.D., an associate dean in Loughborough University’s School of Sport, Exercise, and Health Sciences. 

Stensel says he thinks many people are surprised that exercise does not necessarily increase food intake (at least in the short term), adding that he was too when he first started researching this topic.

So…what's going on here? 

While certified dietitian-nutritionist Gina Keatley acknowledges that the study was small, she calls the research “sound” and says there’s a valuable lesson here. “Drastically reducing calories is not the answer for weight loss,” she says. Amen, sister.

Aerobic exercise, like running, causes the body to repress the release of gherlin, or hunger hormones, says Keatley. When you compare that to just cutting back on your calorie intake and not having the hormone-repressing benefit of exercise, it just makes sense that you’d be hungrier when you didn’t eat as much.

Stensel says his study doesn’t necessarily confirm that exercise is better than diet for weight loss just that you'll probably be less hungry after working out than cutting way back on how many calories you ate.

And you can totally use this info to your advantage. If you’re trying to lose weight, it might be worth working out before you have breakfast or after work before dinner. You’ll likely end up eating less, which can really add up over time.

But, when it comes to the old diet vs. exercise debate, Stensel says you shouldn’t have to choose: “We think that both diet and exercise are important for weight loss in the longer term.”

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