Tuesday, November 24, 2009

How Much Would You Pay to Lose 30 Pounds?

Most of us could stand to lose a few pounds, but unless you go with the "stop eating" method of weight-loss, slimming down your waste line could leave your wallet a lot slimmer, too.

Financial publisher Bankrate looked at five popular weight-loss programs and calculated the total cost based on losing the recommended healthy amount of weight per week. Here's what they found:

Jenny Craig: Clients can choose from two membership levels. Jenny Rewards, priced at $399 or $359, is a 12-month program that rewards weight loss with discounts on food, which must be purchased separately at an additional cost. Prepackaged foods generally cost $12 to $18 per day, or $84 to $126 per week.

LA Weight Loss: Calculating the cost with a setup fee of $174 and $7 per week charge, the total cost of the plan is $685 for 73 weeks, not including the cost of food and LA Lite bars.

NutriSystem: The 28-day program includes breakfast, lunch, dinner and snacks - but not fresh vegetables, fruit or dairy, which you must purchase separately - at a cost of $293.72 per month, including shipping. Total estimated cost to lose 30 pounds: $1,174.88, including all food, except fresh greens and dairy.

The Zone Diet Delivery: This service delivers three meals and two snacks by 6 a.m. each day to subscribers in most metropolitan areas. Signing up for the 30-day plan will cost $39.99 per day plus a shipping charge, which is $3 for customers in most cities and $10 for those in other areas. According to the company, the average Zone dieter loses between eight and 10 pounds per month, so total cost to you're your goal weight ranges from $3,599.10 to $4,798.80.

Which programs are worth the price?

Unfortunately, there is no easy answer to this question. With most weight-loss programs, you have to invest substantial time - and money - before you can know for sure whether it works.

However, there is one company that's breaking the mold by offering customers the chance to try their system for free. The company, Sensa, came up with an innovative way to convince the brain to stop overeating - simply by sprinkling flavorless crystals on everything you eat.

Sounds too good to be true, right? Apparently the company anticipated a somewhat skeptical response from consumers, jaded by a weight-loss industry spread thick with misleading claims, which is why they are offering the free trial.

It is a huge financial risk, but the company has good reason to be confident in its product. Sensa was tested in one of the largest clinical weight-loss studies, and the results were significant. Over a 6 month period, 1,436 women and men sprinkled flavorless Sensa crystals on everything they ate, and lost an average of 30.5 pounds - nearly 15% of their total body weight.

So if you'd like to drop a few pounds without dropping a lot of dollars, a Sensa free trial might be your best bet.

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