Dieting is the practice of eating food in a regulated way to decrease, maintain, or increase body weight, or to prevent and treat diseases such as diabetes and obesity. As weight loss depends on calorie intake, different kinds of calorie-reduced diets, such as those emphasising particular macronutrients, have been shown to be no more effective than one another. As weight regain is common, diet success is best predicted by long-term adherence. Regardless, the outcome of a diet can vary widely depending on the individual.
Weight loss, in the context of medicine, health, or physical fitness, refers to a reduction of the total body mass, by a mean loss of fluid, body fat, or lean mass. Weight loss can either occur unintentionally because of malnourishment or an underlying disease, or from a conscious effort to improve an actual or perceived overweight or obese state. "Unexplained" weight loss that is not caused by reduction in calorific intake or increase in exercise is called cachexia and may be a symptom of a serious medical condition.
WW International, Inc., formerly Weight Watchers International, Inc., is a global company headquartered in the U.S. that offers weight loss and maintenance, fitness, and mindset services such as the Weight Watchers comprehensive diet program. Founded in 1963 by Queens, New York City homemaker Jean Nidetch, WW's program has three options as of 2019: online via its mobile app and website, coaching online or by phone, or in-person meetings.
Food combining is a nutritional pseudoscientific approach that advocates specific combinations of foods. Some combinations are promoted as central to good health, improved digestion, and weight loss, despite no sufficient evidence for these claims. It proposes a list of rules that advocate for eating or not eating certain foods together, including to avoid eating starches and proteins together; always eat fruit before, and not after, a meal; avoid eating fruits and vegetables together in the same meal; and to not drink cold water during a meal.
Bariatrics is the branch of medicine that deals with the causes, prevention, and treatment of obesity.
The National Weight Control Registry is a research study that includes people who have lost at least 13.6 kg (30 lbs) of weight and kept it off for at least one year. There are currently over 10,000 members enrolled in the study, making it perhaps the largest study of weight loss ever conducted. Members complete annual questionnaires about their current weight, diet and exercise habits, and behavioral strategies for weight loss maintenance.
Providence Health & Services is a not-for-profit Catholic health care system operating multiple hospitals and medical clinics across seven states, with headquarters in Renton, Washington. The health system includes 51 hospitals, more than 800 non-acute facilities, and numerous assisted living facilities in the western Half of the United States (Alaska, Washington, Oregon, California, Montana, New Mexico, and Texas. Providence Health & Services was founded by the Sisters of Providence in 1859 and merged with St. Joseph Health in 2016.
The relationship between alcohol and weight is the subject of inconclusive studies. Findings of these studies range from increase in body weight to a small decrease among women who begin consuming alcohol. Some of these studies are conducted with numerous subjects; one involved nearly 80,000 and another 140,000 subjects.
Wellspring Academies was a pair of therapeutic boarding schools for overweight and obese children, teens, and young adults, both operated by Wellspring, a division of Aspen Education Group. It is said to be the first weight loss boarding school in the United States.
A very-low-calorie diet (VLCD), also known as semistarvation diet and crash diet, is a type of diet with very or extremely low daily food energy consumption. VLCDs are defined as a diet of 800 kilocalories (3,300 kJ) per day or less. Modern medically supervised VLCDs use total meal replacements, with regulated formulations in Europe and Canada which contain the recommended daily requirements for vitamins, minerals, trace elements, fatty acids, protein and electrolyte balance. Carbohydrates may be entirely absent, or substituted for a portion of the protein; this choice has important metabolic effects. Medically supervised VLCDs have specific therapeutic applications for rapid weight loss, such as in morbid obesity or before a bariatric surgery, using formulated, nutritionally complete liquid meals containing 800 kilocalories or less per day for a maximum of 12 weeks.
Health at Every Size (HAES) is an approach to public health that seeks to downplay weight loss as a health goal, and reduce stigma towards people who are overweight or obese. Proponents argue that traditional interventions focused on weight loss, such as dieting, do not reliably produce positive health outcomes, and that health is a result of lifestyle behaviors that can be performed independently of body weight. However, many criticize the approach and argue that weight loss should sometimes be an explicit goal of healthcare interventions, because of the negative health outcomes associated with obesity.
Positive deviance (PD) is an approach to behavioral and social change. It is based on the idea that, within a community, some individuals engage in unusual behaviors allowing them to solve problems better than others who face similar challenges, despite not having additional resources or knowledge. These individuals are referred to as positive deviants.
The Mayo Clinic diet is a diet book first published in 1949 by the Mayo Clinic committee on dietetics as the Mayo Clinic diet manual. Prior to this, use of that term was generally connected to fad diets with no association to the clinic. The book is now published as The Mayo Clinic diet (ISBN 978-1945564000) with a companion logbook, The Mayo Clinic diet journal (ISBN 978-1945564017).
Wellspring Camps were a group of children's weight loss camps located in La Jolla, California, and Melbourne, Florida. The camps focused on changing behavior and eating patterns to create long-term healthy lifestyles for participants. Wellspring Camps are not currently operating.
Management of obesity can include lifestyle changes, medications, or surgery. Although many studies have sought effective interventions, there is currently no evidence-based, well-defined, and efficient intervention to prevent obesity.
Prevention of type 2 diabetes can be achieved with both lifestyle changes and use of medication. The American Diabetes Association categorizes prediabetes as a high-risk group that has glycemic levels higher than normal but does not meet criteria for diabetes. Without intervention people with prediabetes progress to type 2 diabetes with a 5% to 10% rate. Diabetes prevention is achieved through weight loss and increased physical activity, which can reduce the risk of diabetes by 50% to 60%.
Coaches are professional tutors who have expertise in their preferred area of study. Weight loss coaches, specifically, have clientele within the health and fitness industry.
Eat Smart, Move More, Weigh Less is a 15-week adult weight management program that uses strategies based on evidence for weight loss and/or weight maintenance. The Eat Smart Move More Weigh Less classes focus on the 12 evidence-based eating and physical activity behaviors for weight management. The program does not provide a prescriptive diet plan, it teaches small lifetime changes. The program teaches mindfulness as a strategy to become more aware of eating and physical activity. Eat Smart, Move More, Weigh Less includes methods for planning and tracking healthy eating and physical activity behaviors. In 2007, Eat Smart, Move More, Weigh Less curriculum was developed by a writing team from North Carolina State University and North Carolina Division of Public Health. A complete listing of authors and their respective affiliations can be found on the program website. The 15-lesson curriculum was peer reviewed by state and local nutrition and physical activity professionals, representatives from the medical community, and a CDC project officer.
A low-quantity diet is a weight-loss diet that restricts the amount of food eaten, rather than caloric intake or the type of food eaten. These diets are based on the claim that the amount of food eaten is the primary factor in weight-loss. Typically, low-quantity diets focus on restricting the number of bites eaten in a day as a way to achieve portion control.
Garth Philip Davis is an American bariatric surgeon, physician and author. Davis specializes in weight management and is known for his advocacy of plant-based nutrition.
