Diet Watch Review

What Is It?

Diet Watch is to dieting and weight loss what Napster is to music downloading. Well, okay, not exactly. Napster, as we all know, has had its problems remaining relevant as a source of music downloads. Diet Watch, on the other hand, enjoys a reputation as a leader in the online diet category. What the two have in common is both were pioneers in the use of the Internet.

It was way back in 1999 that Diet Watch debuted as an Internet-only weight loss program. Diet Watch was the brainchild of nutritionist and dietician Jennifer May, who understood before most that consumers would eventually embrace the Internet for shopping as well as social activities.

Diet Watch’s niche is it provides personalized weight loss strategies, complete with numerous subscriber-only dieting tools and meal plans, in an easy-to-access, user-friendly format.

To complete the package, the Diet Watch program includes support groups, exercise plans, online journals, menus and recipes.

Recently, Diet Watch expanded its offering with an interactive online course to help people deal with emotional issues surrounding food, dieting and weight loss. The twelve-week program is called Mastering Food.

How it works

Diet Watch offers a choice of four diet approaches:

No Restrictions:
This diet plan is intended for people who do not have dietary restrictions. It is a balanced weight loss strategy emphasizing good nutrition and gradual weight loss.

Reduced Carb:
Follow this plan and you’ll lower your carbohydrate consumption to 40 per cent of total calories. In case you’re wondering, that’s not low enough to put your body into a state of ketosis, which is what some low-carb diets such as Atkins will do.

Mediterranean:
No doubt you’ve heard of the heart-healthy Mediterranean diet, which restricts intake of saturated and trans fats. Like other Mediterranean-style diets, the Diet Watch version emphasizes replacing saturated fats with healthy mono- and polyunsaturated fats.

Vegetarian:
Diet Watch’s vegetarian plan includes eggs and dairy (meaning it is actually an acto-ovo vegetarian plan). The menu features a variety of soy foods and meat substitutes.

When you join Diet Watch, you choose whether you want to shed pounds or maintain your current weight. An online diet profile tool uses this and other information to calculate your daily recommended daily calorie level.

Recipes

Members of Diet Watch can roam through the website’s large recipe database, which includes meal plans and shopping lists. The site also has a robust database of foods and their calorie content. To encourage its members to eat health, Diet Watch regularly features recipes such as this recipe for bruschetta with tomato mango salsa.

Prep time: 10 minutes; additional time required to let salsa chill
Cooking Time 2-3 minutes

Ingredients:

2 large, firm, ripe red tomatoes
1 large, firm, ripe yellow tomato
1 ripe mango
1/4 red onion, minced
1 clove garlic, minced
1 tablespoon fresh lime juice
2 teaspoon olive oil
1/4 teaspoon salt
1/8 tsp black pepper
1/4 cup chopped cilantro
6 large slices of sourdough French bread, approx. 2 ounces each
1 clove garlic

Method
Core the tomatoes and chop them into small chunks. Cut the mango in half on either side of the seed. Score the fruit into small cubes and scoop them into the bowl with the tomatoes. Mix all the remaining seasonings in and let the flavors mellow several hours before serving.

Grill the bread over a medium hot flame and rub a couple of times with the clove of garlic. Scoop about 1/2-cup of salsa on each toast per serving.

Yield: 6 servings

Per serving (5 oz): Calories 209; Fat 3.5 g; Saturated fat <1 g; Cholesterol 0 mg; Sodium 451 mg; Carbohydrate 39.3 g; Fiber 3.2 g; Sugars 7.1 g; Protein 5.9 g; Vitamin A 192 RE; Vitamin C 24 mg; Calcium 54.4 mg; Iron 1.9 mg.

This recipe is 15% fat.
Carbohydrate points: 2.6
Carbohydrate (g): 39.3

Exchanges: 1 Bread/Starch, 1 Fruit, 2 Vegetable, 1/2 Fat

Workout system

Diet Watch has teamed up with exercise and fitness professionals to create several workout programs incorporating aerobics, strength training and flexibility training. The site has handy tools for keeping track of workouts and tallying the number of calories burned.

The good

Diet Watch is a comprehensive weight-loss program with numerous features and tools to support the objectives of losing weight, keeping it off and staying fit and healthy. The meal plans are personalized, the diet planner is easy to use and the exercise module offers straightforward workout plans designed by fitness professionals. In addition, Diet Watch also offers members the opportunity to interact with and seek support from other dieters in its online forums and chat areas.

The bad

If you’re not up to speed with things like website memberships and interactive online tools, a diet program like Diet Watch could be difficult to access. However, considering you’re reading this review online, you probably have at least the basics mastered already.

The bottom line

Diet Watch is a well-rounded online diet and weight-loss program. While there a quite a number of online diet programs available today, Diet Watch is one of the oldest. As well, Mastering Food, the site’s online course about emotional issues surrounding food and dieting, helps Diet Watch stand out from the crowd. The biggest name in online diet programs is eDiets, charges $4.49 per week.

Diet Watch is a bargain by comparison. Pay by the week, and the cost is $2.99, but pay yearly and the weekly cost is just $1.49.