Weight can be a lifelong struggle for some people. Sometimes it's genetics that make it so difficult to maintain a healthy weight; sometimes it's bad eating habits that are seemingly impossible to break.
Regardless of the reason, it can be quite easy to lose hope. Being uncomfortable in your own skin can really weigh down on general happiness, and people in the past have been known to do some pretty crazy things in the name of beauty.
It might seem appealing to turn to fad diets that promise a slimmer figure with minimal effort and time, but these ideas are often unhealthy and unsuccessful. And these trendy diets are nothing new.
These 11 fads from previous decades will make you happy that they're in the past, and might even make you laugh out loud at how ridiculous they are. I can't believe an all-pineapple diet was actually a thing!
Which one of these vintage diet fads do you find most ridiculous? Did we miss any? Let us know in the comments!
And please SHARE this outrageous list with friends and family.
Thumbnail source: Flickr
1. Smoke More
Cigarette companies have used staying thin as a major angle for years. The idea is that you reach for a cigarette instead of a snack, the downfall obviously being all of the deadly effects of smoking.
2. Eat Meat Nonstop
Meat for breakfast, meat for lunch, meat for supper. All meat, all the time, for a slimmer figure!
3. Eat Only Beans
In the late thirties, a product called Bile Beans claimed they would make you skinner. They were essentially laxatives.
4. Load Up On Ice Cream
The mid forties brought along a diet that included two helpings of ice cream a day!
5. Binge On Sugar
One sugar company in 1955 claimed that their sugar would keep you slim and give you an energy boost. As we all know now, sugar is a key factor in weight gain.
6. Ingest A Tapeworm
It's illegal in the states, but in the '50s, after opera singer Maria Callas lost 65 pounds from one, it became popular for women to swallow pills full of tapeworms to eat their food for them. It was incredibly unsafe.
7. Eat Only Pineapple
In 1976, eating pineapples all day apparently made you skinny. It may have worked, but so would depriving yourself of proteins and fats while shoving any other fruit down your gullet.
8. Drink Tons Of Milk
Dairy farmers in 1975 boasted that guzzling milk would help you slim down.
9. Eat Cookies Every Few Hours
Specially formulated cookies were made to eat every two hours during the day, followed by a 500-700 calorie dinner.
10. Put Steak On Your Peanut Butter Sandwich
Elizabeth Taylor had some strange dietary ideas, and this was one of them. Folks followed her ways, though, in the hopes of looking like she did.
11. Eat Grapefruit Before Every Meal
In the '50s, eating half a grapefruit before every single meal with no snacks was quite the craze.
Do you remember any of these fads? Did we leave any off the list? Let us know in the comments and please SHARE with family and friends on Facebook!
