Weight management programs can provide a helpful structure for your health journey when you feel out of control with unhealthy habits. They can also be a great way to join individuals going on the same journey, which can be incredibly motivating.
Everyone is different, and there’s no one-size-fits-all approach to choosing a weight management program. It ultimately depends on what suits your individual needs and what fits into your lifestyle. To save you tiresome research and help to answer some important questions, we’ve compared two popular weight management programs; F-Factor and Second Nature.
F-Factor and Second Nature are both marketed towards weight management and provide a coaching element to support individuals on their health journey. However, the structure of each program differs considerably. Second Nature is a 12-week app-based program that focuses on holistic lifestyle change through pillars of nutrition, mindset, exercise, sleep and stress. These pillars are explored in interactive sections of the Second Nature app; educational articles, exercise ideas/workouts, meal planners and guides. Where nutrition is concerned, Second Nature take a lower-carbohydrate approach.
In contrast, F-Factor is a concierge private practice. Participants are provided with a customized meal plan which includes nutrition rules and recommendations, particularly around carbohydrates and fiber. Participants are also provided with 8 coaching sessions (either in-person or virtual, ranging from 30-90min per session). F-Factor has an accompanying app with their program, however, this is primarily used for tracking meals and nutrients. While supplements (e.g. protein powders, bars, etc) are not included in the customized meal plan, they are available through the F-Factor website and are recommended for general health. In contrast, Second Nature do not recommend supplements and is focused on a whole food approach.
Trustpilot score
Trustpilot is a platform where consumers can leave reviews and scores reflect overall customer satisfaction.
| F-Factor Diet | Second Nature | |
| Star rating |  |
 |
| Score | n/a no reviews |
4.8 / 5 read reviews |
Signing up
| F-Factor Diet | Second Nature | |
| Free trial | ✗ | ✓ |
| Clear breakdown of costs | ✓ | ✓ |
| Clear cancellation policy | See shipping and returns for their full cancellation policy | ✓ |
| Length of program | Dependent on your goals | 12 week minimum, then ongoing |
| Easy to cancel | ✓ | ✓ |
| Refund policy | See shipping and returns for their full refund policy | Full refund if cancelled within 14 days. After this point, any charges non-refundable. |
| Refer-a-friend scheme | ✓ | ✓ ($10 credit for referring family or friends.) |
| Easy to include family | ✓ | ✓ |
Nutrition
| F-Factor Diet | Second Nature | |
| Dietary approach | High fiber | Lower-carb |
| Caters to vegetarian | ✓ | ✓ |
| Caters to vegan | ✓ | ✓ |
| Vegetarian/vegan recipe section | ✓ Available through recipe books at an additional cost |
✓ |
| Supplements encouraged | ✓ |
✗ (Other than Vitamin D.) |
Support
| F-Factor Diet | Second Nature | |
| Tailors the plan around diabetes | ✓ | ✓ |
| Tailors the plan around other health issues | ✓ | ✓ |
| Access to registered dietitian or nutritionist | ✓ | ✓ |
| Coaches based locally in Australia and New Zealand | ✗ | ✓ |
| Assigned to local support group (timezone friendly) | ✗ | ✓ |
| Weekend support available | ✓ | ✓ |
| Daily support from coach | ✗ | ✓ |
Program features
| F-Factor Diet | Second Nature | |
| Encourages daily weigh-ins | ✗ | ✗ |
| Makes you take numerous body measurements | ✗ | ✗ |
| App | ✓ |
✓ |
| Recipe videos | ✗ | ✓ |
| Exercise videos | ✗ | ✓ |
| Tracks steps | ✗ | ✓ |
| Tracks exercise | ✗ | ✓ |
| Tracks water intake | ✗ | ✓ |
| Tracks custom habits | ✗ | ✓ |
| Education of nutrition science | ✓ | ✓ |
| Requires calorie counting | ✗ | ✗ |
| Food diary feature | ✓ | ✓ |
| Meal planning tool | ✓ | ✓ |
| In-app journaling tool | ✓ | ✓ |
Pricing
When programs provide price plans in different formats, it can be hard to accurately compare prices. To make this easier, we have calculated the price of monthly plans based on how they best compare to one another (as of 8th October 2021). All admin fees are included in these prices.
The Second Nature program works out to be significantly cheaper than F-Factor, not only secondary to cost but also value for money. Second Nature provides members with a dedicated coach every Monday to Friday for the entirety of the 12-week program. Additional support is also offered through app features; recipes, educational articles, tracking tools and meal planners. Comparatively, F-Factor only provides 8 nutrition consultations, varying in length between 30-90mins. Unless purchasing additional recipe books, minimal recipes are available for individuals, and the app accompanying the program predominantly focuses on tracking meals and certain nutrients, rather than offering additional support features.
Monthly (basic) digital subscriptions:
| F-Factor Diet | Second Nature | Registered Dietitian | |
| Registered dietitian or nutritionist expert | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Consistent coaching support provided by the same individual | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Price | $2,285 / month* | $60 / month | $350 / month |
*Based on an initial consultation ($250), and one follow-up session/ week for the first month. It is important to note that this price does not include the F-Factor Diet book, recipe books or F-Factor food/supplement products.
Example response to an exercise query
Nutrition is a major part of any lifestyle journey. Therefore, it is important to receive accurate and reliable nutrition advice. We asked each program a common nutrition-related query to see how the information provided as an answer compares.
Q: Are eggs bad for your cholesterol? Should I avoid them?
F-Factor Diet‘s answer:
“While eggs do contain some amount of cholesterol in the egg yolk, our dietitians still recommend to their clients to consume eggs (only if the client would like to incorporate it into their diet) and sometimes recommend only the egg whites.
The dietitian can also request a blood workup to see your cholesterol levels and make the assessment based on the results. This is something you would discuss with your dietitian at the initial consultation, however, we cannot make any recommendations until you actually meet with the dietitian. ”
Second Nature’s answer:
“Eggs are a rich source of dietary cholesterol. It was previously thought that cholesterol-containing foods increase blood cholesterol and the risk of heart disease and strokes. However, this has not been shown to be the case as dietary cholesterol is poorly absorbed from the digestive system, and if cholesterol is absorbed, the body will produce less of it to balance out (and prevent blood cholesterol levels from rising). Therefore, you do not need to be restricted unless recommended to do so by your GP/Healthcare professional. Eggs are among the most nutritious foods on the planet providing good quality protein as well as being loaded with vitamins and minerals.”
Take home message
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- When choosing a weight management program, it’s important to consider what would fit into your lifestyle and help you achieve your goals.
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- For those who find face-to-face weight management meetings uncomfortable or inconvenient, online and digitally-led programs are a better option.
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- While Second Nature is fully online, F-Factor provides both face-to-face and virtual nutrition consultations.
- Second Nature is available on an app, and gives you access to recipes, exercise videos, meal planning tools and allows you to track exercise, sleep, steps, water intake and custom habits.
- F-Factor has an app feature however this is mainly for tracking meals and nutrients (particularly carbohydrates and fiber)
- The F-Factor program supports you to make nutrition changes whereas Second Nature is a 12-week online program that focuses on holistic lifestyle change.
- Both programs provide support from a coach. However, by joining Second Nature you are supported Monday to Friday, while the F-Factor package only includes 8 nutrition consultations (30-90min each)
