Lean Plate Club

As the name suggests, the Lean Plate Club is a program that was designed to educate others regarding the importance of making healthier life choices, eating choices and learning positive habits for lifelong well-being. Since there is no “lose weight quick” claims or promises for belonging to the club, the Lean Plate Club is open to everyone, everywhere. Created by columnist Sally Squires of the Washington Post’s Health and Nutrition section, the Lean Plate Club is featured every week with a new column in the newspaper, which may be subscribed to throughout the country or online. For those who miss the article, the Washington Post’s website has a virtual archive where past articles may be found.

The Lean Plate Club teaches readers how to enjoy foods that are delicious while being nutritious at the same time. Other topics offer new ways to mix up your exercise routine to prevent it from getting boring. This is particularly useful information because adjusting your exercises in these ways can help you avoid hitting a weight loss plateau.

Like thousands of people who have tried dieting, slipping off the wagon seems to be an inevitable part of the weight loss process. Unlike other programs that are too hard to keep up with, the Lean Plate Club says it’s okay to slip up once in a while, but teaches the importance of getting back on the wagon as soon as possible. The program also helps make any diet or healthy change more natural, whether it means cutting out sugars or trying a healthy, low carb diet.

The eight-week Lean Plate Club program is designed to teach individuals better eating habits, more adventurous ways to exercise and methods to find pleasure in eating the right foods. The Lean Plate Club offers a variety of tools to make nutrition an easier part of life, with its shopping lists, meal recipes and exercise ideas.

The pros to the Lean Plate Club are that the articles teach eating in moderation, so that the change of lifestyle or eating habits is not so drastic. The Food Pyramid is also a major influence in the diet, so eating new and developing eating habits are more balanced and healthy. Additionally, the column is found each week in the Washington Post, so those interested in the program are able to follow it without program fees or facility costs.

The main con to the Lean Plate Club is the lack of guidance that some people might look for in a diet program. Since it is up to each individual to change eating habits, the lack of accountability and support might be harder for some to address.

The cost of the Lean Plate Club is free for those who read the column online, as well as those who listen to the online radio show each week. For those who subscribe to the paper, the only cost is for the subscription or weekly purchase of the newspaper.