How to Choose a Diet or Weight Loss Plan

Did you know that Americans spend approximately $30 billion a year trying to lose weight? In the big business of weight loss, it pays to shop around for a program that suits your needs.

Difficulty: Moderately Challenging

Instructions

1. Choose a program that helps you set realistic goals and aim for gradual weight loss.

2. Be sure to ask how much weight you can expect to lose per week, as well as how long it will take to reach your own weight loss goal.

3. Research the credentials of the experts involved in the program, such as doctors, nurses, dieticians and counselors.

4. Make sure the plan offers a variety of foods to ensure that you receive all the nutrients you need - your diet should include all the recommended daily allowances (RDAs) for vitamins, minerals and protein.

5. Look for a plan that includes plenty of exercise to be combined with a balanced diet.

6. Select a plan that not only helps you lose weight but teaches you to keep it off. You need to make permanent lifestyle changes to maintain a healthy body.

7. Consider how much time you are willing to spend on this program. For instance, will you need to attend meetings or counseling sessions?

8. Consider the total cost of the program, including the initial membership fee, special foods, supplements and other features.

Tips & Warnings

• Seek help from a variety of experts: a doctor, a dietitian, an exercise physiologist, a psychologist. Each can provide advice that the others cannot. Be sure to check credentials.
• Weight loss medications provide only short-term weight loss.
• Weight loss self-help support groups, such as Overeaters Anonymous or Take Off Pounds Sensibly (TOPS), are available to those who would like peer support without following a particular commercial program.
• Opt for a commercial weight loss program, such as Jenny Craig or Weight Watchers, if you want to lose at least 10 pounds and would like a structured weight loss plan, as well as extra services and special foods.
• Ask your physician about weight loss programs that take place in a clinical setting, such as Optifast or Health Management Resources (HMR), if you are 20 to 30 percent above your ideal weight; these include liquid meal replacements in their plans.
• Single-food reduction diets (such as grapefruit or cabbage diets) are not only boring but nutritionally unbalanced.
• It is dangerous to lose more than 1 to 2 pounds per week after the first week.
• If you have any questions or concerns, contact a physician or other health care professional before engaging in any activity related to health and diet. This information is not intended as a substitute for professional medical advice or treatment.

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[Amarande]

on 7/1/2009 I'm a Diet/Nutrition & Fitness Expert.I charge only 55 cents a minute to personally coach and counsel. Go to my website and contact me about personal counseling.

Each session with me starts FREE until you choose to use my services.

http://www.liveperson.com/karma-amarande/

[picperfect0529]

on 4/4/2009 check out the RSDP progran by at 7dayfitness.com...Wesley Virgin IV is a Master Trainer and Master Motivator, and his program helped me completely overcome my procrastination problems in no time!

[RFerriANP]

on 7/8/2008 We have become a society obsessed with fad weight loss diets. These fads are making some people lots of money but here is some very basic science people need to remember. It takes 3500 calories to gain of pound of body weight. So to loose a pound you need to create a calorie deficit of that amount in your daily intake and output of food (think of food as fuel). As a health care provider and a certified personal trainer I have never seen anything work better then going over your diet, your calories, and your exercise patterns to loose or gain weight. So sit down with a trainer, health care provider, or other fitness professional and develop a healthy eating plan if you want real results, a better body, and a healthier lifestyle. Common sense, use of basic scientific principles, and healthy eating habits will beat any fad on any day.

[CCrock]

on 1/3/2008 I agree with Karen, you have to do it on your own terms, it has to be your thing if you're going to feel good about it and be successful. There are many programs out there, but if you don't have a lot of money to spend, go to the www.glamour.com and click on the 30 day makeover. You can sign up for free and it will tell you exactly what to eat to loose weight. Then join Body By Glamour program. You will get the instruction and knowlege you need, and it's free.

[Karenc1972]

on 11/16/2007 Do it for you and only you - To lose weight successfully, like with any bad habit, you have to want to do it! Make it your own personal journey and think of how this change of lifestyle will make you feel, whether it's healthier, fitter, confident or more successful.