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Type of Counseling:  do-it-yourself, one-to-one, small/large group, website interactive tools

Typical Cost:  under $100, $2.99 per week or $77 annual plan

Type Program:  diet website, do-it-yourself

Type of Foods Used:  regular grocery store foods

At-Home or Direct Mail Plan Available?  Yes

DietWatch.com, Inc.

336 Atlantic Ave., Suite 301

East Rockaway, NY 11518

212-208-2550

Website: www.dietwatch.com  or www.cyberdiet.com

Established in 1999, DietWatch.com is a privately-held company based in New York. According to the firm: "…DietWatch.com is one of the first and largest virtual diet centers on the Web where users can actively manage their diet online. Over 1 million members have joined the online service. Jennifer May, RD is listed as the firm’s Director of Nutrition Services. Amir Kishon, Ph.D, a veteran eHealth entrepreneur, is the firm's founder and CEO.

In 1999, DietWatch began as the DietWatch Diary, a downloadable software package which provided interactive tools for monitoring their weight and nutrition, available on sites such as CNET and ZDnet. Over 250,000 users downloaded the diary, making it the most downloadable health and nutrition software at that time. As a result of positive feedback from users, the DietWatch.com website was established. It provided an active community, available for individuals who support each other in their weight loss efforts. Shortly afterwards, member feedback led to the development of an online diary on the DietWatch.com site, creating a virtual weight loss center where members can access their diary and the support community from any computer.

This appears be one of the major web-based weight loss websites. It has been operating for about eight years, winning several awards along the way and getting some publicity via CNN, Lifetime cable TV and other media, all without an active advertising or public relations campaign.

Among DietWatch’s accolades are: a winner of the Best Weight Loss Site on the Web for several years in a row by About.com and Forbes "Best of the Web" Award, and the winner of the Healthy People Objectives Award for the launch of Healthy People 2000. In December 2000, Dietwatch acquired Cyberdiet.com, the #1 "Favorite" for the diet and nutrition category of Forbes magazine "Best of The Web" 2001. Since its inception, more than 1 million people have registered with the DietWatch site.

DietWatch has customized plans available that serve dieters in four main categories: no-restriction (low-calorie), lower carbs, healthy heart Mediterranean, and vegetarian. You can register free of charge, get a BMI calculation and a "profile" of the kind and amount of nutrients you need, daily calorie level, diet tips and more. This online company provides the following services:

• Diet… Personalized meal planner (user logs in foods they eat and gets feedback in the form of a diet analysis), customized shopping lists, a nutrition tracker, automatic reminders and alerts.

• Fitness... Personal exercise program, exercise tracker

• Feeling Good... Help with body image, managing emotions, goal setting, positive thinking

• Support/Interactive tools… Chat rooms, blogs and message boards, find-a-friend, expert advice, daily tips.

There are four  main "channels" on the website:

As for motivational support, Feel Good is devoted to goal setting, positive thinking, and stress management. In addition, the website's exercise program covers fitness, concentrating on cardio, strength and flexibility. There is also a Q&A session where moderators answer questions (dietitians and fitness trainers).

Mastering Food - Psychological Support Services

This is a 12-week program. It costs $34.95 extra for the first 4 weeks and $9.95 per week for the 8 weeks thereafter. Since much of the weight we gain is related to our attitudes (stress, coping with difficult situations, emotional eating, self-esteem, etc.), BestDietForMe.com analysts applaud this addition by Dietwatch. It is a less expensive form of counseling than visiting a psychologist, and appears to have a lot of substance.

Here's how Mastering Food works...

The 12 Guided Sessions (one for every week of your membership) are the heart of Mastering Food. That's where you'll learn everything you need to know about what it takes to manage your weight for life. These sessions seek to unlock your secrets to living thin and are based on the interactive therapeutic approach developed by Dr. Roger Gould, creator of Mastering Food. Dr. Gould's Guided Sessions have been used by over 20,000 people and are scientifically proven to be as effective as in-person therapy.

Month 1 - Motivations & emotional eating

Week 1... You will learn what specific behaviors you need to change in order to lose weight for life.

Week 2... You start learning more about emotional eating. Dietwatch helps build your personal Emotional Eating profile.

Week3... You will learn new ways to cope with negative feelings.

Week 4... This week focuses on helping you overcome your fear of your feelings.

Month 2 - Conquering emotional hunger.

Week 5... This session examines your relationship skills and defenses.

Week 6... Dietwatch teaches you the necessary steps to get any friendship or relationship back on track.

Week 7... Dietwatch takes a look at how you handle unfulfilled needs and how you can better handle your self-doubts.

Week 8... You will look at specific actions you can take to regain the momentum in your life.

Month 3 - Taming the rebellious self

Week 9... In this session, Dietwatch helps you uncover how you use food as protection.

Week 10... Whenever you try to change yourself, the Rebellious Self gets scared. In this session, Dietwatch helps you overcome this tendency to reject the new and improved you.

Week 11... In this session, you get help to stop fighting battles with food.

Week 12... This is the week that you will put together everything you learned over the last 11 weeks.

In the Weekly Workbooks, you'll be challenged to take what you learned in the guided sessions and apply it to your own unique situation. You'll also be asked to monitor your progress on incorporating the lessons from previous weeks into your daily life.          

There are two choices: 1) Weekly plan of $2.99/week, billed quarterly at $38.87 for 13 weeks. Cancel anytime after the first eight weeks, 2) 1-year plan for $77.00. Optional 12-week Mastering Food program costs $34.99 for first 4 weeks, then you have the option to purchase more weeks.

What makes this company’s online counseling appear to be a cut above the rest is that the counselors are actually people with some professional background related to weight loss and exercise, such as dietitians and fitness trainers, certified by such groups as the ADA and ACE (The American Council on Exercise). Moreover, DietWatch extends its service beyond sharing meal plans and information and offers members a strong analysis and tracking tools. The website is well designed and user friendly. Guided tours are available to help explain all the program’s features. In BestDietForMe.com’s opinion, the main strength of this plan/website is that it was designed by people with solid backgrounds in nutrition – RDs. Also, there is plenty of online support, including a special service that tackles psychological issues, the cost of the plan is on a par with other diet websites such as eDiets.com, and the plan is flexible for people with special needs. The website has won numerous awards, and the company has about ten years’ operating experience to point to.