Online weight loss programs; recommended weight loss sites
91Losing weight requires determination and a good plan. The Internet offers many weight loss programs. These online diet programs provide advice and tools, structure and recipes, easy access and reasonable cost.
We all live in a real world, but many of us spend significant time in the virtual world of online systems. We view things on screens, we talk through the keyboard, we move about by mouse. It's natural to look for systems and services to help us deal with the real world. That extends to weight loss.
But, which online diet plan is best for your situation and lifestyle?
Which online weight loss program will you be able to follow and get results?
Which online weight loss site fits you best?
Do online weight loss sites actually help? The answer is yes according to a recent study.
Study finds online weight loss programs help dieters maintain weight loss
Regular users of online interactive weight management programs have success at attaining and maintaining weight loss. According to Kaiser Permanente, a recent study funded by the National Institutes of Health, showed that active, regular users of Internet based programs maintained the most weight loss.
The keys seem to be to log on at least once a month (weekly is better) and record your weight. Be consistent. Stay accountable.
The authors of the study suggest that dieters look for online weight loss sites that:
- Offer accurate health information.
- Feature interactive elements that allow users to communicate with each other and fitness and nutrition experts.
- Include personalized information tracking.
- Feature accountability by encouraging users to record and track details about weight, food intake and exercise.
Universal weight loss concepts
There seem to be some guidelines that apply to everyone, regardless of the plan.
- Drink plenty of water. Stay hydrated. That fat and weight has to leave your body somehow.
- Get regular exercise. Easy to say; hard to do! Exercise does more than burn calories. You have more energy and generally function better. That has to help with the eating part, doesn't it?
- You must alter your food intake. "Garbage in; garbage out." This old chestnut from the data entry world applies even better to our weight. Just adjust a little and it's "Garbage in; garbage on!"
- Less is more. Some excesses put you where you are now; so getting where you want to be will involve trimming or giving up the excesses.
- Get enough sleep.
There must be a lifestyle plan that keeps the weight under control.
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Picking your plan
Price - some online weight loss programs charge monthly fees. Some programs are free to use the basics, and charge for full features. Some online programs are free and make their income from advertising (similar business model to HubPages, which has many helpful articles on weight loss).
Features - learn from the NIH study, cited above. Pick a plan that lets you track your progress, and is easy and friendly to access on a regular basis. Accountability and tracking are key elements to a successful experience!
Food preparation - do you want to do your own shopping and cooking, or are pre-made food plans more your style.
Whatever you choose remember that it is a two step process:
- Lose the weight; which is a significant challenge for most of us.
- Maintain your desired weight range for the rest of your life. An even bigger challenge, and one you need to prepare yourself for as you lose the weight. Avoid the yo-yo cycle of gain/lose/gain...
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Weight Watchers Online RECOMMENDED
One of the most robust online weight loss programs is the Weight Watchers online site.
Weight Watchers Points Plus program was introduced in November of 2010. Weight Watchers Points Plus introduced a reformulated points system that is praised by nutritionists as a healthier, more balanced approach than the old system.
- The online version offers:
- Customized sites for the different needs of women vs. men.
- Restaurant guides, food options and recipes galore.
- Interactive tools to manage your food and exercise choices.
- Progress measurement.
- Completely personalized to your body.
There is a sign-up fee and a monthly fee. The offline meeting program has a sign-up fee and meeting fee.
Weight Watchers has many followers that now do Weigh Watchers on their own.
SparkPeople.com RECOMMENDED
SparkPeople is a free online weight loss site that is rich with features and well organized. There are ads, but they are not intrusive.
The site features: calorie counter and meal plans, fitness programs, a neat motivation system, and feedback reports that are progress graphs with personalized tips.
SparkPeople has a robust tracking system. It is easy to enter your daily food choices and all of the nutrition information is tracked for you. You can add your own specialty items. A great feature is the ability to create food groups that you use regularly. For example, if you occasionally have a flax waffle with a tad of butter and a little raspberry jam, that can be a one click food group for you to select.
There are several sub sites to appeal to specialty diet situations.
The well organized site includes thousands of articles, quizzes, videos, and recipes and an active community.
This site is for people that want to be more involved and active in the diet plan and process.
eDiets at eDiets.com RECOMMENDED
eDiets offers two types of plans:
- Online menu planning for those want to do their own cooking.
- Meal delivery with a 5 day and a 7 day plan.
Key features of the eDiets site include: affordable, easy to follow, printable menus and shopping lists,
Other features: online access to nutrition and fitness experts, community support, customizable fitness program nutrition tools with weekly check-in.
Go online once a week, record your progress, plan your breakfast, lunch and dinner menus for the week.
nyfitnesspal
myfitnesspal is an online diet management site that seems to be a good companion to any diet plan. They focus on the core benefit of any online weight loss site - an easy and quick tracking system for your actions and progress.
They feature food data, exercise programs, tools and active posting community.
Specialty tools include calculators for: recipe nutrition facts, basal metabolic rate, heart, and body mass index.
Which weight loss program has worked for you?
See results without votingCalorieCount.com
CalorieCount is, as the name would suggest all about the calories.Here you get a better understanding of what you are eating, and how to manage your calories. There is a good recipe collection, but lacks a good menu planning function.
You can log daily meals and exercise. There is an active community of users.
CalorieCount is owned by About.com.
Diet.com
Diet.com offers two membership types:
- Free membership - meal and tracking tools, workout builder, over 1,000 recipes, expert tips and blogs, challenge and community access.
- Premium membership - adds customized meal plans, expert fitness plans, personalized coping strategies, online dietitian coaching.
The site is confusing at first glance and is full of ads and links.
StartYourDiet.com
A free membership gets you: weight, water and BMI tracking, plus goal planning and weight charts.
The Deluxe membership is $29.95 per year adds important features such as: planning and tracking calendar, exercise database, meal intake chart, goal tracking, diet blog and community access, plus...
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Which weight loss program works best for you?Loading...
Thanks for the great resources. I know many who have made great progress with weight watchers. You know what I need? A guide on how to eat healthy without slimming my wallet. LOL. It seems like all the fresh produce and healthy food can get expensive.
Some wanted details on how to do it. The old fashioned way. Diet and exercise. Eat healthy, eliminate white flour and white sugar. Eat whole grains, fruits, veggies and especially green veg, drink plenty of pure water. Lean meat, fish, eggs are helpful. Oil, only cold pressed oils. Take good quality supplements. Exercise at least 30 minutes a day at least 3 times a week. Have a support group. My support group is on Sparkpeople.
I lost 25 lbs with phentermine pills and mild exercise just around an hr a day but now im stock i used to be 200lbs and now i am 175 and wont get out of there i think im probably not trying hard enough im off the pills and eating normally... so can you give me some input about what should i do i really dont want to spend the money on WW or pills.
I have lost 27 lb with Sparkpeople. It is harder for me to lose (YES REALLY) than others because of medical condtions and medications I have to take. So going slow and easy is the best route for me. Sparkpeople gives you support.
I really love this hub. I learn more how to weight loss. Thank you.
Nice Hub! But my concern is always my weight. every time that I will try to lose some weight, I'm ending up depress. But after I read this Hub, Things change for me. Better try it. More Power :)
nice article, a lot of useful information
I use sparkpeople and I absolutely love it. I like that I can track what I eat, how much exercise I do, it adds everything up for you, you can join groups, you can stay motivated by talking to other people, and I like that they have different health articles to read. I have recommended sparkpeople to a few friends who all like it as well. And the best part is that it is free! Thanx for sharing!
Nice article, thanks. I have been on a "slow carb" diet for a few months and it REALLY works.
Great Hub, your recommendations are very good and I would like to add that the Diet Solution program is what worked for me after many failed attempts with other diets that I have tried.
Joseph
Good tips. I need to get on a program. Will definately try this one.
Great Hub! Weight Watchers has been the answer for me, although staying on the wagon is my ongoing challenge. I love the list for other tools. Thanks!
I think any sensible program will work provided people stick to the program. Often people quit and this is where the problem comes in.
Olá achei muito interessante esse aritgo sobre lose weight, estou na luta para perder peso e esse artigo vai ser muito útil para mi auxiliar a entrar em forma muito obrigado!
Continue com esse otimo trabalho :)
Saudações Brasileira
I love that you give recommendations because there's so much to filter through. This is an excellent hub.
voted up and useful.
wow great and useful hub good job
Great hub, thanks!
Thanks a lot, this was a excellent hub!
Motivation-that's just what I was looking for-now if I could just pull myself away from all the wonderful information I find here on hubpages-I can get started.Great read. Thanks for sharing
Useful details for loosing weight are mentioned. It would certainly help those who want become fit and healthy.
Hi, Jstan. I'm curious if you have any personal experience with any of the diet plans sold online as ebooks.
Regards to Cave Creek!
WW helped me out in addition to walking!
Very interesting information here.
Thanks for the great information. I think a healthy diet and regular exercise are essential to looking and feeling great!
You forgot to mention Livestrong.com
Niice post.
Thanks for sharing, I hope this hub will be useful for those people who want to shed the extra pounds.
Wow, verry interest and I have a site containing about free healty products. Please visit my profile for information.
Thank you for your sharing
great hub.
thanks.. these techniques seem very helpful.
I think that the biggest problem is regaining the weight after the diet... It kills my motivation and i just wanna give up and become 400 pounds....
I signed up to Weightwatchers online in January 2010, by June 2010 I'd lost over 2 stones but had got bored of filling in the diary every day so I cancelled my subscription. By September I'd lost more weight and have in total lost 3 1/2 stones and am maintaining the weight very well. Closely sticking to the points and filling in the diary is educational, you get to know what's good and what's bad. Great hub, you covered lots of diets.
It is easier to say than actually doing it. Losing weight is not complicated and it can ber calculated but it is hard to stick with a diet or exercise. Thanks for the info. We all have done it and still doing it.
Interesting
great read , from a fellow diet researcher there is so much information and help on the web i believe its a great source for anyone wanting to take the step to weightloss .
This is very useful. Loads of great information for people like me who could use the net to help assist weight loss. I'd heard of weightwatcher and Jenny Craig but there are ones you mention that I have never heard which I will look up and try. Excellent new content in this hub.
Great article, thanks buddy for providing such a great information.
great post! would love to see more of your hubs about health issues.
Good information and I thank you. Now if I could only give up my desire for sweets.
good work great job.
Thanks for this information. I am ready.
Stress was the only cause of the abdominal fat that I have had most of my adult life. No dieting or work-out would diminish it. I thought I was fairly calm and, after each stressful day would walk/run, pray, meditate to de-stress. In April of 2010, after years of research, I created a new stress-reduction method. In four months, 3 1/2 inches of abdominal fat had just gone away with no change in my workouts or diet. It was truly miraculous. I now have a waist to match the rest of my lean body!!! My website www.PressureFreeLiving.biz will tell you more and my pdf-book Stress-Free: The 10-Second Solution - Simple Steps to Health, Happiness and Peak Performance can get you started on reducing your stress, and reducing that cortisol fat on your belly!
EVERYONE is a weight watcher. People over-weight want to be thin. People underweight(!) want to put on weight. I go up and down!
Great hub! I try to eat healthy but it's so hard for me to keep at it when it's so easy to get fast food.
I've been a member of Sparkpeople for a few years now, and I really like it, except that I find its recommended meal plan to be somewhat restrictive and repetitive. I don't usually follow the meal plan too closely, though - just make my own food choices and log in the calories. Gives me the same benefit. Still, I love the fact that it's all free. Nice, informative hub. Thanks.
I was satisfied with the info you provided in this hub, i myself support good nutrition. good job
My daughter is diabetic and she goes by weightwatchers, also. Great hub!
I like your recommendations, jstankevicz, I'm glad that you listed Weight Watchers online. Very helpful hub.
Great hub, the one stop information area that will be really useful when I get around to sorting out my weight loss plan which to my mind is long overdue, now book marked and voted up! Thank you for taking the time to write this.
I am not sure these would be helpful to me as I am more prone to be underweight. However, I am diabetic and weightwatcchers techniques seem to be quite like what I do follow.
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Sinea Pies Level 6 Commenter 3 months ago
The Eat Smart scale you've pictured here is GREAT! I have one and it is really the best. Easy to read. Lights up!
Weight Watchers will always be a favorite of mine. I've done well with Atkins, too, when I'm able to stick with it. Love steak...miss bread. :(