The most successful weight-loss programs provide 14 sessions or more of behavioral treatment over at least 6 months—and are led by trained staff. Some commercial weight-loss programs have all of these components for a safe and successful weight-loss program. Check for these features in any program you are thinking about trying.

Although these diets may help some people lose a lot of weight quickly—for example, 15 pounds in a month—they may not help people keep the weight off long term. These diets also may have related health risks, the most common being gallstones.

For people who are overweight or have obesity, experts recommend a beginning weight-loss goal of 5 to 10 percent of your starting weight within 6 months.

Read how to change your habits for better health. Many weight-loss programs are now being offered partly or completely online and through apps for mobile devices. Researchers are studying how well these programs work on their own or together with in-person programs, especially long term.

However, experts suggest that these weight-loss programs should provide the following:. Whether a program is online or in person, you should get as much background as you can before you decide to join.

If you have questions about the findings, discuss the report with your health care professional. These questions are especially important if you are considering a medically supervised program that encourages quick weight loss 3 or more pounds a week for several weeks :.

If a weight-loss program is not enough to help you reach a healthy weight, ask your health care professional about other types of weight-loss treatments. Prescription medicines to treat overweight and obesity , combined with healthy lifestyle changes, may help some people reach a healthy weight.

For some people who have severe obesity, bariatric surgery may be an option. The National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases NIDDK and other components of the National Institutes of Health NIH conduct and support research into many diseases and conditions.

Clinical trials are part of clinical research and at the heart of all medical advances. Clinical trials look at new ways to prevent, detect, or treat disease.

Researchers also use clinical trials to look at other aspects of care, such as improving the quality of life for people with chronic illnesses. Find out if clinical trials are right for you. Clinical trials that are currently open and are recruiting can be viewed at www.

This content is provided as a service of the National Institute of Diabetes and Digestive and Kidney Diseases NIDDK , part of the National Institutes of Health. NIDDK translates and disseminates research findings to increase knowledge and understanding about health and disease among patients, health professionals, and the public.

Content produced by NIDDK is carefully reviewed by NIDDK scientists and other experts. The NIDDK would like to thank: Thomas A. Wadden, Ph. Stunkard Professor in Psychiatry; Director Emeritus, Center for Weight and Eating Disorders, Department of Psychiatry, Perelman School of Medicine, University of Pennsylvania.

Weight Management Binge Eating Disorder Show child pages. Tips to Help You Get Active Show child pages. Weight-loss Metabolic and Bariatric Surgery Show child pages.

On this page: Where do I start? What should I look for in a weight-loss program? What if the program is offered online? What questions should I ask about a weight-loss program?

Clinical Trials Do you think you need to lose weight? Have you been thinking about trying a weight-loss program? Where do I start? Talking with your health care professional about your weight is an important first step. Prepare for your visit Before your visit with a health care professional, think about the following questions: How can I change my eating habits so I can be healthier and reach a healthy weight?

How much and what type of physical activity do I think I need to be healthier and reach a healthy weight? Could I benefit from seeing a nutrition professional or weight-loss specialist, or joining a weight-loss program? Questions to ask a health care professional You may want to ask a health care professional the following questions: What is a healthy weight or BMI for me?

Will losing weight improve my general health, as well as specific health problems I have? Could any of my medical conditions or medications be causing weight gain or making it harder for me to lose weight?

Are there any types or amounts of physical activity I should not do because of my health? What dietary approaches do you recommend I try or avoid?

Safe and successful weight-loss programs should include behavioral treatment, also called lifestyle counseling, that can teach you how to develop and stick with healthier eating and physical activity habits—for example, keeping food and activity records or journals information about getting enough sleep, managing stress, and the benefits and drawbacks of weight-loss medicines ongoing feedback, monitoring, and support throughout the program, either in person, by phone, online, or through a combination of these approaches slow and steady weight-loss goals—usually 1 to 2 pounds per week though weight loss may be faster at the start of a program a plan for keeping the weight off, including goal setting, self-checks such as keeping a food journal, and counseling support The most successful weight-loss programs provide 14 sessions or more of behavioral treatment over at least 6 months—and are led by trained staff.

However, experts suggest that these weight-loss programs should provide the following: organized, weekly lessons, offered online or by podcast, and tailored to your personal goals support from a qualified staff person to meet your goals a plan to track your progress on changing your lifestyle habits, such as healthy eating and physical activity, using tools such as cellphones, activity counters, and online journals regular feedback on your goals, progress, and results provided by a counselor through email, phone, or text messages the option of social support from a group through bulletin boards, chat rooms, or online meetings Whether a program is online or in person, you should get as much background as you can before you decide to join.

Many weight-loss programs are now being offered online and through apps for mobile devices. Here are some other questions you may want to ask: What does the program include?

Eating Am I expected to follow a specific meal plan? Am I encouraged to write down what I eat each day? Do I have to buy special meals or supplements? Logging exercise can be a positive feedback or a reminder to incorporate more exercise or physical activity into your daily routine.

Initial activities may be walking, riding a stationary bike or swimming at a slow pace. Other types of exercise that can be fun are dancing, exercise videos or chair exercises. You should try to aim for 30 minutes of exercise on most days of the week.

Many people try to start out with exercise on three or four days of the week. However, if you can get yourself exercising most to all days of the week, even if only for 10 or 15 minutes, it will become more of a routine for you. All adults should set a long-term goal to accumulate at least 30 minutes or more of moderate-intensity physical activity on most to all days of the week.

Also, try to increase activities of daily living such as taking the stairs instead of the elevator, parking further away or walking to a bathroom that is further from your desk. Reducing sedentary time is a good strategy to increase activity by undertaking frequent, less strenuous activities.

With time, you may be able to engage in more strenuous activities. Self-monitoring tools are becoming more and more popular and accurate. One of the simplest of these self-monitoring tools is a pedometer.

Pedometers give objective data of physical activity throughout the day. Pedometers can be found in almost any consumer catalog or retail store. Some of the more popular manufactures include Digi-Walker, Omron, Acumen, Bodytrend, Oregon Scientific, Sportline, Freestyle, Brookstone, AccuStep and many others.

Garmin and Timex make pedometer of speedometer devices that calculate steps and speed using GPS. Many people get an average of 3, steps per day with daily activity.

In order to burn off extra calories for weight-loss, walking 10, steps per day is recommended. For regular health, a minimum of 6, steps per day is required.

Research suggests that a deliberate walk of 4,, steps will help with weight-loss. It is often a good idea to keep track of your daily steps taken in your exercise log. Pedometers can be frustrating for those who are more interested in distance traveled. Focusing on the number of steps and ways to incorporate more steps throughout the day will make as much of a difference with weight-loss as actual distance does.

Pedometers encourage people to find ways to add more steps throughout the day. Because step counting is becoming more popular, advances are being made in the technology behind pedometers. New pedometers display steps and count them accurately. They are meant to be worn everyday and all day, as motivation to keep stepping, Most are small and comfortable to wear.

Pedometers sense your body motion, counting your footsteps usually by a turned pendulum technology, a coiled spring mechanism and a hairspring mechanism which is the least accurate. The unit should be accurate in its count when you wear it correctly.

You may need to experiment with where to wear it. You can measure your stride and then the pedometer can estimate distance traveled. Some pedometers today offer multifunction options like calorie estimates, clocks, timers, stopwatches, speed estimators, seven-day memory or pulse rate readers, voice feedback and radios.

Although pedometers are very cost-effective, one of the main flaws in using pedometers, however, is that they do not record intensity how hard or duration how long or frequency how often movement occurs. Accelerometers are devices that can objectively measure frequency, duration and intensity of physical activity.

Accelerometers provide a high level of accuracy when assessing physical activity. BioTrainer and Nike are examples of affordable accelerometers.

Many of the more expensive accelerometers are used only in research or as a part of a hospital-based program. These monitors are more complex than pedometers in that they display and store more complex data.

Some are designed to download to a computer for analysis of intensity levels, movements and physical activity patterns. They can also be used to estimate calories burned or energy expenditure.

Accelerometers have sophisticated sensors that convert physical movement into an electrical signal that is relative to the muscular force needed to produce the work. Accelerometers can be found in uniaxial or triaxial measures. Uniaxial accelerometers measure in a single plane and can be attached to the trunk or limbs.

Triaxial accelerometers measure along three planes: vertical, medial-lateral and anterior-posterior. Although accelerometers are a step up from pedometers in accuracy of physical activity, they cannot register resistance. Therefore, if you are strength training or adding resistance to your bike or treadmill or adding an incline to your walking, it will not be able to discern the added level of energy required to do that work.

One of the most accurate and most expensive tools for self-monitoring are tools that have very sophisticated monitoring and interpreting sensors for calories burned.

Many of these devices have options to subscribe to a Web-based calorie counter system that integrates the amount of calories burned measured by the equipment and your calories consumed that you enter in easy to use food logs.

These devices are more accurate in measurements of calories expended because they use not only accelerometer technology, but also heat flux sensors, galvanic skin response to measure physical exertion and emotional stimuli and skin temperature gauges.

Some also include heart rate monitoring techniques. All of these technologies combined lead to a very accurate measurement of calories expended throughout the day. These devices can determine if you are sitting, sleeping, jogging, walking, lifting weights or riding in a car.

Many of these devices are very expensive and used primarily for research, however, some are available commercially. This technology is also employed by hospital-based programs.

When they return to the clinic, the information will be uploaded and the practitioners will be able to work with the patients with objective data on metabolic lifestyle patterns. Practitioners can also monitor patients on integrated software applications to provide consultations without being face to face.

Practitioners have the ability to set daily goals to tailor programs to the individual patient. These are great tools to help objectively monitor behavior and physical activity, as well as providing real time feed back to the patient.

SenseWear® is one company that offers this technology. Although specific diseases and treatments vary, behavior modification is the major key in weight-loss or prevention and decreases the risk of diseases. Self-monitoring is a key to behavior modifications, and there are a multitude of ways to self-monitor.

With technology advancements, self-monitoring techniques are changing and improving to help defeat some of the major barriers to compliance.

The bottom line is that no matter how you do it, self-monitoring should be an important part of your weight-loss, weight maintenance or healthy lifestyle change. Then, the next step is to be sure the self-monitoring translates into positive behavior changes with regards to diet and exercise.

About the Authors: Stephanie F. Yeager, RD, LDN, has been with the Center for Nutrition and Weight Management at Geisinger Health System since Stephanie is actively involved in multiple research studies on obesity and has authored and co-authored research publications and book chapters on topics such as behavior modification and outcome evaluation of vitamin and mineral requirements, genetics, metabolism and quality of life after bariatric surgery.

Rose Heim, RD, LDN, works for the Center for Nutrition and Weight Management at Geisinger Medical Center.