Four Crazy Diets that Might Actually Work

There is a new miracle diet every day. Or at least it seems that way. Even if there aren't 365 diets a year being proposed there are so many that some of them have to work. And for many people, many of these crazy miracle diets do work, just in different ways. Here are a few that seem faddish and fleeting, but could actually be the key to losing your extra pounds.

The Shangri-La Diet has a ridiculous name and a fine pedigree. The creator, Seth Roberts, is a professor of psychology at Berkeley and a prolific writer. The crux of the Shangrila diet is drinking sugared water or water and oil in between meals in order to train your body away from associating flavor with calories. The sugar is diluted so much that the water is tasteless, and the oil and water is as unappetizing as it sounds. Appetite and cravings begin to decrease immediately, and coupled with sensible meals it has worked for many. If you're skeptical SethRoberts.com has an active free forum, blogs, and links to many scientific explanations of how this kind of appetite suppression works. You can also read the first five pages of The Shangri-La Diet free online too. For a weight loss site the overall tone is very restrained and thoughtful, even when the Shangrila followers are celebrating their successes. Seth Roberts doesn't promise dramatic weight loss as much as he offers a way to change our behavior. The diet has also been been given a very balanced review here on Associated Content .

The Shangri-La's complete opposite would be the Kimkins Diet. Named after the creator of the diet, Kim, the Kimkims plan is a rising fad diet star. Kim lost 198 lbs in less than a year on this plan, going from 318 to 120 in 2000. What's bizarre is how Kimkins (it's evidently her nickname too) is becoming something of a cult figure. The Kimkims plan allows for only 20 total carbs (not net, but total!) a day during the first week. From their website, "Kimkins is low carb, low calorie with no fiber or sugar alcohol subtraction". If the site's active community and the buzz is anything to go on, the Kimkims diet works to get people to their goal quickly. However, as with any diet that restricts calories, the key is to learn how to eat normally and healthily once the goal weight is achieved.

If low-carb isn't your style you can always try the Rice Diet. It's like Atkins in reverse! The first week is all practically all starches, fruit and vegetables, with one serving of dairy allowed each day after the first day. This is called their Detox phase, but looks a lot like a fruit and vegetable fast. You're only allowed a protein one day a week after that, and twice once you're on maintenance. Yum! This would be a great vegetarian diet, or as a diet for vegans. The site gives meal plans for ovo-lacto vegetarian dieters as well as vegan. There is also an active forum for support if you want to give it a try.

If you don't want to eliminate entire food groups (we are omnivores after all), you can try the Fast Food Diet, aka the Standard American Diet. Ok, it's not really the SAD, but dieticians are conceding the drive through can be part of a weight loss plan. Anyone except Morgan Spurlock would probably salivate at the thought. It's not all cold cut sandwhiches either. Jorge Cruise, of the 8 Minutes in The Morning series and the Three Hour Diet, gave his blessing to including healthy selections from the drive through. The key is still to keep your calories in the 1400 - 1600 calorie range.

Why on earth would any of these crazy diets work? All except the Shangri-La Diet work through calorie restriction, the primary and least sexy reason behind any weight loss plan. With some creativity you could probably combine some of the above schemes and come up with your own blockbuster plan. How does an ultra low carb-fast food-oil and water diet sound? Or you could see how sugar water and Chinese takeout work for your body chemistry. All kidding aside, choosing the best calorie restricted plan for your personal tastes and teaming up with a great community has more to do with losing weight than any stack of testimonies or research.