This post is part of a series on celebrity spokespeople who ended up doing serious harm to the brands they were hired to promote, or vice versa. See how we rank the 20 top spokesperson fiascos.

Okay, to begin with, I should be completely honest: I'm a definite Kirstie Alley fan. I've watched her since the beginning, since she walked into Shelly Long's shoes on Cheers and took the show to a whole other level. I watched as she began to mature gracefully in Summer School and the Look Who's Talking movies, and even stayed with Veronica's Closet for way longer than I should have. Over the years, I watched her bloom, blossom, expand her horizons, umm...

Okay, yes, I also watched her gain a lot of weight. Somewhere between the overripe evil of Gladys Leeman in Drop Dead Gorgeous and the impressive avoirdupois of Fat Actress, Kirstie Alley definitely put on some serious pounds. When they started shooting her in low light with dark clothes, I had my suspicions; when Fat Actress debuted, there was no longer any doubt.

Still, I was rooting for Kirstie, and I was happy when she got a gig working for Jenny Craig (a division of Nestle, VTX:NESN). While I'm not sure that weight loss is for everyone, I have no doubt that, for Kirstie Alley, it meant the difference between being gainfully employed and using her royalties from syndicated TV shows to buy herself an island and a bunch of muumuus. I hoped that the marriage between Kirstie and Jennie would thrive and be, if not fruitful, at least healthy.

After researching the Volumetrics plan, I'm convinced it's among the best eating strategies yet. So does Consumer Reports.

Notice that the word "diet" is not mentioned. "Diet" implies temporary while "eating strategies" and another commonly used phrase "eating plan" implies permanent changes. The book "The Volumetrics Eating Plan" by Barbara Rolls, who is a professor in the department of nutritional sciences at Pennsylvania State University, is worth a read for anyone looking to take control of their nutrition for the long term rather than just lose a few pounds for the summer.

The runner-up is the review was the Weight Watchers International Inc. (NYSE: WTW) diet plan (I'm a fan of this one) and Jenny Craig also came in a very close third.

The rest? Well, do your homework and see if there are solid tracts of science behind whatever diet plan you choose -- and don't fall for the marketing hype or baseless celebrity endorsements.

It's easy to do.

From the recent Atkins Diet craze to the newest "Best Life Diet" that counts Oprah Winfrey as an endorser, there are many plans making claims to be the best.

As Consumer Reports shows, very few are worth the bother.