Cost of Weight Loss Diets

There is a glut of diets promising different things, but all promising weight loss. The sheer number of diets on offer can make it very confusing in making an informed choice about which diet is best for you. Of course, you must consider your health and what works best for your body. However, you should also consider cost, before making your final decision.

Most diets cost money, whether it is paying to join a program like Weight Watchers, buying products from a brand like Slim Fast, or simply buying particular foods such as on the Atkins Diet. It all adds up. The table below shows the approximate cost of weekly menus from ten of the most popular diets on the market: the Atkins Diet, Jenny Craig, the Ornish Diet, NutriSystem, Slim Fast, South Beach Diet, Subway, Sugar Busters!, Weight Watchers and Zone Diet.

THE COST OF DIETING FOR A WEEK

Diet	Weekly menu cost ($)*	Percent over national average
Jenny Craig	137.65	152.8
NutriSystem	113.52	108.5
Atkins Diet	100.52	84.6
Weight Watchers	96.64	77.5
Zone Diet	92.84	70.5
Ornish Diet	78.74	44.6
South Beach Diet	78.61	44.4
Slim-Fast	77.73	42.8
Sugar Busters	69.62	27.9
Subway sandwich	68.60	26.0
No diet	54.44

Sources: Forbes, Fresh Direct, Amazon, Bureau of Labor Statistics

* Adjusted for NYC prices. Includes the cost of associated book, if applicable, and any membership fees associated with the diet, averaged over a six-month period.