Despite what some marketers may have you believe, no magic pill or food exists for helping you lose weight. To lose weight, you simply need to eat fewer calories than your body needs. Many diets that promise weight loss by eating certain types of foods and omitting others are also low-calorie.
Meal-Replacement Diets
Meal-replacement diets are typical low-calorie diets. On a meal-replacement program, you replace one or more of your usual meals with a calorie-controlled food item, such as a shake or meal bar, and eat a sensible dinner. Replacing your typical meal with a portion-controlled supplement can help you reduce your caloric intake. Examples of meal-replacement diets include Medifast and Slim-Fast. On the Medifast diet, your total caloric intake is reduced to about 800 calories a day. This very low-calorie diet should only be followed under the supervision of your physician. On the Slim-Fast meal replacement diet, typical caloric intake ranges from 1,100 to 1,400 calories per day.
Weight Watchers
Weight Watchers is a group-based weight loss program that has been helping people lose weight by reducing their caloric intake since 1962, according to the Weight Watchers website. Instead of counting calories on the Weight Watchers plan, you count food points. A food items food point value is based on its calorie, fat and fiber content. Low-calorie, high-fiber foods have fewer points than high-calorie, high-fat foods. In addition to helping you decrease your caloric intake, Weight Watchers also teaches you how to make healthier food choices. To feel more satisfied on the Weight Watchers program, you'll more likely select the healthier lower point foods than the high-calorie high point foods. Your daily food point needs vary depending on your current body weight and decrease as you lose weight.
The Atkins Diet
You may only think of the Atkins diet as a low-carbohydrate diet, but it's also a low-calorie diet. Instead of counting calories, you count carbohydrates. On the Atkins diet, your intake generally consists of meats, fats and nonstarchy vegetables. Depending on which phase of the program you are following, your carbohydrate intake is limited to 20 to 100 g per day, severely restricting your intake of breads, grains, pasta, milk and fruit. You eat fewer calories on the Atkins diet because of the elimination of whole food groups. In addition, protein and fat in food delays stomach emptying and keeps you feeling full longer so you eat less, MayoClinic.com explains.
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