America's Healthiest Diets: How We Picked Them

From an initial list of 65-plus plans, our expert panelists helped us cull 25 standouts that were generally healthy (good-bye, Cabbage Soup Diet!) and were not specific to one body part, and that promised real results, addressed the needs of men and women, and included reasonable exercise components.

That group of 25 was rated on criteria relating to healthy rate of weight loss, calorie intake, nutritional aspects, exercise requirements, and motivational factors (from tasty menus to support tools). Panelists awarded scores on a variety of scales, and ratings were combined to form totals that determined our top-10 rankings.