• Home
• Diet Plans
• Diet Articles
• Diet Coupons
• About
• Contact

Weight Watchers

Is Weight Watchers Right for You?

A lot of people struggle with their weight. If you're one of them, you've probably tried numerous diets. Most diets deprive you of your favorite foods, that's unless your favorite foods consist of salads and tofu. The Weight Watchers plan is a bit different from most others. It's also one diet that you can stick to without feeling deprived. The Weight Watchers plan focuses on nutrition, exercise, and counseling, instead of deprivation.

Following the Weight Watchers Plan

The Weight Watchers plan assigns each food a specific number of points. The number of points you're allowed per day depends on your weight and how much you want to lose. The best thing about Weight Watchers and the point system is that you can eat what you want. If you want an entire tub of ice cream, you can have it. That would be a lot of points though, and you probably wouldn't be able to eat anything else for the entire day.

Weight Watchers works because you can have small portions of any food you like. Instead of having that tub of ice cream, why not have two scoops? You can then spend your remaining points on a real meal. Weight Watchers created their own line of foods available in grocery stores and online. Some people think the Weight Watchers meals lack taste. An alternative is to purchase regular food, and then apply the points yourself. Online support, points, menus, and calculators are available to make things easier.

Does the Weight Watchers Point System Work?

The answer to that question depends on your weight loss goals. The Journal of the American Medical Association recently did a study of Weight Watchers participants. They found that following two years in the program, one group of participants lost an average of 6 pounds. Another group of participants, all of whom attended at least 78 percent of the weekly meetings, lost an average of 11 pounds after two years.

This isn't a significant amount of weight loss, considering it's over a two year period. Most dieters want to lose 6 to 11 pounds per month, not per year. If you want to lose a lot of weight fairly quickly, it seems that Weight Watchers may not work for you.

An obese person, who needs to lose a lot of weight for health reason, probably wouldn't benefit from Weight Watchers either. The best course of action is to perform more research, and decide if the program is right for you. However, it's not all bad news.

Some participants do really well with Weight Watchers. With the proper exercise and nutrition, you could lose more weight than the average participant. A person who exercises a few times a week will experience more weight loss than one who doesn't exercise at all. So if you're only slightly overweight, the point system may be a good option.

If you're not interested in counting points, you can always try the Weight Watchers core foods plan. This is for people who don't want to count points. Weight Watchers provides a list of approved foods (core foods) that can be eaten with little regard to portion size. If you stick to the foods on the core list, you won't have to worry about counting points. You can eat some foods that aren't on the core list, but then you'll have to count the points.

The Pros and Cons of Weight Watchers

There's a good and a bad side to everything. Here are some pros and cons regarding the Weight Watchers program:

Pros

1. The Weight Watchers point system makes it easy to eat a balanced meal. Since you can basically eat whatever you want, there's less chance of binging on junk food. You won't feel deprived, hungry, or tired.
2. Weight Watchers supplies all you need to stick to the plan. You can attend support meetings, use the website, and buy prepared frozen foods. If you don't like the frozen foods, Weight Watches shows you how to apply the point system to just about any type of food.
3. The support meetings provide social support. Some people lose weight faster, and change their eating habits easier, when they have a buddy to help them along. The support meetings aren't mandatory though, and you can build a support network online.
4. You learn portion control. The points encourage you to eat smaller portions of various foods, as opposed to large portions of everything.
5. You have complete control over the type of foods you eat. Weight Watchers doesn't deprive you of anything. The important thing is to keep track of your points.

Cons

1. Weight Watchers can become very expensive. The support meetings aren't free, and normally cost anywhere from $10 – $12 per meeting. These prices can change though, and vary based on your location. The online program charges a one time setup fee, and then a monthly fee of $16.95 (currently). If you purchase the meals, that's an added expense. It's important to note that Weight Watchers sometimes offers enrollment specials. There are also specials available for those who become lifetime members.
2. Point counting burnout. Some participants get bored and annoyed with counting points for everything they eat.
3. Slow weight loss (for some people). If you're looking to lose a significant amount of weight fairly quickly, Weight Watchers isn't your best option.

No matter which diet plan you choose, exercise is important. A diet plan paired with healthy eating is a sure way to lose weight, develop healthier eating habits, and keep the weight off.