Eat less, exercise more. Those four words make it sound easy to lose weight—too bad most people want to eat more and exercise less. Instead of signing up for a gym membership, many dieters turn to quick solutions promising easy answers and sometimes large quantities of maple syrup: fad diets.

Any diet could potentially be called a fad, particularly if it's imitated the career arc of New Kids on the Block, going from sexy and popular to something silly to be filed away with slap bracelets and Pokeman cards. Not all fad diets are bad diets, nor are they necessarily failures (though many are). They're just not as cool as they once were. Many fad diets seem like an exercise in creative writing, involving oddities like tapeworms, large amount of citrus fruits, and teaspoons of olive oil to be eaten raw. It's almost as if the authors want to see what ridiculous lengths they can get dieters to go to for their own twisted entertainment.

Your definition of a fad diet may vary, but let's examine some of the most famous fad diets, from the bizarre to the somewhat sensible.

TAPEWORM DIET

Timeline: Marketed in US magazines as early as 1900-1920

Eat This: Not so much a diet as a parasitic infection. Dieters consume pills supposedly containing tapeworms which suck energy from their host who eats as much as he or she wants to without gaining weight.

Our Take: Although tapeworm pills were marketed in turn-of-the-century magazines, there is no way to verify whether the pills actually contained the worms. Regardless, if you are lucky enough to live in a part of the world where you do not have to be concerned about infection from disease-ridden ticks, worms, and other little nasties, why would you purposely infect yourself with these parasites? There can be unforeseen complications and getting rid of the worms won't be as easy as infecting yourself with them. Stick to eating gummi worms instead.

Pop Culture: A disgusting appearance on the TV show "House" should hopefully put off any viewers who were thinking of trying such extreme measures.

GRAPEFRUIT DIET

Timeline: Originated as early as the 1930's. Exact origin unknown.

Eat This: This diet advocates eating half a grapefruit with every meal, due to enzymes which supposedly burn fat in combination which protein. Popular in the mid-70's, it was erroneously attributed to have originated at the Mayo Clinic, which does not endorse the diet. Dieters are promised a 10-pound weight loss in 12 days when they eat three low-carb, low-calorie meals a day. You may be eating grapefruits, but supposedly you won't be shaped like one when it's over.

Our Take: There is no explanation provided as to why the grapefruit is special among all citrus fruits, besides the obvious fact it's the only fruit to have its own specialty spoon. The idea that grapefruit + protein = magical fat-burning is farfetched, yet sounds just plausible enough to explain this diet's continued popularity. Grapefruit isn't bad for you, and the low-glycemic index, low-calorie, high-fiber properties of the fruit may reduce insulin levels and make you feel fuller. However, you're probably just as well off eating a variety of fruits instead of solely subsidizing the grapefruit farmers of the world.

Pop Culture: Parodist Weird Al Yankovic recorded a parody of the song "Zoot Suit Riot" called "Grapefruit Diet"

MAPLE SYRUP DIET

Timeline: 2000's

Eat This: You eat nothing but a concoction of maple syrup, lemon juice, water and cayenne pepper for two weeks. Wait, did I say maple syrup? Make that Madal Bal Natural Tree Syrup, made from the sap of maple and palm trees, and special for some reason that surely has nothing to do with making money for its manufacturers.

Our Take: This diet promises to give you clearer skin, shinier hair and stronger nails, but drinking nothing but sugar water for two weeks will surely make you constipated. It will also make you cranky, weak, and can be potentially dangerous if you are not consuming additional vital vitamins and minerals. It claims to cleanse your body, although the human body is self-cleaning (like an oven). If your body is actually in need of detoxing, you should get to a methadone clinic or sign up for dialysis. Don't start swigging maple syrup. This is a crash diet as well as a fad. Avoid it!

Pop Culture: Beyoncé Knowles brought this diet into the spotlight after she lost 20 pounds on it for the Dreamgirls movie. But with all that syrup, how much tooth enamel did she lose too?

NUTRISYSTEM, SEATTLE SUTTON & JENNY CRAIG

Timeline: Nutrisystem was founded in 1970's, Jenny Craig in 1983, and Seattle Sutton in 1985.

Eat This: If you're sick of trying to count calories, carbs or fats, these programs will do it for you. You can pick up or have shipped to you a week's worth of frozen or dehydrated meals including breakfast, lunch and dinner. Some programs require that you supplement the meals with your own fresh fruits, vegetables, eggs, cheese and other perishables. Stick to the meal plan and you should lose weight.

Our Take: My cat was able to lose five pounds in the course of a year because I was the overlord of his diet, supplying him only with prescription cat food despite desperate meowing. These programs remind me of cat food for humans. They're pre-packaged, require little thought and save you much of the work of cooking and grocery shopping. They work well for a time, but eventually won't you get sick of Friskies for humans every night? And what if you don't feel like having the frozen lasagna tonight as planned? They are perhaps helpful for learning proper portion control and carb/fat/protein mix, but eventually you'll have to take off the training wheels and venture into the real world and learn how to eat at a restaurant or in your own kitchen yourself.

Pop Culture: Flip through the basic cable channels and you're bound to hit an ad for one of these programs.

3-DAY DIET

Timeline: First appeared in 1985

Eat This: A very strict and specific meal plan for three days which includes a lot of coffee, toast, boiled eggs, tuna and Sweet & Low, though not all mixed together because, ew, gross. You can then eat like normal for 4-5 days before repeating the 3-day diet.

Our Take: This diet is probably popular because it lasts for only three days. When faced with a week’s worth of sensible eating or a long weekend's worth of toast and coffee, many people will choose the quick period to get the suffering over with. Weight loss is due to the extremely low caloric content of the diet—about 1200 calories. The restrictive nature of this plan and its unappealing meal plan dooms most dieters to failure. The repeating 3-day cycle also encourages yo-yo dieting, which is mentally exhausting and has questionable medical side affects. Leave "on again, off again" relationships to bad romantic comedies, not to your relationship with food.

Conclusion: It would be nice if eating healthy were as simple, but lasting weight loss takes time and commitment to a healthy, balanced eating style. Hopefully everyone will find something that works for them, but it most likely will not include only lemon juice and cayenne pepper.