Special Diets and Weight Loss

Whether you’re looking to change your diet to lose weight or to address a specific health concern—such as diabetes, cancer, or heart disease—these articles focus on both the nutritional and psychological factors that influence the way you eat.

In our massive-portion-sized, convenience food culture, maintaining a healthy weight or eating a diet to address specific health concerns can be tough—and losing weight, even tougher. Adding to the difficulty is the abundance of fad diets and "quick-fix” plans that tempt and confuse us, and ultimately fail. If you’ve tried and failed to lose weight or switch to a diet to prevent, control or fight specific health issues before, you may believe that it’s just too difficult or that diets don’t work for you. And in one sense, you may be right: traditional diets don’t work—at least not in the long term.
But there are plenty of small but powerful, changes you can make that do add up to lasting diet change or weight loss success. The key is to create a plan that provides plenty of enjoyable choices, avoid common dieting pitfalls, and learn how to develop a healthier, more satisfying relationship with food.

Dieting and weight loss

• Healthy Weight Loss and Dieting Tips: How to Lose Weight and Keep It Off
• Emotional Eating: How to Recognize and Stop Emotional Eating
• Weight Problems and Obesity in Children: Helping Your Child Reach and Maintain a Healthy Weight
• Healthy Fast Food: Tips for Making Healthier Fast Food Choices

Special diets for health conditions

• Diabetes Diet and Food Tips: Eating to Prevent, Control, and Reverse Diabetes
• Cancer Prevention Diet: Tips to Lower Cancer Risk
• Heart Healthy Diet Tips: Lower Cholesterol and Prevent Heart Disease

Nutrition tips for a healthy weight

• The Mediterranean Diet: Myths, Facts, and Health Benefits of a Mediterranean Diet
• Choosing Healthy Fats: Good Fats, Bad Fats, and the Power of Omega-3s
• High-Fiber Foods: Benefits, Sources, and Getting More Fiber in Your Diet