Weight Loss With Meal Replacement & Diet Plans

The best diet plan on the market is controlling your calorie intake and exercising most days of the week. Meal replacement diets that suggest eating nutrient-rich food bars or drinking shakes in lieu of one or two meals can work by significantly limiting your calorie intake. Commercial diet plans, such as those that recommend eliminating entire food groups, could help you lose weight in the short-term, but have been shown to be ineffective for long-term weight loss.

Meal Replacement Diets

In 2003, the International Journal of Obesity studied the effect of meal-replacement diets. The meta-review, which analyzed six existing studies and literature, evaluated the success of diets that prescribe replacing one or two meals each day with low-calorie, nutrient-fortified commercial products. Study participants, all of whom were either overweight or obese, ate at least one regular meal daily. After three months the study participants successfully dropped a significant amount of weight. After one year, the average was a loss of three to seven percent of body weight. Additionally, the risk factors associated with excess weight were improved.

Diet Plans

Commercial diet plans are weight-loss programs that suggest limiting calorie intake to between 1,000 to 1,500 calories a day. Consumers can follow a diet plan outlined in a book, by joining a diet center that offers group meetings and counseling, or subscribing to online forums where you can count and track calorie intake, get recipes and interact with other members. In a 2005 study published by the Journal of the American Medical Association, researchers compared the success of four popular diet plans. Participants included 160 adults aged 22 to 72 with known health risks associated with excess weight. After one year, participants experienced a modest weight loss and reduced cardiac risk factors. Although adherence rates were low, those who followed the diet plan did experience greater weight loss and a greater reduction in cardiac risk factors for all four diets.

Rapid Weight Loss

There's no question that overweight and obesity is unhealthy. Your risk for health problems elevate when your body mass index is more than 25. But meal-replacement and diet plans often promise quick weight-loss without explaining the dangers. Rapid weight loss can cause significant health complications. Losing more than 3 pounds a week raises your risk of developing gallbladder disease by 15 to 25 percent. The formation of gallstones in overweight people who drop more than 3 pounds a week can occur within one month.

Considerations

There's nothing wrong with complimenting a healthy weight-loss plan with alternative methods as long as you're eating healthy foods, getting enough calories and exercising regularly. Women need at least 1,200 calories a day and men need at least 1,600 calories a day. You should only go on a very low calorie diet under the supervision of your doctor. Losing weight too quickly can result in dropping lean muscle mass and water weight rather than excess fat. Losing weight too quickly can also cause fatigue and constipation and lead to dangerous disorders like heart problems and osteoporosis.