ABCs of getting skinny

The alphabet diet gets around being monotonous and boring by being the most obsessive-compulsive regimen I have ever seen. According to blogger and nutritional counselor L. Vaughnan Spencer, people need to harmonize their diets and numerological capabilities they must eat only foods that begin with the first letter of their name... I'm Emily so I'm not terribly excited about eggs, edamame, eel, sheep's EYES, and ethiopian food. I'm not joking, eel and eyes are recommendations from the blog.

Compared to L. Vaughnan Spencer, the alphabet diet from Associated Content seems sane(r) and better balanced. The plan says that every day you eat only foods that start with the letter du jour. On the day for "x" fasting is encouraged. For example, on day 1 a sample meal plan would include an apple turnover, avocado salad, amaretto, antipasto, and armadillo salsa picante. (can you make this stuff up?)

It doesn't seem terribly healthful...especially on day "F" when everything starts with the words "fried." However, this diet may be effective in that people consciously avoid mindless grazing on the foods of forbidden letters.

Wez Swain wrote "The Alphabet Diaries" to chronicle his struggles of going through the diet for charity's sake. He takes the opportunity to try new foods and discover the failures of such concoctions as "cucumber, celery, and carrot soup with a squirt of curry." He acknowledges days where many vitamins and minerals are lost to this silly pursuit and laments the days at the end of the alphabet where near starvation kicks in.

The last week of near starvation probably does cause noticeable weight loss, thus propagating the diet. As far as I can deduce, the only logical benefit of such a scheme is to make the eater conscious of their food choices and to avoid mindless eating. There are easier ways to accomplish this goal...