A month and a half has passed, and some people have already given up on their New Year's resolutions of an unlimited gym membership and trying Khloe Kardashian's new diet book. Why? I am glad you asked. Probably because dieting and exercise are hard! It takes a lot of hard work, time, and most importantly, patience. Personally, I hate fad diets because they promise "immediate results" but a week or so goes by and I see nothing. Counting calories and checking ingredients becomes exhausting, redundant, and tedious and sometimes all we want is a giant cheeseburger.

First of all, I want to make one thing clear. I am not a doctor, scientist, nutritionist, or anything of the sort, so everything I say here is strictly my opinion. I am just your average girl who has suffered from body image issues a time or two, and I want to tell you about all the diets and weight-loss fads I have seen on Facebook, Twitter, and Instagram over the past few months and why I think they are overrated and a huge waste of everyone's time.

The DASH Diet

A diet plan that was originally created to help lower high blood pressure, but for some reason, everyone is shocked that it helped users lose weight as well. Hello? Isn't that the point? The reason people lost weight so quickly is because they drastically changed their caloric intake and eliminated empty carbs and replaced them with more plant-based foods such as fruits and vegetables. Now don't get wrong this is a great idea, I believe everyone should eat their fruits and vegetables, but counting calories just takes too much time and effort. Not to mention, produce can be quite pricey and same with the books and videos that are required for this diet. Below I have attached the food chart from DASH's website, it shows the number of foods and calories a person on this diet can ingest throughout their day. What happens if you accidentally go over 2,000 calories in the middle of your day? Are we just supposed to stop eating? That's ridiculous! Cooking and eating out should be fun, not something that you stress out about because you're too afraid to eat more than 2,000 calories.

The Green Coffee Bean

This little booger is just a lazy alternative to dieting and exercise in the first place. It is a vitamin supplement that encourages people to keep going about their lives and wash away all their problems with just a pill and eight ounces of water. Sounds lovely doesn't it? However, it boosts your metabolism so quickly that when you run out or start to see results you stop taking the pills. Slowly but surely you will start to gain the weight back because your metabolism becomes dependent on the extreme amounts of caffeine. According to WebMD, Green coffee is possibly safe based on the limited research that has been done in people so far. In clinical research, no serious side effects were reported when green coffee or green coffee extract was taken by mouth at appropriate doses. However, taking the Green Coffee Bean can also cause insomnia, nervousness and restlessness, stomach upset, nausea and vomiting, increased heart and breathing rate, and other side effects. Consuming large amounts of coffee might also cause headaches, anxiety, agitation, ringing in the ears and irregular heartbeats. So honestly, if you are that desperate to lose a few pounds, then I suggest running a mile or so, not relying on a pill to screw up your insides.

The Military Diet

Oh boy! This diet just sounds like I will never even get to look at pizza ever again. How sad is that? "You can lose up to 10 pounds in one week on the Military Diet, without strenuous exercise or prescriptions. And best of all, the Military Diet is free!" Actually, that sounds great! Let's check it out!

By the looks of this I am already failing and I was right... pizza is not involved. How unfortunate that this diet has to be so bland and boring. My stomach growls just reading through the menu. Maybe this is why military sergeants are so uptight -- they're probably hangry all the time. I guess this diet is just all about tricking your brain into thinking your eating enough when in reality you really have to plan out those portions.

Paleo Diet

We all have that one friend who does nothing but talk about his or her Paleo diet and why it is the best thing on this planet Earth... but is it really? The Paleo Diet is based upon everyday, modern foods that mimic the food groups of our pre-agricultural, hunter-gatherer ancestors. In all honesty, I couldn't find any bad reviews about the Paleo diet, the only thing I dislike about it is that it restricts you from having fun. Personally, I enjoy eating healthy... sometimes... but if I want to eat a chocolate chip cookie I am going to eat a real one. Not some funky, extremely high in protein, cookie dough flavored Quest bar. Plus Paleo doesn't allow pizza into the equation and I just cannot live without pizza. #sorrynotsorry

So in conclusion, I have been there, I have tried many diets and many strategies in order to feel that I am in optimum shape. But that is my personal preference! Don't ever let someone make you feel like you should go on a diet, especially if you don't want to. I only think dieting is necessary if it is recommended by a doctor or if it is your way of improving your self-esteem and overall happiness. I don't know about you but I am going to go about my life eating whatever the hell I want, whenever I want because it's less stressful that way. If I feel like I need to lose a little bit of fluff, I will go exercise because exercising can be fun. But I love the way food tastes and I do not want to ever ruin that special relationship we have with one another. #pizzaislove #pizzaislife