Their plan is simple and comprehensive. It involves a little work from the dieter, but it is not overwhelming. The plan utilizes nutrition, psychology and support systems that together help the dieter achieve his goal.
They have a few plans. Here is the most popular one which is called the point system.

What do you eat? Basically everything. Each food gets points assigned to it based on the carbohydrate contents, fat content and fiber content. You get a small paper calculator and with a sliding center you can check the amount of points the food you are about to eat, gets.

You are also assigned, based on your weight and the amount of pounds (or Kg) you want to lose, the number of points you should eat each day.

It’s up to the dieter to decide what and how much he eats as long as he does not exceed the points allowed. So if you crave chocolate you can eat it, but know that you have to eat zero or low points food for the rest of the day.
This is a psychological break through. You do not have to deny yourself the food you like the most. You can eat everything – in small portions.

The second part of this program is to write everything down. We often feel we don’t eat much and yet the weight keeps going up. Writing down everything you eat makes you aware of what you put in your mouth and you might discover the “nothing” you ate is actually quite a lot. It is an excellent way to control your food instead of it controlling you.

The third part of this program is the weekly weigh-ins. You are asked not to weigh yourself every day. Our weight fluctuates because of different reasons; water retention, meal just consumed, constipation. This daily ritual is unnerving and disappointing at times. What you are asked to do instead is to come to their centers once a week and they will weigh you. No cheating, no leaning forward or back. The same scale once a week. Your weight is written down in a little booklet you keep, and you can watch the pound go away.

Following the weigh-ins there are support meetings run by their counselors. In those meetings you get together with people in the same situation as you and you share complaints and advice. The counselor follows a program which explains the basis of nutrition and teaches you ways to shave points off your diet by using substitutes and sharing recipes.

The best thing about this plan is that it is sustainable for a long period of time. Since you are the judge of what you eat and don’t deny yourself the foods you crave, you can continue on the plan for a long time. The goal is to lose no more than 2-3 pounds a week (about 1 kg.). It becomes a way of life and a way to control your weight forever.

Which vitamins to take is another question. And the more you’ll ask the more answers you’ll get. Here is some order in the confusion and the recommended daily allowance by the food and drug administration.

Vitamin A – Helps in bone growth and in vision, appetite and taste. Recommended Daily Allowance (RDA) is 800 mcg.
Vitamin B1 – Helps regulate the nerve system, heart, digestion and muscles. RDA – 1.2 mg.
Vitamin B2 – Helps in the breaking of fat, protein and carbohydrates. Helps in the building of nails, hair and skin. RDA – 1.3 mg.
Vitamin B6 – Helps in the absorption of proteins and carbs. RDA – 1.3 mg.
Vitamin B12 – Boosts energy, helps in the production of red blood cells. RDA – 2.4 mcg.
Vitamin C – Immune booster, helps in healing of wounds, preventing scurvy. RDA 90mg.
Vitamin D – Enables the absorption of calcium . RDA – 5 mcg. a day.
Vitamin E – An antioxidant, fights infections, lubricates, has an important part in the building of nails and hair. RDA 15 mg.
Folic Acid – Helps in the production of red blood cells. Women lacking in folic acid might give birth to babies with neurological problems.
Vitamin K – promotes strong bones, helps in blood clotting. RDA 100 mcg.
Coenzyme Q10 – The body makes it and our cells use it, but we don’t make enough. The coenzyme is important in converting food to energy. RDA 100 mg.

Those are the basic vitamins (today we know also of B3, B5, B7 etc.) we should all take the recommended dosage. There is a difference between men and women. This list is the average to be used as a guideline.

Most of those vitamins have been grouped together in multi-vitamins to make it easy to take. Some people say those recommendations are too low. From time to time there comes a doctor who recommends loading the body with a certain vitamin to prevent diseases (used to be B12, then C. Now it’s vitamin D.) Try to get as much vitamins as you can from proper nutrition and use supplements to make up the gap.

Fruit are the perfect food, they say, the perfect nutrition. It requires very little energy to be digested and it fills the body with energy and ‘wakes up your brain’. It consists mainly of fructose, water and fiber – a perfect combination to digestive health. But do we know how to eat fruit the right way and get the most nutritional benefits out of it?

Fruit passes quickly through the stomach and is processed mainly in the intestines. If you eat fruit at the end of the meal, it will stay in the stomach for much longer than it needs and will start fermenting. This causes heartburn and a feeling of bloating and gas.

We should eat fruit on an empty stomach, as the first food of the day. The fruit passes through the stomach, releases fructose which turns to glucose very easily, giving you a boost of energy. The rest goes down and keeps the intestines busy. It’s the perfect nutrition to start the day.

Don’t be tempted to use substitutes in the form of canned or bottled juices. Many of them contain very little fruit juice anyway, and many beneficial vitamins are destroyed in the process of heating and cooling the juice.

If you’d rather drink than eat first thing in the morning, do your body a favor and invest in a juicer. Make your own, fresh, with no additives glass of juice that is full of vitamins and has the nutritional value of 3-4 servings of fruit.

Another trend speaks to the American way of life. Drinking cold soda while eating.
Wrong, says a recent e mail. We should take our cues from the oriental civilization. They drink hot tea during meals.

The fats we eat at the hamburger joint, the greasy French fries, get a cold wash from the soda. The fats solidify and make it difficult and longer to digest. If we drink hot beverages it would help to break down the fat and move it out of our system much faster.

Two adjustments that are not too difficult to make and may result in a better nutritional intake, and a healthier body.