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Time to hit the scales. But you'd rather have teeth pulled than start a diet. For one thing, it's hard to find a plan that suits your lifestyle, tastes and fitness level. Once found, it's harder still to stick with it -- particularly if it means weighing in with strangers.
Enter the anonymous Internet, home of cybershopping, virtual friends and, now, online dieting. In the past few years, slimming via the Internet has skyrocketed in popularity, luring lapsed dieters with the promise of little downtime, no public weigh-ins, personalized menus and daily e-mail support. The cost and format may vary, but the approach is the same -- you keep your own score.
"Online dieting is convenient and takes out all the guesswork," says Terry Nason, who worked for Truestar Health from 2003 to 2006 and was president of Truestar for Women for nearly two years. "If someone has the motivation, she can use it with great success."
Fessing up to that extra Timbit to online strangers? Yes. Researchers are finding that the anonymity, ease of access and tools such as calorie calculators are proving to be huge draw cards. With Canadians plumping up faster than ever (23 per cent of us are now obese, according to Statistics Canada) Internet dieting could be a timely solution.
But are all online diets created equally? We review the leaders and let you decide.
Truestar Health
truestarhealth.com
This is the well-rounded, approachable kid on the Internet dieting block. The program has five key areas: nutrition, exercise, vitamins, attitude and sleep. The inclusion of the latter is notable, given a 2004 University of Chicago study that found individuals who get two to four hours of sleep a night are 73 per cent more likely to be obese than those who get nine hours.
Best features
Loaded with everything from an Encyclopedia of Health to a Truestar Kids section, the website is, as they say, the whole package. Members get access to 1.2 million pages, including countless health articles, a Food Trakker to calculate your daily caloric intake, an online message board where nutritionists will answer your questions, and a meal plan based on your personal hormonal, caloric and pH balances. However, if you're in a chicken mood and your plan suggests fish, a nifty substitute tool lets you customize. And if you've never been closer to a gym than smelly socks, fear not: There are 3,000 demographically correct videos to demonstrate the correct method for specific exercises. "If a 40-year-old woman went online," explains David Schleich, president of Truestar, "the video would show a woman her age doing the exercise."
Cost
Membership costs about $22.50 a month, $80 for six months and $112 for a year, although the site bills in US dollars to appeal to American customers. The optional supplements range from $30 for vitamin C to $85 for the bone-health blend. There's also a glossy diet book and workout DVD, Total Health and Weight Loss (Truestar Health Inc., $29.95).
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