Just because an eating plan calls itself a
diet doesn't mean it's actually going to help you lose weight (we're still not
over what we learned about the Military Diet last
year). So to kick off 2017, U.S. News and World Report is breaking
down the diets that will help you reach your weight-loss goals—and the ones
that are a waste of time.
Taking the number-one spot on the list
is: Weight Watchers! This
plan utilizes an eating program called Smart Points that helps you track your
food intake by allotting users a points goal each day. Foods that are full of
saturated fats and empty calories are more points while healthy foods, like
non-starchy vegetables, are less points. The program also includes support
and accountability via its 30-minute meetings where members discuss scale and
non-scale victories in-person and allows users to chat with a rep 24/7 online. Plus,
the report says, it’s easy to follow and at least one study in
the American Journal of Public Health suggests that dieters
using the program lost significantly more weight than those in the control
group.
Taking second place is the Jenny Craig Diet. The recipes and prepackaged
meals help dieters closely monitor their portion, calorie, and fat
intake, which make it super easy to stay on track—especially if cooking isn't
your jam. Also, despite the fact that the plan is based off eating packaged
foods, Jenny Craig scored highly as being safe and healthy for dieters. (Work
towards your weight loss goals with Women's Health's Look Better
Naked DVD.)
While you may not have heard of the diet
taking bronze on this list, the Volumetrics Diet isn’t
as complex as it may sound. The plan is based on the concept that people
generally consume the same volume of food each day, despite however many
calories are in a particular food. So if you’re going to eat a certain number
of pounds of food in a day, it’s best to eat a higher volume of low-density
foods—think a cup of carrots instead of a cup of chips (if only carrots tasted
like chips...).
Surprisingly, trendy diets like the Whole30 Diet and
the Paleo Diet were
way at the bottom of the list. We're talking spots 36 and 38 out of 39 diets,
respectively. While you might have been toying with the idea of going Paleo or
attempting a Whole30 challenge, a big reason these two came up short is because
of their restrictiveness. Obvi, eliminating foods like dairy and bread (we
can't quit you, cheese) makes a diet hard to follow and can end in an epic
weight-loss fail. Furthermore, these restrictive
diets were also flagged as potentially unsafe.
That's because if you don’t consistently rely on lean meat, like chicken or
fish, on the Paleo plan, you’re at risk of developing heart disease. Also, both
these diets could lead to nutrient deficiency.
Check out some of the craziest diets people
used to try to lose weight.
So how is this list compiled exactly?
According to U.S. News, their editors and reporters
spent months pinpointing the most popular diets and then poured through medical
journals and government reports to create in-depth profiles for each plan.
Then, they sent these profiles to a panel of experts in diet, nutrition, obesity, food
psychology, diabetes, and heart disease for seals of approval. Experts then
rated each diet across the following categories: how easy it is to follow, its
effectiveness toward short-term and long-term weight loss, its nutritional
value, safety, and its potential for preventing or managing diabetes and heart
disease.
The
bottom line: Though
this list has expert approval and some science to back it up, the best diet to
help you lose weight might not be included. You have to eat and exercise in a
way that works for your life and your eating habits. That's a recipe for weight
loss that will last.