Mayo Clinic Diet Review – A Solid Approach To A Healthier You

Welcome to my Mayo Clinic Diet Review. Are you looking to lose weight and keep it off, but don’t know where to start?  You can take solace in the fact that there millions of people who are in precisely the same boat. I will take a deep dive into this program and see if it can help you shed some unwanted pounds and keep them off.

It seems like everyone wants to lose weight and there are diet plans all over the internet.  New fad diet programs seem to pop up constantly. Everyday someone comes up with the latest diet craze to help you get your body ready for summer, or that beach vacation.

The problem is, with so many of these diet programs, they are just not sustainable. I think there is a better way to lose weight and that is exactly why I wrote this Mayo Clinic Diet Review.

Mayo Clinic Diet Review

Why do people fail at dieting? 

There are a lot of reasons, including:

• Dieting is tough. Losing weight seems so simple, take in fewer calories than you burn. But for some people, it’s not that easy. Not only do you have to know what foods to eat, and not eat, but portions are also significant.  Is it a lot more fun to eat a quarter-pound hamburger than a quarter pound of greens right?
• No time. It takes time to eat healthy.  First, you have to figure out what to eat, and then make a trip to the grocery store to buy everything, and then prepare the food.  Or, you could just stop at a drive-through and grab a burger.
• A lot of people just don’t know where to start. This whole dieting thing can be very overwhelming, I get it.  Figuring out what foods are good to eat and which are not so good is challenging unless you do a lot of research. Sure some things are pretty obvious, but some not so much. Personally, I would rather eat a handful of chocolate chips than that same handful of carrots.
• The mental side is difficult. I like junk food, and that is a tough habit to break.  Also, when you think about eliminating certain foods from your diet, comfort foods, that is hard to wrap your head around.  Imagine living life without some of your favorite foods.
• The whole diet and exercise gig is not for everyone. Yes, some people can just cut back on the bad stuff, eat more of the good stuff, do some exercise and magically they lose 30 pounds.  Well, not everyone is so inclined.  Weight loss isn’t necessarily a one size fits all proposition.  A lot of people need a custom-built plan specifically for their needs.
• Tracking everything. This is a big one and it is not always the easiest thing to do.  Keeping track of every calorie you put in your mouth, can be very daunting.  Oops, I forgot about that small tub of Ben and Jerry’s I had after dinner.  Tracking the food you eat AND the amount you exercise during the day is too much for some people.

The list goes on and on and on.  There are so many reasons why people fail at dieting.

What is the Mayo Clinic Diet?

This diet program has been designed by a team of experts including medical doctors, folks who hold a Ph.D. in psychology, dieticians and others with extensive industry experience.  This program is designed specifically for each individual who has decided to take responsibility for their own health and well-being.

This is not a cookie-cutter diet or the latest fad that is here today and gone tomorrow. You don’t even have to track all the food you are eating.

How does the Mayo Clinic Diet work?

The program is billed as a “Lifestyle approach,” not a fad or quick-fix diet.  There is actually no calorie counting, no secret foods to eat, no fasting.  The Mayo Clinic Diet really focuses on enjoying food, exercise, and life. Per Donald Hensrud, MD a Mayo Clinic diet, and nutrition specialist “the focus of the diet is on improving health, weight loss follows.”

This plan is divided into two parts, so let’s get into those now.

Phase 1: Lose It

The first phase of the program is designed to help you lose 6-10 pounds in 2 weeks and encompasses habits, both good and bad.  You will be developing good, healthy habits going forward and breaking the bad ones.

All of this promotes your living a healthy lifestyle. This phase is about taking action and getting a jump start on your new healthy lifestyle.

How do you lose 6-10 pounds in 2 weeks?  By changing your habits and following the Habit Tracker (more on that below).

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There are four lifestyle habits that are discussed during this phase:

• No sugar
• No snacks
• Eat “real ”
• No eating at restaurants

Yikes, that sounds really hard.  I don’t know about you, but this makes up a good portion of my food intake. Don’t worry though, the program will guide you through this process.  This is when you are introduced to Habit Tracker.

Habit Tracker is a system where you check off habits as you do them.  For instance, some line items include “Prepared all of my meals,” or “Limited my snacks to fruits and vegetables,” those kinds of things.

During this phase, you will learn how to start five healthy habits, break five bad habits and adopt five bonus habits.

Phase 2: Live It

After you have been beaten into submission (kidding!!) during Phase 1, you will continue to lose weight at a rate of about 1-2 pounds per week.  Phase 2 is intended to last a lifetime, to help you maintain your healthy weight.

You can also jump back to Phase 1 at any point if you are motivated to increase your weight loss goals.  Now you will focus on portion size! This part of the diet is all about maintaining and supporting a healthy lifestyle.

Here you will learn how to plan meals, find great recipes and have access to member success stories.

The Mayo Clinic Diet helps you kill sugar!

Wait, what?  I love sugar, there has to be another way right?  So, they certainly start out with a bang and tell you all the evils of sugar.  Sure, sugar is found in fruit, and other foods, but the folks at Mayo are talking about refined sugar, sucrose.  There are reminders about why you need to cut sugar from your diet:

• Sugar has a lot of calories and not much else
• Eating sugar can make some people crave more sugar
• And of course, there’s heart disease

I love the fact that they explain how and why added sugar is bad for you. It sounds like some pretty valid reasons to kick the sugar habit.  The great thing is this little downer of an article gives you a yummy recipe to help you get through day 1.

Then you track everything for the day, and by tracking it’s basically a yes, or no answer form.

How the Mayo Clinic Diet helps you succeed

The home page menu

This is where you will get started, with these menu items:

• EAT. Getting started with making healthy food choices. There are yummy recipes for healthy eating, and help with what to do about eating out.  Daily and weekly meal plans can be found here as well.
• MOVE. How to get started with exercising. Here you will find exercise plans and a fitness planner. There are fitness tips and discussions on the benefits of a healthy body.
• MOTIVATE. Articles about overcoming obstacles that get in your way, like tracking your food, weight-loss plateaus, just to name a few.
• TRACK. Home of the trackers, this is where you will find the weight tracker, inches tracker, and your nutrition tracker.

Once you figure out how to navigate the site, there is a lot of great information to help you get started.

Signing up is super easy

On the homepage, there is a “Signup” button, and you enter some fundamental information like height, current weight, goal weight, etc.

Then you are prompted through a series of questions about eating habits, and how difficult specific changes to your diet would be.  Then there is an offer for a 7-day free trial, and you enter your credit card number.

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Then there are some upgrades, where you have the option to choose a personal coach and the Mayo Clinic Diet Book.  These, of course, are offered at a discounted rate.  You will also have the opportunity to decline these offers.

How much does the Mayo Clinic Diet cost?

You do get a 7-day free trial and are required to enter your credit card information when you sign up.  You will NOT be charged during the free trial.  If you choose to continue, simply do nothing and your credit card payment will be processed.

The online membership is $4 per week, and it is charged in advance quarterly (every 13 weeks). You can cancel at any time during the trial period, as well as any time before the next renewal date.  You will still have access to the program for the remainder of your term.

You can also pay extra for a coach if you choose to this is $5/week, again billed quarterly.

What I like about the program

• At the bottom of each daily lesson, there is a section called “The More You Know.”  There are articles about things like sweets that are not off-limits. Mayo provides you with great solutions to help those of us who struggle mightily with a sweet tooth (hand raised high).
• Live chat is available M-F
• Tips at the bottom of the habit tracker to help you find all kind of things like recipes, and how to follow the food pyramid.
• I just love all of the suggestions for sweet options since that is something a lot of people struggle with, myself included.
• The top menu has a wealth of information, on eating healthy, exercise and how to get started.
• There are daily, and weekly meal plans available for you. With these meal plans, you have the option to change it up or swap out certain foods with similar options.
• You will have the tools you need to sustain your success.
• Customer support is great, available M-F via chat and on the phone.
• Fitness and Meal Planners are easy to use!

What I don’t like

• I think the program could be a little more clear as to where to start with meals. I did a little digging around to find the meal plans. Maybe a link from the Habit Tracker to meal plans.
• Some people will be thrown off by not counting calories. Again this is a more concept-based diet aimed at helping you make good healthy choices.
• There is no app for Android, it’s iPhone only right now. Also, when you use the app, there are tutorials on the app that are not available online.
• Navigating was a little unclear to start.  I did contact support, via chat and they were very helpful.  The support reps did point me in the right direction which is awesome.  I suggested they add some of these tools to the menu.

Conclusion: Mayo Clinic Diet Review

I really think this diet has a lot to offer.  It’s definitely a different approach than many other diets out there.  No calorie counting or food tracking with this plan and I really think that will help set people up for success.

Tracking food is overwhelming and time-consuming. If you can learn how to make better choices, and not have to worry about tracking everything, I really think that is a good approach.  The ultimate goal of this diet plan is to enjoy life through healthy eating and exercise.  Honestly, it’s a pretty refreshing angle on weight loss.

Of course, sticking with any diet plan requires each individual person to take the bull by the horns.  Nobody ever ate anything on accident, so you do have to put in the work.

If you are interested in starting a free 7-day trial, you can do so clicking below.

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If you have any questions or comments, please feel free to leave them below and I will get back to you as soon as I can.  You can always contact me directly as well.

Thanks for taking some time to stop by today.

Steve

BuildingStrongerBodies.com