The secret behind the 'social dieting' systems

Whether you are a female teen trying to get rid of some troublesome extra pounds, or you are a man trying to find out how to get rid of moobs, then the secrets behind the 'social dieting system' may be just what you are looking for.

What exactly are these 'social dieting' systems – as promoted by the weight-loss giants such as Weight Watchers and Slimming World? How do they manage to attract and keep so many dedicated dieters not just month after month but even year after year?

Part of their success is that they offer a very attractive package and their diet system is not as harsh as the 'Cabbage Soup Diet' or the ' 500 calorie diet '. In fact, with most social diet systems you never go hungry, you can eat as much as you like, eat whatever you like, receive highly motivational assistance and enjoy a new social life during the weekly 'weigh-ins' at the same time.

Do these systems actually work? Yes, they do. The main reason so many people join and stay with these weight-loss systems is that in the vast majority of cases, they do get the results they promise.

What's the downside?
* There is a joining fee and, often, a weekly membership fee to pay. It's not usually that much, but it has to be factored in.

* Such diets do require a long-term commitment. 8 weeks or so to lose 20lb is considered a fast result (maybe even too fast).

* There is a bit of brain-work involved, usually, in working out what you can eat each day within the 'rules and points' systems that these diets typically use.

So, to help you recreate the success of these slimming giants in your very own home, here is the basic, fundamental principle of the 'slow and steady wins the race' diet:

Eat 90% low-intensity foods in your diet.
This phrase describes a variety of foods which all have one thing in common: they don't pack a high number of calories into a small space or a small time.

What does that mean?
Take fat, for example. It packs a lot of calories into a small space - 9 calories per gram, to be precise. That is a high-intensity food because it's easy to eat too many calories by eating fat. If you were eating a food with only 3 calories per gram such as cereals, you could eat 3 times as much for the same number of calories. So fats are high-intensity foods.

So the dieting giants of the 'slow and steady' technique apply this basic principle: cut out all high-intensity foods. That means don't eat anything with a lot of calories per gram, and don't eat anything with a lot of calories 'per minute' when you're digesting it.

What's left to eat? Anything, basically, containing a lot of fibre or water - low in fats and unable to flood the bloodstream with sugar. Fresh fruit, pulses, dried pasta, eggs, fish, lean meat, very low-fat dairy, all sorts of vegetables including potatoes. Of course it is extremely possible then to add fruit or herbal supplements to boost weight loss further - like green tea or acai berries - as such supplements are already a natural part of such a diet.

Of course you don't get the social life and the weekly weigh-in this way - but you do get the basic nutritional principle. Concentrate on eating low-intensity foods and you'll find that it's easier to lose weight and stay healthy.