Losing weight boils down to taking in less calories than your body uses. Extremely obese people may feel little hope exists for them to lose weight through dieting because of the volume of weight they need to lose. Harvard University reports that losing even a small amount of weight or simply maintaining a current weight can help reduce or prevent you from developing obesity-related diseases.
Very Low-Calorie Diets
A very low-calorie diet, also known as a VLCD, is exactly what it sounds like. You undertake a VLCD with a doctor's supervision and possibly with other treatment, such as medication, behavioral therapy and nutritional counseling, according to the Weight-Control Information Network, an information service provided by the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases. VLCDs can either be made up of meal replacements in the form of nutritional bars or shakes, or they can consist of a very strict diet of low-fat proteins. A VCLD contains around 800 calories per day and is reserved for very obese people who need to lose weight quickly because of weight-related health issues.
Calorie-Counting Diets
According to Oregon Health & Science University, "Calorie restriction has been the cornerstone of obesity treatment." Carefully monitoring your food intake to restrict it to a certain number of calories per day as well as adding exercise to burn excess calories can help with weight loss for both extremely obese people and people who just need to lose a few pounds.
If you have a significant amount of weight to lose and want to do so sensibly and slowly, calorie counting may be your best choice. Oregon Health & Science University reports that in order to lose one pound per week, you should reduce your daily food intake by 500 calories per day.
Commercial Diet Programs
Commercial diet programs take many forms. They can involve getting pre-packaged foods sold directly to you, attending weekly meetings, reading books that give you a strict plan to follow, using website support and eating prepared meals or meal replacements purchased at the grocery store. Harvard University concludes that these commercial diet programs have one thing in common; even if the programs differ greatly, they cause you to be extremely aware of your food intake. This activity alone enables most people to restrict their intake, thereby reducing caloric intake and promoting weight-loss.
Extremely obese people who aren't accustomed to monitoring their food intake may benefit from these types of programs. Harvard University advises that you may need to try several different commercial diet programs in order to find the one that works best for you.
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