Weight Loss Programs
It's going to be a journey. It's not a sprint to get in shape - Kerri Walsh Jennings
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image by: Next Medical
HWN Suggests
Weight Loss Programs: Which Ones Work?
The weight loss industry is a multi-billion dollar machine, and among the many science-backed, tried-and-true weight loss programs out there, you’ll find countless weight-loss pills, potions, and programs. These range from questionable to downright dangerous—and highly ineffective for helping you shed extra pounds for good.
These bad players really know how to sell a miracle, and since you want to lose weight—not money—it’s in your best interest to do your due diligence. This is especially true when it comes to weight loss programs, because these are typically more expensive than tinctures and tonics that you can toss in the trash and never purchase again.
Resources
Best Weight Loss Programs for 2023
This guide to popular plans should help you evaluate the best subscription for you. It can also help you decide if seeking a nutritionist, instead, is in your best interest. One of our previous recommendations, Jenny Craig, has recently ceased operations. However, there are a number of other weight management programs we've analyzed below that can assist you in making lifestyle changes that can help you get to and maintain a healthy weight.
Weight Loss Programs That Fit Your Lifestyle
If it feels like you’re constantly trying to lose weight, only to have your efforts fail, it’s time to rethink your weight loss program. An effective regimen needs to do more than help you drop pounds, it should also promote habits that you can incorporate into your lifestyle. Each person has their own individual preferences and needs when it comes to eating and dieting.
Behavioral weight loss programs are effective, but where to find them?
Okay, here's where the gap between science and practice comes in. Few of these behavioral weight loss programs exist, and not everyone meets the criteria for insurance to cover them. So for most people, unless they can afford to pay out of pocket, these programs are only available through research studies.
Diet programs promise big weight-loss results. Science suggests otherwise
A lot of weight-loss programs promise to revolutionize your life. "Lose 10 pounds in 10 days," they'll say. "Slim down and get healthy in two weeks!" Ads for these diets often feature dramatic before-and-after photos, women and men thumbing a pair of jeans that seem as if they could fit a person three times their current size. But every time scientists study commercial diet schemes, they keep coming up with consistent results: on average, participants lose a small amount of weight. That's certainly helpful, but it's not quite the revolutionary shift these programs often claim. A new systematic review in the Annals of Internal Medicine adds to the evidence here. The researchers found that Weight Watchers and Jenny Craig helped people lose, on average, about 3 to 5 percent of their body weight. Weight Watchers participants lost about eight pounds in 12 months, and Jenny Craig followers shed 15 pounds in a year.
Online Weight Loss Programs: are They Worth the Money?
If you have never joined an online weight loss program before, you may be wondering if one is right for you. Better yet, you may be wondering if an online weight loss program is worth the cost.
The Noom paradox
Imagine that you could lose weight without going on a diet. Imagine that you could repair your broken relationship with food, with hunger, with your own skin, and in the process shed those 10 pounds you’ve been wanting to lose. Imagine that you could simply learn how to get in touch with your body — thoughtfully, mindfully — and teach yourself not to crave foods that don’t nourish you. Imagine that you could transcend America’s toxic diet culture, and at the same time, you could also be really, really skinny. That’s the dream that Noom, a buzzy weight loss app targeted to young people, has been selling for years.
Weight-Focused ‘Workplace Wellness’ Programs Drive Stigma and Inequity. Let’s Leave Them Behind
At first blush, workplace wellness programs may seem harmless, or even altruistic, aimed at cutting costs and improving employees’ health. But data on the effectiveness of workplace wellness programs is largely imperfect and conflicting. In 2019, the Journal of the American Medical Association published the largest study of employer-driven wellness programs to date, tracking 32,974 employees at 160 worksites. Some were offered wellness programming; others weren’t. The results were mixed at best:
Why Crash Weight Loss Programs Don't Work: Clues From Hunter-Gatherer Societies
Herman Pontzer, an evolutionary anthropologist at Duke University, argues that human metabolism has evolved to the point where how we eat and expend our calories is more important than all of our collective obsession with what to eat.
Why most diets don’t work—and what to try instead
Taking the focus off weight loss may help your health in the long run.
Weight Loss Programs: Which Ones Work?
Here, we look at how to choose a weight loss program that’s right for you—and whether four of the most popular programs have the science to back them up.
Forward
Weight loss results you can sustain for 30 years, not just the next 30 days.
Optavia
Our OPTAVIA Community will support you alongside your Coach. When you're part of OPTAVIA, you're part of a community of like-minded, like-hearted people who support each other through and through. When you succeed, your transformation may be an inspiration to others. You can show others the way by paying it forward so they can also transform their lives. We believe in your potential, and we help you build a life around what matters to you most.
Calibrate
Your Calibrate doctor will explore a variety of GLP-1 options (such as Wegovy®, Saxenda®, Ozempic®, or Mounjaro®) to find one that’s clinically appropriate for you and covered by your insurance.
LifeMed
Our personalized program pairs you with effective medications and expert guidance to help you lose weight and keep it off.
Next Medical
Losing weight is hard, we make it a little bit easier with science.
Noom
Noom uses the latest in proven behavioral science to empower people to take control of their health for good. Through a combination of psychology, technology, and human coaching, our platform has helped millions of our users meet their personal health and wellness goals. While we started with weight management, now we’re working to expand our behavior change platform to help people with chronic and non-chronic conditions, such as stress and anxiety, hypertension, and diabetes, and build a healthier world for all.
Nutrisystem
Most of you have heard of NutriSystem. You’ve seen the commercials, or may know someone that has tried the program. You purchase most of your food from them, and buy fresh fruits, vegetables, and dairy on your own. We’ve heard mixed reviews of NutriSystem in the past, and wanted to find out for ourselves what it was like.
Optifast
The OPTIFAST Program is a medically supervised weight management program that closely monitors and assesses progress towards better health and emotional well-being. The program, which usually lasts 26 weeks, utilizes a full meal replacement plan that transitions to self-prepared ‘everyday’ meals, in conjunction with comprehensive patient education and support.
PlushCare
Get access to ongoing health coaching, consultations with a board-certified doctor, and prescription weight management medication as medically necessary. Our doctor-led online weight loss programs are available to you with or without insurance, and there is no minimum commitment required.
Sequence
Sequence addresses the biological factors that can prevent weight loss.
Weight Watchers
Weight Watchers is an institution. For almost five decades, it's been seen as the sane alternative to the dump truck of more intense dieting programs that surround us. Unlike incredibly restrictive programs such as Jenny Craig and Nutrisystem, which include their own chemical-death meals in Lilliputian portions, or fad diets like paleo-Atkins-South Beach and the incomprehensible cleanse varietals, Weight Watchers is downright free-spirited.
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