DIET PLANS FOR YOU--WEIGHT WATCHERS

DIET PLANS FOR YOU--WEIGHT WATCHERS

Weight Watchers maintains that healthful weight management requires a comprehensive lifestyle program that includes emotional, mental, and physical health within an environment of group support.

Founded in the early 1960s by Jean Nidetch, Weight Watchers runs one of the most popular worldwide weight loss programs and it has a proven 40-year track record of helping dieters to lose weight. Weight Watchers has a global network of classes or meetings involving 25 million people per week, and their official website gives details of all services, including:

Weight Watchers Meetings

Weight Watchers Winning Points plan

Weight Watchers Products

Weight Watchers Magazine

Weight Watchers Online services

Weight Watchers e Tools

The Plan

The new Winning Points plan is based on a point system, where every food is assigned a number of points based on its fat, fiber, and calorie content. Each person is assigned a daily points range designed to help them lose weight. Weight Watchers doesn't provide a list of forbidden foods or tell you what you can or can't eat. Instead, their current focus is to provide the information, knowledge, tools, and motivation you need to develop your own successful long-term weight management plan.

The Weight Watchers program is based on calorie-reduction, using the Weight Watchers points system. No foods are forbidden, although you are restricted to a certain number of daily 'points'.

Most dieters follow the Weight Watchers program by joining a weekly class, where they meet other dieters, exchange ideas, and receive support and advice from the class organizer. However, Weight Watchers also provides an online at-home program.

The Weight Watchers program does not offer fast weight loss, but its predicted average weight loss of about 2 pounds a week is the accepted maximum. Go any faster and you'll regain it all.

Disadvantages of The Weight Watchers Plan

Calorie-counting does raise our awareness of the relative calorific value of foods. However, the calorie content is only one standard of measurement. (A candy bar may contain the same calories/points as a large sandwich, but it's not as healthy or nutritious.) So as well as counting Weight Watchers points, you should be careful to develop healthy eating habits which will help you to lose weight and maintain your health.

It's difficult to continue counting calories for the rest of your life. There comes a time when you must be able to survive without your Weight Watchers points manual.

Many dieters obtain great benefits from meeting other dieters and talking through their problems. But some find it less beneficial. Much depends on the personality and experience of the Weight Watchers meeting organizer. If you are especially sensitive about your weight, it might be best to leave the class before the discussion period, or skip classes altogether and consider joining the Weight Watchers at-home program, instead. (Weight Watchers Online program starts at about $44 for a standard monthly plan.)

At between $10 and $15 a class, plus a joining fee, this can mount up. Also, in some countries, Weight Watchers operates a policy of charging for 'missed' classes. (In the USA, class membership may lapse after 4 missed classes.) So it's worth checking the details before you start.