Checklist for Evaluating Diet Plans

When you are evaluating diet plans, be sure to be a comparison shopper. Use the Internet to find out as much as you can about each diet plan before you select one. Here is a checklist you can use to evaluate the diet plans.

Cost

What is the extra cost beside the normal food costs that you have anyway? Are there fees to join? Are there foods to buy? Is there a required book?

Reputation

Have other people lost weight using this plan? How long has it been around? Does anyone you know have experience losing weight with this diet plan?

Nutrition

Is this diet plan a nutritious diet plan? Do they have nutritionists on their staff?

Personalized

Is this diet plan generic or is it personalized for your particular health needs? Are there ways to tailor it for what you need?

Speed of Weight Loss

What promises does this diet plan make about how fast you will lose weight? (If it promises fast weight loss, you might want to avoid it.)

Community Support

Is there a way to tap into a community of others on the diet plan in order to get support as you are on the plan? Is there a help desk? Can you call or email the staff? Is there a discussion board? Where do you ask questions?

Tracking Tools

If this diet plan is associated with the Internet, what kind of tracking tools does it provide? Can you track your menus? Your weight? Your state of mind?

Pre-planned Menus

Does this diet plan give you pre-planned menus or do you make them up yourself? One is not better than the other; however, if you are a person who really wants to have someone else tell you what to eat, then you want to make sure there are pre-planned menus. On the other hand, if you are independent minded and want to control your own meals, then you want a diet plan that is more free-form.

Types of Foods

What kinds of foods predominate on this diet plan? Be sure that they are foods that you are willing to eat. If you do not like the kinds of food, or cannot eat them for some reason, then this is not the diet plan for you.

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