Every main way to lose weight compared: 40 diets, activities, programs, FDA-approved medicines, procedures and popular extras, by evidence, typical results, effort and dated cost.
Fact-checked against FDA labels and official sources; not yet reviewed by a licensed clinician. This page is education, not medical advice. Talk to your doctor before starting, stopping or changing any treatment.
Key takeaways
- Behavioral programs often bring 5-10% loss, GLP-1-based medicines about 8-21%, endoscopic procedures 10-13% at 6 months and bariatric surgery 25-30% at 12 months.[1]
- Diets with similar calories give similar results: healthy low-fat and low-carb diets differed by less than 1 kg at 12 months in DIETFITS.[5]
- The USPSTF recommends offering adults with a BMI of 30 or more intensive, multicomponent behavioral programs.[3]
- Exercise alone brings modest loss, but combined with eating changes it works better than either alone and helps keep weight off.[16]
- Weight-loss supplements added under 1 kg more than placebo in pooled trials; body contouring is not weight loss.[46]
In short: There are dozens of ways to lose weight, but they fall into six groups: eating patterns, physical activity, behavior and programs, FDA-approved medicines, procedures, and things that do not reliably cause weight loss. The research shows that most diets give similar results when calories are similar, that structured programs often bring 5% to 10% loss, that newer GLP-1-based medicines bring roughly 8% to 21% in trials, and that bariatric surgery brings about 25% to 30% at a year. This page compares 40 methods by evidence, typical results, effort and cost, all checked on October 6, 2026, so you can find a starting point that fits your life.
If you are looking for the step-by-step basics, our how to lose weight guide is the place to start. This comparison is the wide-angle view: every main option side by side, with links down to each one. To narrow it down by your goals and preferences, try Find My Options, and for two-way comparisons visit the compare hub.
The big picture
- 40methods compared on this page, in six groups
- 5-10%weight loss often reached with structured behavioral programsElmaleh-Sachs A et al., JAMA 2023
- 5-10% in 6 monthsthe initial goal in the 2013 AHA/ACC/TOS adult obesity guidelineJensen MD et al., Circulation 2014
- 150-300 minof moderate activity a week, plus strength training twice, in U.S. guidelinesPhysical Activity Guidelines for Americans
Checked on October 6, 2026
How we compared them
For each method we looked for the best available evidence on weight: guidelines from groups such as the U.S. Preventive Services Task Force (USPSTF), FDA labels for medicines, randomized trials and pooled analyses. We then gave each method four plain labels. They are our own summary of that evidence, explained here, and not an overall score: the right trade-off depends on your health, goals and budget.
- Evidence: Strong means large randomized trials or a national guideline back it for weight; Moderate means randomized trials with smaller, shorter or mixed results; Limited means small or short studies; Not established means no meaningful effect shown or no FDA review; Not weight loss means it changes something else, such as shape.
- Typical result: the average change reported in the main study we cite, with its length. Averages hide wide individual differences.
- Effort: how much daily change it asks of you: Low (a habit or a routine), Medium (planning most meals or regular workouts), High (strict rules, surgery recovery or lifelong follow-up).
- Cost: Free; Food budget (what you already spend on groceries, give or take); Program fee; Medicine price (dated self-pay prices where makers publish them); Procedure fee.
| Item | Low | High |
|---|---|---|
| Behavioral programs | 5% | 10% |
| GLP-1-based medicines | 8% | 21% |
| Endoscopic procedures (at 6 months) | 10% | 13% |
| Bariatric surgery (at 12 months) | 25% | 30% |
Percent of body weight lost on average in studies. Ranges come from different studies and times; activity alone without eating changes typically brings 2-3 kg.
Source: Elmaleh-Sachs A et al., Obesity Management in Adults: A Review, JAMA 2023 (checked on October 6, 2026)
All 40 methods at a glance
Methods are grouped, and within each group they are listed in a logical order, not ranked. Medicines and procedures need a clinician; supplements and body contouring are included because people ask about them, with what the evidence actually shows.
| # | Method | Evidence | Typical result (study) | Effort | Cost |
|---|---|---|---|---|---|
| Eating patterns | |||||
| 1 | Calorie deficit with any healthy diet | Strong | Guideline: 500-750 fewer kcal a day for 5-10% in 6 months | Medium | Free |
| 2 | Healthy low-carbohydrate diet | Strong | -6.0 kg at 12 months (DIETFITS) | Medium | Food budget |
| 3 | Healthy low-fat diet | Strong | -5.3 kg at 12 months (DIETFITS); no real difference from low-carb | Medium | Food budget |
| 4 | Mediterranean diet | Moderate | -4.4 kg at 2 years (DIRECT) | Medium | Food budget |
| 5 | DASH | Moderate | 1.42 kg more than control diets over 8-24 weeks | Medium | Food budget |
| 6 | Keto (very low carbohydrate) | Moderate | 0.91 kg more than low-fat at 12+ months; LDL cholesterol rose | High | Food budget |
| 7 | Higher-protein diet | Moderate | 0.79 kg more loss and less lean-mass loss than standard protein (about 12 weeks) | Medium | Food budget |
| 8 | Time-restricted eating (intermittent fasting) | Moderate | -8.0 vs -6.3 kg with calorie limits alone at 12 months (not significant) | Medium | Free |
| 9 | Alternate-day fasting | Moderate | -6.0% vs -5.3% with daily calorie limits at 12 months; more dropouts | High | Free |
| 10 | Meal replacements (shakes, bars) | Moderate | 2.22 kg more than other diets with support at 1 year | Low | Food budget |
| 11 | Very-low-calorie diet (under 800 kcal, supervised) | Strong (short term) | 14.2-21.0 kg over 11-14 weeks; 3.1-3.7 kg regained later | High | Program fee |
| 12 | Fewer ultra-processed foods | Limited | People ate 508 kcal a day more on ultra-processed food in a 2-week inpatient trial | Medium | Food budget |
| Physical activity | |||||
| 13 | Aerobic exercise, 150-250 minutes a week (walking, cycling, swimming) | Moderate | Modest loss alone; exercise training averaged -1.5 to -3.5 kg across reviews | Medium | Free |
| 14 | More than 250 minutes a week | Moderate | Linked with clinically significant loss (ACSM) | High | Free |
| 15 | Strength training | Moderate (for muscle) | Little extra weight loss; 0.8 kg less lean mass lost during weight loss | Medium | Free to low |
| 16 | Diet and exercise combined | Strong | More effective than either alone (ACSM) | Medium | Food budget |
| 17 | Sitting less, desk walking | Limited | Treadmill-desk walking is 2.8 METs vs 1.0 sitting; cuts sitting time (low-certainty evidence) | Low | Free to equipment |
| 18 | Ab exercises to lose belly fat (spot reduction) | Not weight loss | No effect on belly fat after 6 weeks of abdominal exercises | Medium | Free |
| Behavior and programs | |||||
| 19 | Intensive behavioral program (14+ sessions in 6 months) | Strong | Often 5-10%; USPSTF recommends offering it for BMI 30+ | Medium | Free to program fee |
| 20 | Commercial weight-loss program | Moderate | Varies by program; check each one’s own trials | Medium | Program fee |
| 21 | Tracking what you eat (self-monitoring) | Moderate | Consistently linked with more weight loss in reviews | Medium | Free |
| 22 | Regular self-weighing | Moderate (for keeping it off) | A common habit among people who keep weight off (National Weight Control Registry) | Low | Free to scale |
| 23 | Sleeping 7 or more hours | Limited | 55% less fat lost on 5.5 vs 8.5 hours of sleep, same diet (small trial) | Low | Free |
| 24 | A gradual pace (1-2 lb a week) | Moderate | CDC: more likely to keep weight off; fast and slow loss regained similarly in one trial | Low | Free |
| FDA-approved medicines (with a prescription; not ranked) | |||||
| 25 | Wegovy or Wegovy HD injection (semaglutide, weekly) | Strong | -14.9% vs -2.4% at 68 weeks (STEP 1); HD -18.8% vs -3.9% at 72 weeks | Low | $349-$399/month self-pay |
| 26 | Wegovy tablets (semaglutide, daily) | Strong | -13.6% vs -2.4% at 64 weeks | Low | $149-$299/month self-pay |
| 27 | Zepbound (tirzepatide, weekly) | Strong | -15.0% to -20.9% vs -3.1% at 72 weeks (SURMOUNT-1) | Low | $299-$449/month self-pay (KwikPen) |
| 28 | Foundayo (orforglipron, daily pill) | Strong | -11.1% vs -2.1% at 72 weeks | Low | $149-$349/month self-pay |
| 29 | Saxenda or generic liraglutide (daily injection) | Strong | -7.4% vs -3.0% at 56 weeks | Low | Medicine price (no self-pay list found) |
| 30 | Qsymia (phentermine-topiramate) | Strong | -10.9% vs -1.6% at 56 weeks (top dose) | Low | $74.99/month (maker home delivery) |
| 31 | Contrave (naltrexone-bupropion) | Strong | -5.4% vs -1.3% at 56 weeks (COR-I) | Low | $99 or less/month (maker pharmacy) |
| 32 | Orlistat (Xenical; Alli over the counter) | Strong | 13.4 vs 5.8 lb at 1 year (Xenical pooled trials) | Medium | Medicine price |
| 33 | Phentermine (short term only) | Moderate | -8.1 vs -1.7 kg at 12 weeks (small trial) | Low | Medicine price |
| Procedures (with a specialist; not ranked) | |||||
| 34 | Sleeve gastrectomy | Strong | Surgery overall: about 25-30% at 12 months; most common U.S. procedure (58.2% in 2023) | High | Procedure fee |
| 35 | Gastric bypass | Strong | 32% at 1-2 years and 25% at 10 years (SOS study) | High | Procedure fee |
| 36 | Endoscopic sleeve gastroplasty (ESG) | Moderate | 13.6% vs 0.8% at 52 weeks (MERIT) | Medium | Procedure fee |
| 37 | Intragastric balloon (temporary) | Moderate | Endoscopic procedures: about 10-13% at 6 months; balloon is removed at the labeled time | Medium | Procedure fee |
| Not established or not weight loss | |||||
| 38 | Weight-loss supplements (green tea, garcinia, chromium, berberine and others) | Not established | 0.04 to 0.88 kg more than placebo in pooled trials | Low | Product price |
| 39 | Compounded GLP-1s | Not established (not FDA approved) | Not reviewed by the FDA for safety, effectiveness or quality | Low | Varies |
| 40 | Body contouring (liposuction, fat freezing) | Not weight loss | Reshapes local fat; liposuction is not a treatment for obesity (ASPS) | Medium to high | Procedure fee |
Eating patterns: the diet you can keep
The clearest finding in diet research is that eating patterns with similar calories give similar weight loss. In DIETFITS, 609 adults followed a healthy low-fat or a healthy low-carbohydrate diet for 12 months and lost 5.3 kg and 6.0 kg on average, a difference too small to be meaningful. A 2020 BMJ analysis of 121 trials and 14 named diets found most produced similar losses at six months, which shrank for all of them by 12 months. That is why the 2013 AHA/ACC/TOS guideline focuses on a calorie deficit (500 to 750 fewer calories a day) using whichever approach a person prefers. Our diets hub covers each pattern.
Some patterns have extra benefits beyond weight. DASH lowers blood pressure, the Mediterranean pattern has strong heart-health evidence, and higher protein helps protect muscle while you lose weight. Very-low-calorie diets work fast but, under the guideline, belong only in medical settings with monitoring, partly because rapid loss raises the chance of gallstones. Cutting back on ultra-processed food is a promising, practical idea: in a tightly controlled NIH study, people ate about 500 more calories a day when offered ultra-processed meals.
Activity: essential for health, modest for weight
Exercise on its own usually moves the scale less than people hope. The American College of Sports Medicine says 150 to 250 minutes a week brings only modest loss, while more than 250 minutes is linked with larger loss, and combining activity with eating changes works better than either alone. Activity shines elsewhere: it improves fitness, blood pressure and mood, and it is one of the strongest habits for keeping weight off. Strength training matters most for keeping muscle while losing weight. Our exercise hub and calories burned calculator help you plan.
One myth to drop: you cannot burn fat from one spot. In a trial of six weeks of abdominal exercises, belly fat did not change. Overall fat loss is what shrinks the waist, as our belly fat guide explains.
Behavior and programs: the skills that make it stick
The USPSTF recommends that clinicians offer or refer adults with a BMI of 30 or more to intensive, multicomponent behavioral programs, the kind with regular sessions, goal setting, self-monitoring and problem solving. These often bring 5% to 10% loss, though a quarter or more of people regain some weight within two years. Tracking food is consistently linked with more weight loss, and people in the National Weight Control Registry who kept weight off often weighed themselves regularly, stayed active about an hour a day and ate consistently. Sleep is easy to overlook: in one small trial, people on the same diet lost much less fat when they slept 5.5 hours instead of 8.5. Our keeping weight off guide brings these habits together.
Medicines: when a clinician adds them
FDA-approved weight medicines are generally considered for adults with a BMI of 30 or more, or 27 or more with a weight-related condition, alongside eating and activity changes. Newer GLP-1-based medicines bring larger average losses than older pills, but each has its own label, warnings, side effects and price, and weight tends to return after stopping. We never rank them; every FDA-approved weight-loss medication compared lays out all of them, and our GLP-1 guide explains how they work. If you are considering one, our questions to ask before starting a GLP-1 checklist helps you prepare.
Procedures: the largest and longest-lasting results
Metabolic and bariatric surgery produces the largest average losses. In the Swedish Obese Subjects study of 4,047 people, those who had gastric bypass were 32% lighter at one to two years and 25% lighter at ten years. The 2022 ASMBS and IFSO guidelines recommend surgery for a BMI of 35 or more and say it can be considered from 30 with metabolic disease. Less invasive endoscopic options sit in between: in the MERIT trial, endoscopic sleeve gastroplasty brought 13.6% loss at a year vs 0.8% with lifestyle changes alone. Our procedures hub and bariatric surgery guide cover the options, risks and lifelong follow-up.
What does not reliably work
Weight-loss supplements are not FDA approved, and pooled trials show small or no effects. Even the best results we found, for garcinia and berberine, were under 1 kg (about 2 lb) more than placebo, compared with 12.7 kg more for semaglutide in STEP 1. The FDA also keeps finding hidden drugs, such as sibutramine, in products sold as supplements.
Compounded GLP-1s are a different problem: they are not FDA approved, and the FDA has received reports of dosing errors. Body contouring, such as liposuction or fat freezing, can change shape in one area but is not weight loss; the American Society of Plastic Surgeons says liposuction is not a treatment for obesity. Our berberine page and supplements guide go deeper.
Choosing your starting point
Do these next
- Know your numbersCheck your BMI and waist, and estimate your daily calories.
- Pick one eating patternChoose the one that fits your tastes and budget; consistency matters most.
- Add movementBuild toward 150 minutes a week plus strength training twice.
- Talk to a clinicianAsk about programs, medicines or procedures if your BMI or health calls for more.
Many people combine methods, and the research supports that: diet plus exercise beats either alone, and every medicine label pairs the drug with eating and activity changes. Start with the BMI calculator and the calorie calculator, then explore the methods that fit. If cost matters, our cost hub shows dated prices, and if you want help, find a provider or compare telehealth programs.
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- Given my health, which of these groups of methods makes sense for me to start with?
- Would a structured behavioral program, a dietitian or both help me?
- At my BMI and with my conditions, should we discuss medicines or procedures?
- How should I combine eating changes and activity safely?
- What should my first goal be, and how will we track progress?
Frequently asked questions
What is the most effective way to lose weight?
On average, bariatric surgery brings the largest losses (about 25-30% at a year), followed by newer GLP-1-based medicines (about 8-21% in trials) and structured behavioral programs (often 5-10%). The most effective approach for you depends on your health, goals and preferences, and many people combine methods.
Which diet is best for weight loss?
Trials show that diets with similar calories give similar weight loss, so the best diet is usually the healthy one you can keep. In DIETFITS, healthy low-fat and low-carb diets differed by less than 1 kg at 12 months.
Can you lose weight with exercise alone?
Usually only a little: the ACSM says 150-250 minutes a week brings modest loss. Exercise works better combined with eating changes, protects muscle and is one of the strongest habits for keeping weight off.
Do weight-loss supplements work?
Pooled trials show small or no effects: under 1 kg more than placebo for the supplements we checked. Supplements are not FDA approved, and the FDA has found hidden drugs in some weight-loss products.
How fast should I lose weight?
The CDC says people who lose about 1 to 2 pounds a week are more likely to keep it off, and the AHA/ACC/TOS guideline sets an initial goal of 5-10% of starting weight within six months.
Is liposuction a way to lose weight?
No. The American Society of Plastic Surgeons says liposuction is not a treatment for obesity or a substitute for diet and exercise. It changes shape in specific areas.
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Facts checked on October 6, 2026
Educational information, not medical advice. Talk with a qualified healthcare professional about your own situation. In an emergency call 911.