Skip to content

Top Navigation

Cooking Light Cooking Light
  • Recipes
  • Cooking 101
  • Eating Smart
  • Healthy Living
  • News

Profile Menu

Your Account

Account

  • Email Preferences

Manage Your Subscription

  • All Access Subscribers
  • Magazine Subscribers
  • Cooking Light Diet Subscribers
Login
Logout
SUBSCRIBE
Pin FB

Explore Cooking Light

Cooking Light Cooking Light
  • Explore

    Explore

    • 31-Day Healthy Meal Plan

      Our 31-day calendar of meals and tips shows you how to cook more and love it with fun, family-friendly meals that come together quickly and deliciously. Read More
    • Dinner Tonight: Quick and Healthy Menus in 45 Minutes (or Less)

      Hundreds of delicious recipes, paired with simple sides, that can be on your table in 45 minutes or less. Read More
    • Our Favorite Healthy Air Fryer Recipes

      Who ever said that chicken wings, doughnuts, and pizza couldn't be healthy? Read More
  • Recipes

    Recipes

    See All Recipes
    • Breakfast & Brunch
    • Lunch
    • Dinner
    • Drinks
    • Recipe Makeovers
    • Quick & Healthy
    • Diabetic
    • Gluten-Free
    • Vegetarian
    • Cooking Light Live
  • Cooking 101

    Cooking 101

    See All Cooking 101
    • Essential Ingredients
    • Cooking Techniques
    • Meet the Chef
    • Cooking Resources
    • Budget Friendly
    • Smart Choices
  • Eating Smart
  • Healthy Living

    Healthy Living

    See All Healthy Living
    • Weight-Loss
    • Health
    • Fitness
    • Home
    • Travel
    • Nutrition 101
  • News

Profile Menu

Your Account

Account

  • Email Preferences

Manage Your Subscription

  • All Access Subscribers
  • Magazine Subscribers
  • Cooking Light Diet Subscribers
Login
Logout
Sweepstakes

Follow Us

  1. Home
  2. 10 Tips to Start Your Own Social Diet

10 Tips to Start Your Own Social Diet

By Scott Mowbray December 13, 2013
Skip gallery slides
Pin
If you're interested in getting your own Social Diet started, here are 10 tips from Cooking Light's editor.
Start Slideshow

1 of 10

Pin
Facebook Tweet Email Send Text Message

1. Find a Group of Motivated Peers

Our editor lost 20 pounds using the Social Diet. Here is his first tip:

The connecting power of smartphones means members don't have to be local—we had members in three states—but it helps to have people you can talk to face-to-face, as well. We liked that our group was smaller than 10, though we have no evidence that improved results. One weight-focused app, Noom, facilitates setting up groups of around eight for its users.

1 of 10

Advertisement
Advertisement

2 of 10

Pin
Facebook Tweet Email Send Text Message

2. Establish Your Personal Daily Calorie Limits and Weight Goals

Credit: Photo: Lee Harrelson
We set a goal of one pound lost per week—this was not a crash diet. Calculate your goal using WebMD's BMI Calculator. Generally, safe goals for women are 1,000 to 1,200 calories a day; for men, 1,200 to 1,600 per day. Most people will need to cut 500 to 1,000 of the calories they consume each day, or burn some of those calories through exercise. Consult your doctor before going on a weight-loss diet. Decide whether your group wants weekly weigh-ins.

2 of 10

3 of 10

Pin
Facebook Tweet Email Send Text Message

3. Let Members be Flexible with Goals

Credit: Photo: Becky Luigart-Stayner
Let members be flexible with goals. Some may want to lose weight, others to maintain, and others to focus on fitness with weight loss as a side benefit. We did not require members to share their starting weights or have weigh-ins (after a couple of attempts)—only that they honestly report pounds lost.

3 of 10

Advertisement

4 of 10

Pin
Facebook Tweet Email Send Text Message

4. Decide on an App

As a group, select a calorie-tracking app that will allow members to communicate and support each other, such as MyFitnessPal or Lose It!

4 of 10

5 of 10

Pin
Facebook Tweet Email Send Text Message

5. Consider a Fitness-Tracking Device

Credit: Photo Courtesy of Jawbone
Check whether it will "talk" to your calorie-tracking app, in which case it will adjust your daily calorie allowance when you exercise. The advantage of devices such as UP or FitBit is that they track total steps per day and are motivating feedback devices that encourage small efforts (taking the stairs instead of the elevator), as well as large. However, if you can't afford a device, you can manually enter exercise information into most apps.

5 of 10

6 of 10

Pin
Facebook Tweet Email Send Text Message

6. Get Religious About Tracking Calories

Fire up the app after each meal and snack (or before, as some members do, setting limits on what they will eat). Many packaged and chain restaurant foods are in the database, as are many recipes and member-entered values for common dishes. However, be aware that community-entered data can vary widely—you can find a serving of "homemade lasagna" on MyFitnessPal at 132 calories, another at 350, another at 540.

6 of 10

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement

7 of 10

Pin
Facebook Tweet Email Send Text Message

7. Measure Ingredients

Credit: Photo: Ocean Photography/Veer
And portion your servings carefully. Calorie values for ingredients like pasta are easily found on nutrition labels or on the Web. When possible, cook with recipes that have full nutrition data, including portion sizes. Many Cooking Light recipes have already been entered into MyFitnessPal by community members.

7 of 10

8 of 10

Pin
Facebook Tweet Email Send Text Message

8. Focus on Overall Nutrition

Credit: Photo: Oxmoor House
Calorie cutting is central to weight loss, but limiting salt and saturated fat while increasing the amount of plants in the diet, including whole grains, is the basis of a long-term, sustainable way of eating.

8 of 10

9 of 10

Pin
Facebook Tweet Email Send Text Message

9. Use the Social Tools

Use the social tools on your apps to provide tips and encouragement to other members.

9 of 10

Advertisement
Advertisement
Advertisement

10 of 10

Pin
Facebook Tweet Email Send Text Message

10. Don't Rely on the Apps Alone for Group Support

Find a way for the group to talk regularly, using a free telephone conference-call service or, online, a program like Google Hangouts or one of the free video-conferencing services. Discuss challenges, successes, tips, motivation. Check out our video conversations here.

10 of 10

Replay gallery

Share the Gallery

Pinterest Facebook

Up Next

By Scott Mowbray

    Share the Gallery

    Pinterest Facebook
    Advertisement
    Skip slide summaries

    Everything in This Slideshow

    Advertisement

    View All

    1 of 10 1. Find a Group of Motivated Peers
    2 of 10 2. Establish Your Personal Daily Calorie Limits and Weight Goals
    3 of 10 3. Let Members be Flexible with Goals
    4 of 10 4. Decide on an App
    5 of 10 5. Consider a Fitness-Tracking Device
    6 of 10 6. Get Religious About Tracking Calories
    7 of 10 7. Measure Ingredients
    8 of 10 8. Focus on Overall Nutrition
    9 of 10 9. Use the Social Tools
    10 of 10 10. Don't Rely on the Apps Alone for Group Support

    Share & More

    Facebook Tweet Email Send Text Message
    Cooking Light

    Magazines & More

    Learn More

    • Customer Service this link opens in a new tab
    • Advertise
    • Content Licensing
    • Accolades this link opens in a new tab

    Connect

    MeredithCooking Light is part of the Allrecipes Food Group. © Copyright 2023 Meredith Corporation. All Rights Reserved. Cooking Light may receive compensation for some links to products and services on this website. Offers may be subject to change without notice. Privacy Policythis link opens in a new tab Terms of Servicethis link opens in a new tab Ad Choicesthis link opens in a new tab California Do Not Sellthis link opens a modal window Web Accessibilitythis link opens in a new tab
    © Copyright Cooking Light. All rights reserved. Printed from https://www.cookinglight.com

    View image

    10 Tips to Start Your Own Social Diet
    this link is to an external site that may or may not meet accessibility guidelines.