I always hate the word "diet," because even though it's also a medical term, it's usually used by people looking for a quick fix. We all know that losing weight and getting in shape is a life long change in lifestyle. I'm especially reminded of that since I just got back from my yearly physical and...well...I don't want to tell you what my weight is.

Having said that, I think all diets have at least something that we can take away from them and use, and Yahoo's Buzz log has the top 20 diets being searched on Yahoo right now. They include old standbys like Atkins, The Zone, and Weight Watchers, and a few newcomers, such as the Master Cleanse Diet and The Hallelujah Diet, which is "biblically based." I have no idea what that means, but it probably means walking in a desert for a really long time.

I was surfing around the new and improved AOL Food today, and I came across this A to Z Guide To Diets. It doesn't have every single diet, of course (how could they when there's a new diet book out every week?), but it has the one that you're probably on or are thinking of trying, including The 3 Hour Diet, The Abs Diet, Atkins, Blood Type Diet, Bob Greene, Cabbage Soup, Dr. Phil's Diet, Fat Flush, Fat Smash, Grapefruit Diet, L.A. Weight Loss Diet, NutriSystem, Sonoma, Ultimate New York Diet, Ultrametabolism, Weight Watchers, and The Zone.

The only plan I've tried is The Abs Diet, because it's not only sensible and realistic, it promotes a lot of exercise and not starving yourself or cutting out a ton of foods you like to eat. But I cringe at the word "diet." It just screams "temporary fix," and keeping the weight off and your body healthy is a life-long plan.

I've done an extensive survey of all of the information about weight loss that you can find on the shelves of Border's and Barnes & Noble, and here are the results.

It seems as if the best way to lose weight and get in shape is a combo of the following: eating a lot of carbs, eating a lot of fat, cutting carbs out completely, drinking a lot of water, not eating any "white" foods at night like bread, rice, and pasta, eating just grapefruit, eating your meals in a mixed-up fashion (lunch for dinner, breakfast for lunch, etc), not eating after 8pm, eating a lot of soups, cutting out all candy, cakes, and processed foods, avoiding diet drinks, eating a Subway sub a couple of times a week, eating foods according to your blood type, eating foods according to color, eating a lot of fiber, training your brain to think like a thin person, eating like they do in France, eating like they do in China, not counting calories, making sure you count calories, taking vitamins and supplements, become a vegan, eating more meat, eat a lot of apples, eating only raw foods, and joining one of the weight loss organizations such as Weight Watchers or Jenny Craig.

If you follow the above rules, you should get in shape very quickly. You're welcome.

The number of Americans dieting is at a 16 year low. Many Baby Boomers have decided the heck with all the fad diets and instead they are just trying to eat healthy. In 2006 this was the #1 diet, followed by a doctors medical advice, and then with the Weight Watchers program in third place.

This doesn't mean that Americans don't feel they need to lose weight. A great many adults, around 60%, say they would like to drop around 20 pounds. (I wonder if this is includes the 36% of adults who are overweight and the 24% who are obese? Somehow I doubt the figures correlate fully.)

Sadly, the actual numbers of those who obese and overweight in America has continued to climb, with a recent survey by the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention saying that about 24% of U.S. adults are obese, up from 16% in 1995 and 20% in 2000.

At least many of the fad diets seem to be on their way out, and the regimen of juggling a healthy diet is in. Now if only the whole country can join in juggling and get healthy.

I don't know about you, but even though I love every sunny, poolside moment of summer, I secretly rejoice when the days start to get shorter and the air a little chillier. The end of summer means the beginning of fall, and that means I get to drop kick my bathing suit and body-baring shorts and tanktops. I don't have to be so conscious of what I'm eating. And not eating.

But "dieting" isn't a seasonal activity. People watch what they eat year-round. According to Forbes, "Americans spent an estimated $46 billion on diet products and self-help books in 2004." If that's the case, why is obesity such a problem in the US? Because, as a government review has found, two-thirds of dieters on "diet regimes" will regain all the weight that they lost within a year. Give them five years, and almost everyone will gain it back.

People gain the weight back for a number of reasons, but one of them is that the popular diet programs are very expensive, especially since many health and nutrition experts believe that they are ineffective to begin with. Forbes examined the weekly menus of the ten most popular diets to find out just how expensive they really are. The results are listed below. The first dollar amount is how much the program costs per week for any associated book, membership fees, and food costs, and the second percentage is how much more that is than the average $55.44 a normal person spends on food.

• Jenny Craig - $137.65, 152.8%
• NutriSytem - $113.52, 108.5%
• Atkins - $100.52, 84.6%
• Weight Watchers - $96.64, 77.5%
• Zone Diet - $92.84, 70.5%
• Ornish - $78.75, 44.6%
• South Beach - $78.76, 44.4%
• SlimFast - $77.73, 42.8%
• Sugar Busters - $69.62, 27.9%
• Subway - $68.80, 26%

Whatever happened to good old fashioned "eat less, exercise more?" I think that's free.

I am still getting used to my cell phone. In fact, I don't think I quite know how to view picture messages, though I'm sure that I do have a picture and video phone.

So all this new cell phone technology is pretty crazy to me, and it seems like much of it has to do with watching what you eat. Sprint has MyFoodPhone, a service that allows dieters to use their cameraphones to photograph meals and snacks before they eat, then instantly upload the pictures to an online account. Every two weeks a "nutritional advisor" checks the account and delivers feedback via the Web about portion sizes, nutritional content and general eating habits in the form of a video clip or notes.

It's kind of like your nagging significant other calling you to check where you are and what you're eating. "You're at Fatburger eating a Double Kingburger with fries?!?! Get home this instant and eat a salad!!" Something like that.

Weight Watchers produces many best selling diet cookbooks, with recipes and advice that go along with their philosophy of moderation and promotion of living healthily. This spring, they have released two new cookbooks, Super Foods and In No Time. The books are packaged together and only sold at Weight Watchers meetings, which even non-members can attend as guests. While this does sound like a marketing scheme for their program, there are a couple of good reasons to take a look at the books. Super Foods has recipes using some of the most nutritious foods you can eat, like fruits, vegetables and whole grains - anything with a high nutritional value. In No Time is a book with meals that can be prepared and on the table in 20 minutes or less, making them perfect for weeknight dinners. With more than 170 new recipes between them, the fact that they're easy and healthy is a very good reason to stop in to a meeting and check them out. A better reason, however, is that $1 from the sale of each book set will be donated to the American Cancer Society.

[via The Cancer Blog]

I don't know about you, but staying fit with the only motivation being my "appearance" is hard. I mean, I've been staring at that little bikini on my refrigerator door for how long now, and I still grab an ice cream bar from the freezer!

But a challenge from the American Cancer Society is another story. On May 18 (that's Thursday!), the American Cancer Society is teaming up with Weight Watchers to launch the Great American Eat Right Challenge. The purpose is to raise awareness of the link between obesity and increased risk of cancer. The website has information and resources that help to create a better environment in your house, BMI and calorie counting calculators, tips for eating out in restaurants and cooking at home, information regarding vitamins and minerals, and fitness information.

Hey, none of this stuff is earth-shatteringly new, but it's nice to have in one place with a reminder that you're decreasing your risk of certain cancers.

[via: The Cancer Blog]

Just about any diet will work if you stick to it, even if your diet consists of eating only banana bread. The problem with diets is that people do not stick to diets and even if you love banana bread, there are so many other good things to eat out there that it would just be too boring. Not to mention, of course, that very restrictive diets are not usually the healthiest ones.

Forbes has worked out their list of the top 10 diets that work. They correctly point out that restriction is the reason that many diets fail. Because most people will only have enough willpower (or interest) to stick to a diet for a short time, a very restrictive diet will produce maximum results quickly and is more likely to be selected by someone looking to lose weight. This is not the right way to lose weight. Diets are also a multi-billion dollar business, so there is a question as to whether the originators of some diets actually want people who try them to maintain their weight loss.

Diets are always all-the-rage. Today and yesterday and likely into the future, fad diets seem to generate the most hype. Grapefruit-only yesterday, low-carb today, and who-knows-what for tomorrow.

Weight Watchers, however, has stood the test of time and, in my opinion, is one of the more reputable diet "systems," but back in the 1970s, they were serving up some very odd suggestions for "diet foods." Take a stroll through the 1970s Weight Watchers card gallery over at Candyboots. While I'm sure many of these things were created based on the thought that celery and fruits like melon were healthy, I just can't get over how they were prepared. Chilled Celery Log? Melon Mousse? And my personal favorite - the Frankfurter Spectacular. Though I still do have to wonder how a giant molded ring of liver pate is "diet food."

Thanks, we think, for the tip, Rachel B.!

[photo: Candyboots]

Roughly 54,000 pounds of Lean Cuisine Asian-Style Pot Stickers were recently recalled by Nestle Prepared Foods company for fear that the chicken and vegetable dumplings may contain pieces of plastic. The package code 5262595512, the words "Best before Oct. 2006" and the establishment number P-7991 are printed on the right side of the boxes. A Food Safety and Inspection service release is available here.

Also, approximately 1,500 pounds of Weight Watchers Smart Ones Sirloin Beef and Asian Style Vegetables frozen dinners have been recalled by Heinz Frozen Foods due to an undeclared milk protein that may be an allergen to some. The meals were sold in Florida, Maryland, Missouri, Pennsylvania, Virginia and Washington, D.C. More info here.

[Via FoodIssues.org]