DIET COLUMN

In 2008, diet-related searches online continued to be a hot topic. It seems Americans are wising up about their health and making more of an effort to get fit to reverse the concerning obesity epidemic that has begun to plague both young and old in our country.

In DietsInReview.com’s 2008 Most Popular Diets of the Year list, there were some tried and true plans that made the cut, not surprising any of us. Then there were those that seem to have a more fad-feel that left us scratching our heads, and some of you likely yo-yoing. Here are the 25 Most Popular Diets of the year, one of which might be the solution for you in the new year.

1. Weight Watchers
A 45-year veteran of dieting that is one of the most proven plans on the market. They not only help you to lose weight, they teach you how to keep it off for life. With the new year they introduce their new plan, Momentum.

2. 21 Pounds in 21 Days
Made popular by Howard Stern sidekick Robin Quivers, the book introduces a fruit- and vegetable-based detox in which you consume primarily fresh juices to rid your body of toxins, lose weight and reset your metabolism.

3. Cabbage Soup Diet
A fad diet that became very popular for its quick weight loss claims. It’s a seven-day weight loss plan that comes with a strict, low-calorie outline for foods you can and can’t consume each day.

4. 5 Day Miracle Diet
This approach encourages you to change the times of day that you eat and eliminate starches, caffeine, alcohol and sugar. They claim when you do so, you’ll regulate blood sugar and the need to munch and binge.

5. Slim-Fast
Shake, shake, shake the weight off with delicious shakes that replace breakfast and lunch, then dinner is a healthy meal of your choosing.

Granted, diet sodas are lower in calories than regular soda, but drinking soda isn’t really the best thing for you. I’ve said it numerous times that water should be your number one choice for hydrating yourself and quenching your thirst, but too often people grab a diet soda instead. Last Friday, Jillian Michaels wrote a blog on “meeting your soda quota”. Simply saying that she was addicted to diet soda and understands the struggles behind weaning yourself off them and off artificial sweeteners. Jillian recommends drinking unsweetened coffee and tea to get your caffeine fix or sweetening with xylitol and stevia because they are more natural than sucralose (Splenda).

Research has shown that consuming diet soda is a culprit for our society’s weight problems. The idea behind it is that drinking soda (regular or diet) doesn’t quench your thirst and, in fact, can play a detrimental role in altering one’s metabolism by somehow changing our brain’s chemistry.

We were as excited as everyone else to get our hands on the new Jillian Michaels for the Nintendo Wii- Fitness Ultimatum 2009. It seems anything Jillian touches turns to fitness gold. We’re huge fans of hers, and have always had nothing but nice things to say about her many other products. There’s no way to know how hands-on she was in the development of the game, if the developers rushed the job or if they did much consumer testing, either way, it doesn’t seem like much attention on any of those accounts.

When I launched the game, I was immediately struck by the graphics. That’s one of the most impressive characteristics of the Wii games. But this? Reminded me of the Duck Hunt days. Very grainy, unrefined images that didn’t reflect the quality we’ve come to expect from the Wii. We don’t want you to just take our word for it, hear the comments left on the review. “The graphics are horrible. The screen hardly moves at all when you’re exercising… you basically get to watch your avatar run/kayak/bounce in place just like you,” said Gin. Kurt agreed, “Graphics are on par with Atari I played as a kid.”

One of the things that makes Jillian Michaels such a popular trainer on The Biggest Loser is that she really cares about her contestants and recognizes that weight gain/loss can be more complex than calories in-calories out. There are a lot of other factors that affect our bodies and metabolisms. It took Brittany Aberle nearly her entire time on the show to discover a hormone imbalance (PCOS) that was slowing down her weight loss.

Another important aspect that Jillian seems to get is the connection between physical health and mental health, possibly because her mother is a psychologist. Every season, as her contestants start to lose weight, Jillian recognizes and helps her contestants to address the emotional issues that are rising to the surface, revealed by the process. This season she’s worked closely with Coleen and Michelle.