Those who have never struggled with being overweight sometimes don’t understand why it’s so difficult. “Just quit stuffing your face,” is a common refrain. Unfortunately, it’s nowhere near that simple for someone who has struggled with this problem for most of their lives. Those that do attempt to take this advice don’t often succeed, precisely because there really isn’t any advice to follow. A good weight loss center will take that advice and turn it into something concrete and more sustainable than crash dieting. They will teach their clients a new way to look at food and exercise and give them the tools they need to incorporate it into their lives. Not just for the next three months, but forever.

Another concept that a weight loss center will typically understand is that no foods need to be entirely off limits. Yes, eating chocolate cake on a daily basis is going to have an adverse effect on your waistline. But eating it once a month won’t. Then again, there are those who can’t control themselves when it comes to their trigger foods. For them, eating a single small slice of chocolate cake would be akin to a recovering alcoholic deciding that it would be okay to have just one beer every now and then. It simply doesn’t work for them.

It is because of these differences that few popular diets work in the long run. You can’t expect something that some guy came up with to make a million dollars to have much effect on how you live the rest of your life. Yes, just about any fad diet will work in the short term. That’s why they get so popular. They repackage science and hand it back to you with new and exciting buzz words and suddenly carbs are bad. Suddenly it’s fat that is bad. Then it’s neither. Then it’s both. A good weight loss center will tell you that no macronutrient is inherently “bad”. There may be certain foods that are bad for you, in particular, but very few that are bad outright.

The idiot-proof diet is all about calorie shifting. That is, in this diet, you shift your food intake throughout the day instead of eating just 3 meals a day. The diet is popular because it’s actually very easy to follow and there are hardly any restrictions when it comes to the types of food you can eat.

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The Idiot-Proof Diet

The idiot-proof diet is all about calorie shifting. That is, in this diet, you shift your food intake throughout the day instead of eating just 3 meals a day. The diet is popular because it’s actually very easy to follow and there are hardly any restrictions when it comes to the types of food you can eat.

The ‘calorie shifting’ model takes place because you eat every two and half hours. The theory is that because your body is consuming calories (energy) constantly throughout the day, it’s always in ‘burning calories’ mode instead of the ‘saving calories’ mode.

When you sign up for the diet, you get access to a diet handbook, an 11-day diet-plan and a diet calculator. You get to pick what foods you like to eat so don’t think that you’ll be tarving in this diet!

NutriSystem

The NutriSystem way of dieting is all about proper meal planning. People love this diet because it takes away the burden of trying to figure out what to eat during their dieting phase. You see, a lot of people actually get confused as to what they can eat when they want to lose weight. That’s not really surprising because there’s so much information out there and for every yay sayer, there is a nay sayer so it’s really tough to know what to eat.

However, with NurtiSystem, they do all the meal planning and portion controlling for you. You just need to sign up to any of their diet programs (e.g., Women’s Program, Men’s Program, Vegetarian Program, etc.) and order a multi-day (usually for 28 days) diet program.

After you choose your diet program, a menu is presented to you and you simply choose what you want to eat. The meals are then delivered to your doorstep at various intervals during your diet program.

The South Beach Diet

The South Beach Diet is popular because the name alone conjures bikini-clad bodies! Add to that the fact that it was founded by a cardiologist, Dr. Arthur Agatston, then you have a sort of ‘doctor recommended, doctor approved’ seal on the diet as well.

At first glance, the South Beach Diet looks a lot like the Atkins Diet in the sense that it restricts carbohydrates during the initial phase of the program (there are 3 phases). The first phase (14 days) encourages ‘normal eating’ in the sense that you can pretty much eat whatever you want but you must NOT eat bread, rice, potatoes, pasta, or baked goods. Fruit is also not allowed. No sugar. No alcohol.

The second phase allows you to SLOWLY introduce these items back into your diet but at lesser levels that you consumed them before of course. The third phase is more about general maintenance.

Weight Watchers

Probably one of the longest running diet programs out there is Weight Watchers. It believes in the overall approach where food, exercise, behavior and support are addressed.

Weight Watchers is known for advocating a point system for foods. Using this system, one calculates the calorie intake of the foods he or she eats. The number of points you can have in a day varies depending on your weight. The beauty of the program is that there are no gut-wrenching food restrictions so you never feel deprived of anything. However, the point system teaches you how to balance your meals so that even if you indulge on one food item, you don’t go overboard and consume too much in a day.

Whether you have a little or a lot of weight to lose, it can seem daunting. Nowadays, we are inundated with stories of people who lose weight and gain it back again, or who find it difficult to lose weight at all. Over time, it’s easy to become convinced that weight loss just isn’t going to happen for you, or that it will require a total change of lifestyle. This just isn’t true, as these easy weight loss tips will prove.

Weight loss tip #1: Keeping in mind that society is geared toward large portion size and getting more for your money, simply divide all the portions you’ve been eating (especially those you eat out) in half. See how it feels to just eat half a restaurant meal, then stop. Have the rest packed up for lunch the next day. Chances are, you won’t be hungry after eating half the meal, but if you are, eat another quarter. Then have the rest packed up. You’re not depriving yourself – a generation ago, the half- or three-quarter meal you end up eating is more or less the same amount of food as a full meal you would have been served a generation ago. Even cookies and muffins that you buy to go have been supersized – again, eat half.

Weight loss tip #2: Walk as much as possible. Get in the habit. It’s great to go to the gym and work out, but in its own way, ‘built-in’ exercise is even better. It requires no special equipment, you don’t have to schedule time for it – you just do it as a matter of course. Remember, until cars became commonplace, walking is how most people got around most of the time. In many European cities, they still do. And people who do this are seldom overweight – go figure!

Weight loss tip #3: Eat real food. In other words, avoid boxes and cans, and eat things that are in their natural form – or as close to it as possible. In the supermarket, shop around the edges – the meat and produce – and avoid the inside aisles. Preparing ‘real’ food might be a bit more work, but it’s very rewarding, and much healthier.

These are not very ‘high powered’ weight loss tips – you won’t lose a pound a day, or whatever the leading programs claim. These are healthy, enjoyable changes that are meant to last a lifetime – and over time, you will lose weight. What’s more, your weight loss will be gradual and safe, and you’ll keep the weight off permanently.