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Slim-Fast
Written by Diet Plans Digest on 3rd April, 2008

Slim-Fast web site

Quick Glance

Slim-Fast is well-known and first became popular for its diet shakes, but it has since grown to include other products such as meal bars and snack bars. Although originally designed to completely replace both breakfast and lunch with the Slim-Fast shakes, the strategy has changed over the years. There are now several different types of products (Original, Optima, Low-carb, High protein, and Easy-to-Digest) and each can be used to replace a meal or be combined with 200 calories of other foods to prevent burnout from eating the same things all the time. The plan is designed to be easy to follow and great for people with little time to spare.

Although you may end up making this into a DIY plan down the road, we suggest starting with the online plan. It is free to become a member of the site, and you’ll receive lots of extras for doing so, including a personalized menu plan, customizable fitness plan, tools, and community support.

Costs

Difficult to calculate, as you only pay for the costs of the Slim-Fast food products, in addition to normal groceries.

Sample Foods

Breakfast: Slim-Fast Meal On-The-Go
Lunch: Combine a Slim-Fast Meal On-The-Go with 200 Calories of your favorite foods
Dinner: A sensible 500-calorie meal of your choice
Plus 4 servings of fruits and vegetables per day and three 120-calorie between-meal snacks



Change One (Reader’s Digest Diet)
Written by Diet Plans Digest on 2nd April, 2008

Change One web site

Quick Glance

Change One (also called the Reader’s Digest Diet) is a diet designed by Reader’s Digest to be a sensible, simple way to lose weight that everyone can easily adapt to. It’s core focus is that with just one simple change each week, you can lose the weight you desire. You don’t have to give up the foods you love, or learn to eat foods you hate. All foods are allowed on this diet, but portion sizes are limited.

This is a 12-week plan, in which you make one small change each week. Here’s how Change One summarizes this plan.

Week 1: Change Breakfast
You’ll overhaul your breakfast, following recommendations on your personalized meal plan, and you’ll start learning to recognize reasonable portion sizes.

Week 2: Change Lunch
While sticking to your new habit of eating a healthy breakfast, you’ll learn how to eat sensible lunches — whether you’re eating at home, dining out, or brown-bagging.

Week 3: Change Snacks
You’ll learn how to get snacking under control and discover that you can have your cake and eat it, too. In fact, you get two snacks a day in your meal plan.

Week 4: Change Dinner
You’ve taken control of breakfast, lunch, and snacks, so now it’s time to tackle dinner. You’ll learn to slow down and savor dinner, which will actually help you eat less.

Week 5: Dining Out
You’ll go out for meals at least twice to practice simple ordering strategies to cut those portions down to size.

Week 6: Weekends and Holidays
You’ll learn techniques for handling weekends and special occasions, so you can resist temptation and enjoy yourself.

Week 7: Fixing Your Kitchen
You’ll take a hard look at what’s in your refrigerator and on your shelves. Is the food you see helping you lose weight or undermining your best intentions?

Week 8: How Am I Doing?
It’s time to assess your progress and clear any roadblocks.

Week 9: Stress Relief
Stress has a way of sneaking up on you, and eating often serves as a coping mechanism. We’ll help you identify and relieve those hidden pressures.

Week 10: Staying Active for Success
C’mon, you knew you couldn’t avoid exercise. This week you’ll learn the only foolproof way to keep weight off.

Week 11: Keeping on Track
If the pounds start to return, they won’t come back all at once. We’ll have you build a self-monitoring system to remind you when you might be straying from your desired weight.

Week 12: Banish Boredom
You’ll discover how you can make great food an ongoing source of pleasure — and maintain your loss.

Costs

Cost depends on whether you choose the DIY version (book only), or onine membership. Either way, the prices are extremely reasonable, ranging from approximately $8/month for a yearly online membership plan, to $15/month for the month-to-month membership option. You can also purchase the accompanying book for $27 (either standalone or in conjunction with the online membership).

Sample Foods

All foods allowed



Online Diet Plans

When classifying a diet plan as "online", we mean that all of the program's detailed information, the meal plans and recipes, and all tools and support are accessed online via that program's web site. Of course, many will also supplement the online version with hard copy printed materials such as books and magazines, and may also include phone support. But the primary means of managing the plan on a day to day basis is via their web site. Check this area for both paid and free online diet plans.

Real World Support Groups

Real world diet support groups generally involve signing up with a program in which you attend meetings with people in your area, or visit a diet center near you on a recurring basis. These in-person, face to face types of plans are especially useful for those who are motivated by interacting with others directly, rather than virtually as in the online world.

DIY Weight Loss Plans

We classify plans as DIY (Do It Yourself) when they only involve the dieter and some materials, such as books, etc. If you don't want any kind of social interaction, support or a strict plan, you probably will do best by winging it on your own. DIY diet plans will focus mostly on obtaining plan material from books, cds and dvds, and are often what people are seeking when searching for the top 10 diets.