The Rosemary Conley Diet

She calls it the "Amazing Inch Loss Plan" and promises that you will, yes, lose inches (amazingly) and pounds if you follow it. No stranger to diet advice, Rosemary Conley made her name in the weight loss business back in the 80s with her book The Complete Hip and Thigh Diet. She is still something of a big deal in the United Kingdom. Now it seems that she has set her sights on the rest of your body.

The Amazing Inch Loss Plan is actually a blend of diet and exercise. Both components are reasonable and safe, well within the FDA guidelines. The diet side of her plan is focused on foods with a low glycemic index. As you might remember, low-GI foods avoid triggering large releases of insulin into the bloodstream by metabolizing into glucose slowly. Conley recommeds low-GI foods like pasta, potatoes, rice and whole-wheat bread.

Additionally, the Amazing Inch Loss Plan allows eating pretty much any food that contains less than 5% fat. The only limitation on consumption is an overall cap on daily calories. For the first two weeks (what many diets call the induction phase) your calorie cap is 1,200 calories. Although this is less than a typical, non-diet day, it is still considered safe by the FDA. During these two weeks, you should expect to enjoy some rapid weight loss.

After two weeks, your daily calorie cap rises to 1,400 calories. You also get to indulge in alcohol and sweets, either daily or saved up for special occasions.

The second element of the Amazing Inch Loss Plan is a 45 minute daily exercise program. This set of exercise routines can be learned in her chain of exercise clubs (if you're in the U.K.) or (you guessed it) a lovely set of DVDs.

Could this diet work for you? On the plus side, the recommendations are safe and not too extreme. Although the program is planned for four weeks, many of the elements can continue for a lifetime. On the negative side, the diet does require some careful reading of food labels, and that gets old pretty fast. The 45 minute daily workout is great, no matter what exercises you chose.