Wondr Health, previously Naturally Slim, is a paid, yearlong diet program based on modeling the eating habits of people with lean bodies.
The premise of the program is that it helps replace unhealthy eating habits with healthier habits that, over time, will result in weight loss or maintenance. To accomplish this, it incorporates principles of mindful eating.
This article reviews Wondr Health, including its effectiveness and pros and cons.
diet review scorecard
- Overall score: 4.08
- Weight loss: 4.25
- Healthy eating: 5
- Sustainability: 4
- Whole body health: 3.75
- Nutrition quality: 4.5
- Evidence-based: 3
BOTTOM LINE: Wondr Health is a diet program based on the principles of mindful eating. It helps you build new mealtime habits and lose or maintain weight without counting calories or tracking your food intake.
Pros
- The program is based on the principles of mindful eating.
- It addresses other lifestyle considerations, including nutrition, exercise, and sleep.
- It’s available for free through many employers and health insurance programs.
- No foods or food groups are off-limits.
- Some company-funded and company-affiliated research studies support the diet and mindful eating for weight loss.
Cons
- It’s expensive if you don’t qualify for a free membership.
- The program discourages all snacks, which may not be appropriate for people with certain medical conditions.
- It may be difficult to fully follow the program if you prepare meals for other household members or have a set schedule for meal breaks.
Wondr Health is a diet program that uses the principles of mindful eating. It aims to help you replace unhealthy eating habits with healthier ones, which may aid weight loss and maintenance.
Mindful eating is a strategy that focuses on recognizing your hunger cues, savoring your food, eating slowly, focusing solely on eating during mealtimes, and paying attention to when your body starts to signal that you’re full (
Wondr Health doesn’t require special foods, supplements, or supplies or involve calorie or intake tracking. Additionally, it doesn’t restrict or limit any foods. Instead, it teaches you how to make healthier choices as you progress through the lessons.
The program, previously known as Naturally Slim, was founded in 1983 by Marcia Upson. Her mother, Sandra Breithaupt, is the author of “The Dallas Doctor’s Diet,” the book the program is based on. The company rebranded as Wondr Health in 2021.
How it works
The program is divided into three phases:
- WondrSkills: includes weekly lessons on nutrition basics, fitness, and mindful eating principles
- WondrUp: includes personalized weekly lessons that help reinforce the healthy principles learned in the WondrSkills phase
- WondrLast: the program’s maintenance phase, which helps you master the mindful eating and healthy lifestyle skills you learned in the first two phases
While many of the lessons are about mindful eating practices, several also address other facets of a healthy lifestyle, such as nutrition, hydration, exercise, sleep, and stress management.
The program is fully online, so you’ll need internet access via a computer, tablet, or smartphone.
In addition to access to the lessons, you’ll receive access to WondrLink, an exclusive online community that’s available only to paying members of the Wondr Health program.
Additionally, you can email Wondr Health coaches at any time during your program.
The basic mindful eating principles you may learn to use during the Wondr Health program include:
- recognizing your body’s hunger cues
- choosing not to begin eating until you’re truly hungry
- sitting down to your meal with no distractions
- putting your fork or spoon down after each bite
- chewing each bite of food thoroughly before swallowing
- eating for at least 10–15 minutes at each meal, rather than rushing through it
- stopping eating when you feel full
Pricing
You can pay for the Wondr Health program either monthly or annually. Pricing details are as follows:
- Monthly: $80 per month
- Annually: $820 per year ($68.33 per month)
This is the full price, but there may be special sales or promotions that can help you save money. For instance, at the time of this writing, there was a promotion available that brought the monthly price down to $50 and the yearly price down to $450.
Additionally, Wondr Health has partnered with several large employers that offer the program for free or at a reduced cost to their employees.
To sign up for Wondr Health, you’ll need to follow the prompts on the program’s website. Once you enter your information and make your payment, you’ll get full access to the program features on your internet browser and through the Wondr Health app.
After you sign up, you’ll receive a Welcome Kit in the mail with some helpful tools and a few learning aids that you’ll need for your first few interactive lessons during the WondrSkills phase.
No foods are off-limits on the Wondr Health program, so you can eat anything you want. However, over time, the lessons will teach you the importance of eating fruits and vegetables, limiting added sugars, avoiding liquid calories, and choosing fewer high calorie foods.
Additionally, the program encourages you to eat very slowly, taking a break after 10 minutes to assess your hunger level before you either end the meal or eat a little bit more. It’s fairly common to eat only about half the food on your plate while on the Wondr Health program.
Wondr Health mostly discourages snacking. If you do feel like you need to eat between meals, the program recommends eating as little as possible to tide you over until the next time you can sit down to a full meal.
Sample 3-day meal plan
Day 1
- Breakfast: 2-egg omelet with spinach, mozzarella cheese, and 1 piece of whole grain toast
- Lunch: entree salad with grilled chicken, corn salsa, shredded cheese, pico de gallo, and creamy dressing
- Dinner: spaghetti and meatballs with garlic bread and roasted broccoli
Day 2
- Breakfast: full fat Greek yogurt with blueberries, strawberries, slivered almonds, and honey
- Lunch: turkey sandwich on whole grain bread with cheese, lettuce, tomato, and hummus; side salad with vinaigrette dressing
- Dinner: homemade fried rice made with brown rice, peas, carrots, and shrimp
Day 3
- Breakfast: whole grain English muffin with turkey sausage, egg, Swiss cheese, and mustard
- Lunch: chicken, bacon, and avocado wrap on a whole grain tortilla with lettuce and tomato
- Dinner: grilled salmon with sauteed asparagus and a baked potato
Since the Wondr Health program does not involve any food restrictions, anyone can follow it — including vegans, vegetarians, and folks with other dietary needs or preferences, such as gluten-free, dairy-free, low carb, or paleo.
If you want to lose weight without needing to track anything or overhaul your diet, Wondr Health could be a good fit for you.
However, it may not be the best choice for those who are pregnant or nursing. An excessive restriction of calories, even if it’s unintentional, can have health consequences for the nursing parent and child.
One reviewer says she had to stop the Wondr Health program when she became pregnant because she was not eating enough.
Some research supports the effectiveness of Wondr Health for weight loss.
One large study including more than 3,800 people who did the Wondr Health program for 10 weeks found that women lost about 9 pounds (lb), or 4 kilograms (kg), and men lost about 13 lb (6 kg) during the study (
Another study looking at Wondr Health data from more than 140,000 participants observed that women and men lost approximately 2% and 2.4% of their body weight over 10 weeks, respectively (
However, this study was conducted by an employee of the company and one of its paid consultants, which may have biased the results.
Some research also supports the use of mindful eating principles for weight loss.
One review of nine studies on mindful eating and weight loss noted that mindful eating interventions resulted in more weight loss than no interventions and could result in similar weight loss to a commercial diet program (
A 2022 study conducted by members of the Wondr Health team noted some benefits of losing weight with the Wondr Health program.
Outcomes included significant improvements in self-reported energy, sleep, mood, indigestion, confidence, and pain — especially when the program was paired with physical activity (
Wondr Health may also benefit people with metabolic syndrome and type 2 diabetes.
Metabolic syndrome is characterized by high blood pressure, insulin resistance, poor blood sugar regulation, excess abdominal fat, and high blood fat levels (
People with metabolic syndrome are more likely to have overweight or obesity and be at a greater risk of developing type 2 diabetes or heart disease (
Still, one study in more than 3,800 people on the Wondr Health program noted that the percentage of women with metabolic syndrome dropped from 43% to 30% after 10 weeks, while the percentage of men with metabolic syndrome dropped from 52% to 26% (
Note that this study was conducted by researchers who have since accepted paid positions or consultancies with Wondr Health, which may have biased the results.
Nevertheless, this data shows that Wondr Health and mindful eating practices may help improve metabolic syndrome and decrease a person’s risk of type 2 diabetes.
Although the mindful eating principles of the Wondr Health program can promote sustainable weight loss, some of the program’s other aspects may not be as easy to maintain.
For instance, it may not always be possible or realistic to sit down for every meal or to avoid snacks — especially if you have certain medical conditions, such as type 1 diabetes. In certain cases, it may be better to eat a small snack rather than wait for a meal.
Additionally, basing meal times completely around hunger cues may be difficult for people with children or people with set meal breaks at their jobs.
Another significant downside of Wondr Health is its price, which may prevent some people from being able to use the program. If paid annually, it’s much less expensive but requires a higher up-front cost.
If you’re interested in trying the program, you may want to try to sign up during a sale. Alternatively, you could try the program for just a month or two (paid monthly) to see whether it’s right for you before committing to an annual purchase.
Little information is available about the long-term weight loss success of Wondr Health participants. More research is necessary to find out whether people can maintain their weight loss after completing the yearlong program.
Because Wondr Health partners with a number of large corporations and health insurance providers, many people have access to the program at a reduced cost or for free.
It appears that the program may also be helping to reduce health insurance premiums, since many of these corporate partnerships are long-term.
Wondr Health does not have a profile on the Better Business Bureau (BBB) website yet, but there is a BBB page for Naturally Slim, the program’s previous brand name.
Unlike many other diet and nutrition brands, which have ample reviews on Trustpilot and other review sites, Wondr Health does not have many reviews. We relied on Reddit, the limited BBB reviews, and Google reviews.
Most user reviews are very positive, with users stating that Wondr Health has helped them recognize their hunger cues, slow down, and learn how to stop eating when they’re full.
Some users report that they were not successful on the program. However, most negative reviews are related to billing and customer service issues rather than the program itself.
Several similar diet programs are available. Here’s how they compare to Wondr Health.
• $820/year
(specials sometimes available)
• $199/year
• app
• digital coaching
• app
• in-person
• digital coaching
• app
• digital coaching
• app
• digital coaching
• does not restrict any foods or food groups
• does not restrict any foods or food groups
• does not restrict any foods or food groups
• multifaceted, addressing food, sleep, stress management, and exercise
• may be difficult to strictly follow if you have a set schedule or have children
• can be expensive, especially if you want in-person workshops
• can be expensive for monthly and other short-term plans
• can be time consuming to weigh, measure, and track food
It’s a good idea to consult a healthcare professional before you start Wondr Health, especially if you have an underlying medical condition or are taking prescription medications.
Additionally, it’s important to continue going to any regular medical appointments as you progress through the program.
Once you stop using Wondr Health or meet your weight goal, it may be a good idea to get a checkup to see whether any metrics of your health have changed along with your weight.
Overall, Wondr Health is a good option if you’re interested in trying a commercial weight loss program. It can teach you mindful eating tools and principles that you may use well into the future to make healthier food decisions without tracking your intake.
While weight loss is not a guarantee, the program appears to help its participants lose weight. Wondr Health may also help improve metabolic syndrome and reduce the risk of type 2 diabetes.
However, little is known about the long-term weight loss success of Wondr Health participants.
Who qualifies for Wondr Health?
Anyone can join the Wondr Health program. However, certain employers and health insurance providers may offer it as a free benefit. If you do not qualify for a free membership, you can join as an individual and pay for the service.
Can you drink alcohol on the Wondr Health program?
Yes, you can. However, the program does not recommend it.
Alcohol has calories but little other nutritional value. Additionally, the short-term mental effects of alcohol may contribute to overeating, and excessive consumption can lead to several health complications (
Wondr Health is a diet program based on the principles of mindful eating and the foundations of a healthy and balanced lifestyle.
There’s some evidence to support the success of this diet and mindful eating as a weight loss strategy. However, more long-term follow-up is needed to see whether people can maintain their weight loss after completing the program.
Overall, Wondr Health is a well-designed diet program that can allow you to enjoy all foods in moderation and develop a healthier relationship with food.
