With Thanksgiving past and the holiday feasting season underway, there’s one category guaranteed to attract repentant readers come the inevitable parade of New Year’s resolutions: diet and fitness.

In anticipation, publishers are ready to dish out plenty of choices for those looking to embrace a new diet or workout regimen in the months ahead. Increasingly, however, publishers are finding that consumers expect them to balance the scale of quickie diets and gimmick-based exercises with plans aimed at long-term weight loss and healthier living year-round.

Shannon Welch, executive editor at Rodale Books and editorial director of Runner’s World and Bicycling magazines, says that more people are realizing that weight loss alone is not enough: “We’re seeing a trend toward books that take into account the desire for short-term success, and also the reality that sustainable results and overall health are about more than the number on the scale.”

Rodale’s trio of December releases exemplify its approach to meeting the need for right-now rewards and long-term benefits. Chalene Johnson, star of the bestselling Turbo Fire and Turbo Jam DVDs and infomercials, urges a series of life-changing moves in PUSH: 30 Days to Turbocharged Habits, a Bangin’ Body, and the Life You Deserve! Popular diet and health columnist Charles Platkin’s The Diet Detective’s All-American Diet: Lose Weight with the Foods You Already Love to Eat from Your Favorite Supermarket and Restaurant Choices and bestselling author and celebrity nutritionist Christine Avanti’s Skinny Chicks Eat Real Food: Lose the Fake Food and Kickstart Your Weight Loss try to help people examine their current dietary habits and figure out how to shed pounds by picking healthier options.

Slimming Lifestyle

Many publishers say that the shift toward a wellness focus may in fact signal a change in what people expect in these days of greater awareness of “sustainability” across the board—whether talking about food and environmental issues or how to maintain one’s fitness despite the march of age and the easy availability of calorie-count–busting treats.

For example, Little, Brown’s The Blood Sugar Solution: The UltraHealthy Program for Losing Weight, Preventing Disease, and Feeling Great Now! (Feb.) will help people lose pounds as part of a progression toward overall wellness. This latest tome from Dr. Mark Hyman, bestselling author of The UltraSimple Diet and UltraMetabolism, outlines a six-week healthy living program that teaches principles for a lifetime. Topics covered include diet, living green, medication, supplements, and exercise, all by way of exploring how to lose weight while also staving off diabetes and other chronic illnesses.

Renee Sedliar, executive editor at Da Capo’s Lifelong Books, says readers are savvy in navigating the available choices. “It’s no secret there are a ton of books in the category, but people are always looking for something new—something that’s not just promises that ultimately fail in the long run but programs that are attainable and sustainable.”

Among the publisher’s new titles is Take It Off, Keep It Off: How I Lost Weight and You Can Too—Safely, Effectively, Permanently by personal trainer and former model Paul “PJ” James (Mar.). The title is inspired by James’s gaining, then losing nearly 100 pounds deliberately so he could better understand his clients’ struggles. Coming in April is Dee McCaffrey’s The Science of Skinny, aimed at helping serial dieters understand how the latest science can help them slim down.

Similarly pitched are two December titles: Gallery’s Unjunk Your Junk Food: Healthy Alternatives to Conventional Snacks by Andrea Donsky, Randy Boyer, and Lisa Tsakos, and Rodale’s updated edition of Eat This, Not That! 2012: The No-Diet Weight Loss Solution by David Zinczenko with Matt Goulding.

“Good food and good health go hand in hand,” observes Crown editor Sydny Miner. Last April, Crown published the bestselling The Dukan Diet by Dr. Pierre Dukan, which spent 23 weeks on PW’s charts. Coming in April 2012 is a follow-up companion, The Dukan Diet Cookbook, which provides Dukanists with more than 300 French-influenced recipes suitable for both the “Attack” and “Cruise” phases of the wildly popular diet. Crown also has several other cookbooks tied to diet plans on the way, including the Sexy Forever Recipe Bible by Suzanne Somers (Crown Archetype, Dec.), Everyday Food: LIGHT—The Quickest and Easiest Recipes, All Under 500 Calories from Martha Stewart Living magazine (Clarkson Potter, Dec.), and the American Heart Association Quick and Easy Cookbook, 2nd Edition (Clarkson Potter, Apr.).

Simon and Schuster’s Free Press has also had bestseller success with The 17 Day Diet: A Doctor’s Plan Designed for Rapid Results (Mar. 2011) by Dr. Mike Moreno, which just marked 35 weeks on our list. The publisher added The 17 Day Diet Workbook and La Dieta de 17 Dias, a Spanish translation, in August, and in April 2012 will debut Dr. Moreno’s The 17 Day Diet Cookbook. Fresh off being named the “Best Overall Diet” by U.S. News & World Report in a set of June rankings, the DASH (Dietary Approaches to Stop Hypertension) diet is the focus of The DASH Diet for Weight Loss: Lose Weight the Healthy Way—and Keep It Off—with America’s Most Respected Diet by Dr. Thomas J. Moore, Megan C. Murphy, and Mark Jenkins (May).

Big-Name Losers

While a killer hook and solid credentials—doctors, nutritionists, researchers—can lure readers, many would-be dieters and fitness buffs tend to go for names they already know and trust.

Marnie Cochran, executive editor at Ballantine Bantam Dell, points to three new Ballantine titles—Elisabeth Hasselbeck’s Deliciously G-Free: Food So Flavorful They’ll Never Believe It’s Gluten Free (Jan.), Lucy Danziger’s The Drop 10 Diet: Harness the Fat-Melting Power of Superfoods (Mar.), and Bob Harper’s The Skinny Rules: The Simple, Nonnegotiable Principles for Getting Thin (May)—as indicative of the growing importance of how even those with big names leverage their platforms.

“It’s no secret I went after these books because these authors bring such amazing reach in terms of finding readers,” says Cochran. “The author has to have a real engagement and can’t rely totally on celebrity or brand anymore.”

Cochran cites the way Hasselbeck shares a personal history of eating gluten free with her huge following online (some 223,000+ Twitter followers and a popular Web home at nogiidiet.com) and how Harper’s prominence as the host of NBC’s The Biggest Loser is augmented by his Web site, Facebook presence, and Twitter following (more than 230,000 tweeps at last count). And while Danziger’s role as editor-in-chief of Self magazine may be somewhat less visible, Cochran says the publication is notable for its dynamic use of online content and the way Danziger stays in touch with reader values by inviting feedback and knowing her consumers.

“It’s the authors who approach it as, ‘What’s important is not just what I have to say, but what you have to say,’ ” Cochran says.

Andrews McMeel has seen the impact that kind of connection can bring with authors Dimity McDowell and Sarah Bowen Shea, whose 2010 debut, Run Like a Mother: How to Get Moving and Not Lose Your Family, Job, or Sanity, was called “a bible for active parents” by the New York Times and is currently on its third printing after being featured by magazines like Runner’s World, SELF, Redbook, and Fitness. The authors have actively engaged other women runners through Facebook, Twitter, and their Web site (anothermotherrunner.com), which averages 2,500 hits a day. Their follow-up title, Train Like a Mother: How to Get Across Any Finish Line—and Not Lose Your Family, Job, or Sanity is due in March.

The influence of magazines remains very important in the category, even in these days of circulation upheaval. Snagging coverage by the right ones can definitely help position a title to a ready audience. Simon & Schuster’s senior marketing v-p Liz Perl cited two Bauer titles, Woman’s World, with a circulation of 7.3 million, and First for Women, with a circulation of 3.7 million, as influential in moving the needle for diet books. Both magazines, she says, “hit the ideal diet demographic and they are perfectly positioned at supermarket, Wal-Mart, and Target checkouts.”

Still, most publishers agree that celebrities are the biggest powerhouses in terms of moving copies. Grand Central executive editor Diana Baroni notes that “diet/fitness is still strong, but more crowded than ever.” Following its “great success” with celebrity trainer and reality star Jackie Warner’s 2010 bestseller This Is Why You’re Fat (And How to Get Thin Forever), GCP has high hopes for the author’s 10 Pounds in 10 Days: The Secret Celebrity Program for Losing Weight Fast (Mar.). The publisher is also excited about Tanya Becker and Jennifer Maanavi’s The Physique 57 Solution: The Groundbreaking 2-Week Plan for a Lean, Beautiful Body (Jan.), which is based on the exclusive workout program praised by such stars as Kelly Ripa and Demi Moore.

Announcing a 75,000-copy first printing, Hyperion offers Choose to Lose: The 7-Day Carb Cycle Solution (Dec.) from celebrity fitness trainer Chris Powell of ABC’s Extreme Makeover: Weight Loss Edition. The heavily illustrated book outlines how to drop those stubborn last 20 to 30 pounds by using Powell’s unique nutrition plan, the “Carb Cycle Solution.”

Avery editorial director Megan Newman reports that the publisher has had “a lot of success in the fitness category, particularly with strength training books.” Forthcoming titles are pitched to different ends of the spectrum. Get a Bangin’ Body: The City Gym Boys’ Ultimate Body Weight Workout for Men & Women by New York City fitness guru Charles LaSalle (Apr.) is aimed at those new to weights, while The New Rules of Lifting for Life: An All-New Muscle-Building, Fat-Blasting Plan for Men and Women Who Want to Ace Their Midlife Exams by fitness experts and authors of The New Rules for Lifting series Lou Schuler and Alwyn Cosgrove (Apr.) targets already active adults dealing with the impact of getting older.

Raw and Unfiltered

Different incarnations of old diet principles and approaches from emerging research keep the category’s mix of books lively. Such titles might take on a hot topic, like Waterlogged: The Serious Problem of Overhydration in Endurance Sports by Dr. Tim Noakes (Human Kinetics, May), or be tied in to a new slimming substance on the scene, like The Super Simple HCG Diet: A Personal Guide and Journal to a New Thinner You by Kathleen Barnes (out from Square One this past July).

Or they might be part of growing interest in a food trend, such as eating raw. Skyhorse is adding to its list Fred Ho’s Raw Extreme Manifesto (Jan.), Susan Powers’s Rawmazing: Meals, Desserts, and Snacks for Losing Weight and Looking Great (May), and Ulrika Davidsson’s Raw Food Detox (May) with the hope of tapping into the same audience that has made its first two titles on the subject—Raw Food and Live Raw—surprise successes for the publisher. “We’re thrilled to be adding three more books for participants in the growing raw food movement,” says associate publisher Bill Wolfsthal. “This is just the kind of niche publishing that we love.”

Meanwhile, Harper’s December release Super Cleanse: Detox Your Body for Long-Lasting Health and Beauty by holistic chef and cleanse leader Adina Niemerow would like to help people purge the effects of “wasteful diets and toxic lifestyles.” Detailed instructions for a liver cleanse, a one-day wonder of superfood blended drinks, soups, and more are included.

One of the hottest current trends is the Paleolithic or “Paleo” diet, and interest in a return to humanity’s ancient dietary roots doesn’t seem to be going away. Wiley anticipates that readers will be eager for its big book from Loren Cordain, one of the best known researchers globally into the science of the Paleolithic diet. Cordain’s The Paleo Answer: 7 Days to Lose Weight, Feel Great, Stay Young releases in January.

Another indicator of the continued interest is the success of Inner Traditions/Bear & Company’s title that explores the science behind the Paleo diet’s ability to shrink waists: Nora Gedgaudas’s Primal Body, Primal Mind. Having sold nearly 19,000 copies since its May release, the publisher plans a cookbook follow-up late next year.

But it’s not all about the prehistoric era. Wiley also has high hopes for April’s The Manhattan Diet: Lose Weight While Living a Fabulous Life by Eileen Daspin, which features tips from stylish Manhattan women and recipes from some of New York City’s top chefs, including Eric Ripert, Tom Colicchio, and Lidia Bastianich. Calling the title French Women Don’t Get Fat meets Sex and the City, Thomas W. Miller, Wiley’s executive editor of general interest books, says, “After all, who needs the French when you have Manhattan?”

Unconventional Wisdom

And then there are the books looking to stand out in a sea of earnest advice and sweaty regimens—titles that appeal to readers who know they need to lose weight, get healthy, and work out, but who can’t swallow such talk with a straight face.

“Diet books are constant bestsellers because of the consistent supply/demand paradigm: there are always millions of people trying to lose weight. It’s an unfortunate reality,” says St. Martin’s executive editor Kathy Huck. “And they are always looking for something fresh and doable.”

St. Martin’s offerings this season emphasize that fresh, practical approach. January’s Bread Is the Devil: Win the Weight Loss Battle by Taking Control of Your Diet Demons by nutritionist Heather Bauer and Kathy Matthews offers guidance on how to “avoid that circle of hell” where no carbs all day turns into breadstick gorging at dinner. Also due in January is Dr. Ian Smith’s Eat: The Effortless Weight Loss Solution, in the tradition of Mireille Guiliano and Michael Pollan, who emphasize simple, nutrition-based rules. Perhaps the most unusual in the bunch is Lüc Carl’s The Drunk Diet: How I Lost 40 Pounds... Wasted (Mar.), a memoir complete with humorous advice, tips, and workout plans.

Also encouraging a new look at the carb-denial strategy is Eating Free: The Carb-Friendly Way to Lose Inches, Embrace Your Hunger, and Keep Weight Off for Good (HCI, May), in which nutritionist Manuel Villacorta shares the advice that has already helped more than 2,000 people lose weight and keep it off. The book will be featured in Fitness magazine as part of a story on a bride who used the plan to shed 15 pounds for her wedding; several other promotional efforts are in the works.

For the hip young urban professional concerned with the decided unhipness of most diet tomes, there’s Chubster: A Hipster’s Guide to Losing Weight While Staying Cool by Martin Cizmar (Houghton Mifflin Harcourt, Jan.), which claims to present “The Least Awful Diet Plan of All Time.” Promo plans include national media from New York and L.A. along with author interviews and a national drive-time radio tour.

Also pegged to the person who isn’t psyched about life’s gym reality is Working Out Sucks! (And Why It Doesn’t Have to) by Chuck Runyon, CEO of Anytime Fitness (Da Capo, Jan.). The author provides a 21-day plan, with the help of a psychologist and dietician, for changing that attitude.

Finally, for the Olympics fan, there’s Get Fit for the Games: Every Woman’s Total Fitness Workout by Peta Bee (Sterling/Carlton, Mar.). This official London 2012 book divides its exercises into Bronze, Silver, and Gold levels.

Stretching for Strength

It’s hard to believe that yoga and Pilates were ever fringe practices, with classes now available in just about any city with a few thousand people and a plethora of celebrity instructors and practitioners. More people keep discovering these methods of keeping body and mind fit all the time.

“Yoga’s health benefits are widely recognized. It is well-established in the mainstream as an effective form of exercise, and a way to ease stress,” says Crown editor Sydny Miner. The publisher’s Yoga Cures: Simple Routines to Conquer 50 Common Ailments and Live Pain-Free by Tara Stiles (Apr.) provides instructions on the yoga positions that will help deal with everything from PMS and traveler’s fear to wrinkles.

Richard Hollwedel, consumer sales director at Human Kinetics, sees interest in “yoga, Pilates, and performance-oriented training and nutrition” working well for the publisher. Its Hatha Yoga Asanas: Pocket Guide for Personal Practice by Daniel DiTuro and Ingrid Yang provides the work of one of its popular offerings in a portable quick reference guide, with more than 150 classic hatha yoga asanas. Skyhorse offers Power Yoga: The Card Set: An Individualized Approach to Strength, Grace, and Inner Peace by Ulrica Norberg (May), designed to be similarly portable.

Inner Traditions/Bear & Company delves into yoga, with last month’s Weight Resistance Yoga by Max Popov and June’s Advanced Hatha Yoga: Classic Methods of Physical Education and Concentration by Shyam Sundar Goswami, and also Pilates, with May’s No-Risk Pilates: Techniques for a Safe Full-Body Workout by Blandine Clais-Germain and Bertrand Raison.

And for those who feel Pilates or yoga practice has gotten stale, Da Capo believes it has an answer. Its April title Ballet Beautiful: Transform Your Body and Gain the Strength, Grace, and Focus of a Ballet Dancer by Mary Helen Bowers shows off a celebrity fitness trend that could just be the next Pilates. Written by Natalie Portman’s Black Swan trainer, with a foreword by the actress, Da Capo executive editor Renee Sedliar says, “This isn’t just a workout, it’s a mindset.”