Blunt Talk About Dumb Diets

Did that diet you heard about on late night television sound too good to be true? Guess what? It is.

Spring is in the air, which means more diets guaranteed to magically take that weight off are being advertised on television, in magazines, in newspapers and on radio. The warmer the weather gets, the hotter the claims by the makers of each new fad diet.

The Internet, of course, is loaded with bad diets, too. The good news is that you can also find reports on the Internet on how dumb and sometimes downright dangerous those fad diets can be for your health. So do your homework.

Go to Google.com or any other Internet search engine and type in “debunking diets.” Up will pop hundreds of articles that are sourced by scientists, doctors and solid research. One I found is at www.vegsource.com/attwood/zone.htm. It debunks six diets in one easy-to-read article.

If you’re overweight, rid your home of “bad” foods featuring refined grains, too much sugar and unhealthy fats, and cut your meal portions in half. One study found that meal portions are at least 25 percent smaller in other Western countries. Stock up on vegetables, fruits and whole grains. And start exercising more.

To help you get started, try this calorie and exercise counter from the American Cancer Society. You can personalize it, too. Go to: www.cancer.org/docroot/PED/content/PED_6_1x_Calorie_Calculator.asp.

I once weighed more than 200 pounds, and now I’m at my right weight. I didn’t do it with fad diets (well initially I did until I learned to do it right), and that’s why I’ve kept the extra weight off for more than 20 years.

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