The newest diet craze is all about cake

Life without cake isn’t worth living. That may be the reason so many of us fail to stick to hyper-restrictive, punishing diets that deliver great results but come at the expense of enjoying ice cream cones in summer and French toast on the weekend.

Finally there's a new diet plan that encourages people to eat what they want (within reason). That French-inspired diet comes with a royal seal of approval too. The Marie Antoinette Diet: Eat Cake and Still Lose Weight (via nymag.com) is the latest quirky marketing trend to pique the interest of the jaded diet industry.  It’s message: Eat cake like a queen (that means consume sweets and rich foods daintily and with a sense of moderation) rather than like a distressed teenager, i.e., maniacally.

Written by U.K. fashion writer Karen Wheeler, The Marie Antoinette Diet also offers distinctly common-sense advice such as start with a hearty breakfast and over the course of the day eat increasingly lighter fare. If you think eating a slice of key lime pie before you're out of your PJs is a bad idea, that's understandable. But there is research to suggest that people who eat sweets earlier in the day are leaner than those who binge after dinner (via The Guardian).

Basically the premise of the diet is to eat for pleasure but wisely, keeping the principles of moderation in mind. So eat cake, by all means, but eat a lighter dinner and no snacks after 7 p.m.

The diet doesn’t sound easy, but it definitely sounds manageable — possibly even enjoyable!