Best Diet & Weight Loss Programs

Types of diet and weight loss programs

Meal replacement products

Meal replacement products are kiloujoule-controlled products - often liquid drinks - that are designed to assist with weight loss. These products generally try to help users shed weight quickly or do a detox or “cleanse” of their body. Because of this, they're typically only meant to be used over a short period of time, or to only replace 1 or 2 meals a day.

Weight loss drinks, such as the VLCD Optifast diet drink are often found at supermarkets, pharmacies, and health stores.

Ready-made meals

There are now a plethora of food delivery services that offer healthy, ready-made meals as part of a diet plan, however you may have limited access to these if you live in a more remote area.

If you want to save time and energy and forgo grocery shopping and cooking altogether, then ready-made meals, such as Jenny Craig meals, might be suited to you.

Recipes and meal plans

Recipes and meal plans are exactly what they sound like, programs that include recipes for meals that help you reach your health goals and plans for when you should be eating them.

For some, a weekly planner of what and when they should eat helps motivate them to achieve more long-term goals.

What to consider when choosing a diet or weight loss program

Your personal circumstances

If you already have a health condition, then make sure that your program is suited to your specific situation.

You may already follow a diet, such as a vegetarian or vegan diet, or have certain religious or cultural requirements when it comes to food; a good diet for you shouldn’t make you abandon these beliefs and preferences.

Your diet should also match your eating style and lifestyle. If a plan encourages only 2 meals per day but the 3 you eat currently still leaves you snacking inbetween meals, then it’s probably not suited for you. Similarly, if it recommends 2 hours of exercise per day and you’re a relatively sedentary person, then don’t assume you’ll be able to easily follow it.

Also consider whether your diet would accommodate eating out, and how much food preparation is involved - time-poor people may have less choice in weight loss programs.

The diet itself

Any Google search on weight loss will yield results on a bunch of popular diets, but just because a diet is popular, does not mean that it is safe, healthy, and effective.

Here’s an overview of some common diets followed today.

• Keto diet. A keto (ketogenic) diet is a low carb, high fat diet that’s designed for you to get more calories from protein and fat and less from carbs.
• Paleo diet. This diet tries to emulate the same diet followed by hunter-gatherers before the development of agriculture. It emphasises lean protein, vegetables, fruits, nuts, seeds, and whole foods, while cautioning against grains, processed foods, sugar, and dairy.
• Mediterranean diet. Traditionally followed by people living in the Mediterranean, this diet is rich in foods such as fruit, vegetables, seafood, and wholegrains, with dairy and poultry eaten in moderation. It’s widely considered to help prevent heart attacks, stroke, and type 2 diabetes.
• Pritikin diet. This is a low fat, high fibre diet that limits red meat, processed food, cholesterol-rich foods, refined grains, and alcohol.

Not all diet programs will follow a specific diet. In fact, most healthy and effective programs take your dietary preferences into account so that you’re more likely to follow through with it.

The CSIRO Total Wellbeing Diet, for example, is a 12-week program that generally follows a high protein, low GI plan, but is still tailored to your specific diet personality. It not only includes a CSIRO diet plan that facilitates sustainable weight loss, but also includes simple weight loss workouts that you can follow at home.

Effectiveness

It’s easy to get sucked in by testimonial ads and dramatic before and after weight loss pictures, but try not to take a program for its word without doing your own research.

Reading reviews will help you see whether the program was effective for different people - this can refer to whether they’ve felt healthier or better about themselves, whether they’ve made steps towards their goal weight, or any other personal diet or health goals.

It’s also a good idea to see how easy or difficult reviewers found the program, and whether they enjoyed it. A simple-to-follow, enjoyable (and tasty!) program will help ensure that you can actually keep up the program and sustain any health results you achieve.

Support

Some people prefer to follow a diet program on their own, while others prefer extra support, such as from a dietician or similar professional, or a support group with others who have similar health goals to them.

Think about your own personal preferences and what helps motivate you. For some people, talking with someone about their progress, either online or in person, can help keep them accountable to their goals.

Price

Diet and weight loss plans can vary a lot in price, depending on what kind of food or exercise they entail. Make sure that any program you choose is one that you can afford in the long run.

You may even be able to find free online weight loss programs, however these often only give you limited access to a more comprehensive meal plan that you need to pay for.

Extra tips on choosing a meal plan for weight loss

• Keep your doctor involved in your weight loss efforts. Before you start a program, speak with them so that they can check whether it’s suitable for you, your medical issues, and any medications you might be taking. They can also help dispel diet myths and help you seek additional support from a dietician or other health practitioner.
• Choose a program that includes foods you actually like and would happily eat forever.
• Supplement any diet plan with physical activity and exercise. If your goal is weight loss, then moving your body can help counter the muscle mass loss that occurs when you lose weight.
• If it sounds too good to be true and promises rapid weight shedding with little effort, then it probably is.