Better Homes and Gardens Diet

If you love cooking and counting, then the Better Homes and Gardens Diet Weight Loss Plan is for you. This simple “3-Step” plan instructs you on the proper amount of calories and servings of each food group for your size and sex. Besides portion control, much of this plan is devoted to healthy recipes tested and approved by the “Better Homes and Gardens Test Kitchen.”

What makes the Better Homes and Gardens Diet a different weight loss plan?

This calorie-controlled diet is different because it counts food group servings instead of calories. The plan lays out the suggested number of servings of various food groups based on the number of calories each individual needs to consume in order to lose weight.

What is the Better Homes and Gardens Diet Weight Loss Plan?

The Better Homes Diet helps you achieve weight loss by teaching you to calculate the proper amount of calories that you should eat based on a specific number of servings from each food group. The plan bases its food group serving amounts on the old USDA Food Guide Pyramid (not the updated 2005 pyramid). There are six food groups: 1) the meat and meat substitute group, 2) the milk (dairy) group, 3) the vegetable group, 4) the fruit group, 5) the bread/cereal/rice/pasta group, and 6) the fats, oils, and sweets group.

There are “3-Steps” to the Better Homes and Gardens Diet:

• Daily weigh-ins. Your weight and height are used to determine your overall health status. Guidelines e given to assist you in choosing a reasonable weight loss goal.

• Determining total daily calorie needs. This step involves using various charts and calculations based on weight, activity level, and gender, to figure out how many calories you need to consume daily in order to lose weight. There are lots of calculations involved, so those who cringe at the thought of math might want to find a friend or spouse who loves calculating.

• Finding your eating plan. Your everyday eating plan is based on the Better Homes and Gardens diet’s six food groups. There is a chart that lists various servings per food group, which is based on your calorie needs. For example, if you fall into the range of 1800-2000 calories per day, you are allowed nine servings per day of the bread/cereal/rice/pasta group, three servings per day of the meat/meat substitute group, etc. A “Food List” is provided in order to figure out what a serving size is – for example, one medium apple is equal to one fruit serving.

Once you have your calories, servings, and portion sizes figured out, the Better Homes and Gardens Diet provides you with over one hundred healthy recipes to choose from. The “Better Homes and Gardens Test Kitchen” tests and approves all of the recipes. The plan also provides supplemental materials to help you along the way, including a “Progress Journal” to helps dieters track their food intake. You can join the Better Homes and Gardens website at www.bhg.com to help motivate you, as well as provide you with access to lots of recipes and calorie charts, a customized “Weight-Loss Planner,” discussion groups, and much more. And it is all free!

Once you’ve achieved your weight loss goal, the Better Homes and Gardens Diet addresses weight maintenance. After all, you do not want to spend hours calculating calories and food servings and then gain the weight back. The guidelines include weekly weigh-ins and a recalculation of calorie needs based on your current weight and activity level. While in the maintenance stage, you continue to count calories, portion sizes and servings.

What are the weight loss expectations?

No weight loss expectations are provided. Rather, the Better Homes and Gardens Diet notes that you will lose weight and that you should try to reach your goal weight. However, if you choose to sign up for the online “Weight-Loss Planner,” you can choose a plan that helps you lose twenty pounds in twenty weeks. There are also other options, like losing five pounds quickly or ten pounds during the fall season, but these options have no exact rate of weight loss.

Is exercise promoted?

Exercise is promoted and highly recommended to help lose, and especially, maintain weight loss. The Better Homes and Garden Diet plan mentions that some research has shown that people who successfully maintain weight loss do four to five hours of cardiovascular exercise each week.

Are supplements recommended?

There is no emphasis on supplements while on the Better Homes and Gardens Diet plan.