Obesity

Weight-Loss Programs and Strategies

What helps one person lose weight may not work for you. You need to find the right balance of eating and physical activity that you can keep doing or a program that works with your lifestyle.

A recent study suggests that the type of diet you follow is less important than choosing one that you can stay with. Most diets or programs can help you lose weight initially. But you will lose more and have more health benefits if you can keep with it for a longer time.¹¹

Tips to help with your weight-loss program

• Set realistic goals. Many people expect to lose much more weight than is realistic. See questions to consider when setting weight management goals to help you define clear, healthy goals.
• Find what works best for you. If you do not have time to cook and hate to prepare meals, a program that offers meal replacement bars or shakes may be better for you. Or if you like to prepare meals, finding a plan that includes daily menus and recipes may be best.
• Get family and friends involved to provide support. Talk to them about why you are changing your diet and physical activity and how important losing weight is to you. Ask them to help by participating in exercises and having meals with you, even if they may be eating something different.
• Identify obstacles to losing weight. Look at your food journal and try to find things that cause you to overeat, such as stress or depression.
• Remove food temptations such as high-calorie snacks, and replace them with healthier foods such as fruit and yogurt.
• Get enough physical activity to burn calories and maintain your weight. To find out how many calories are burned during various activities, see the Interactive Tool: Calories Burned calculator.

Tips to help change how you eat

• Reduce the amount of calories you eat, but unless your doctor advises it, do not have less than 1,000 calories per day.
• Find sources of added calories, such as snacking, drinking alcohol, or having soft drinks, and reduce your intake of them.
• Cut fat from your diet.
• Use lean meats and meat alternatives.
• Plan your meals and snacks ahead of time. This provides a road map for how you will make changes and helps you set goals, track your progress, and reward yourself.
• Make healthy fast-food, restaurant, and convenience-food choices to maintain your diet when eating out.
• Keep unhealthy food out of the house.
• Eat before you go grocery shopping. This can lower your tendency to buy foods that aren't good for you and can help you avoid impulse shopping (buying things you do not need, just because you see them).

Commercial weight-loss programs

Many commercial weight-loss programs (such as Weight Watchers or Lifesteps) and self-help or support groups (such as Overeaters Anonymous) are available. The quality and effectiveness of these programs vary widely, from reputable obesity clinics associated with hospitals to quick weight-loss schemes that may even harm your health with untested “miracle” products.

A new study showed that more research is needed to prove whether these programs are effective or any better than a self-directed program.¹² But some people do better when they have a structured plan to follow or can participate with a group of people.

When considering a commercial weight-loss program, ask questions about the staff's qualifications and whether counseling is offered. Be aware that the advertising strategies for weight-loss programs and products, such as using celebrities and "before and after" pictures, are usually unrealistic.

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Author:	Caroline Rea, RN, BS, MS	Last Updated: April 20, 2007
Medical Review:	Caroline S. Rhoads, MD - Internal Medicine Matthew I. Kim, MD - Endocrinology & Metabolism
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