It’s 8 a.m. in SMU’s Umphrey Lee Cafeteria and SMU sophomore Rebekah Tate is sitting down to breakfast with two packages of saltine crackers, a few shreds of cheese and an apple.

Later in the day, the Journalism major will eat two hot dogs and a scoop of vanilla ice cream for dinner. Her quirky diet is all in the name of weight loss.

“The best part of it was that I got to eat those foods,” she said.

Tate is on a weight loss plan called the “Military Diet”. This and other weird diets and cleanses are being used across SMU and the country for quick weight loss and to rid the body of toxins. Other plans include the bead diet, in which people wear “acupressure” beads behind their ears and practically fast, and intense juice cleanses.

But dieticians say these diets and cleanses may not be very effective.

Cooper Clinic Dietician, Meridan Zerner says the “military diet” is certainly not what the navy seals are eating. She thinks the diet does more harm than good.

“You can’t sustain it and clearly ice cream and hot dogs aren’t health foods. But if it’s fewer calories than before, they’re going to lose weight and their blood work is going to improve,” Zerner says.

Tate’s mission was to lose weight and cleanse her body, and she saw the military diet as the most appealing option. She was very hungry during the diet but lost seven pounds in those three days, so she believes the results were worth it.

“I definitely felt better. You have to eat weird bad foods and I was super hungry,” she said.

Zerner says eating ice cream and hot dogs could allow people to choose healthier options later on. “There’s no magic to hot dogs or ice cream. We don’t like the idea of depravation so if it helps them to not feel deprived, that allows them to choose healthier options the next day.”

SMU junior Cristina Perez used the “acupressure” of tiny beads behind her ears for a month to make her feel full, while eating minimal amounts of low carb foods.

“I’m not sure how I feel about the electric zaps they gave me. It’s not that they were painful but it was more than just a tickle,” the Psychology and French major says.

You order the beads online and they apply pressure to the hypothalamus gland that food satisfaction has been achieved and the clients don’t feel hungry.

Perez wasn’t allowed to eat carbohydrates for two weeks – not even fruit. If she got lightheaded, she was allowed to have lemon with her water.

“The diet was good in that I saw results in having clothes fit better while I was doing the diet but once I got off the diet I started gaining weight again so I’d say it’s not really worth it,” Perez said.

Zerner believes sustainability is not possible with the bead diet.

“Any diet that eliminates fruits makes no sense. Fruit is healthy. It’s got high water content. It’s got loads of Vitamin C and antioxidants. We know this supports the human body,” she says.

Any diet that eliminates fruit and carbohydrates will only result in water loss, not body fat.

The most common cleanses, and a current fad, are juice. SMU junior Natalie Yezbick, says she sees her mother, Susan Yezbick, do juice cleanses all the time. Natalie doesn’t take part, but Susan believes it’s worth the results. “You have to be up for it; it’s intense.”

Yezbick does a 7-10 day juice fast at the beginning of every year. It involves digestive enzymes, kidney, liver, and colon detoxes mixed with water, veggie juice, and veggie broth.

Yezbick says getting off a cleanse is just as important, because knowing how to transition back into solid foods is tricky.

Most people gain back the weight they lost during their cleanses when they start eating normally again.

Another juice nut and SMU business major, Shelby Haugen, does juice cleanses all the time and makes her own juice. “They make me feel incredible! So much energy and you lose a ton of weight!” she says.

Most don’t have the willpower to do a 10-day juice fast though, and opt for the two or three day option with pre-made juices.

Miguel Garcia, a SMU senior, has done the Nekter two-day cleanse. This cleanse costs $130 and Garcia describes it as the worst two days of his life.

On the other hand, Jody Barnhardt, a SMU pre-med major, did the three day BluePrint juice cleanse and felt good during it. It cost under $100. She drank six pre-made juices each day. “I felt better for the first couple days and was even motivated to eat healthier afterwards but I think it’s too much trouble than it’s worth.”