Are Free Online Diet Plans Any Good?

It’s amazing. Sometimes the word “free” can cause people to gather in droves despite torrential rains, stand in line for 12 hours, drive for miles in a snow storm, or leave their 90 year-old mothers home alone in the middle of a power outage. All for the sake of some “free” product that promises to make their lives change dramatically – usually overnight.

At other times, the word “free” can give the impression of inferior quality products or services. For instance, free online diet plans are a very good example. People pay thousands of dollars per year for some of the most expensive online diet plans, like the Zone Diet, South Beach Diet, Jenny Craig, and Weight Watchers. But there are many free online diet plans that can help people achieve their weight loss goals.

Why opt to pay thousands of dollars for an online diet, when they can register online for a free weight loss plan?

You Get What You Pay For Mentality

There is a saying, “You get what you pay for.” I tend to be of that mindset. People don’t like to work for free, so what happens is (at least when it comes to providing services) less than 100% effort is given to the project. The quality of work usually ends up being poor. But what about these free online diet plans? Aren’t they just as good as their fee based membership competitors? Maybe they are and maybe they aren’t.

Some free online diet plans, like the one run by Spark People, offer many quality services equal to that of their competitors. Here are some components free online diet plans have that are similar to their competitors like Jenny Craig and South Beach Diet:

Calorie Counter & Meal Plans – Most fee-based online diet plans need to make their diet easier to follow, so they offer customizable tools that enable the dieter to easily create their meals for the week. This customizable tool usually generates a grocery list in addition to the actual menu for the week. Many free online diet plans offer this feature as well.

Active Message Boards/Forums – All fee based online diet plans have some sort of forum wherein members can ask questions, interact with each other, and have 24 hour support. All free online diet plans offer this valuable feature as well.

Advice From Experts in the Field – Here is a feature that may be a sticking point. Fee based online diet plans can afford to hire nutritionists to be available 24 hours for their clients. Dispensing expert weight loss and nutritional advice is critical to people who are trying to lose weight. Free online diet plans simply cannot afford to do this.

Recipes and Weight Loss Tips – Helping members overcome obstacles by offering great tips is extremely valuable to any online diet plan. Providing recipes so that the diet doesn’t become boring is also indispensible for both free online diet plans and fee based membership online diet plans.

Judging from the types of services free online diet plans offer and those of fee based online diet plans offer, it appears that, barring a few select advantages, free online diet plans are just as competitive and of quality service as their fee based membership competitors.