Every year it seems the diet rules change: Carbs are out and protein is in. Soup or juice or baby food becomes the so-called saviour of the scale. This past year was no different, and Google tracked the diets that trended throughout 2014. Here’s a quick run-down on what people did to try to lose weight—whether or not it worked. 1. Five-Bite Diet This one’s exactly as it sounds: It allows you to eat five bites of whatever you want at each meal—but not a bite more. This diet is meant to mimic the eating habits of someone who’s had gastric surgery and can fit no more than a few mouthfuls of food in their stomach. It encourages staying hydrated with plenty of zero-calorie liquids (think water and coffee) and starting your day with a multivitamin. But be careful: It’s easy to see how this diet might lead to malnutrition—you’ll have trouble getting your recommended intake of fruits and veggies—and eating just a few bites at mealtime may be a sign of disordered eating. 2. Fast Metabolism Diet This diet was started by a book from Haylie Pomroy. It’s all about strategically rotating through foods throughout the week in order to maximize your metabolism by keeping your body guessing. Start out the week by eating carbs and fruits on Monday and Tuesday, then switch to proteins and veggies on Wednesday and Thursday, then finally eat all food groups, plus healthy fats and oils Friday through Sunday. This is healthier than many of the super-restricted diets, but it requires a great deal of organization and planning. For Fast Metabolism Dieters there’s an app to help them stick to the tough eating schedule. 3. Super Shred Diet Many people started off their resolutions for the year with this, another book-based diet. Dr. Ian K. Smith designed this diet, which is meant to help you drop pounds in just four weeks by using meal spacing and diet confusion. Eating times are tightly scheduled to keep your blood sugar levels even, then each week your eating is switched up (sometimes with meal replacements) to keep your body guessing. This plan promises to never leave you hungry. It’s based on some healthy principles, but all the rules might make it hard to follow, and while there are some great reviews for the book, not everyone agrees. 4. The Doctor’s Diet From Dr. Travis Stork, star of The Doctors TV show, this diet book encourages a slow and healthy approach to weight loss, with recipes that promote healthier ways to reduce chronic conditions such as heart disease. Stork focuses more on the health impacts of weight than slimming down to reduce your dress size, which could be inspiring for health-minded individuals. There are three stages in this plan: Stat, Restore and Maintain, and a commitment to cooking your own food is necessary. It’s no easy fix, but this is a great way to reboot your health and adopt a better lifestyle. 5. The Chicken Soup Diet It’s a good idea to view any diet that is named after a particular food with a big red flag. That’s because there is no one miracle food that will help you lose weight. This diet has a few different iterations, but the basic idea is that, after breakfast, the only thing you can eat is chicken soup. Chicken soup is actually quite healthy—it has a winning combination of vegetables and lean protein, plus broth-based soups tend to have a low calorie density and be quite satiating due to their water content. But the lack of variety involved in eating the same thing day in and day out is not good for your health, and many chicken soup recipes are high in sodium. Try this trick instead: Eat a simple low-sodium broth soup before eating a healthy lunch and dinner. You’ll still get nutrients and variety from the food, but the soup will fill you up first so you eat less. Fad diets not for you? There are healthier approaches anyway. Get our 10 best tips for losing weight. (Photography: FlickrCC/TipsTimesAdmin)