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Weight Watchers

Weight Watchers offers weight loss guidance and support while emphasizing a balanced diet and encouraging exercise.

 

What is Weight Watchers

Weight Watchers has been around since 1963. The Weight Watchers program started when a few friends began meeting weekly to discuss the best way to lose weight. That group of friends grew to millions of men and women around the world, who all follow the Weight Watchers mantra.

Dieting is just one part of long-term weight management, Weight Watchers believes. A healthy body results from a healthy lifestyle -- which means mental, emotional, and physical health.

Weight Watchers does not tell people what they can or can't eat. The goal is to help people make healthy eating decisions and encourage them to enjoy more physical activity, thereby losing weight safely and sensibly -- and keeping it off.

At local group meetings, Weight Watchers members get motivation, mutual support, and encouragement in handling the challenges encountered in the process of changing behavior. For those who cannot get to the meetings, Weight Watchers has added a number of tools on its web site. Members will find:

• Information about food choices, recipes, and meals
• Exercise/calorie-burn calculator
• Online support community
• Weight loss tracker and progress chart

 

 

 

How does it work

The Weight Watchers diet plan is based on a simple, straightforward point system, called "FlexPoints". Foods are assigned a certain number of points according to their calorie count, the number of fat grams they contain, and their fiber content.

Dieters are allotted a certain number of points they can consume daily, which is determined by their body weight and the number of pounds they want to lose. This Winning Points system allows dieters to eat any food they want and still lose weight as long as they don’t exceed their daily point allotment.

To encourage exercise, Weight Watchers also has a formula by which dieters can trade physical activity for points. (The idea being, the more active you are, the more you can eat.)

 

What you can eat

Using the point system and planning guide, your food selection is endless. Weight Watchers even has a point system for fast foods.

The Weight Watchers program is based on good, old-fashioned "calories in, calories out" advice. The essentials of Weight Watchers' two plans follow:

• The Flex Plan

This plan is the cornerstone of the original Weight Watchers philosophy: "Eat the food you love and lose weight." No foods are prohibited. Instead, each food is assigned points based on the food's calorie, total fat, and dietary fiber content.

This system guides food choices by encouraging a selection of healthy foods. Some examples:

• 1 cup broccoli = 0 points
• 1/2 cantaloupe = 2 points
• 1 small bean burrito = 5 points
• 1 cup spaghetti with 1/2 cup marinara sauce = 6 points
• 1 6-ounce steak = 8 points
• 1 3-ounce grilled chicken breast = 3 points
• 1/4 cup regular creamy salad dressing = 8 points
• 1 slice bread = 2 points
• 1 ounce chocolate = 4 points
• 1 scoop vanilla ice cream = 4 points

Each member has a target Daily Points Range, calculated based on their body weight. For example, a 5-foot-6-inch woman who weighs 180 pounds would be allotted between 22 and 27 points each day. A "Points Finder" helps members calibrate the points value of a recipe or a packaged product using the Nutrition Facts label.

The initial Weight Watchers' goal is to reduce body weight by 5% to 10%, and the ultimate weight goal is a BMI less than 25. For those who have a lot of weight to lose, the goal is to lose in increments of 10% -- which helps people stay motivated.

• The Core Plan

This is a new approach for Weight Watchers. It allows members to control calories by focusing their eating on a core list of wholesome nutritious foods, but without counting or tracking.

The list includes foods from all the food groups: fruits and vegetables; grains and starches; lean meats, fish, and poultry; eggs, and dairy products. The foods in this core list are low in fat and calories. An occasional treat outside the list is allowed.

 

What health experts say

Weight Watchers is the best commercial plan because it's balanced; it gives people a lot of ways to lose weight, and it retrains people in how they view food and eating, so it's highly unlikely that they will go back to their bad habits."

Unlike many weight loss programs, Weight Watchers doesn't have a food product line, which is great. Weight Watchers teaches people how to eat -- that they will need to eat a lot of fruits and vegetables for the rest of their lives to lose weight.

Not everyone wants the group support that Weight Watchers offers, maybe their online program will provide the anonymity that some people need, especially men.

 

 

 

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