Diets That Promote Quick Weight Loss

Healthy weight loss generally occurs at a rate of 1 to 2 lb. per week. Losing more weight than this should be done under the care of a doctor, and such plans are generally reserved for the severely obese. Despite this, many diets promote quicker weight loss, usually through severe restriction of calorie intake. Problems with these diets include lack of nutrition, fatigue, irritability and regain of the weight after the diet has ended.

Hollywood Diet

According to the Hollywood Diet website, people can lose as much as 4.5 percent of their body weight while on the diet. On this diet, you drink only a specially formulated "metabolism-boosting" Hollywood Diet juice or eat the Hollywood Diet cookie for all your meals except dinner, which is a healthy dinner. You can choose either the 24-hour diet or the 48-hour diet. It's suggested you repeat the diet at least once a month, but some people go on it as often as once a week. According to the Diet Channel, the Hollywood Diet restricts your calorie intake to levels considerably below the daily recommended level and can result in fatigue, weakness and decreased ability to concentrate.

Grapefruit Diet

The grapefruit diet lasts for 10 days and restricts your calorie intake to 1,000 calories per day; the claim is the diet will help you lose a minimum of 10 lb., according to Dr. Judith Rodriguez, author of "The Diet Selector." You eat grapefruit or drink grapefruit juice with every meal and as a snack while restricting your intake of other foods. The idea is that grapefruit contains enzymes that help your body burn more fat; this claim has not been backed by research. You cannot eat sugars or starches. Foods permitted on this diet include meat, especially bacon, and salads, eggs and vegetables.

3 Day Diet

The 3 Day Diet is marketed as a plan that will enable you to lose 10 lb. over a three-day period or 40 lb. a month. The idea is that combining certain foods will increase your metabolism so you burn more calories. You go off the diet after three days and start it again four days later. Some of the foods included are eggs, toast, peanut butter, hot dogs, tuna, cottage cheese, vanilla ice cream, cheddar cheese, carrots, cauliflower, apples, saltine crackers, lean meats and black coffee. Health care professionals warn against diets that are this restrictive and that result in loss of water weight.

Atkins Diet

The Atkins Diet drastically reduces carbohydrate intake and increases consumption of protein. This diet is divided into four phases; quick weight loss occurs during the initial phase, while the subsequent phases promote slower weight loss and maintenance. Phase 1 lasts for two weeks, during which you can lose up to 15 lb., according to the Atkins website. Carbohydrates are limited to 12 to 15 g per day, which MayoClinic.com says is significantly less than the recommended amount.

Scarsdale Diet

The Scarsdale Diet is a high-protein, low-carbohydrate diet that restricts your calorie intake to as little as 1,000 calories per day. You can purportedly lose 20 lb. in two weeks. The diet promotes the intake of lean meats, small amounts of whole grains, fruits, vegetables and plenty of zero-calorie fluids such as water and diet soda. After two weeks on this diet, you can continue with the Keep Trim program, which Dr. Rodriguez says is more of a lifetime diet program.