> Problem with diet systems is they're promoted without taking age, sex &
> lifestyle into consideration.

There was a study done recently - I'd have to dig for the link - that
showed pretty strongly that starting just about *any* regimented diet
from nothing would generally show results. There are people out there
who have started eating nothing but fast food and they lost weight.

The reason isn't so much what they're eating but that fact that it's
all of a sudden being controlled. Instead of eating whatever they like
(which, for most people turns out to be more than they realize once
they start keeping track) they actually watch what they eat, and when
they eat it.

Similar thing happens with those "lose weight while you sleep"
suppliments that are often sold in magazines and on television. Most
of them have as a requirement that you not eat for a set number of
hours before going to bed. Studies have shown that it's not the
suppliment that makes you lose the weight - it's the fact that you're
no longer eating junk before going to bed.