Many people prefer to count calories or points. The real beauty of these plans is the flexability. You can eat anything you want, as long as you keep your calories or points under a predetermined level. If you love to cook and have the willpower to postpone gratification, these plans have been very successful for many people.

Most of the plans listed here are also low fat diet. That's because if you're counting calories and points, foods that are higher in fat have higher calorie and point counts. So if you are able to handle these low-fat high-carb diets one of these may be just the plan for you.

Some of the most successful Calorie and Point counting diets are Weight Watchers, DASH and the Ornish diet. (To calculate the number of calories you should take in to lose weight click here.) These diets will give you the carbohydrates your body craves.

Each of these diets are healthy and if you are able to stay with them you will lose weight. However if after you have been on these diets for a few weeks you find you are constantly hungry, you may want to shift to a reduced carbohydrate diet.