If you’ve ever watched “The Biggest Loser” on TV, then you know what it takes for some of America’s most overweight people require weight loss to shed pounds, from decreased calorie consumption, four servings of fruits and veggies, three servings of lean protein, two servings of whole grains, one “extra” serving of fat and a healthy dose of exercise.
This plan promises to help participants to lose weight, lower cholesterol, decrease blood pressure, improve muscle/bone strength and give them more energy. For $5/week, you can become a member and gain access to recipes, meal plans, a food journal, personalized fitness suggestions and support networks. Here are a few of the popular approaches to weight loss to consider.
dieting
For people who are severely overweight, it sometimes takes a special weight loss program to keep them disciplined and motivated. After all, when you’re used to living a certain way your whole life, the switch to fewer calories and a more varied diet, without the fat, can be overwhelming.
One of these popular plans is the Weight Watchers program, which is $20 to join and costs about $9/week. The diet nutrition plan emphasizes strict calorie control, flexibility in food choices, exercise and a positive attitude. Proponents of Weight Watchers attend group meetings and weigh-ins and are not mandated to buy prepackaged food.
Instead, they learn about what choices they can make based on a “points system,” as outlined in the Weight Watchers manual. Some critics say the points system does not necessarily lead to healthy living, but the diet has fared well in clinical studies. Additionally, because it is cost-effective and flexible, participants are more likely to stick with it.
Atkins is another one of the dietary weight loss programs you’ve probably heard about. Perhaps your neighbor dropped twenty pounds on it or a woman at the bookstore looked over your shoulder and recommended Dr. Atkins’ “New Diet Revolution.”
healthy diet
What doesn’t sound good about gorging on steak with Béarnaise sauce, eggs, bacon and cheddar cheese, without being required to move an inch? While it may not sound healthy at first, Atkins claims that participants can burn fat and drop weight quickly if they drastically reduce carbohydrates down to 20 to 40 grams a day. You’ll be loading up on fat and protein, while cutting out refined sugar, milk, white rice, white flour, white bread, white potatoes and pasta.
While this diet has been championed by overweight dieters who have witnessed the pounds dropping off, experts are concerned about the overall effect of advocating fat over fruit. “Our worries over the Atkins diet go way past the question of whether it is effective for losing weight or even for keeping weight off.
We worry that the diet promotes heart disease,” Robert H. Eckel, MD of the University of Colorado Health Sciences Center, says. “We have concerns over whether this is a healthy diet for preventing heart disease, stroke and cancer. Eating a lot of little meals and incorporating thirty minutes of exercise a day or an hour three times a week, along with managing stress through meditation, massage, therapy or yoga, is the key to success.
We’d all love to believe that revolutionary diet pills will increase our metabolism to the point of weight loss or that special new diets will come out that promise to rid us of troublesome fat forever; quickly and easily. However, according to Dr. Frank Sacks, a professor at the Harvard School of Public Health, “It’s not so much the type of diet you eat: it’s how much you put in your mouth.”
diet and weight loss
In his study, he analyzed 811 obese patients on four different diet plans; a low fat diet or a high fat diet with either high protein or low protein. All four diet nutrition plans included whole grains, fruits, vegetables and unsaturated fat, as well as a 90 minute per week exercise routine.
The study found that, regardless of what diet they followed, most participants lost about thirteen pounds over a six month period and only 15% were able to lose ten-percent of their body weight or more.