Statistics from the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention show 67 percent of American adults are overweight or obese. This national trend puts these adults at risk for Type 2 diabetes, high blood pressure, some types of cancer, osteoarthritis and problems with pregnancy, among other medical conditions. To combat weight problems, Americans often turn to weight-management methods such as calorie counting, "fad" diets or commercial weight-loss programs.
Counting Calories
One of the most basic ways of managing weight, calorie counting, consists of recording the number of calories in each meal or snack eaten per day. The goal is to stay within an alloted range of daily calories. Your body uses calories from food for energy and to perform normal body functions; any calories from food that are not used are stored as fat, according to the MayoClinic.com. In order to lose weight, you must either reduce the amount of calories you eat or increase physical activity to burn more calories.
To easily cut calories in your diet, the MayoClinic.com suggests reducing portion sizes, eating lower-calorie options such as air-popped popcorn instead of a bag of potato chips, or avoiding just one high-calorie food choice per day.
"Fad" Diets
Americans often turn to "fad" diets due to the promise of quick and easy weight loss. These types of diets often emphasize one certain food or type of food, according to the American Heart Association, which violates two guidelines for eating: Eat a balanced diet of a variety of foods, and enjoy what you eat.
Popular fad diets include low-carb/high-protein diets, liquid diets, food-combining diets and the grapefruit diet, according to the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center. Often, you do lose weight quickly on these diets, but it is mostly water weight. The pounds often are regained after a short time.
In addition to regaining, these diets could harm your health. The University of Pittsburgh Medical Center warns fad diets could increase the risk of kidney stones, gout, ketosis and chronic diseases.
Commercial Weight Loss Programs
Commercial weight-loss programs offer a mixture of support, special calorie-counting programs, exercise encouragement and pre-packaged foods, depending on which one you select. On the downside, these program cost money.
Weight Watchers is the oldest national weight-loss program, according to "CBS Money Watch," and is often praised as being most effective. It touts a "points" system that takes into account the current weight of a person as well as her activity level to determine the number of points she can eat per week. Foods are alloted a certain number of foods. Studies, including one in a 2005 issue of Annals of Internal Medicine, have shown Weight Watchers participants to be successful, losing approximately 5 percent of their body weight in six months and keeping about half of the weight off for two years.
Other popular commercial weight-loss programs include Jenny Craig, Nutrisystem, Medifast and eDiets.
References
- Centers for Disease Control and Prevention: Obesity and Overweight
- Weight-Control Information Network: What are the Health Risks of Being Overweight?
- CBS Money Watch: Diet Plan Review: Best Ways to Lose 20 Pounds
- MayoClinic.com: Get Back to Weight-Loss Basics
- The University of Pittsburgh Medical Center: Fad Diets
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