When it comes to losing weight, experts are always coming up crazy ways of fighting the war against the bulge - Unfortunately for us, we sometimes try these with the hope of losing the pounds, instead of following some sound advice from our dieticians or mums! Check out our list of the top 8 most ridiculous diets you have probably already tried!

8. The Apple-Cider Vinegar Diet
A delicious diet guaranteed to make you feel great - nothing like throwing back a few shots of vinegar to get your stomach prepared for a meal. Now thats what I call an appetite suppressant, that is if you haven’t thrown up yet or burned the inside of your gut. This diet relies on the idea that apple cider vinegar, taken fifteen minutes before a meal, could decrease hunger and curb the urge to eat.

Unfortunately there’s no real evidence that apple cider vinegar can help you lose weight!

7. Fasting and very low-calorie diets (like the “Skinny” vegan diet, Hollywood Diet, and Master Cleanse).
Fasting has been a cultural and religious tradition for centuries, and is fine for a day or so but fasting for weight loss is counterproductive.

There is an effect known as the “yo-yo syndrome” which is common with fasting and low calorie diets which comes down to our pre-historic past.
When you consume too few calories, your body thinks it is starving and adjusts the metabolism, but when you go back to eating normally, your metabolism doesn’t readjust and your body will naturally stock up in fat to survive another period without food. This was great when food was scarce, but in todays world its a bit useless.

What’s worse, the weight loss during a fast is usually a combination of fat, fluid, and muscle, but the pounds regained will probably be all fat - Plus you won’t feel good, nor will you have much energy to do anything whilst fasting.

6. The Subway Diet
Subways is one of my pet hates - The smell of the baked bread and sauce mixture pumping out of their air conditioning vents outside the establishments is usually enough to provoke the gag instinct in me! Anyways back to this… Although people like the iconic Jared Fogel, the guy on the Subway commercials who lost 245 pounds eating Subway twice a day seems attractive, I really can’t see what the big deal is. You could save a lot of money by just making my own fresh sandwiches, and maybe going for a jog now and again!

5. “Detox” diets (like Master Cleanse, the Hallelujah Diet, and The Martha’s Vineyard Diet Detox).
Extreme regimens calling for procedures like liver flushes, bodily cleanses, colonics, hormone injections, and more are highly suspect

“All the flushes and cleanses are pure nonsense, unnecessary, and there is no scientific basis for these recommendations,” says Pamela Peeke, MD, chief medical correspondent for the Discovery Health channel.  ”Your body is well equipped with organs, such as the liver and kidneys, and the immune system, to rid itself of potential toxins and does an excellent job of cleansing itself without needing flushes or cleanses.”

Enough said!

4. Dr. Siegal’s® Cookie Diet™
Think again, you’re not going to be eating Pepperidge Farm Milanos, or Oreos, or Mrs. Fields’ White Chocolate Macadamia Nut cookies on this diet! No, you’re going to be eating the concoctions of Dr. Siegal, a physician who specializes in hypothyroidism and obesity, and who also likes to sell weight loss books and snacks!

However, his proprietary hunger limiting cookies are nothing more than bricks of fiber coated oats sweetened with prunes. Doesn’t sound as good now does it? Although they may make you less hungry, the doctor also advises combining them with a restricted calorie diet, which, as we all know, is the main way you’re going to lose weight.

3. The Cereal Diet
This is one of my favourite diet myths, where the cereal companies are trying to pull a fast one! The claim is simple,  supplement two meals a day with the same thing—in this case cereal. From Special K to Raisin Bran, many cereal boxes now claim you can “lose six in two”— that is lose six pounds in two weeks.

What tends to really happen though is when people have to measure the amount they are eating, they end up eating fewer calories, so they lose weight. Plus its a bit of a misconception that these cereals are very healthy anyways:  The third ingredient in Special K is sugar; it’s the second ingredient in All-Bran. And the last thing you want to be eating too much of is All-Bran—it’s not weight you’d lose, but the contents of your bowels!

2. Slim Fast
The basic premise is the same: replace two meals with any of the above, you lose weight, and the maker of the item makes a lot of money.  I mean a lot of money. That is, until you grow so bored and tired of eating the exact same thing for two meals a day you quit, and realize that actually there are a lot of other foods out there that cost a lot less. Say, fruits, vegetables and grilled meats.

And finally the most ridiculous diet ever concieved by man…

1. The Atkins Diet
Now, don’t get me wrong. The Atkins diet can help you lose weight. Its been somewhat proven, and many books and celebrities have had great successes following the principles laid out.  I’ve tried it, and yes I lost weight. So did Oprah, but the side effect is your breath doesn’t smell too good, your body either actually come to think about it you don’t feel to great either. Why? Well, cutting out refined sugars and nutrition-less carbs is a good thing, but not all carbs are bad for you, and the good ones fuel muscles, fill you up, and are pretty damn tasty. Not to mention that the Atkins diet isn’t a healthful lifestyle change; it’s a limiting diet that requires you to eat a lot of not so healthy foods.

Once you start packing up on protein rich foods, and cutting down on fresh fruits, greens and salad your acid levels hit the roof - Your body does all it can to break down the acid, and yes you lose weight, but at what cost!

While these diets are ridiculous, unsustainable, and often times dangerous, if your main goal is to lose weight, you just might find them useful. But at the end of the day, you should be treating your body like a temple. Take care in cultivating a routine of eating fresh fruits and vegetables. Steam and grill, instead of frying if you can. Avoid processed foods, and eat in moderation.

Best of all, make sure you exercise your body on a daily basis - Not necessarily a marathon in the morning, but a brisk 20 minute walk to work is a good start!