A fad diet is any diet that is too extreme and promises large amounts of weight loss in a short period of time. According to Fort Valley State University, fad diets provide more dangers than benefits. They don't provide you with the necessary nutrients for staying healthy, they can cause fatigue and weakness and they don't offer long-term results.
Step 1
Examine a diet carefully before deciding on it. Common fad diets like the cabbage soup diet are easy to identify, but others might appear healthier at first sight. Read the food requirements of each and try to estimate how many calories you'll be consuming. If you only eat vegetables or drink juices all day, your diet is very low in calories. The same is probably true of any diet that eliminates a food group or type, such as low-carb or liquid diets.
Step 2
Avoid any diets that promise unrealistic results. "Lose 20lbs. in a month" or "Eat whatever you want and lose weight" are not realistic claims. To get you even close to those numbers, the diet will require you to eat very few calories and maybe take laxatives or do a colon cleanse. Instead, choose a diet that promises a weight loss of no more than 2 lbs a week. A 1 to 2 lb loss is the recommended amount, according to Iowa State University.
Step 3
Consult with your doctor or a nutritionist instead of picking a diet out of a magazine. A health care practitioner can help you figure out your caloric needs and suggest a healthy, balanced eating plan that will lead to weight loss but doesn't leave you short on nutrients. If you want to follow a diet on your own, choose diets created by experts, such as the Mayo Diet or the The American Dietetic Association (ADA) Diet.
Step 4
Read carefully the do's and don'ts of a diet to see what you'll be giving up. A fad diet might require you to buy specific shakes or diet pills, combine foods in a certain way or eat only "good foods" as opposed to "bad foods." In a fad diet, what good and bad foods are will be decided by the diet, and might not coincide with the basic rules of a healthy diet.
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