In a society bent on being beautiful, everyone is searching for the best way to lose weight fast. While people are willing to do almost anything to shed those pounds as quickly as possible, the diets that result in the fastest loss of pounds are usually only effective in losing water weight, at least for the first week or two.

As a natural defense against dehydration, the body retains as much as ten pounds of excess water. Most quick diets involve an increase in the consumption of water, either by enforcing the 8 glasses a day practice, or by restricting food intake to liquid concoctions and homemade soups. When the body starts getting enough water, it no longer needs to store extra. Retained water is flushed, resulting in fast weight loss.

Ideally, when dieting, the goal is to lose body fat, not water weight. Most people embark on a new diet hoping to trim off ten pounds of fat in just a few days, and get discouraged when the scale does not budge. Slow results are one of the main reasons for giving up on a diet. Apart from liposuction, fat loss is not a quick and easy process. However, a fast drop on the scale from water weight can be great motivating factor to step it up and lose weight for good.

Cleanse diets tend to be the quickest way to lose weight. At any given time, the body is holding pounds and pounds of unneeded waste and water. By expelling this material, a dieter can drop anywhere from five to fifteen pounds in two short weeks. There are two well known and effective cleanse diets, the first being the Master Cleanse Diet. Usually a ten day diet, this is a guaranteed way to lose weight fast, as long as the dieter can stick to going ten days without solid food. While it may seem impossible, the huge popularity and faith in this diet assure that it can in fact be accomplished. By surviving off of a mixture of lemon juice, maple syrup, cayenne pepper and will power, the Master Cleanse diet removes waste and excess water from the body, as well as gets rid of toxins and restores natural energy.

The other common cleanse method is the cabbage soup diet. The soup consists mostly of water, and another 4 cups of water are to be drank each day. For one week, the dieter can eat as much soup as desired, to be accompanied by a specific food or food group each day. Easy and affordable to make, the recipe is posted various places online. This is a fast way to lose weight, but in order to make permanent strides in the battle against fat, healthy lifestyle changes are necessary.

While using a cleanse diet may be the best way to lose weight fast, it is important to take the next step and keep it off. The truth is that losing fat results from burning more calories than are absorbed, so as boring as it may be, healthy eating and exercise are the most effective methods of long term weight loss. The key is to be happy and hopeful, no one sticks with a diet that makes them miserable. For some people, undertaking a program that decides what can and cannot be eaten each day is the best option. For others, watching the amount of calories or fat consumed is easier and less stressful. Sometimes, all it takes is cutting out junk food, or cutting each portion in half. A lot of fruits and vegetables burn more calories in the digestive process than they contain in the first place, making them a vital part of every meal, and an invaluable snack food. By making small diet changes, as well as increasing exercise, fat can be lost and kept off, resulting in a healthier, happier body.

Quick diets sound appealing on the surface, but beware, they are not for everyone. Those who need to lose a massive amount of weight may find generally that quick dieting may cause frustration and some very harmful concurrent effects. It is best to consult with your doctor or nutritionist before embarking on a less swift but more viable weight loss diet program. For those who need to lose only a small amount of weight, usually just those ten or twenty pounds they weigh above the highest end of their most ideal range, quick dieting can be effective if undertaken sensibly and safely.

The so called Three Day Diet, a low-fat plan designed to help you lose ten pounds in three days, is considered one of the better short-term weight loss plans, even if the side effects may include a small amount of weakness or hunger. It involves mostly black coffee or tea with every meal; different cup-or-less servings of tuna fish, fresh fruits, fresh vegetables; one serving of three ounces lean meat or chicken; one serving of two beef frankfurters; and, half to a whole cup of vanilla ice cream, among others. The general idea has been around since 1985, according to WebMd, and is good mostly for anyone who can live on a three day meal plan without deviating from it even to a single degree. Diet experts tend to point toward the Three Day Diet’s fluid more than fat loss as drawbacks, and those who put themselves on the three day diet are usually advised to eat the designated portions precisely as specified, without over or under eating.

The Eleven Day Diet, however is often more acceptable by many short term weight loss seekers even if not all of them enjoy the exercise quotient, normally, light walking, that the Three Day Diet lacks. The 11 Day Diet aims at calorie shifting, generally based on the idea that you eat different amounts of calories every day to confuse your metabolism, forcing your body to burn your fat much faster. This diet is usually available by purchase at a number of Websites that include the so called 11 day diet generator, in which the dieter chooses up to thirty foods from a 46-food option list and the generator creates an eleven day plan with the chosen thirty that the dieter can eat in any four meal a day order.

The problems include extremely restrictive food choices; at least as restrictive as shorter term diets such as the Three Day Diet; and, that the meals composed by the diet generators are frequently bizarre. Toronto dietician Stephanie de Maio has written that while many of the foods on the plan or low calorie and low carbohydrate and high protein, they are also high in sodium content and low enough in nutrient density to cause significant nutrient deficiencies even if the dieter loses the hoped for weight. Moreover, de Maio advises, the Eleven Day Diet has something else in common with the Three Day Diet, water weight loss far more than fat weight loss, if any fat weight is lost at all. In addition, de Maio continues, the weight loss is temporary at best, and the calorie shifting concept has yet to be proven scientifically as an effective weight loss method.

So what if any are fast diets that work? Most dietary studies and reviews seem to point most toward the once popular Scarsdale Diet (basically, 43 percent protein, 22.5 percent fat, and 34.5 percent carbs); and, the organic vegetable diet; not quite as fast as the more faddish diets but considered to be safer, more reliable, and better balanced for nutrients (you get the basic vitamins, minerals, and nutrients every day) while being far less restrictive than many fad diets. The principle is that you get your protein intake from beans and the kicker is that you must consume natural fruits and vegetables unaffected by growth from chemical fertilizers or growth hormones. Foods you can eat include whole grains, nuts, seeds, a small volume of pasta, and fat-free yogurt. Those who study this diet urge dieters to be sure they make a plan that has plenty of variety, for the variety of nutrients and to keep from going crazy from its sameness.

Losing weight should be done eating a healthy diet and a regular exercise regimen; however, when you need to shed the pounds quickly there are quite a few crash diets for quick weight loss. If you are looking for the fastest way to lose weight, here are three that you can review.

Cabbage Soup Diet Recipe (Lose 10-15 pounds)
Here is the cabbage soup recipe. You start with 1 bunch of celery, 6 large green onions, 1-2 cans of tomatoes, 2 green peppers, 1/2 head cabbage, 1 package Onion Soup Mix. Season to taste with salt, pepper, thyme, parsley, etc.

Cabbage Soup Diet Plan
Day One – You can eat as much fruit as you want, but no bananas. You can have unsweetened black coffee, cranberry juice, tea and water.
Day Two – You can eat all the vegetables you want (fresh, cooked, raw), but no peas, corn or beans. You can have a baked potato with butter for dinner. No fruit.
Day Three – Combine the first two days; eat as much fruit, vegetables, and soup as you want.
Day Four – You can eat up to eight bananas and drink up to 8 glasses of skim milk. This day is supposed to lessen your cravings for sweets.
Day Five – You may have 10-20 ounces of beef and fresh tomatoes; no more than six. You must drink at least 6 to 8 glasses of water this day to eliminate the uric acid from your body. You can substitute skinless backed chicken or broiled fish for beef.
Day Six – You can have up to three steaks with salad or fresh vegetables.
Day Seven – You can eat brown rice (all you want), vegetables, and unsweetened fruit juices.
No alcohol, bread, or carbonated beverages but you can eat as much soup as you want on any given day. Although this is a longer diet, 10-15 pounds in 7 days is not bad.

3 Day Diet (lose 10 pounds)
The 3 Day Diet is one of the more popular crash diets for quick weight loss but the portions must be precise or the weight loss goal will not be achieved.
Day 1
Breakfast
Tea or black coffee (1-2 packets of artificial sweetener), 1 piece of toast and a single tablespoon of peanut butter, 1/2 grapefruit.
Lunch
Tea or black coffee (1-2 packets of of artificial sweetener), a half cup of tuna, and a piece of toast.
Dinner
Any type lean meat such as chicken (3 ounces), 1 cup carrots, a cup of green beans, 1 cup of plain vanilla ice cream, and 1 apple.
Day 2
Breakfast
Tea or black coffee (1-2 packets artificial sweetener), 1/2 banana, 1 egg, and 1 piece toast.
Lunch
1 cup tuna or cottage cheese and 8 saltine crackers,
Dinner
1 cup cabbage or broccoli, 2 beef hot dogs, 1/2 banana, 1/2 cup carrots , and 1/2 cup plain vanilla ice cream,
Day 3
Breakfast
Tea or black coffee (1-2 packets artificial sweetener), 1 ounce cheddar cheese , 5 regular saltine crackers, and 1 apple.
Lunch
Tea or black coffee (1-2 packets artificial sweetener), 1 boiled egg, and 1 piece toast
Dinner
1 cup tuna, 1 cup cauliflower, 1 cup carrots, 1 cup melon, and1/2 cup regular vanilla ice cream
Drink four cups of water or calorie free beverages daily.

“Hollywood 48 Hour Miracle Diet” (Lose up to 10 pounds)
One of the simplest crash diets – a special juice that cleanses your body producing dramatic weight loss results. This blend of vitamins minerals, antioxidants, and essential oils detoxify your body over a 48 hour period. It is very simple because this is all you consume.

Remember that quick diets are not for long term weight loss. Diets that work require a change in lifestyle and not just what you eat.