The New York Times reports that nearly 34 percent of American adults are obese, which is more than double the amount of 30 years ago. And the number of children that are obese has tripled during that time, to reach 17 percent. The high rates are blamed on unhealthy lifestyle, inactivity and eating unhealthy foods like processed sugar, high fructose corn syrup, saturated and trans fats and products made with white flour. Bad habits can be tough to break, but there are many diet plans in existence that teach healthy eating.
The Atkins Diet
The Atkins Diet was the initiator of the low-carb craze. Sensational.com reports Dr. Robert Atkins designed the original fast weight loss meal plan in 1972, when he believed that increasing obesity rates were due to people consuming high amounts of sugar, white flour and high fructose corn syrup. His plan works on a no or low-carb model, where through a four phase system users eliminate most carbohydrates and then reintroduce them to the body on a very gradual basis. Users tend to see the biggest weight-loss results during the induction phase when carbs are strictly limited and your food intake consists mostly of protein and vegetables. In the second phase, called the Ongoing Weight Loss Phase, you are allowed to add more foods back into your diet.
Jenny Craig
Jenny Craig first started in 1983 in Melbourne, Australia and made its way to the United States in 1985. It has enjoyed a resurgence in popularity thanks to their celebrity spokeswomen, such as Valerie Bertinelli, Queen Latifa and Kristie Alley. The multi-level weight loss approach first started as a center based model, where participants would go to a Jenny Craig center to meet with weight loss advisors, but as Sensational.com reports, they now have at-home, online and other specialized programs to meet the different needs of their clients. Each of their plans offers personal support, which is the very core of their weight loss model. The Jenny Craig plan focuses on body, food and mind in order to create an everlasting, healthier lifestyle. The plan purports to teach users to develop a positive relationship with food and learn how to make wise choices, select proper portions and discard bad habits such as emotional eating. Jenny Craig also offers a wide variety of prepared meals, snacks and bars.
Weight Watchers
Weight Watchers was first developed over 40 years ago and is still a popular weight loss diet today. It works by helping users learn how to make healthier choices when eating and to learn the proper amount of food to eat at any given meal or within a day. Weight Watchers claim to fame is their POINTS system, where each food on the list receives a specific point value. You may eat whatever you like, but you must stay within your daily POINTS. Therefore, users quickly learn that if they pick the healthier options, which have lower POINTS, they are able to consume larger amounts of food. Weight Watchers also encourages getting plenty of exercise and living a healthy lifestyle.
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