Top 10 Diets Reviews

 

Lose up to 20 Pounds in 30 Days

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Medifast has been a stable name for more than 25 years and recently has become very popular with its easy to prepare diet plans and large variety of supplements. This recent surge is largely due to the fact that it uses  effective methods that ensure comfortable as well as fast weight loss. Medifast provides constant education programs to maintain the dieter's weight. It is the only diet program that has been studied and proven in a clinical research center at John Hopkins University and has been recommended by over 15,000 physicians.

The Medifast Diet Plan

The low-calorie, pre-measured Medifast Meals are vitamin fortified, nutrient-balanced meals that, when eaten at regular intervals as recommended, provide an easy weight loss solution. You can choose from two different plans, the complete meal replacement plan and the 5 and 1 meal replacement plan. The most popular is the 5 and 1 Medifast meal replacement Plan.

 

The Advantages

The main advantage of the Medifast Diet plan is that it is a clinically proven and effective diet program that is easy and very simple to follow. The next important factor of the diet program is that it does not require you to starve. In fact, with Medifast, you eat every 2 to 3 hours, so that you don't get hungry. The fast weight loss results you experience will inspire and motivate you to accept Medifast as an essential part of your new, healthy lifestyle. Because the Medifast Diet Plan promotes a healthy lifestyle consisting of healthy diet, exercise and other behavioral corrections, the chance of contracting disease is greatly reduced.

The efficacy of being on a balanced diet and the knowledge to create this type of diet is the most important thing a dieter should know. Medifast provides such awareness teaches discipline as well. Medifast doesn't abandon you the way fad diets have in the past. The Transition, Maintenance and Exercise Plans takes over where the 5 & 1 Plan leaves off and teaches you how to sustain your weight loss results long term!

Medifast Diet Supplements

Medifast meal replacement supplements are simple combinations that come in separate, pre-measured packets. Just add water and place into the refrigerator or in the microwave and your meal is ready in minutes! These meal supplements offer enough variety so that you don't get bored with your diet. The 50 delicious Medifast Meals,  includng shakes, bars, soups, oatmeal, chili, drinks, and puddings, result in an average weight loss of 2 to 5 pounds per week.

Medifast Diet - Now get a one-week free trial!

Finally, it is important to note that this diet plan is very inexpensive while very effective. There is no points system, no calorie counting, no diet pills and best of all no confusion!

Fulfill Your New Year's Weight Loss Resolution!

 

 

NutriSystem® Advanced™

With NutriSystem Advanced, you get the Glycemic Advantage™ and the right amounts of protein and fiber to help you lose weight without feeling hungry. Plus, NutriSystem now has omega-3s and soluble fiber to help promote heart health and help you feel full longer! You might say that Nutrisystem is a balanced, high protein, low-fat "good carb" weight loss plan.

With NutriSystem, you can choose from more than 120 great-tasting, prepackaged meals and desserts. You simply select your foods (either our Favorites package or customize your menu), and they arrive on your doorstep.

Each food item fits into a low-glycemic meal plan that's very easy to follow. You just grab an entrée, add-in a few grocery items (like fresh fruit, vegetables, salads and dairy items), and you're ready to go. Plus! You get to eat five times a day to help reduce those cravings between meals!

NutriSystem knows you're busy, that's why they offer the convenience of having delicious, healthful meals delivered to you, and provide individualized counseling sessions with trained experts via phone or internet.  Nutrisystem teaches you how to be successful while losing the weight and how to keep it off.

NutriSystem can be less expensive than many other food delivery options on the market.  NutriSystem also sells vitamins and protein products to supplement their diet program.  NutriSystem offers different programs for men, women, Type II diabetics, and vegetarians.

NutriSystem markets its own brand of multivitamins, calcium supplements, and a green tea supplement to boost metabolism and provide extra antioxidants.

Nutrisystem costs about $11 a day or approximately $300 a month plus shipping. If you choose their auto-ship program, you will get a discount and a free week of diet meals and free shipping.

Women's Program

This program gives you a great way to lose weight and transform your body! Now with Advanced, you get more crave-busting power to tackle that hunger. You'll eat great, feel full, AND lose weight!

Men's Program

With NutriSystem® Advanced™, you get more crave-busting power to tackle that hunger. You’ll eat great, feel full, AND lose weight! And we're talking man food—burgers, pizza, pasta, chips And there’s never any counting, weighing or measuring. Who has the patience for that?

We know how important it is for a man to eat great-tasting, hearty foods throughout the day—and on the NEW NutriSystem Advanced Men's Program, you get more food than any of our other programs. Your meal plan includes a delicious breakfast, lunch, snack, dinner and dessert each day. And you get to eat six times a day!

 

 

Slim Fast Diet Review

Slim Fast is the most popular diet shake available on the market today. The Slim Fast plan calls for a shake at breakfast,  one at lunch, and then, a regular dinner. It also permits two pieces of fruit and a Slim Fast bar as a snack. According to nutrition experts, the Slim Fast plan does have healthy aspects. It is an easy plan to follow and Slim Fast does have many good qualities – such as encouraging exercise, drinking plenty of water, and eating several times during the day.

Slim Fast bases its weight loss program around products made by their own company. The diet consists mostly of traditional shakes and nutrition bars, thereby making it a necessity that the meal you eat at dinner must consist of nutritious and wholesome foods since the shakes only add vitamins and minerals. Slim Fast encourages dieters to avoid high-fat, calorie rich foods, and choose a diet high in fiber and vitamins instead.

Recently Slim Fast released their Optima Products. The benefit behind these new products is that they contain a lower sugar content then their previous package.

Does Slim Fast Work?

Yes, it does. Studies have shown that the program has resulted in sustained weight loss in over-weight men and women.

Advantages and Disadvantages

When Slim Fast became associated with eDiets – they opened new doors into their program. Through eDiets you can choose from 2 different plans – Calorie-Controlled, Low-Carb, or the traditional Low-Fat plan – so there are a number of different options.

The advantage to Slim Fast is that it’s a good way to achieve healthy portion control, and thereby lose weight.

The problem with the Slim Fast plan is that the caloric limit is set so low that it can be bad for any long-term goal of weight loss. Reducing calories is the key to weight loss, but when you reduce too many, you may experience unwanted health issues, lack of energy and difficulty in staying on the plan.


 

Weight Watchers

What Weight Watchers offers:

An integrated approach emphasizing good eating choices, healthy habits, a supportive environment and exercise.

The “Four Pillars” of the Weight Watchers approach promote healthy habits, a supportive environment, and exercise, in addition to making smarter food choices. And what you learn will stay with you for a lifetime. 97% of members say they would recommend us to a friend.

Weight Watchers developed these pillars based on years of scientific research and analysis. And our 45 years of experience helping people lose weight has taught that each element is equally important.

Behavior | Food | Exercise | Support

We all know that making better food and exercise choices is essential to sustaining weight loss. Weight Watchers offers an approach that's flexible and healthy, and designed to fit into all lifestyles.

  • A plan that allows you to eat what you like, with an emphasis on nutrition and advice on staying satisfied by choosing the foods you enjoy.
  • A sensible plan to help you lose weight at a healthy rate plus the knowledge and info you need to help you keep it off for good.
  • A time-tested approach informed by analyzing years of scientific studies.
  • Flexible food plans that can adapt to any lifestyle or unique needs.

Weight Watchers has an approach that’s tailored for men and women, with flexible food plans, interactive tools, specific advice, workouts, and strategies for tackling challenges unique to men and women.

Weight Watchers doesn’t teach you how to diet. They are dedicated to inspiring and helping you adopt a healthier way to live. For life. So you can successfully learn how to lose weight and keep it off by living , not dieting.

Weight Watchers Online

Follow the plan online, at your own pace, on your own time Weight Watchers Online makes it easy to stay connected anywhere, anytime. It’s built on the proven approach to weight loss developed by the experts at Weight Watchers— it’s practical, liveable and sustainable.

Features:

  • Get convenient access--at your home, office, or on the go.
  • Make better food and exercise choices with over 1,500 recipes and meal ideas, 60 workout demonstrations, and more.
  • Assess your food and exercise habits with new and improved interactive tools.
  • Monitor your weight to see how your food and activity habits impact your progress.
  • Get personalized goals based on your height and weight, so you won’t be left hungry.
  • Your information stays private and isn’t shared.

 

 

South Beach Diet

How It Works

3 Phases to Success

The diet is divided into three Phases. The first Phase lasts two weeks and is designed to eliminate cravings and kick-start weight loss. The second Phase is intended to produce long-term, steady weight loss. You'll stay in Phase 2 until you reach a healthy weight. Then you'll move to Phase 3, the lifestyle Phase. This is how you'll eat and live 365 days a year - and it's the key to maintaining your new, healthy weight.

Phase 1, the shortest Phase, lasts for just two weeks and is designed to eliminate cravings for sugar and refined starches - and to jump-start your weight loss. The purpose of Phase 1 is to stabilize blood sugar (which minimizes cravings), making it ideal for people who are prediabetic or diabetic, as well as for those who need to lose a lot of weight.

The focus of this two-week period is on eating plenty of nutrient-dense, fiber-rich (and guaranteed delicious!) foods that satisfy your appetite. Your meals include lean protein, such as fish and other seafood, skinless white-meat poultry, and lean cuts of beef (vegetarians can enjoy meat substitutes, tofu, and beans); high-fiber veggies; reduced-fat cheeses; eggs; low-fat dairy; and healthy, unsaturated fats, such as those found in avocados, nuts and seeds, and extra-virgin olive and canola oils.

Disadvantages

The disadvantage of this phase is that it can leave the dieters feeling deprived if they are used to having fruit, bread, rice, potatoes, pasta, sugar, alcohol or baked goods as these items are banned during this phase.

In addition, phase 1 puts the body in a state of ketosis. If ketosis continues, then ketoacidosis can occur, leading to coma and even death. This will be amplified in anyone with kidney problems, but is certainly a problem even in healthy people. Most weight lost in a state of ketosis is water weight which will be regained when normal eating resumes.

Finally, the diet is just too restrictive. Eating healthy for the rest of your life shouldn't mean that you have to give everything up. There aren't many allowances for occasions when a person might just want to indulge themself. This alone will make it hard for a person to stick to the south beach diet.

 

 

The Zone Diet

How it works

A balanced diet is one that has the correct number of nutrients, carbohydrates, proteins and fats. The Zone Diet gives you these nutrients and in the correct proportions.

For those that want the convenience of not having to prepare meals themselves, the Zone Diet  provides balanced meals prepared by experienced chefs and delivered directly to your door. The diet might be more accurately described as a lifestyle program.

The Zone Diet is perfect for someone with Type II diabetes. Being a high protein, low carbohydrate diet program the Zone Diet was implemented to reduce both hunger and compulsion to eat.

Disadvantages

Many dieters will find it hard to "precisely" calculate the makeup of every meal and may give up because of this. Also, they will find that pre-made products (such as bars, shakes) are more expensive than foods they normally eat.


 

The Atkins Diet Plan

The Atkins Diet Plan has gained popularity primarily because you get the desired weight loss without starving yourself. The plan is based on a low carbs and high protein diet. With some modifications, vegetarians can benefit from this diet.

Though this plan is responsible for substantial weight loss, controversies abound. For some people, it has seemed like a miracle and is the most useful diet plan. Others think of it as a difficult and dangerous.

Cautions

Since the diet is based on a high protein diet, claims are made that the high intake of protein can seriously harm the kidney function. To my knowledge no clinical studies have been performed to bear this out. In addition, long-term caloric limitations have been known to cause nutritional deficiencies. To combat this, Dr Atkins created a whole line of supplements to balance the nutrition of dieters who stayed on the plan for a long while. This could be a disadvantage of the Atkins Diet Plan. However, if you carefully follow the Akins plan, you will discover that carbohydrate intake is only restricted in the initial phase. Thereafter, carbs levels are gradually increased. Vitamin and mineral supplements are recommended to be taken with this diet plan.

One major concern is that high fat intake may lead to heart attack. But while the carbohydrate intake is limited, the main energy source of body becomes fat and this will not cause harm as long as you are balancing it with carbohydrate intake.

Another concern is that if your weight loss occurs too fast due to eating too few calories, your body will go into a starvation mode and cuase your metabolism to slow down. If this happens, your weight loss will either slow down or stop completely .

Yet another concern is that some of the foods that are restricted on a low carbohydrate diet are the same types of food that decrease inflammation such as fruits and vegetables. Also, foods high in saturated fats such as butter tend to increase the body's production of inflammatory chemicals. Some nutritionists advise that replacing carbohydrates with foods that are high in saturated fats can increase the risk of cardiovascular disease.

The Atkins Diet does not recommend the consumption of unhealthy and fatty foods without moderation. Overdoing anything can have unwanted side effects. And the fact remains, that thousands of people have realized permanent weight loss using the Atkins diet method.

 

The Ornish Diet

Dr. Dean Ornish's diet was originally created to combat heart disease and lead to an overall healthier lifestyle. Not only is the Ornish Diet different in that it attempts to refurbish all aspects of your life, but also unlike other dieting methods, Dr. Ornish doesn't seek to restrict calories, only asks that one be be aware of the foods that are consumed. The diet is high in fiber, low in fat and somewhat vegetarian so weight loss will be guaranteed. Dr. Ornish also supports regular exercise and some regular means of relaxation.

Advantages

Recently, the diet has been found to have a remarkable effect on reducing the risk of cancer, hypertension, and diabetes.

A beneficial aspect of the Ornish diet is that it advocates eating around the clock to maintain the metabolic rate. This way more calories will be burned for longer periods of time. Because the diet is high in fiber, the dieter will feel satisfied for a longer period due to the fact that fiber slows down the digestive process and, thus, will prevent overeating.

Categories of Foods

Foods to be eaten often and whenever hungry: beans, fruits grains, and vegetables

Foods to be eaten in moderation: nonfat dairy products and nonfat or low-fat commercial products

Foods to be avoided: meats of all kinds, oils of all kinds, avocados, olives, nuts and seeds, full dairy, simple sugar and its derivatives, alcohol, and any commercially prepared product with more than 2 grams of fat per serving.

Disadvantages

The list of banned items is too restrictive and make it too hard for dieters to stick with it. The lack of protein hampers the body's ability to rebuild or repair itself. Even the good unsaturated fats that are found to actually protect the heart from coronary disease are all but omitted.

 

Jenny Craig Weight Loss Program

The Jenny Craig weight loss program is a bit more traditional and simple, though it probably costs a bit too much for the average person.

This entire diet is based on eating fewer calories while exercising more, (not a new concept). With Jenny Craig you are assigned your own weight loss nutrition counselor who will help keep you motivated to remain on the diet. You can stay in contact with your counselor weekly either in person at a Jenny Craig facility or by telephone.

With Jenny Craig you will essentially be eating fewer calories (smaller portioned meals) and exercising more while meeting weekly with a nutrition counselor to keep you motivated.

Disadvantages

The downside is that you have to buy Jenny Craig's expensive "pre-packaged" meals. These pre-packaged meals seem to be "lower calorie versions" of normal meals, and, therefore, don't seem to be anything especially earth shattering from our viewpoint.

 

 

Scarsdale Diet

One pound per day weight loss is the claim of Dr. Tarnover, creator of the Scarsdale Diet. But, to achieve this lofty goal, one must adhere strictly to the instructions. You are only allowed three very sparse low-carb, high protein meals per day and snacks are strictly prohibited.

Disadvantages

The problem is, once you have finished the 7-14 day plan, you just regain the weight lost because you haven't developed a healthy eating lifestyle. Strangely enough, the Scarsdale Diet doesn't advocate any kind of exercise regimen and maybe for good cause. It would be very difficult to exercise on the 900-1000 calories provided each day. This diet would be difficult (and ill advised) to follow for more that one week.