Weight Watchers Diet Plan

Category: Weight Loss Plan+ Weight Loss Program

Weight Watchers is the weight loss version of the Alcoholics Anonymous and it actually started as a discussion group for how to best lose weight. This company was founded in the 1960s by Jean Nidetch. This is actually one of the best diets around because it puts all the management tools in the hands of the user. It now operates in about 30 countries around the world.

Weight Watchers Meetings

Weight Watchers is not so much a diet as a combination of low fat nutrition, exercising and group counseling for those who lack the motivation to lose weight on their own. The main feature of this veteran dieting program is, of course, the weekly meetings because people who are going through the same thing are going to be there to help you. Members attend meetings once a week to discuss their dieting experience and to learn how to make wise choices, eat healthy, or something like it. You also benefit from the exchange of weight loss tips, recipes and others’ practical experiences.

Weight Watchers Points

The Weight Watchers eating plan is based on points. Food items are assigned a specific number of points on the Weight Watchers system and various types of exercise are assigned negative numbers of points. Each dieter is told to restrict his food to a certain amount of points every day based on the individual’s current weight and weight goals. This means that you can choose any food as long as you control how much you eat and stay under your total point value for the week. Dieters are allowed to eat foods that are not usually recommended, but only very small portions of those. Healthy foods get the lowest amount of points and so can be had in greater quantities. The eating plan also comes with good advice on healthy eating and changes in the long-term lifestyle designed to keep the extra pounds away.

While the Weight Watchers program is and has been a good one, it seems that the tough competition from the weight loss market is beginning to take its toll on it. The latest version of the points system is the same as the one before, but with a lot more marketing and slogans attached. The company is also more aggressive in its tactics and is trying to attract overweight people with the promise of losing weight while still eating the foods they like. This is not the best approach for people who have to change their eating habits in order to lose any kind of weight.

One good point is that Weight Watchers do not try to sell you any kind of special food or secret formulas that cost an arm and a leg and which turn out to be of little use to many people. On the negative side, dieters may run into troubles when trying to determine the number of points for foods which are not listed on the Weight Watchers eating plan. Also, the program costs some $45-60 per month but there’s no contract, so you pay as you go and it is still one of the most reasonably priced weight-loss plan. Of course it may be a little too high for the cost conscious crowd and for those who can’t really afford this kind of monthly expenses.

Weight Watchers is ideal for people who can’t stick to a diet on their own and find this kind of peer support reassuring. It’s always better to know that others are going through the same thing and to talk to people who understand you. If having company during difficult times helps your willpower, then you are probably going to lose all that extra weight. If, on the other hand, you don’t like the idea of being constantly under peer pressure or dislike the record-keeping that the plan imposes then this diet is not for you.