Which diet is right for you?

You’ve heard it countless times: All you have to do to lose weight is eat-less and exercise more. The problem is, most of us need a bit more guidance. That’s why diets can be so appealing: They tell us what to eat, how much, and when to eat it. They make us mindful eaters instead of mindless feeders.

Many people apparently crave that structure. Every year, thousands go on a diet. Type the word weight loss on the Internet and you’ll find no fewer than 1,200 books on the subject matter. Friends, relatives and co-workers give you conflicting advice on what and what not to eat. And it seems that everyone is shunning fat or sugar or starches while embracing fruit or protein or fiber. To help you through the maze, I’ve scrutinized two of the most popular weight-loss plans for this article: Weight Watchers and the Atkin’s diet. Each has its own strengths and weaknesses, and each asks you to be disciplined, to make trade-offs and choices that may test your willpower.

It does seem that these weight-loss plans really can help you lose, at least in the short term. There’s no single approach that works for everyone. The challenge is to pick one that fits your life and doesn’t harm your health. So assess the options before you choose. In the future, we will discuss other weight-loss plans.

The Weight Watchers Diet

Weight Watchers claims to have helped more than 25 million people trim down since its inception in 1963. Like most of the commercial company’s programs, its current plan, 1-2-3 Success, focuses on low-calorie, low-fat, high-fiber foods; regular exercise; and abundant support. For a fee, Weight Watchers will give you all the nutritional guidance and emotional inspiration you need to maintain a healthy weight.

How Weight Watchers works: Unlike many fad diets, 1-2-3 Success doesn’t try to justify itself by way of intricate metabolic theories. At Weight Watchers, all calories are created equal, and each one you put in your mouth affects how much you weigh. The program helps you figure out what you need to eat, how much you need to exercise, and how you need to think about food – and yourself – to reach your desired weight. It will then do everything it can to get and keep you there.

What you need to do: Under the plan, foods are assigned a point value based on calories, fat and fiber content. You’re allotted a range of total points each day, which you can "spend" however you like. The recommended food-group breakdown resembles most of the known food pyramids: About half the day’s calories should come from carbohydrates, such as beans and whole grains; 25 percent from proteins; and 20 percent from fats.

If points and percentages are the heart of the Weight Watchers, then group support is its soul. You are urged to attend a weekly confidential weigh-in and take part in at least one group meeting a week. At these sessions, a trained leader will dispense advice, listen to your food foibles, and cheer you up and on.

The facts of the diet: There’s nothing outlandish here, although transforming eating habits requires time and patience. In the US, the National Weight Control Registry, which tracks people who have lost 30 pounds and kept them off for at least a year, offers evidence that supports Weight Watchers’ kind and gentle approach. Of the registry’s 2,800 participants, more than half reached their goals not by torturing themselves on a fashionable diet but by reducing fat and calories, eating sensibly, and exercising.

Should you try it?: If you play by the rules, you’ll lose weight safely on this diet. It combines calorie cutbacks with exercise, which is what most experts recommend, and while it gives you the freedom to indulge, it encourages you to eat sensibly.

Weight Watchers makes no promises as to how quickly or how much you’ll lose; short-term miracles are not part of the program, and even the long-term ones cost money. Finally, if the thought of other folks keeping tabs on your progress – or your backsliding – makes you shudder, or if you’re turned off by support groups, Weight Watchers’ is not for you.

The Atkins Diet

Robert Atkins, MD, a cardiologist and the founding father of the low-carbohydrate movement, says you’ll never go hungry on his diet. In his latest book, Dr. Atkins’ New Diet Revolution, Atkin’s claims his plan has helped more than 20 million dieters lose weight and keep it off. Cut carbs to the bone, eat all the fat and protein you want, and watch the pounds drop away.

How Atkins says it works: Atkins believe that most people’s weight problems stem from the way their bodies process carbohydrates. When you eat carbs, blood sugar rises and the pancreas produces insulin. In overweight people, according to Atkins, the insulin results in excess body fat. When you banish carbohydrates, he says, your body enters ketosis, a state in which you burn fat and your food cravings disappear.

What you have to do: Grab your carb counter and hold on. In the first stage of this diet, you limit carbohydrates to 20 grams a day (the average person takes in about 250 grams). During this two-week period, you may lose up to 16 pounds. In the next two stages, you’ll keep losing weight – albeit more slowly – and can add a few grams of carbs a day. Once you reach your weight goal, you’re in the lifetime maintenance stage. Now, the trick is to figure out how many grams of carbohydrates you can eat without gaining weight back. For most people, it’s between 40 and 60 grams a day.

At every stage, you’re allowed unlimited meat, eggs, and fatty foods. You will however, have to stay away from whole grains, most fruits, and starchy vegetables. And it’s farewell forever to ice cream, cookies, and anything else made with refined sugar.

What’s really going on: Despite Atkins’ claim that carbohydrates are to blame for obesity, the simple fact remains that it’s calories that add pounds. Some people do lose weight on low-carb diets, probably because they’re consuming fewer calories. Nutritionists credit water loss for the dramatic drop in weight during the first stage of the diet.

There is a biological state called ketosis, but there’s no firm proof that it can curb appetite. And with side effects ranging from queasiness and bad breath to dehydration and weakened bones, ketosis is not the charmed condition Atkins makes it out to be.

Should you try it?: Instant gratification is almost guaranteed: The pants or dress you can’t quite zip up today will fit perfectly next month. But the regimen is hard to stick with over the long haul, and the weight creeps back on as soon as your carb intake climbs back up.

If you don’t dwell on the loss of rice, bread and noodles, you probably won’t go hungry. You can throw out the calorie counter and let yourself loose in the butcher shop. But there’s a shadow over this picture: Any diet that offers unlimited saturated fat and cholesterol-rich foods is dangerous. Furthermore, the plan eliminates or drastically reduces foods known to reduce the risk of heart disease and some cancers, and it falls short on calcium and fiber.

Low-carb diets don’t have to be this perilous. If you want to try one, go for a plan that restricts saturated fats and allows a more liberal daily helping of nutritionally beneficial carbs – fruit, for instance, or whole grain breads.

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More weight-loss plans and diets will be discussed in future columns. Watch for it!