There is a 5-Factor Diet, Atkins Diet, Bob Greene’s Best Life Diet, South Beach Diet, Cabbage Soup Diet, Carbohydrate Addict’s Diet, Anne Collin’s diet and now you have DASH diet and Fat Smash Diet and Size Zero Diet and …. it goes on!

Proponents of each of these diet plans make claims of how much weight you will lose and how rapidly you will lose weight. Some go to the extent of claiming that you will lose up to 10-12 lbs in a week whereas medical experts warn that such claims are ridiculous and weight loss of such proportions can come about only by losing water which is detrimental to the system. Moreover there is always the danger of gaining weight just as rapidly when you stop working on the plan.

Essentially all these plans boil down to a few basics! The body weight is contributed by fat, muscles, bones and water. Excess calorie intake is responsible for increased weight and so cut down the excess intake of calories. Increase metabolism so that stored fat can be burnt off; burn off the fat that is stored in the body by exercises and fat burning food. But do not starve the body of the essential nutrients.

Basically diet plans fall into three broad categories: the “fad diets”, those that are based on specially processed food and those that can be called as “natural diet” plans.

There is no clear definition of “fad diet”; it is very subjective. Fad diet is popularly believed to be a poor weight loss diet. A fad diet generally becomes very popular very quickly and falls out of favor just as quickly. Fad diets quite often claim very quick weight loss. Their claims for efficacy are generally not confirmed by any legitimate scientific studies. Often promoted by parties that publish books about the diet or those that sell some supplements or ingredients that are part of the fad diet, a fad diet may not achieve anything at all or at times may have an adverse effect on health.

The natural diet plan is based on use of food constituents that are normally in your diet; it recommends some of the constituents as being helpful and some others as being harmful from the point of view of weight loss. For example, it may recommend certain fish such as Sardines, herrings, etc as providing beneficial Omega 3 fatty acids or may recommend use of lean meat but not others such as pork; it may recommend low-fat skimmed milk but not the normal fresh milk. Natural diet is based on very clearly understood and recognized scientific knowledge.

The third category of diet plans mentioned above are based on use of specially processed food ingredients or supplements; this category is so highly commercialized that even if it has scientific basis at times lies on the boundary of fad diet plans.

Water is energy. Your body is approximately 70% water. Water is requried to process nutrients and toxins. Drink unflavoured, unfortifed with vitamins, preferrably filtered water at least 1 litre per 50kg of personal body weight per day. An additional litre for every hour of intense exercise. ONLY drink 300ml at a time, unless after intense exercise.

Top 10 Weight Loss Tips and Tricks

1. If you can walk when you have the time, consider walking to places that you would normally drive (such as work or the shops or to the school if they’re not too far away). It may take you longer, but the health benefits will last you a lifetime. Consider leaving a little earlier so you have a few extra minutes .

2. Try not to skip meals. The worst thing you can do while watching your diet is skip a meal. it has just the opposite effect of what you want. You need to have at least four regular meals every day.

3. When you watching the televison or using the computer, have a break often, get up and take a walk or reach over and touch your toes or a simple exercise to get the blood flowing in your veins.

4. Eat lots of vegetables. Vegetables are your best bet when it comes to losing pounds. Nature has a terrific spread when it comes to choosing vegetables. And the leafy green vegetables are best for you. Try to include a salad in you diet always.

5. Choose fresh fruit to processed fruits. Processed and canned fruits do not have as much fibre as fresh fruit. Processed and canned fruits are nearly always sweetened, but some are in natural juice so try and choose these when you have to have canned fruit.

6. Stay away from sweetened bottle drinks, especially sodas. All those colas and fizzy drinks are sweetened with sugar and sugar means calories. The more you can cut out on these sweetened bottle drinks, the better for you. So if you must drink sodas, then stick to diet sodas.

7. Start your day with a glass of water. As soon as you wake up, drink a glass of cool water. It’s a wonderful way to start your day and you only need a lesser quantity of your breakfast drink after that. A glass of water lets out all your digestive juices and sort of lubricates the insides of your body. You may have your morning cup of tea but have it after a glass of water. It is good for you.

8. Quit snacking in between meals. Do not fall for snacks in between meals. This is especially true for those who have to travel a lot. They feel that the only time they can get a bite to eat is snacks and junk food. The main problem with most snacks and junk food is that they are usually less filling and contain a lot of fat and calories. Just think about French fries…tempting but terribly fattening.

9. Go easy on tea and coffee. Tea and coffee are harmless by themselves. It’s when you add the cream and sugar that they become fattening. Did you know that having a cup of tea or coffee that has cream and at least two cubes of sugar is as bad as having a big piece of rich chocolate cake?

10. Include in your diet things that contain more water like tomatoes and watermelons. These things contain 90 to 95 % water so that there is nothing that you have to lose by feasting on them. They fill you up without adding to the pounds.

And one more Weight Loss Tips and Tricks

Dry wine is better than sweet wine. Sweet wines naturally contain a lot of sugar. In dry wines most of this sugar has been fermented away so the dry wines are better for you than sweet wines.

When asked if Jennifer Lopez works out everyday to keep that body in such great shape, Jennifer said, “No. I have a trainer in LA, and then recently I have started taking yoga classes. When I was younger, I was into hard physical exercise, but now what’s more important to me is finding a balance of mind, body and spirit. I still do weights and cardio, but I try to take a soft, feminine approach. I’m definitely not fanatical. Basically, I’m just like anybody else, in that you have the body type you have, and you know what you have to do to get in top form, and you know how you are when you kind of slack off. I’m only human, and sometimes I feel like working out, and sometimes I don’t, and sometimes I feel great about myself, and sometimes I think, “Oh God, I have work to do”. It’s just normal women’s stuff. ”

Jennifer also watches what she eats and adheres to a strict diet. J-Lo said, “I try to watch what I eat. I know what’s good for me, and I know what’s bad for me, and I try to stay away from the bad things, but like anybody I indulge once in a while. If I’m trying to lose weight, I just cut carbohydrates from my diet.”

Regarding her diet, Jennifer also says, “I don’t have anything banned from my diet and I’m not one of the health freaks who believe in not eating any sugar or leaving dairy products out. There are a number of weird diets out there but I don’t follow them. I eat almost everything, only in moderation. Maybe I’m lucky; when I overeat I just get seriously sick, the next day is absolutely ruined, and with my busy schedule I just can’t afford it. Apart from the fact that it’s not really pleasant to feel sick because you stuffed yourself the day before, I never went on a diet. I always lived quite healthy without a special diet and it seems enough for me. I believe in having a really well-balanced diet, a little bit of everything, and I think if you’re fit and healthy, your body will let you know what it needs. It’s just that a lot of people have forgotten how to listen to it.”

Jennifer makes sure to draw one very strict line. She says, “I don’t drink, never, and I don’t smoke and don’t do drugs,” she stresses. “I never started drinking or smoking. When I was little, my mother drummed it into me how bad it is for you and it stuck somehow. My little sister also doesn’t drink or smoke. Everybody knows smoking is bad for you, and drinking [is bad] as well. I don’t need to drink to have a good time.”

J-Lo makes sure to relax and spend some quality time getting rejuvenated. She said, “I love spa treatments, massage and facials, though they’re not something I get to do all the time. I also love to dance, to sleep, to do nothing, to be in the sun. I adore Miami – as soon as I get off the plane, my blood pressure instantly goes down, and I get into a whole different mood.”