Want another crash diet that's sure to fail? Try fasting. Proponents of this unhealthy strategy to lose weight continue to raise their weary head--especially during the New Year when a resolve to lose those extra pounds re-emerges. Proponents of fasting claim it imitates nature: the spider who doesn't eat for three to six months during the mating season or the tadpoles who fast all the way into frog-dom not to mention bears, salmon, and caterpillars. They talk about the "healing crisis" that occurs when the energy that goes into dissolving and absorbing food is "freed" and used to release toxins and eat morbid tissues such as cysts and tumors.

Instead of falling for this rationale that sounds logical but has no basis in human biochemistry remember: any weight shift of more than 1 pound a day is most probably fluid. Your body is starving, not healing. While you fast you are raising your setpoint (lowering your metabolism) and making your body conserve energy more efficiently. And, since it takes up to 30 days after a fast before the body stabilizes, it's easy to gain back the weight lost as water and fat but not so easy to get back your calorie burning protein weight. But, if you like, you can follow the huddled masses who know that crash diets don't work and that smart exercise and smart eating habits are the key to successful weight management.