Ditching the fads: Why this expert-approved diet works

Count the benefits

Over 500,000 Australians have followed this ethos and lost weight with the CSIRO Total Wellbeing Diet online program and experienced significant improvement in their health and wellbeing.

And you’ll rejoice to know that a calorie-tracking system is not one of the tools plugged as part of the program. Based on their personal requirements, members are instead given a set number of units from each group to enjoy each day. This covers three meals, two snacks and one indulgence.

McCoy describes the specifics as “all mapped out behind the scenes, which takes out the calorie counting for you.”

Not only is this system often easier to fit into somebody’s lifestyle, it caters for the fact that healthy, sustainable weight loss isn’t a one-size-fits-all approach.

“The program is really flexible and personalised to an individual’s needs. While you’re provided with a menu plan, you can still make meal swaps – say, if you want vegetarian dishes or have any food preferences or ones you want to avoid,” says McCoy.

She emphasises that mindset is another cornerstone of the program, which features positive psychology tools to help people practise self-kindness and cultivate gratitude.

Motivation is also linked to rewards, says McCoy, which is why the CSIRO Total Wellbeing Diet is the only program to offer members a refund** after they meet a few science-based criteria designed to help them reach their weight loss goals.

In fact, the company’s research shows that refunded members lose on average 54 per cent more weight than other members – which amounts to an extra 2kg over the 12 weeks of the program.

The benefits of working towards these outcomes extend far beyond fitting into an old pair of jeans. Every day, McCoy sees the positive impact on people’s overall feeling of wellbeing.

“They feel more comfortable and have more energy to spend with family and friends or doing activities they might not have done for a while because their fitness wasn’t there,” she says.

“It all comes down to feeling well within yourself. That’s the biggest motivator to getting started.”

Visit totalwellbeingdiet.com for more information.

*Hendrie, GA, Klose, D 2020 Evaluation of the CSIRO Total Wellbeing Diet

**Conditions apply