The Best Weight Loss Programs

Of all the hundreds of diets on the market today, how do you go about finding the best weight loss programs? Slick-looking and massive advertising may bring a diet to the forefront of popularity but that doesn’t mean that diet is really the best. And, actually, what may be a great diet for one person may not make it right for another.

So, just how do you judge a diet? In looking at what makes a diet successful, two criteria stand out-

1. Effective for weight loss
2. Keeping the weight off

Other factors that should be considered are the safety of the diet, the overall nutrition, the ease of following the diet, the ability to stay on the diet, the diet costs and, finally, the ‘taste’ of the diet. Taking a look at the various factors and comparing that to how different we are from each other, you can see how we can come to different conclusions as to which is the best weight loss program.

Perhaps the standard in reviews, whether it is cars or diets, are those done by Consumer Reports (CR) magazine. Consumer Reports has been published for years and does not accept advertising dollars from any company. Consumer Reports prides itself on unbiased, up-to-date reviews.

In May 2011, Consumer Reports completed a round of rating diets. Six of the diets that CR looked at were:

• Atkins
• Jenny Craig
• Dean Ornish’s diet
• Slim Fast
• Weight Watchers
• The Zone

What Consumer Reports evaluated these diets on was the long and short-term results for weight loss and the dropout rates. This was done by reviewing and analyzing the available scientific literature. In addition, the CR food experts look at the menus for each of the diets and assessed them for nutritional quality. The three criteria provided unbiased, objective information.

Using this information, Consumer Reports’ best weight loss program was Jenny Craig. CR findings were that 92% of Jenny Craig dieters stay with the program for two years. At the end of the two years, the average weight loss was 8% less than the starting weight.

Widely advertised and using some famous spokespersons such as Kirstie Alley, Sara Rue, Valerie Bertinelli and Marie Osmond, the Jenny Craig weight loss program uses a combination of a meal plan with personalized motivational coaching and counseling. The meal plan is its’ Jenny Craig-brand single-serving sized entrees and snacks. This is supplemented with beverages and sides you supply yourself.

Using the meal plan that Jenny Craig provides is really the next best thing to having your own personal diet chef. It provides you with portion control, satisfying flavors, and variety. That removes the stress of thinking about counting calories, deciding what you should eat and making unhealthy choices.

The other part of the successful Jenny Craig program is the support and counseling you receive. Support groups are a very effective method for helping dieters stay motivated. Weight Watchers, another successful diet that has been around for years, also provides support with weekly group meetings and counseling sessions.

Finally, the Consumer Reports’ study provided some insight into new evidence that not all calories are equal on the satiety scale. Some calorie sources are more filling than others. You will fill more full and for longer after eating 200 calories of a lean protein than if you ate 200 calories in cookies.

The evidence that is emerging shows that protein is the most satisfying, then high-fiber grains, fruits and finally vegetables. Processed and refined carbs are the least filling of calories. Perhaps that is why you can sit down and eat a whole box of donuts and then get hungry again twenty minutes later.

Because you are just dying to know, let’s see how the other diets fared in this study of the best weight loss programs. Slim-Fast was the second place winner. Weight Watchers came in third.

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