Overview
The Weight Watchers diet has been helping people lose weight for over 40 years. Weight Watchers was founded in 1963 by homemaker Jean Nidetch. Since then, the company has expanded into over 30 countries.
The core values that drive Weight Watchers include:
- Healthy Eating Habits
- Well-Rounded Foods
- Exercise
- Community Support
- Accountability
The Weight Watchers Diet incorporated a points system in 1997. Each participant would be allotted a daily amount of points based upon their age, weight, gender, and amount of physical activity. Participants could eat whatever they wanted as long as they stayed within their daily points limit.
In 2010, Weight Watchers moved to the “PointsPlus” system of tracking caloric intake. The company says that research shows that by teaching dieters to track their foods they learn, and develop healthy eating habits.
The PointsPlus system still holds the same core values. The main difference is that the diet takes a much stricter stance against processed foods. The PointsPlus program drills down beyond the level of simple calorie counting. Food researchers show that foods have different energy density levels even if they are the same caloric intake. Weight Watchers claims that people can lose weight quicker when they eat low energy density foods.
Science shows that people who eat these types of low energy density foods feel fuller longer. For example, they recommend eating a 100 calorie apple compared to a 100 calorie cookie, even though they have the same calorie count. Why you ask? An apple has many more nutrients than a cookie. You will feel fuller longer and give your body vitamins not found in the cookie.
Weight Watchers Food Items
One of the main reasons the Weight Watchers Diet is so popular is there are no special foods you have to purchase. People are able to dine out and shop at their local grocery store for the foods that they need.
The PointsPlus program recommends some nutrient-rich foods for people to eat. These super foods include:
- Whole Grain Oats
- Tuna
- Lean Red Meat
- Whole Wheat Pasta
- Chicken
- Grapes
- Blueberries
- Egg Whites
- Brown Rice
The PointsPlus program allows people to eat out at restaurants. The diet does not recommend eating out often, but the Weight Watchers people understand that most people are going to dine out at some point.
The Weight Watchers program helps people to make smart choices while dining out in order to minimize the negative impact. In order to mitigate weight gain, dieters are urged to set a dining out budget, make special food requests, practice potion control, skip the condiments, and drink water. These are just a few of the tips given on the PointsPlus program.
Weight Watchers participants have several methods to choose from when calculating the points for the foods they consume. Members can purchase food calculation books that have thousands of food items. They can also purchase a Weight Watchers calculator designed with the Weight Watchers food algorithm installed.
For dining out options there are small paperback flip books people can purchase with food items at all the major full-service and fast food chains. The restaurant books also contain generic food items such as Italian: Pasta ½ cup with the corresponding point’s value.
Weight Watchers Price
Prices vary on the Weight Watchers program The Company is constantly offering promotional prices to encourage new people to join. People can usually sign up for free for the online and in-person iterations of the program. From there, they can choose from a $39.95 monthly plan that allows them to attend in-person meetings and have access to eTools, pay $17.95 per month for the on-line only option, or pay a weekly $12 fee collected at each weekly meeting.
Weight Watchers Meetings
Meetings are still an integral part of the Weight Watchers program. People can choose to go to meetings in their community or be a part of an online community meeting. Online and in-person meetings all have these ten things in common:
- Weigh-ins are private and confidential
- Meetings are for men and women (online only for men)
- No foods are required
- Meetings are designed to be fun and inspirational
- Meeting leaders have lost weight using Weight Watchers
- Participants do not have to speak if they do not want to
- Meetings are easy to find
- There are several different meeting times to accommodate busy schedules
- There are several payment options
- Weight Watchers in-person meetings are not required
Weight Watchers Pros and Cons
The Weight Watchers diet program generally receives good reviews, but there are some glaring weaknesses in the program.
Pros:
- Program is designed for both men and women
- Participants can choose from in-person or online meetings
- Online program is robust and includes a lot of support
- Thousands of recipes and foods to choose from
- Partnership with restaurants and food distributors
- Points based on sound scientific principles
- Track record of 40 plus years of success
- Focuses on losing weight in a healthy fashion
- Empowers participants to make lifestyle changes by creating healthy habits
- Teaches dieters how to make good eating choices
- Affordable
- Not special foods to buy
Cons:
- Counting calories and nutrient density is time consuming for people with busy lives
- Weight Watchers men’s program is only offered as an on-line program
- The plan is not very structured, which may be difficult for some people
- The fitness component of the program is lacking
Conclusion
Weight Watchers was named the number one commercial diet for 2011 by U.S. News. The program does not result in drastic weight loss, but it does help people keep off the weight they do lose.
In summation, Weight Watchers is probably the best overall diet plan in the industry. The science based nutrition, freedom to eat most foods, and community support, are all earmarks of a successful plan, and Weight Watchers incorporates all of them.
