When it’s time to compare diet plans, you can get quickly overwhelmed by the number of choices of programs on the market. Most popular diets offer valuable information on nutrition and are well worth the cost, yet their methods of achieving long term weight loss are vastly different. Here is a comparison of some of the top diet plans.
The eDiets program is an online subscription-based website that offers virtual personal trainers, a community forum, structured weekly meal plans, thousands of recipes and access to numerous articles on nutrition and exercise. Participants can download a customized grocery list, view animated fitness instructors doing exercises, and receive lots and lots of email reminders. The membership fee runs about $200 a year.
This program works well for self-guided people who take the initiative to log on often to the website to chat with other dieters in the forum and participate in group discussions. However, when researchers compare diet plans to eDiets, they have found that this site was not as effective as traditional manual-based programs, specifically citing that eDiets fails to require dieters to keep daily records of their food intake and physical activity.
Jayson Hunter’s Carb Rotation Diet gives dieters strategies for rapid weight loss. He offers obvious nutrition tips such as eating 4-6 small meals per day, eating more protein, limiting fat intact, and keeping a food journal. You can download some sample reports and compare his diet plan yourself but it means signing up with your email address which means you’re putting yourself on his mailing list. Oh, and he’ll tell you lots more but it’ll cost you $39.95.
Ann Collins is a clinical nutritionist and weight loss consultant who has designed a program that offers a little something for everyone - too many choices I think. You can choose from nine diet options depending on your health needs such as: low carb, low cholesterol, vegan diet and so on. (Check her website to compare diet plans.) What’s not included is a meal planner or exercise program. The focus is on participating in the community forum and discussing your goals and motivations with other dieters. Still, it’s only $20 to join for a year so it won’t break the bank but you must be an active poster or reader to get any benefits from this program.
The buzzword of the past decade among popular diets has been to consume foods that fall into the low “glycemic index” category to achieve the fastest weight loss. The Glycemic Impact Diet instructs you to follow a diet plan of eating lean protein such as chicken and fish, add some healthy fats, and consume only unrefined complex carbohydrates. This healthy eating regime stabilizes blood sugars, so that with no sugar spikes during the day, you maintain a higher level of energy, which allows you to keep active and lose the weight. This diet offers a wide variety of healthy foods and snacks to choose from.
Of all the popular diet plans compared here, the Mediterranean Diet may be the one you’ve heard the most about. This isn't so much a diet plan as an introduction to the healthy living of Mediterranean people who eat lots of fish, fruits, vegetables, pasta, beans, and olive oil. The diet instructs you to limit red meat to once or twice a month, and consume poultry, eggs and fish on a weekly basis.
Some people will have trouble with the comparatively large amount of fat in the diet (about 40% daily average), and the fact that so much bread, pasta, legumes and grains are consumed on a daily basis. It does emphasize eating a lot of yogurt which is a wonder food for the digestive tract, and you can enjoy cheeses and nuts daily. If you have trouble with food allergies, especially caused by grains and dairy, this diet plan is not for you.
As you compare diet plans you’ll want to consider costs and duration of commitment. Low cost plans such as Ann Collins and The Carb Rotation Diets don’t cost much but you can find such general information and forums on the net for free. Also keep in mind that if you suffer from food allergies or other medical considerations, the planned diet may be too restrictive for your needs.
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