Easy dieting is almost impossible due to the restrictive nature of most plans. In order to lose weight users must totally change their eating habits, give up their favorite foods and live with ungodly cravings! If dieters are persistent enough to make it past the first 4 weeks of dieting, that's usually a good sign of success. Why? According to mental health experts 21 days is the magic number when it comes to establishing new habits. In fact, the "21 day habit theory" is accepted among almost every self-help program.

So why don't all dieters make it past this point? While some quit due to lack of discipline, others stop because of boredom! They're simply tired of eating the same food and following the same routine day in and day out. Dieters who pick very restrictive programs usually began to go a little crazy after the 2nd or 3rd week; this was the case with one woman who tried the Jenny Craig Program. Julia thought this prepackaged meal program meant easy dieting, she learned it was anything but!

The first thing she had to deal with were the tiny portions...then there was the food itself. While the dinners tasted just okay, the desserts had to be "choked down." "I would have rather opted for Chinese water torture as a method for execution." Julia says she couldn't bear continuing to eat the same "disgusting" food items for weeks on end. She begged her Jenny Craig counselor to omit desserts from her food plan, in exchange for monetary credit. Julia told her she could get better tasting, low fat desserts from the grocery store. Why pay for food she wasn't gonna eat? When the counselor refused, Julia walked out and quit the program. So much for easy dieting.

In order to get past that crucial "21 day" period, dieters need a weight loss program that offers variety. Some programs now have a computer based feature that lets you choose the types of foods you like to eat. The feature shuffles your choices, then generates a diet meal plan for 7- 14 days. Some even offer the option to print out a shopping list from the meal plans you have chosen. Now that's easy dieting!

Weight loss programs that incorporate this type of feature are more empowering to dieters because it eliminates the restrictiveness of traditional programs. One dieter, Susan loves programs like this, "They give you so much variety. If you're tired of something and want to changes things up you can. It's refreshing to have that option!"