Deflabbify

The killer hidden cost of weight-loss programs

Written by admin on July 4, 2008 – 4:21 pm -

BankRate.com had this article on MSN Moneycentral:

What does it cost to drop 30 pounds?

The article runs down the costs associated with well-known diet programs like Jenny Craig, Nutrisystem, Weight Watchers, and The Zone Diet. These programs aren’t cheap. The cheapest of the four for losing 30 pounds is under $100 (for online registration at Weight Watchers, not including food) to over $5,000 for daily food delivery in some cities for The Zone Diet.

A former member of our church went on one of these programs (his was $10 per day including food) and lost the weight initially, but then it came back.

I can see the plans being pretty difficult to stick to, and I can see it being pretty easy to cheat (eat food outside of what’s allowed). And that’s the killer cost.

I’m sure the added external structure of these programs is worth the money, but let’s face it: It’s not in the best interest of these companies to get you to a point where you don’t need them. They make money by selling controlled portions of food and other services. And they also make money when you fail and come back.

So though these programs may be good at kick-starting a diet, the dieter should look for a way to maintain the eating habits without that company. Also, if one of these programs doesn’t seem to be working or is just too painful to follow for whatever reason, get out. That’s not failing; that’s just being pragmatic. Try something else after figuring out why that particular plan didn’t work. There’s no real reason to pay a premium for food if it’s not serving its intended purpose.

Related Posts

• Signed up for Man vs. Debt's weight loss challenge I'm on Team Delta for the Man Vs. Debt weight loss challenge.  I'm joining 29 other personal finance bloggers in a competition to reach weight goals.  The challenge will run from June 1st through July 31st. I've set as a goal to lose 10 pounds during that time.  So it's......
• Extreme weight loss is possible, apparently Tough Money Love was kind enough to stop by with a comment on my last post to tell me that I was making things too hard on myself. He provided a lead to a guest post he did over at Lazy Man and Health. He lost 52 pounds in 136......
• I hate fundraisers Well, maybe I should be a little more specific:  I hate fundraisers at work where they just leave a box of candy bars and an envelope in a high-traffic area. I fell off the wagon over the past week or so and became a really, really good customer of this......
• Is the key to weight loss exercise or eating less? Jim and I read this Time article at about the same time: Why exercise won't make you thin (A friend on Facebook pointed me to it.)  The article suggests that exercise has comparatively little to do with weight loss. What does make the difference is simply eating less.  The calorie-burning......

Related Websites

• Weekly Roundup Welcome to the Sunday roundup. I hope everybody has had a good weekend so far and that you are all staying healthy and fit. Check out my Trophy Jack Crevalle.  Sf Boater is paying for fish stories with pictographic evidence.  Tell everyone you know about my trophy catch.  If it......
• 3 Weight Loss Techniques You Need to Avoid We all know that fad diets are a bad idea and rarely work, but it is so easy to get swept away by their claims that many forget this. Who doesn't want to lose ten pounds in a few days? The problem is, these diets not only are not......
• Student Diet The diet of a typical college student is rotten. Sometimes literally. Pizza, greasy burgers and fries, milkshakes, and BEER (hey, sounds like my dream diet!) -- they all lead to a plethora of bad things like excess fat and poor skin. Not to mention poor overall health. But to a......
• Franchise Secrets The seller (advertiser, trading floor, merchant) is a web site selling its products or services and that is interested in expanding of the market through the creation and development of the affiliate program. Affiliate (distributors, partners, resellers,) is a web site or Internet user who advertises goods or services the......

Posted in Eating Right | 1 Comment »