Top 5 Fad Diets of 2015

Whether you're interested in counting carbs or drinking herbal tea to lose weight, there is likely a fad diet plan out there that fits your particular inclinations. The real question is: Do they work? And do you have to keep following them forever to keep weight off?

According to the US News and World Report, there are a few fad weight loss diets that rise above the rest. As we ring in the new year, new fad diets emerge and others fade away.

Topping the list of fad diets of 2015 is Weight Watchers, which is currently the most widely-adopted weight loss diet in the country. Aside from the big WW, here are the top fad diets of 2015.

1. Biggest Loser Diet

This plan has been proven by the contestants on the popular TV show, and emphasizes filling foods from sources like fruits, vegetables, lean protein, whole grains. Portion control, food journaling, and jumping up off that sofa are key components of this top fad diet as well. This plan uses a special food pyramid and includes suggestions for exercising and lists the calories you would burn doing them. There are an abundance of weight loss recipes, and you can enjoy Mexican, Italian, or Asian cuisines-as long as you don't go overboard.

2. Spark Solution

This plan brings the community of Sparkpeople into a fad diet. Spark Solution includes a playbook containing meal plans and daily guidance on food and exercise decisions, and employs the basic building blocks of a weight loss diet - healthy eating and exercise. Sparkpeople includes success stories, exercise videos, and mobile apps to help you stay on track and be a part of one of the largest online health communities on the web.

3. Volumetrics

As the name implies, volume is the name of the game in this top fad diet. This plan emphasizes filling your plate with high volume, low calorie foods such as salad greens, apples, oranges, pears, peaches, broccoli, carrots, squash, zucchini, and lean proteins like yogurt, soy, chicken, tuna, and lean pork. The theory is that if you fill your plate with more volume, you'll feel full on fewer calories. This plan discourages calorie bombs such as cheese, nuts, seeds, and recommends you go light on oils.

4. Engine 2 Diet

While not incredibly easy to follow, this fad diet plan is excellent for both short-term and long-term weight loss. The focus of this diet is 'plant-strong' and created by firefighter and former professional athlete Rip Esselstyn. This is essentially a vegan diet minus the plant oils, under the premise that you will miss out on the rest of the nutrition in the plant when you isolate the oils alone. This fad diet is high in fiber and low in calorie-rich foods like animal fat and plant oils, which is a proven way to help you lose weight.

5. Paleo Diet

Traveling back to our caveman roots, this top five fad diet is based on consuming only what a caveman would have eaten - which means no more grains, legumes, or refined sugar. Cave dwellers preceded the development of agriculture, so none of those foods would have been available to them. Foods that they would have consumed aplenty include meats, fish, poultry, fruits, leafy veggies, and tubers or roots. If you'd like to try on the hunter-gatherer lifestyle for a while, be sure to keep tally on your calories, and eat fewer than your recommended amount.

Each of the top five fad diets of 2015 brings something different to the table. They all have certain key elements in common, such as moving more and decreasing calories to lose weight. Anyone who begins to incorporate those kinds of lifestyle changes will feel the benefits quite rapidly. These fad diets also agree on consuming lots of vegetables and lean proteins from vegetarian or non-vegetarian sources, and avoiding lots of processed foods and sugars. BistroMD meals provide fresh vegetables and delicious, lean proteins at every meal.

Other top fad diets include the Supercharged Hormone Diet, which involves removing gluten, dairy, corn, potatoes, caffeine, sugar and alcohol from your diet, as these could be allergenic and inflammatory foods. After three weeks, you slowly add food back in, and watch for symptoms like tummy bloat, fatigue, or sleeplessness.

Another fad diet called simply "The Fast Diet" employs intermittent fasting for 2 days during the week, where you only consume 600 calories for two days out of the week, while eating normally the rest of the week. There are very few rules to keep track of, and Michael Mosley, the creator of the diet, suggests consuming high proteins foods like fish or chicken to curb your hunger on your 'fast days'.

Fad diets may come and go, but a core program based upon sound science, and one that incorporates delicious meal choices is always bound to stay.

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