Weight loss programmes 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 is not a one-size-fits-all approach to choosing a weight loss program. It ultimately depends on what suits your individual needs and what fits into your lifestyle.
Many people find online weight loss programs more convenient and easier to fit into daily life. To save you tiresome research and help to answer some important questions, this guide compares two popular online weight loss programs; Lite n’ Easy ‘Jump Start’ and Second Nature.
Both Lite n’ Easy ‘Jump Start’ and Second Nature focus on sustainable weight loss, in part, by encouraging healthy, nutritious meals. Both programs encourage members to include plenty of vegetables, and protein in their meals, and reduce their consumption of added sugars and ultra-processed food.
The main difference is that Second Nature is a digital program, offering nutrition advice through evidence based articles and guidance from a dedicated health coach. Lite n’ Easy ‘Jump Start’ is a 2 week meal delivery program that focuses on 5 days of eating and 2 days of fasting (until lunchtime). An accompanying Lite n’ Easy app can also be downloaded for ongoing support and motivational messages as well as tips and advice.
Another difference between the programs lies within the nutrition aspects of the programs. Lite ‘n Easy ‘Jump Start’ offers a calorie-controlled meal plan and meal delivery, offering convenience to its members. Second Nature adopts a low-carb approach, with flexible options for meal and food choices by encouraging members to develop their own cooking skills with the support of hundreds of recipes, including several recipe videos.
Furthermore, Second Nature takes a holistic approach to weight loss by addressing different pillars of health (i.e sleep, stress, mindset, food and exercise) whereas Lite ‘n Easy ‘Jump Start’ is focused only on nutrition.
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Trustpilot score
Trustpilot is a platform where consumers can leave reviews and scores reflect overall customer satisfaction.
| Lite n’ Easy | Second Nature | |
| Star rating |  |
 |
| Score | 3.4 / 5 read reviews |
4.9 / 5 read reviews |
Signing up
| Lite n’ Easy | Second Nature | |
| Money back guarantee | 100% money-back guarantee if you are not absolutely delighted with your first delivery. | Full refund if cancelled within 14 days. After this point, any charges non-refundable. |
| Clear breakdown of costs | ✓ | ✓ |
| Clear cancellation policy | ✗ | ✓ |
| Length of programme | 2 week Jump Start program then regular meal delivery service.
During the 2 week program members who download the app can access ongoing support and motivational messages as well as tips and advice via the app. |
Ongoing subscription (minimum 12 weeks) |
| Easy to cancel | ✓ | ✓ |
| Refer-a-friend scheme | ✗ (Occasional discounts offers if a friend signs up.) |
✓ (AU$10 credit for referring family or friends.) |
| Easy to include family | ✗ | ✓ |
Nutrition
| Lite n’ Easy | Second Nature | |
| Dietary approach | Low calorie | Lower-carb |
| Caters to vegetarian | ✓ | ✓ |
| Caters to vegan | ✗ | ✓ |
| Vegetarian/vegan recipe section | ✗ | ✓ |
| Supplements encouraged | ✗ | ✗ (Other than Vitamin D.) |
Support
| Lite n’ Easy | Second Nature | |
| Tailors the plan around diabetes | ✗ | ✓ |
| Tailors the plan around other health issues | ✗ | ✓ |
| Access to registered dietitian or nutritionist | ✗ | ✓ |
| Dietitians based locally in Australia and New Zealand | ✗ | ✓ |
| Assigned to local support group (timezone friendly) | ✗ | ✓ |
| Weekend support available | ✗ | ✓ |
| Phone support available | ✓ | ✓ |
| Daily support from coach | ✗ | ✓ |
Programme features
| Lite n’ Easy | 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 journalling 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 basic price plans on each program to show you how costs compare (as of February 2021). All admin fees are included in these prices.
Second Nature provides members with a dedicated coach throughout the whole program who offers daily support to members. All Second Nature health coaches are Accredited Practising Dietitians (APD), registered with the Dietitians Association of Australia (DAA).
This means that all Second Nature coaches practise in line with DAA Professional Standards. Registration to the DAA requires:
1) A nationally recognised dietetics degree
2) Ongoing training and education programs to ensure that they’re the most up-to-date and credible source of nutrition information.
While Lite ‘n Easy ‘Jump Start’ meals are developed by dietitians, the program does not offer any additional support from a dietitian, nutritionist or other health professional.
Weekly face-to-face sessions with a registered dietitian can be very expensive (AU$70 – AU$150 / hour). We have added a column representing this to compare costs (Weekly Dietitian).
Monthly digital subscriptions:
| Lite n’ Easy | Second Nature | Weekly Dietitian | |
| Registered dietitian or nutritionist coach | ✓ | ✓ | ✓ |
| The same, personal coach throughout the programme | ✗ | ✓ | ✓ |
| Price | AU$724 / month* | $60 / month | AU$400 / month |
* Prices vary depending on state. NSW was used to calculate this table.
Example nutrition query response
Understanding food and nutrition is a major part of any weight loss journey. Therefore, it is important to receive accurate and reliable dietary advice. We asked each program a common query to see how the information provided as an answer compares.
Q: What if I have food intolerances?
Lite n’ Easy’s answer:
“Our food is designed for general healthy eating.”
Second Nature’s answer:
“Our nutrition guidelines are designed to be flexible and cater to a range of dietary requirements and preferences. Our recipes and nutrition advice can be tailored to suit your lifestyle.
We provide a broad list of ‘foods to choose’, which can be adapted to exclude any particular foods you either dislike or cannot eat.
Your health coach can help you adapt our recipes, and plan meals while taking your allergies into account.”
Take home message
- When choosing a weight loss program, it is important to consider what would fit into your lifestyle and help you achieve your goals.
- For those who find face-to-face weight loss meetings uncomfortable or inconvenient, online and digitally led programs are a better option.
- Lite n’ Easy ‘Jump Start’ and Second Nature are both fully available online.
- Lite n’ Easy ‘Jump Start’ is a meal delivery service offering convenient calorie-controlled meals for members. Members can access the accompanying app that offers ongoing support and motivational messages as well as tips and advice.
- Second Nature provides members with an education in nutrition science, allowing you to make informed decisions by yourself and develop a healthy relationship with food in the long-term.
- Second Nature supports long term health change by focusing on each different pillar of health including stress, sleep, mindset, food and exercise
