Weight Watchers is a commercial weight loss program that focuses on balanced low fat nutrition, exercise and group counseling. Its latest diet creation is called “TurnAround” and is based on its successful “Flexpoints Plan” and “Winning Points Plan.” Every item of food from pizza to ice cream to carrots to bread has a points value based on its nutritional content. You may eat as you like as long as you stay within your allotment of points.
This new program is basically the same as the old, but uses the points in a slightly different manner. You are encouraged to use an online resource called “eTools,” along with a points “calculator” and recipes provided by Weight Watchers. To assist the dieter in their lifestyle changes all members are encouraged to attend group discussion and counseling sessions, mostly in person, at local Weight Watchers centers.
Weight Watchers programs have historically been good programs, but they are increasingly relying on gimmicks and slick marketing. The new “TurnAround” plan is basically the “Winning Points Plan” with re-freshed marketing. They advertise aggressively, trying to convince overweight people that they can lose weight without sacrificing the foods they love.
The points-based plans control portion size by allowing calories that should be consumed on healthy food with very small portions of potentially unhealthy food. This strategy gives the dieter a false sense of the real nutritional changes they need to make in their lives for long-term success. If one seriously wants to lose weight and keep it off in the long-term, they need to think more comprehensively about the foods they eat.
The program does not put a priority on exercise, which is essential. Long-term group therapy impedes the development of self-reliance and self-discipline, which is clearly the most important trait in those 5% of dieters who succeed in the long-term.
Bottom Line:
Realize that Weight Watchers is not a diet. If you need to lose more than 10 pounds initially, Weight Watchers is not the answer. It’s more of a way-of-life and maintenance program after you’ve reached your goal weight.
To lose 10 pounds or more, I recommend “bootcamp” diets like Nutrisystem or Medifast, where you are forced to eat smaller portions. Yes, the food isn’t 5 star gourmet. Yes, the portions are small. That’s exactly the point and it will force you down to your goal weight. It’s tough, but it’s only temporary. Is 1 or 2 months of strict portion control worth being skinny again? If not, how bad do you really want this?
After you’re down to goal weight, control your lifestyle with a program like Weight Watchers. It will provide you with the tools you need to succeed longterm.
Hi, I'm a dietitian with experience in hundreds of weight loss programs and fad diets. When forming my list of the
I’m really confused by all of these reviews.
Why would a *Weight Watchers meal* give anyone the runs? Weight Watchers doesn’t tell you what to eat; it preaches portion control. If you get the runs after a meal well, then, maybe you’d better check the efficacy of your refrigeration system. Moreover, why would a 350 pound man (IIRC) pass out from hunger; he’s pretty likely to have some fat stored for energy. Do you think that maybe, just maybe, he jumped into vigorous exercise too soon, and this all wasn’t WW fault?
As to those horrible meanies who wouldn’t allow a woman with a baby into a meeting, *everyone* paid for the meeting, not just your wife. When that adorable sleeping infant wakes up and starts screaming bloody murder, he’s going to disrupt *everyone* And that’s just one kid; imagine a dozen. That’s why WW very specifically designates certain meetings as child-friendly. Hey, I love me kid; I really do. He stays home with his dad while I’m at WW. OTOH, if the weighers saw the child, they should have warned mom.
But what’s most puzzling is the reviewer’s suggestion that NutriSystem is a better diet plan. Why? Because WW doesn’t *require* exercise? WW certainly *encourages* it strongly, but let’s face it, short of hiring someone with a whip to go after members, you can’t *require* anyone to exercise. And the fact is you *can* lose weight w/o exercise, if you’re willing to eat less. In any event, NutriSystem doesn’t require it either. What NutriSystem does is infanticize people — we’ll feed you from this jar (frozen dinner), and you’re incapable of choosing a different jar, or making your own (fresh) food. Let me ask, what happens when you go to that first wedding or busines lunch? What happens when you reach goal and have to make yourself dinner? Have you learned proper portion size? Have you learned to select food over the course of a day or week, planning so that if you’re going to a fancy restaurant with your spouse on Saturday, you think ahead and don’t order in pizza on Thursday? Of course not. You eat what NutriSystem puts on your plate and then, when you’re sick and tired of it (after 9 weeks in most cases, you admit), you’re right back where you started, having learned nothing.
You might get the idea that I like WW. That’s right. It treats me like an adult — I eat what I choose to eat, when I want to eat it. It forces me to think about what I eat each day. If I choose to eat a big lunch, I’m going to need to eat a low point (calorie) dinner. It also teaches me to think of my long-term eating. If I have a treat today, will I have enough weekly points left to have a treat over the weekend? You can’t have treats all the time; you have to choose. It encourages people to eat 5 or more servings of fruit and vegetables each day, 2 servings of dairy, 6-8 glasses of water, & exercice. It rewards low fat, high fiber (more healthful) eating, & exercise. It is teaching me how to eat for life.
After reading the comments left by others, I felt a need to tell my story, even though it is old. At 273#s, I knew I had to do something. For three weeks I sat in my car, watching WW members going into a meeting, waiting for a man to go in, preferably one bigger than me. Finally, one did go in, and I followed him. He signed in, weighed, and left while I was filling out paperwork. I never saw him again, but he got me into a meeting.
The weigher explained that my goal weight would be 170#, a loss of 103. I couldn’t emagine losing that much, but stuck to the diet for the first week, and lost 14 lbs, getting me to 259. From there, I just thought of it as working my way (weigh?) down a ladder, a 10 pound rung at a time.
I never felt hungry on the plan, and for the most part enjoyed the food, meetings and program in general. I made up my mind to stay on the plan religiously, and to lose weight every week. I succeeded in those goals, taking 52 weeks to lose 105 lbs. I actually had a fear at the end of not being able to stop losing!
After I reached my goal weight, I decided that the best way to stay with the program was to become a weigher, which I did for over a year, until I was transferred to another city. Being a weigher, I heard every excuse imaginable as to why someone had not lost weight that week, and because of that, I refuse to make an excuse today. If I gain or don’t lose, it is only because I failed myself. It’s not because of anything or anyone else.
After reading these reviews I’m at a loss as to what to say. I’ve been a lifetime member of weight watchers since 1988 and feel it’s the best thing out there on the market.
We do whatever we please and then when the solution takes time, commitment and self discipline to resolve, we get upset because “they” can’t fix it quick enough.
What happened to personal responsibility? Nobody made me eat that pint of Haagen daaz.
Granted, this may not be the best way for all people to lose weight, but my way wasn’t working for me. How’s things working for you?
Anytime we change ours food habits, our body has to adapt.
Sorry to hear that the lady with the baby had such a bad experience. She should call the ww toll free number and maybe they can do something to help.
As a lifetime member I have always been treated well.
Whatever plan ya’ll choose, I wish you the best of success. I can’t wish you luck because luck has nothing to do with it. It takes alot of HARD WORK, DEDICATION, and MOTIVATION to change our unhealthy habits. ALL the best.