Balance Commercial Programs

Weight Watchers

http://www.weightwatchers.com/

Weight Watchers claims that it is a balanced plan that considers 4 aspects of healthy living: food, exercise, behavior, and support. It seems that the behavior and support aspects are mainly meant to be serviced via the weekly meetings. For the food portion, there are two main plains: Flex and Core.

Flex Plan: In the Flex Plan you continue to eat whatever you want within the day's POINT value. A POINT value is assigned to a food based on calories, fat, and fiber. Maximum daily POINT values are given to an individual based on age, weight, height, gender, etc. There are additional POINT values allocated to a special weekly splurge.

Core Plan: The Core Plan is more like a traditional diet in that you are restricted to certain kinds of foods. You are, however, given a weekly splurge POINT value to fill.

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South Beach Diet

http://www.southbeachdiet.com/

The South Beach Diet is organized into 3 phases (1, 2, and 3). The diet emphasizes food choices and does not integrate (caloric, portion-size, etc.) counting.

1: In Stage 1 (2 weeks) you are restricted to certain foods for the purpose of stabilizing blood sugar and eliminating cravings.

2: Stage 2 is continued until the subject reaches the desired weight. Stage 2 adds carbohydrates and some desserts to the list of foods allowed in Stage 1.

3: Stage 3 is meant to be the weight-maintenance phase (lifelong). This stage adds most foods back onto the list of allowed meals.

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Atkins Diet

http://www.atkins.com/

The Atkins Diet has 4 phases: Induction, Ongoing Weight Loss, Pre-Maintenance, and Lifelong Maintenance. The Atkins approach centers around controlling the amount of carbohydrates incorporated into the subject's diet.

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