8 Free Diet Plans and Programs

Here are 8 of the best free diet plans that include a variety of weight loss methods, some short term and several which focus around lifestyle changes.

1. Atkins Free Diet Plan -  No sugar and very limited carbohydrates with unlimited eating of allowed foods, exercise is optional. Carbohydrates are limited to certain vegetables for the beginning weeks of the diet and then berries and other complex carbohydrates are integrated in. This diet focuses on proteins and fats and carbohydrate free foods  as the main diet and has been very successful for many people, who have lost lots of weight and quickly with the Atkins free diet plan.

Developed by Dr. Atkins who wrote a book about the diet, however the entire diet philosophy and the free diet plan are available online.

Learn more about Atkins Free Diet Plans:

Atkins Nutritional Approach

How Atkins Works

Four Phases and Complete Free Diet Plan

2. Scarsdale Medical 14-Day Free Diet Plan - Portion control and a strict plan of meals for a 14 day period. Developed by Herman Tarnower, MD and Samm Sinclair Baker.

In these fourteen days average weight loss is 7-15 pounds. A very popular diet plan that has been around for years.

View the complete rules and meal plan at Scarsdale Diet

3. Cabbage Soup 7 Day Free Diet Plan. A very basic calorie deprivation short term weight loss plan that inevitably leads to boredom due its monotonous and very limited food assortment. Good for quick weight loss, that may be easily regained because no real lifestyle changes are made with this diet, it is basically a very low calorie 1 week weight loss plan. The popularity of this diet has been huge!

See the complete meal plan and rules at: Cabbage Soup Diet

4. Grapefruit Diet - Free Diet Plan - The Grapefruit Diet, has been around a long time -- since at least the 1930s. A short-term and quick weight loss free diet plan also known as the Hollywood Diet or the Mayo Diet (not associated with the Mayo Clinic), the Grapefruit Diet surprisingly has survived the test of time, being circulated by word of mouth, online and in book form -- yet no one claims ownership of the plan.

The premise of the Grapefruit Diet is based on an alleged "magical" ingredient in grapefruits, that, when eaten with protein, theoretically triggers fat burning and causes weight loss. The diet is designed to promote fast weight loss; unfortunately, the weight lost is primarily from fluids and not fat and generally returns as soon as the dieter goes off the diet.

Complete Meal Plan and Rules at: Grapefruit Diet

5. The Cheaters Diet Plan - Healthy eating, cheating and exercise. Based on the concept that everyone cheats sometimes, this diet is based on calorie control during the week and then cheating on weekends. In fact, decadent cheating is required on this diet plan, HA HA! Finally! Including, pizza, strawberry shortcake, chocolate, ice cream, wine and more

In the Cheater's Diet, the prescription is for a healthy, reduced-calorie diet, along with plenty of physical activity during the week. The real bonus is the opportunity to splurge and cheat on the weekends and eat a variety of decadent foods. This diet plan is not completely free, it requires the purchase of the Cheater's Diet: Lose Weight by Taking the Weekends Off, by author and weight loss physician Paul Rivas, MD.

Browse cheap diet books and get a great deal on the Cheaters Diet.

6. Morning Banana Free Diet Plan - A very simple free diet plan made popular by the former opera singer Kumiko Mori when she lost 15 pounds. Since then there has been a shortage of bananas in Japan, according to The Japan Times online due to this diets popularity and praise. Billed as the fastest and easiest free diet plan, the Morning Banana diet has taken Japan by storm.

The Morning Banana diet was developed by Hitoshi Watanabe, who studied preventive medicine in Tokyo, and his pharmacist wife, Sumiko. The diet has since gained popularity by word of mouth, web sites, TV shows, magazine articles, and a book written by the Watanabes.

The Diet Plan:

For breakfast you have only bananas and room-temperature water. Then, you can eat whatever you like for lunch, dinner, and snacks, as long as you don't eat after 8 p.m.  Restrictions: No ice cream, dairy products, alcohol, or dessert after dinner, and the only beverage you may have with meals is room-temperature water. One sweet snack is allowed mid-afternoon.

NO Exercise required. Dieters are advised to do it only if they want to, HA HA!!! and even then, it should be done in a manner that is the least stressful.

The experts have their doubts about this diet working and warn that they best way to lose weight is always to burn more calories than you eat and there is no evidence that bananas have any magical fat burning or weight loss properties. But, still  most of  Japan swears by it.

7. The Fast Food Diet Plan - Select fast food items and regular exercise. For those who love fast food, easy diet plans and are doomed to eat out a lot and on the run with quick meals then this diet maybe for you. It might sound like a gimmick, but author and cardiologist Stephen Sinatra, MD, thinks you can lose weight easily on The Fast Food Diet plan.

This diet plan is a six-week guide for making the healthiest selections from virtually every major fast-food restaurant menu, for breakfast, lunch, dinner, or snacks. The book also includes tips for choosing healthy foods from mall food courts, sit-down restaurants, airports, and convenience stores. No fried foods or sugar sodas allowed, but healthier substitutions are offered.

The Fast Food Diet also includes some simple recipes for nutritious meals that can be prepared in 15 minutes or less, as incentives for busy folks to eat at home rather than hitting the drive-through. The diet plan is simple with about 1,500 calories per day and a mile of walking each day.

The Fast Food Diet is not a free diet plan, but is available on e-book for $17.95, and the first 10 pages can be viewed for free.

Learn more and order at the Fast Food Diet Official Site

8. Fat Smash Diet Plan - Healthy lifestyle eating changes and exercise. The Fat Smash Diet, created by Dr.  Ian K. Smith, MD,  is not meant to be a quick fix, but instead a lifestyle changing approach focused on eating healthy, filling foods, and lots of exercise.

This diet plan offers an easy-to-follow, low-calorie diet plan, including long lists of foods to enjoy (and those to avoid), plus more than 50 recipes and tips to help dieters change unhealthy behaviors. Smith claims this will be the last diet you'll ever need, regardless of whether you want to lose 10 pounds or 200 pounds.

Fat Smash diet plan is specifically designed to be a 90-day program with four phases that will ultimately re-wire your body and its relationship to food and physical activity for the rest of your life. At the end of the 90 days, you will have made small, but important adjustments not only in your food consumption, but your understanding and attitude towards food and the way you view the importance of physical activity in maintaining a healthy life.

This diet plan is not completely free, it requires the Fat Smash book, which again is available very cheap at our listings of cheap diet books.