Ah, memories. When I was about 12 my mother put me on this diet that required I eat nothing but oranges every other day. Needless to say, that didn't last. In the 60's I took diet pills. I didn't lose anyway, but boy could I clean the house -- until I crashed. The Stillman was my first "name" diet and I still have the book. I also drank Metracal and Sego, which had a strong soy taste. I tried the Last Chance diet, the rice diet and protein-sparing fast. I did the fast in the late '70s under a doctor's supervision. I had to eat 4 ozs of meat 3 times a day. When I just couldn't face a hunk of meat first thing in the morning, I switched to the liquid protein which was a red gel kind of thing with a disgusting taste. As for contraptions, in addition to the vibrating belt there was the steam box (I think there's an episode of "Lucy" where she gets stuck in one.

I remember the Ayds cuz I used to babysit for a woman who used them and there was always a box in her fridge they did'nt taste bad either but I did'nt realise until now that she probably knew how many was in the box and also knew how many I had "sampled"

Hi - I'm late to the thread, but I've enjoyed the walk down memory lane.

I do remember the injections from pregnant ladie's urine - My older sister wanted to try it, and didn't want to do it alone and paid for me to do it with her. Seems we did it for a couple months, and I got tired of the shots in the butt.

Yes, the Ayds candies. I did that in college for a while. Along with "The Grapefruit diet". I remember Sego, Stillman, and when Atkins first came out my mom did it for 6 months or so. I remember those liquid protein diets of the late 70's. I tried the stuff, but it was revolting. I even remember Jack Le Lane when he was young and on tv with his exercise show. I remember the YWCA had those belt machines, and then they had the roller machines you leaned up against. OUCH.

I remember way back in the early 60's when it was big news that Tab had only 1 calorie per bottle. It was the first diet soda. It came in the old glass bottles with the little asterisk type stars on the bottle.

I remember the thing on the door knob and the little roller - I had both.

Gosh, what a culture, I'm almost embarassed to know so many of the products and diets. What a vast empire of worthless products. What a great multi-million dollar business it's been for so many years.

Thanks again for the jog to the memory.....Allie

Gosh, I remember TAB and it tasted so gross. I also remember Ayds. My mom had them and I'd eat them like candy LOL!

Jack La Lane was the bomb! Remember Elaine La Lane and his german shepard, Happy? I remember watching him every morning as a kid.

Jack LaLanne is STILL the bomb at least here in the Bay Area - he's a lifelong San Francisco resident - he just celebrated his 90th birthday a few weeks ago:

I remember Ayds! My mom bought those when we were kids. She had to hide them, cause we thought they were candy and we'd sneak and eat them all. They did taste good, but I don't remember anyone losing weight from them.

I did the "woman doctor's diet for teenage girls" when I was in junior high in the 80s. It let you eat junk food, but you had to go through this pyramid of foods first. Like, you wanted to eat a cookie; however before the cookie, you had to eat an assortment of fruits and veggies and water. Then, if you were still hungry, you could have the cookie.

There was a recipe for a carrot cassarole that I made for my parents. It was carrots with water and saltines crumbled on top. It was very sad looking. I think it got tossed to the chickens.

Weight watchers in the 60s had really weird food concoctions.

How about the egg & grapefruit diet? I think I lasted about 3 days on that one? Or the original Weight Watchers-one from column A, one from column B, type diet? I tried Ayds when I was a teen. They didn't work for appetite control, but they tasted good

Believe it or not, they STILL make Tab! They carry it at the local Publix store. I used to think "Tab-Diet Coke; what's the difference?" BIG DIFFERENCE!

Thanks for the memories

I remember the Ayds. My grandmother used to keep a box in her house. She used to give me one or two as a treat if I was good. Those things were really good!

What about the "Tapeworm" gum? I remember hearing about that. Gross!

I remember my mom and Grandmother going on some liquid protein diet in the 70's. It was some kind of red liquid, and if I recall correctly, it was pulled off the market because people were dying.

I just thought of another one today. Here in So. calif, perhaps even more widespread, there was a string of gyms either just before or concurrent with Jack Lalanne, Called Vic Tanney's. I remember the tv ads for them.

I also remember Tab, what horrid stuff, and also Diet Rite Cola, ok for the time. But the original had cyclamates (?) and that was found to be cancer inducing in mice if you fed the poor little things 13 million pounds of the stuff. So it was pulled off the market. I think they replaced the cyclamates with saccharine so the diet rite cola then had an unpleasant aftertaste.

Jan, thinking fondly of Splenda right now.....

There are five girls in my family...so dieting was a natural! We did Weight Watchers, Stillman, Ayds...you name it. I remember being very successful on early Atkins. How I wish I had STAYED on it.... The one I remember we used to do a lot, and it actually worked was the Cottage Cheese diet. You ate cottage cheese three times a day, and fruit. Nothing else. You could lose a pound a day on it.

I often wonder if my metabolic problems now are due to all the fad diets I did as a teen?!

Oh, wow...

Ayds...ate half a box on the way home from the store. More than once!

Sego and Metrecal...dutch chocolate and mocha flavors....

Stillman -- bad breath city.

I remember being given big pink pills when I was 12. I talked like Speedy Gonzalez and wasn't too interested in food. Then my folks found out that they were low dose barbiturates and I stopped taking them...hey, it was the 60s...who knew?

My mom said that in the 50s the big thing was the "Formula Diet"...it was started by the Karo Syrup people and was a low-calorie version of homemade baby formula...Mom tried it a couple of days and that was it (she always was trying to lose 5 pounds so she could eat pie for breakfast. She was and is still a perfect size six).

She also said that many women took up smoking to keep from eating. EEEK!

How 'bout the Russian Air Force diet? 500 calories a day...or the lecithin and vinegar diet.. Made everyone smell like old socks..

Joined Weight Watchers in 1970 -- it was still the original program. For balance nutrition, it can't be beat. Jean Nidetch got the diet from the Department of Public Health for the city of New York.

Tab! Shasta! Faygo! Fresca! The cute little pillbox with saccharin tablets in it. "Thank you, waitress -- I'll have the diet plate and black coffee."

Remember "the diet plate?" you could get it at any restaurant -- grilled hamburger patty, mound of cottage cheese on lettuce and fresh-sliced tomato. with Melba toast or crackers. Gad, I've eaten hundreds of those things...

Thanks for the trip down memory lane, y'all. It's been fun!!

Hey Jan, did you know that Diet Rite is now made with Splenda? It's my favorite; I have to limit myself to one a day as a treat.

A local diner here still has one of those diet plates. Sounds like the formula hasn't changed at all. And Jack LaLanne's old show plays on ESPN Classic in the mornings.

I seem to remember the Cabbage Soup Diet being popular when I was a kid. Seems like it made a comeback where I was working about 5 years ago.