IF you're one of the millions of people who are dieting right this minute, or even thinking about it, here's some good news: you don't have to throw a lot of money at the problem to see results. In fact, you may not have to spend much at all.

    Every year consumers spend billions of dollars on supplements, diet foods, books and meal replacements. But the truth is that success depends not so much on what diet plan you choose or what program you join.

    "What matters most is your level of motivation and your willingness to change," says Kelly D. Brownell, a psychologist and director of the Rudd Center for Food Policy and Obesity at Yale.

    A study published in the Feb. 26 issue of The New England Journal of Medicine, for instance, compared four popular diets and found they all produced similar results. After two years, the dieters in each group lost an average of nine pounds. Notably, the dieters who attended more counseling sessions lost a little bit more, which may support the notion that behavior is more important than diet alone.

    Motivation, though, is not always easy to come by - especially when it involves changing habits. Some people may need a little help to kick-start a weight-loss regimen, whether that means following a popular diet or enrolling in an organized program. Your goal, though, should not be short term.

    "Keeping weight off permanently is a lifelong process," says James O. Hill, a psychologist and a founder of the National Weight Control Registry （www.nwcr.ws）, a database of 6,000 people who have lost weight and kept it off.

    How ready are you? The more committed you are, the less you will need to spend. Try the no-money down, do-it-yourself approach first. If that doesn't work, or you know you need more structure, move on down the list below.

    $0.00 D.I.Y. If you're highly motivated but low on cash, this approach is for you. You will need to reduce the calories you consume, increase the amount you exercise and learn new eating habits.

    Your primary care physician can give you basic guidelines for a healthy, low-calorie diet. You can also look at the dietary advice on the Weight-Control Information Network, a site developed by the National Institutes of Health （win.niddk.nih.gov）, Mr. Brownell suggests.

    Your new diet should include as much fresh food as possible, especially items high in fiber and low in fat. If you already eat well, you can just reduce your portion sizes. Weigh yourself regularly to keep track of your progress and try to get 30 to 40 minutes of exercise a day.

    Hard? Yes. Possible? Of course. About half of the members of the National Weight Control Registry lost weight on their own, says Mr. Hill, who is also the director of the Center for Human Nutrition at the University of Colorado, Denver.

    $ BUY A GUIDE BOOK For just $20 or so, a book can give you some inspiration and wise advice. If you want a plan to follow, try "The South Beach Diet" （St. Martin's Griffin, 2005） or "The Best Life Diet" （Simon & Schuster, 2006）. Both provide realistic, healthy programs.

    Another good book is "The Volumetrics Weight-Control Plan" （HarperTorch, 2002）, which explains how to build a diet around foods that make you feel full.

    Chronic dieters should read the new book by a former chief of the Food and Drug Administration, Dr. David Kessler, called "The End of Overeating: Taking Control of the Insatiable American Appetite" （Rodale, 2009）. In it, Dr. Kessler explains why and how we get hooked on unhealthy food.

    "When I was a kid, we ate three meals a day," he said in an interview. "Now fat, sugar and salt are on every corner 24/7. It's become socially acceptable to eat bad food all day long." In his book Dr. Kessler explains how our brains become wired to crave unhealthy food and provides tips to help control your impulses.

    Mr. Hill's book, "The Step Diet" （Workman, 2004）, is ideal if you're determined to keep weight off.

    $$ JOIN A GROUP Formal organizations like Weight Watchers and Jenny Craig can provide support, education and a healthy dose of peer pressure.

    Weight Watchers is a good place to start, because it's relatively inexpensive. You'll pay an initial fee of $15 to $20, and then $13 to $15 for each weekly meeting. In exchange, Weight Watchers will teach you how to use its points system and provide you with that all-important weekly weigh-in.

    Jenny Craig is more expensive, but may suit those who need one-on-one guidance. A yearly membership costs $399, and an additional $83 a week, on average, for Jenny's Cuisine meals. "There's not much evidence, though," Mr. Brownell says, "that programs that provide meal replacements are more effective than those that don't."

    $$$ TRY A HOSPITAL PROGRAM If you need to lose a substantial amount of weight and have a condition like diabetes, you might want to invest in a hospital-sponsored weight-loss program.

    "You'll get individualized help from people who are quite knowledgeable," Mr. Brownell said.

    At Johns Hopkins Weight Management Center in Baltimore, for instance, you pay $250 for an initial four-hour assessment with a medical doctor, a registered dietitian, a psychologist and a trainer. Follow-up visits are $125 a week, but that includes food.

    Most people stay with the program for several months or longer. It's costly, but a medically monitored program may be more effective for those who are obese and who have related health conditions, says the program's director, Dr. Lawrence J. Cheskin.

    PRICELESS: KEEP IT OFF If you become one of the lucky losers, you'll need to fight hard to protect your losses. One way is to exercise - a lot.

    "Diet is a key for losing weight," Mr. Hill said. "But physical activity is the key for keeping it off."

    To maintain their weight, members of the National Weight Control Registry ideally exercise 30 to 60 minutes a day. Another key is to enlist the support of family and friends. If your buddies are mocking you for eating a salad while they're inhaling beer and pizza, Mr. Hill said, it's going to be tough to succeed.

    如果你是此刻數(shù)百萬(wàn)節(jié)食者之一，或僅是想到節(jié)食的話，那我告訴你個(gè)好消息：你不用往減肥里砸大把的錢(qián)來(lái)看結(jié)果。實(shí)際上，你可能根本不必花費(fèi)太多。

    消費(fèi)者每年花費(fèi)數(shù)百億美元在補(bǔ)給品、減肥膳食（diet foods）、保健書(shū)籍和替換餐（meal replacement）上。然而，真相是：減肥成功并不太依賴于你選擇的膳食安排或你參與的健身計(jì)劃。

    "你的動(dòng)機(jī)程度和你打算改變的意愿，才是最重要的。"耶魯膳食計(jì)劃及肥胖癥研究中心主任兼心理學(xué)家凱利·D·布朗奈爾說(shuō)如是。

    例如，發(fā)表于《新英格蘭醫(yī)學(xué)雜志》（New England Journal of Medicine,二月，第26卷）的一個(gè)研究，對(duì)比了四種流行的減肥膳食，發(fā)現(xiàn)它們均產(chǎn)生相似結(jié)果。越兩年，每組的膳食者平均減掉9磅（約合4.08 公斤）.值得注意的是，那些更多關(guān)注于咨詢活動(dòng)的膳食者減掉的更多一點(diǎn)，這也許可以支持"行動(dòng)比單純膳食更重要"的觀點(diǎn)。

    誠(chéng)然，動(dòng)機(jī)并非總是能輕易獲得，特別是當(dāng)它涉及習(xí)慣改變時(shí)。無(wú)論是使用一套流行的減肥膳食，還是加入一個(gè)健身組織，有些人也許需要一點(diǎn)幫助來(lái)勉強(qiáng)開(kāi)始減肥之路。當(dāng)然，你的目標(biāo)不宜是短期的。

    "永久減肥是一個(gè)終身的過(guò)程，"心理學(xué)家詹姆斯·O·希爾說(shuō)。希爾是國(guó)家體重控制庫(kù)的創(chuàng)建者，該庫(kù)記錄了6000個(gè)減肥者的資料。

    你做了多好的準(zhǔn)備？你越專(zhuān)注就越少付出。先試一試"不花錢(qián)，自己來(lái)"（no-money down, do-it-yourself）法吧；如果那不行，或者你想你需要更多的安排，那就接著看下去吧。

    $0.00 自己來(lái) 如果你的動(dòng)機(jī)很高而阮囊羞澀，這種方法適合你。你需要減少自己吃的卡路里，增加運(yùn)動(dòng)量并學(xué)習(xí)新的膳食習(xí)慣。

    醫(yī)師能給你提出的，大抵就是健康低卡膳食的基本指導(dǎo)。你還可以看看體重控制信息網(wǎng)（Weight-Control Information Network）的膳食建議，那是布朗奈爾先生推薦的一個(gè)由國(guó)家健康所開(kāi)發(fā)的網(wǎng)站。

    你的新膳食應(yīng)當(dāng)囊括盡可能多的新鮮食材，特別是那些高纖維低脂肪的。如果你已經(jīng)合理膳食，那么你就能夠減掉你的部分斤兩。有規(guī)律地量自己的體重，以記錄你的減肥過(guò)程，并嘗試每天鍛煉30到40分鐘。

    難？對(duì)�？赡軉�？當(dāng)然。丹佛科羅拉多大學(xué)的人類(lèi)營(yíng)養(yǎng)中心主任希爾先生指出，大約有一半國(guó)家體重控制庫(kù)的成員都是自行減肥的。

    $ 購(gòu)買(mǎi)一部指導(dǎo)書(shū) 僅需差不多20美元的一本書(shū)，就能給你一些靈感和良議。如果你想跟一本書(shū)練習(xí)，試試《南部沙灘膳食》（The South Beach Diet, St. Martin's Griffin, 2005）或《最佳人生膳食》（The Best Life Diet, Simon & Schuster, 2006）.兩者提供了實(shí)用而健康的計(jì)劃。

    另一本好書(shū)是《可測(cè)體重控制計(jì)劃》（The Volumetrics Weight-Control Plan, HarperTorch, 2002）,該書(shū)教你怎樣搭配出讓你感到飽的膳食。

    做好長(zhǎng)期節(jié)食準(zhǔn)備的人，應(yīng)該讀一讀前任食物與毒品管理處（Food and Drug Administration）處長(zhǎng)大衛(wèi)·凱斯勒（David Kessler）博士所著的新書(shū)《不再過(guò)多飲食：扼住貪婪的國(guó)人胃口》（The End of Overeating: Taking Control of the Insatiable American Appetite, Rodale, 2009）.在書(shū)里，凱斯勒博士道明了為何人們鍾情于不健康食品。

    "當(dāng)我還是個(gè)孩子時(shí)，我們每日三餐，"他在一次見(jiàn)面中說(shuō)。"如今每時(shí)每刻每個(gè)角落都充斥著油糖鹽。終日服食不健康食品已經(jīng)成了社會(huì)接受的事情了。"凱斯勒博士在書(shū)中闡述了，我們的大腦是怎樣蛻變到渴望不健康食品，并給了一些有助于我們控制的小竅門(mén)。

    對(duì)于下定決心減輕體重的你來(lái)說(shuō)，希爾先生的書(shū)《步驟減肥餐》（The Step Diet, Workman, 2004）很理想。

    $$ 加入一個(gè)小組 像體重監(jiān)控（Weight Watchers）和珍妮·克雷格（Jenny Craig）這樣的正式的組織，能給你提供支持、教育和一劑同齡人的心理減壓藥。

    （這兩段涉嫌做廣告，且與中國(guó)國(guó)民關(guān)聯(lián)不大，故不譯）

    $$$ 嘗試醫(yī)療項(xiàng)目 倘若你需要減掉大量體重且情況特殊（如罹患糖尿�。�,你可能要把錢(qián)花在醫(yī)院資助的減肥項(xiàng)目里。

    布朗奈爾說(shuō)道，"你可以從經(jīng)驗(yàn)豐富的人那兒，得到非常適合自身的幫助。"

    在巴爾的摩的約翰斯·霍普金斯體重管理中心，假如你付了250美元，讓醫(yī)師、注冊(cè)營(yíng)養(yǎng)師、心理學(xué)家和健康教練，給你做了一次為時(shí)4小時(shí)的個(gè)人健康評(píng)估。那么，接下來(lái)只用每周125美元，而且還包括用餐。

    大部分人堅(jiān)持該項(xiàng)目數(shù)月或更長(zhǎng)。項(xiàng)目主管羅倫斯·J·切斯金博士說(shuō)，這項(xiàng)目很貴，但是受醫(yī)學(xué)監(jiān)控的項(xiàng)目，對(duì)于那些肥胖癥者以及情況特殊者可能更有效。

    減掉肥肉金不換 如果你成了幸運(yùn)減肥成功者中的一員，你將需要頑強(qiáng)堅(jiān)守你的成績(jī)。其中一個(gè)方法是鍛煉--大量的。

    "膳食是減肥的關(guān)鍵，"希爾先生說(shuō)。"不過(guò)，體能活動(dòng)是減掉肥肉的關(guān)鍵。"

    為了保持體重，國(guó)家體重控制庫(kù)的成員們理論上每天運(yùn)動(dòng)30-60分鐘。另一個(gè)關(guān)鍵是號(hào)召家人和朋友。希爾先生說(shuō)，如果你吃著沙拉，而親友們大啖啤酒、匹薩并取笑你，那么你的減肥成功將是嚴(yán)酷的。