That time of the year is just around the corner.  The Christmas festivities have come and gone, the New Year’s Eve party is just a blur, everyone in the office has a case of the post-Christmas blues, and this year, yes this year, you will get the body of your dreams!  But how?

Yes, January signals a UK-wide dieting frenzy.  However, with so many diet books and celebrity-endorsed fitness DVDs on the market, who’s cashing in and who’s worth checking out?

The BDA receives literally hundreds of calls from the media every year on this subject and they come across a huge range of weird and whacky diets and diet claims.

Based on telephone call volume and other contributing factors, here are the top 5 dodgy celeb diets to avoid in 2015.

5. The Baby Food Diet
Celebrity Fans:  Lady Ga Ga, Gwyneth Paltrow and Jennifer Aniston are reportedly fans of this diet.

What’s it all about?
This diet calls for eating just up to 14 jars of pureed food or baby food every day or mostly pureed food or baby food and one adult meal or pureed food or baby food instead of snacks.

BDA Verdict:  The Ga Ga should be for babies only!  This diet works on portion control and guess what?  Yes, restricted calories, as a jar of baby food has very few.  Although fruit and veg are included they are pureed so have much less fibre and texture.  Chewing food is associated with feelings of fullness and satiety, so reach for an apple or a carrot rather than a jar. Also, how anti-social would you be whipping out your jars of baby food and a top restaurant?

4. Raw Food Diet
Celebrity Fans:  Demi Moore, Natalie Portman and Woody Harrelson are reportedly fans of this diet.

What’s it all about?
It’s the practise of eating raw uncooked food and non-pasteurised/non-homogenised dairy products. This diet can be used by vegans and meat eaters.

BDA Verdict:  This hits a raw nerve!  A raw diet can be low in fat and calories but can also be low in calcium, vitamin D, iron, zinc, and protein.  Many foods can only be eaten cooked, like rice, pasta, bread, potatoes, beans and pulses, so these are excluded.  The diet is unsuitable for pregnant women, children and other at risk groups.  In fact some foods are more nutritious if cooked, like carrots and tomatoes.  This diet is time consuming, socially isolating and you’ll have an awful lot of chewing to do.  For those who use meat in a raw diet, they put themselves at risk of food poisoning and gastroenteritis.

3. Blood Group Diet
Celebrity Fans:  Cheryl Cole, Sir Cliff Richard and Courtney Cox-Arquette are reportedly fans of this diet.

What’s it all about?
This diet is completely based on pseudo-science.  It claims that different nutrients are broken down in the body based on the body’s blood type.

Blood Group A – No dairy products allowed and a vegetarian-based diet.

Blood Group B – A more varied intake of food and the only blood group able to ‘manage’ dairy products.

Blood Group AB – Combination of diets A and B (confused yet? Yes or no to dairy?)

Blood Group O – High meat intake, no dairy, no wheat, no grains (think Atkins).
BDA Verdict:  Blood and sweat won’t make this work!  Cutting out food groups is never a good idea (unless medically advised to do so and with help making substitutions from a Dietitian).  This diet could lead to significant deficiencies such as calcium.  You lose weight on this diet because your calorie intake is very restricted and this diet is not sustainable in the long term.

2. Alcorexia / Drunkorexia Diet
Celebrity Fans:  It is widely thought that many top models and other celebrities are fans of this diet.

What’s it all about?
It’s when people eat very few calories during the day/week and think they can save all the calories they have not eaten then use them to binge drink alcohol.
For example, if you favour a VLC diet (very low calorie) to follow the Alcorexia Diet, you could be banking around 1,500 calories a day, which then gives you 10,500 calories to drink during the week.  This amounts to:

45 pints of lager (based on a single pint being around 230 kcals).  With a pint of lager being 2 units, this gives you a weekly alcohol intake of 90 units.

201 shots of spirits (based on a single shot being around 52 kcals).  With a single shot of spirit being 1 unit, this gives you a weekly alcohol intake of 201 units.

52 alcopops (based on a single alcopop being around 200 kcals).  With a single alcopop being 1 unit, this gives you a weekly alcohol intake of 52 units.

131 glasses of red wine, or 26 bottles (based on a glass of red being around 80 kcals).  With a single glass being 1 unit, this gives you a weekly alcohol intake of 131 units).

To put this in context, the safe weekly alcohol unit intake is 28 units for men and 21 units for women.

BDA Verdict:  You must be blind drunk!
Following a VLC diet alone is madness, as you will most certainly not be getting the calories, vitamins and nutrients your body needs to survive and function.  In addition, you will feel weak, tired have no energy and will become very irritable very soon.  Alcohol has little nutrition other than calories.  To do this in order to ‘bank’ your calories so you can go a use them on alcohol is pure madness and could easily result in alcohol poisoning and even death.  The BDA has received a significant increase in media calls about this diet and it is a worrying trend.

1. Dukan Diet
Celebrity Fans:  The Duchess of Cambridge, Kate Middleton (and her mother Carole Middleton), Jennifer Lopez and Gisele Bundchen are reportedly fans of this diet.

What’s it all about?
A complicated four-phase diet that starts off with a protein only approach that promotes weight loss of around 7lb per week.

BDA Verdict:  The Dukan’t Diet is Offal!  There is absolutely no solid science behind this at all.  This works on restricting foods, calories and portion control again.  Once again, cutting out food groups is not advisable.  This diet is so confusing, very rigid, full of very French foods that most Brits would run a mile from like rabbit and offal, and even Dr Dukan himself warns of the associated problems like lack of energy, constipation and bad breath – lovely!

Speaking about these and other fad diets, Sian Porter, consultant dietitian and Spokesperson for the BDA, said:

“Sadly, there is no magic wand you can wave.  There is no wonder diet you can follow without some nutritional or health risk and most are offering a short-term fix to a long term problem.  It may be obvious, but if you want to lose weight you need to eat a nutritionally balanced and varied diet with appropriately sized portions and burn off more calories than you consume. In short speak, eat fewer calories, make better choices and move a bit more!

“On a serious note, glamorous images of celebrities saturate our daily media in all forms.  These celebs have an army of people to help them to keep looking good, which is essential to their livelihood and plenty of money to do whatever they think it takes.  You need to remember too, a lot of these images are airbrushed and retouched to give celebrities an unachievable body image that does not exist in real life, yet many aspire to.  Some people look at these images and will try anything they think will help them achieve the ‘perfect’ body. “If you have some weight you need to lose, then do it in a healthy, enjoyable and sustainable way.  In the long term this will achieve the results you are after.”

For more information and tips about healthy weight loss, please visit www.bdaweightwise.com.

As it was Simon Cowell’s put Cheryl Cole on the show in the first place, so it is assumed that Fox, the tv channel behind the talent show in the U.S, have made the decision to axe Cole.

Reports suggest there was no chemistry between Cole and fellow female judge Paula Abdul, which could also be the reason that what was supposed to be Cheryl Cole’s big break into the U.S market, has failed.

She isn’t the first UK TV celebrity to fail to crack the U.S market.  Ant & Dec had a similar experience when they failed to host a game show stateside.

Former Pussycat Doll Nicole Scherzinger, who had originally been lined up to present the US version of the talent show with Welsh host Steve Jones, is favourite to replace Cole.

Olay Big British Beauty Poll

In a poll of 20,000 women aged between 18 to 65 asked to name the most iconic beauty of all time, most women voted Audrey Hepburn as their top choice.

The poll conducted by skin care specialists Olay in their Olay Big British Beauty Poll asked participants about their views on a variety of  beauty related  subjects including their spending habits on beauty products, attitudes to cosmetic surgery and their ultimate beauty icon.

When asked, ‘which celebrity do you consider to be the most iconic beauty of all time? Women voted Audrey Hepburn their top choice, followed by Marilyn Monroe, Sophia Loren, Grace Kelly, Elizabeth Taylor and Twiggy.

It was no real surprise that Angelina Jolie would be one of the more recent beauties to make the top ten, but surprisingly Jennifer Aniston and Cheryl Cole were also included.

Olay’s Big British Poll is put to the test today, Thursday November 25th at 4pm when you can log onto a live webcast and air your thoughts and views on the poll and beauty products.

Dannii Minogue wears designer Kleshna Poppy for Poppy Appeal photo:Rex Features

TV celebrities such as X Factor judges Simon Cowell, Cheryl Cole and Dannii Minogue and X Factor contestants are wearing Kleshna Poppies this year is testament to a new generation supporting today’s Armed Forces through the Poppy Appeal.

The Poppy has become an enduring symbol of Remembrance Sunday each year when the
nation falls silent to remember the courage of past and present generations of the armed
forces who have lost their lives.

This year The Royal British Legion has worked with the talented designer Kleshna and proceeds from her special edition Poppies will all go to the Poppy Appeal.Acclaimed jewellery designer, Kleshna, has been working with the Royal British Legion for a while now, particularly supplying celebrities with special poppies, and this year she has produced a new collection of jewellery, all featuring the Poppy and all profits will be given to the charity so that it can continue with the incredible work it does.

However, celebrity endorsement this year has been so successful through Twitter and the celebrity media that the bespoke sparkly Poppies, sported on the TV last weekend, are literally a sell out success.

Proceeds from other bespoke Poppy jewellery available at www.kleshna.com will alo go to The Royal British Legion as do those from our conventional paper versions of the well know red flower.

The Royal British Legion believes that wearing a Poppy is a personal choice and state they are grateful to everyone who wears a poppy, including those in the public eye, and encourage everyone to support them at this important time of year.

X Magazine

Seventeen year old X Factor finalist Cher Lloyd reveals that she overcome her nerves in Saturday’s first live show by slipping into a pair of mentor Cheryl Cole’s shoes.

Having left the stage in tears during mid week rehearsals for the show, feeling particularly self conscious at having to wear a tight fitting top that she was supposed to wear in the live appearance on Saturday, Cher says in X Magazine;

“I had a bit of a meltdown earlier in the week, but I just couldn’t go onstage in something I felt uncomfortable in. So I styled myself. Well, actually, shhh, but these are Cheryl’s shoes. She lent them to me. It’s a good thing Louis isn’t my mentor as I’d have been wearing his shoes on TV!”

The 17-year-old’s fear of singing in front of the X Factor audience has been well documented, but a helping hand from mentor Cheryl set Cher on her way to beating the boos and being given amazing praise from all four judges.

“I’ve proved all the haters wrong. I’m so pleased,” she told X Magazine straight after her performance. “I was so, so nervous, but the moment I walked out, it was like a switch went click, and I was into it. Just like that.”

Issue 5 of X Magazine is available to buy from outlets nationwide from Wednesday and features interviews with Louis Walsh, Nicolo Festa and Katie Waissel. It also includes exclusive interviews with Robbie Williams and Charlotte Church

Cheryl Cole

Following their four-years of marriage, Ashley and Cheryl Cole have been granted a divorce today at the High Court on the grounds of the footballers unreasonable behaviour.

The couple met in 2004, became engaged in 2005 and married in 2006 but in 2008 their marriage was in trouble following reports of Ashley’s infidelity.

The couple must now wait for the decree absolute which will be issued in about six-weeks time for the final ending of their marriage following their separation in February of this year.

Denise Van Outen

Denise Van Outen and her husband Lee Mead have announced that they are expecting their first child due to be born in May 2010.

The couple married in a romantic setting in the Seychelles in April of this year after meeting when the 35-year-old was a judge on the talent show ‘Any Dream Will Do’, where her husband was a contestant.

Robbie Williams is set to take to the stage with the rest of the band ‘Take That’ for a special ‘Children In Need’ charity gig on Thursday at the Royal Albert Hall.

Cheryl Cole is also reported to be attending and will perform with Snow Patrol where she will be covering the female vocals on the hit ‘Set The Fire To The Third Bar’.  Sir Paul McCartney, Leona Lewis and Dizzee Rascal are also expected to make an appearance.

Jo and Ronnie Wood are now divorced after their 24-year marriage ended on the grounds of the singers admitted adultery with the Russian waitress Ekaterina Ivanova.

Jo was granted the decree nisi from the judge at the High Court’s Family Division in central London today although she did not personally attend the hearing.

Kerry Katona with DJ Rachel Hopper

Kerry Katona was arrested yesterday accused of assaulting her accountant after punching him in the face and then throwing a cup of tea over him.

The 28-year-old, allegedly blamed the accountant for her financial problems before allegedly attacking him and throwing equipment around his office.

Cheryl Cole is the new spokes-model for the global cosmetic brand L’Oreal Paris, which she will represent in the UK ‘Because she’s worth it’.

The 26-year-old Girls Aloud singer, has said to have accepted a lucrative deal with the company and her first campaign is to be a new hair product ‘Elvive Full Restore 5′.

The singer Ellie Greenwich has died at the age of 69, after suffering a heart attack in a New York hospital where she was being treated fro pneumonia.

Famous for the 1960’s tunes ‘Da Doo Ron Ron’ and ‘Christmas (Baby Please Come Home)’, she also wrote hits for ‘The Crystals’ and ‘The Ronettes’

Simon Cowell managed to get his hands on the latest Chanel handbag, with an estimated price of £7000, for the Alexandra Burke’s 21st birthday, despite there being a year long waiting list.

The X Factor winner, celebrated her birthday on Tuesday and was said to have been left speechless and in tears as she was presented with her dream gift.  Cheryl Cole allegedly treated the singer to a £5000 holiday in the Seychelles while Dannii Minogue opted for a Tabitha bag.

Mia Farrow

Mia Farrow intends to begin a hunger strike on Monday in her quest to raise awareness for the people of Darfur after the Sudanese Government expelled international aid agencies from the country in March.

The 64-year-old actress, intends to drink only water for 21-days and has received medical advice and is aware of the permanent damage that can be done to her body, particularly her internal organs, by fasting for such a long period of time.

The gorgeous Girls Aloud singer Cheryl Cole, has been voted FHM’s most Sexiest Woman for 2009, beating last years winner Megan Fox, who came second.

10 million of the magazine’s readers voted for the 100 most sexiest woman in the poll which has been running now for fifteen years.  Jessica Alba was in third place followed by Britney Spears, who only managed 31st place in 2008.

Family and friends attended the farewell party for the cancer victim Jade Goody last night as I reported yesterday and unbelievably, at the celebration of her life, it was announced that they now planning a musical based on her life.

Apparently, there is also to be a nationwide talent search for the person to play Goody’s part in the production and they are hoping to begin the production in the next few weeks.  Sorry, but this is so wrong the world has gone totally mad!

Jade Goody

The christening of Jade Goody and her son’s is now unlikely to take place as Jade is now too ill to go ahead with the ceremony.  She is now heavily sedated after the last operation to relieve the pain she had been suffering.

There is a chance that she could be baptised at the hospital chapel or that a ceremony could be arranged at short notice if her condition improves.

Peter Tork, guitarist with the 1960’s group the ‘Monkees‘, has revealed that he is suffering from a rare form on cancer, which effects the head and neck.

The 67-year-old, has been told that the prognosis is good, and was expected to undertake extensive surgery in New York yesterday followed by radiotherapy.

As the celebrities continue their charity trek to Kilimanjaro, they have been boosted by the news that they have now reached the £1 million mark on their fund raising efforts.

They are now on day six of the climb which has seen some of them being severely hit by altitude sickness as well as getting a good soaking yesterday.  They will not be told the final amount they have raised until they reach the summit of Kilimanjaro.