With the sheer volume of diet and weight loss books now available, it can be hard to work out which book is right for your needs. At No.1 Reviews we go to every effort to ensure that the information we provide in our reviews is relevant and useful to all of our readers. This buying guide is intended to supplement the detail provided in our reviews with a more broad overview of exactly what we look for in a good product, the criteria we assess all products against and what you should look out for when you’re reading the reviews themselves. Although the information provided in this buying guide can only ever be general, this, coupled with the detail provided in the individual product reviews, should give you all of the information you need to make the perfect choice.
There is a plethora of weight loss books on the market. Some books are written by certified fitness trainers, nutritionists or sports scientists who have studied the science of weight loss and put this knowledge into practice in their professional lives. Other books are written by ordinary people who have achieved extra-ordinary things through a weight loss program which they honed through personal experience.
Other books are written by celebrities either to share their weight loss secrets, or, frankly, to line their pockets on the back of the latest weight loss craze! Simply put, weight loss books are written from different perspectives, with different aims and timescales. Some books are intended to provide users with short term results in ways that may be difficult to follow in the long term, whilst other books provide more long term, ‘holistic’ approaches that may have slower results but may be easier to sustain.
Our reviews aim to give readers a thorough insight into what to expect from each diet and weight loss book. Armed with this information, it is hoped our readers will be able to make an informed decision about which book is perfect for them.
All of our reviews in this category follow the same pattern and judge each product individually based on the same criteria. These criteria cover the elements that are most important when considering which product to use. As such, we have used this buying guide to consider each of these elements in turn and highlight what our readers should be looking out for both within our reviews and when actually choosing a product.
- Success Rate / User Testimonials
One of the most important things to consider when choosing a diet or weight loss book is the overall success rate of the diets contained within the products. Our reviews are built not only on our own impressions of the products, as well as the features that are on offer in each case, but also the general thrust of user testimonials from all over the internet. Although diets and weight loss are extremely individual, and will affect people differently, by examining what those people already using the diet are saying about its overall effectiveness, we can give our readers suggestions on which products will suit them best.
- Popularity
Diet and weight loss books have become incredibly big business over the past few years, and many diets can achieve ‘cult status’ overnight with the right celebrity endorsement. Therefore, the popularity of a particular diet is another important factor in deciding which one is perfect for you. This also has other implications, namely that the more popular a diet or weight loss book is, the more likely followers of that diet are to be able to find additional support and advice online, support groups, diet-specific recipes and more. All of these factors will be taken into consideration throughout our reviews in this category.
- Features
Diet and weight loss books differ widely in terms of the features on offer. Readers who think that the beginning and end of any weight loss book is the actual ‘diet’ (that is the ‘eating rules’ to follow) are likely to find a lot more within these products than they would expect. These days, diet books also contain supermarket shopping guides, branded shopping lists, guides to eating out, limited (or in some cases not-so limited) fitness advice and much more. Our reviews in this category will go into detail about exactly what is on offer as part of any individual product (and the bullet points at the top of every review will give a brief overview of everything included), so our readers can simply check them out to help in the decision making process.
- Ease of Use
By nature, diets and weight loss plans are traditionally fairly difficult to follow. Restricting what you eat and when you eat it generally requires some kind of sacrifice or restraint, so it’s important that diet plans set achievable goals in a rational manner. The secret to a successful diet plan is being realistic about how the diet will fit in to a user’s lifestyle and finding ways to gradually introduce elements of the diet whilst phasing out bad habits. Our reviews always attempt to consider diets in this way, so our readers can be sure we take this into consideration when coming to a judgment about a particular product.
- Accessibility
As opposed to ‘Ease of Use’ which deals with how easy the diet is to follow, ‘accessibility’ is more concerned with how a reader engages with the product itself. We think it’s important to consider whether the book itself is geared up for readers dipping in and out, or whether it is essential that a reader studies the book from cover to cover to get the most out of the diet. Similarly, can a user search recipes or foods using an index, and does the book have a question/answer or FAQs section that can help readers out when things get difficult. All of these considerations go to the heart of just how well thought out the actual product is, regardless of how successful or easy to follow the diet may be – check the individual product reviews for more detail on this.
- Updates / Additional Materials
With some products, what is on offer doesn’t end with the book itself. Many products have accompanying companion websites or online materials that are updated to supplement the book, while many books have online recipe listings or community features that make it easier to incorporate the diet into everyday life. We think this is an important element for consideration as having these extra features makes it easier to follow the diet and get as much out of the weight loss plan as possible. Our reviews will consider these elements where appropriate, meaning our readers should always have an up to date picture of exactly what’s on offer with each product.
- Price / Value for Money
As with most things in life, diets and weight loss products cost money. As part of our reviews in this category we consider not just the price of each product, but also whether we consider them to represent good value for money (according to the features on offer at the site). It’s also worth mentioning that the links on our site either direct our readers to the product’s own website (where customers can buy the product direct) or to Amazon, one of the best-value worldwide online retailers. Here at No.1 Reviews, we aim to protect your wallet as well as your waistline!
Diets are incredibly individual things, and even if all of our readers followed the same diet, the results would differ incredibly from person to person. Our readers should also ensure that they take medical advice before embarking on any radical change of diet, as well as bearing in mind that steady, gradual weight loss is the healthiest way to lose weight. All in all, the reviews in this category are intended to inform our readers so that they can make a clear and informed decision about which weight loss book is right for them.
