This is a series in which I regale you with stories and reviews of diets I've tried first hand.
Part 3: Weight Watchers
Now, I'm not here to blast the Oprah of all dieting plans. Merely to give a recount of my personal experiences. Sometime in the future - I'll give you some anecdotes of my friends that have their own diet dramas, but this one, is mine.
The Premise
Weight Watchers is not a diet, it's a lifestyle. You eat what you like, all the while learning an overall healthier approach to food in regards to portion sizes, choices, and not hinging your entire life on obtaining vast amounts of it in order to ease stress from the horrible day you just had. It's incredibly flexible, making it adaptable for any schedule or circumstances. Calories, fiber, and fat are converted into handy "points" and you're given a set amount of points daily, as well
as a handful of extras for treats, dinners out, holidays etc.
Plus, it's a team sport! Support is key in Weight Watchers - and you get it either from meetings or on-line (or both).
The Fantastic
The best part about Weight Watchers: it's doable! It's a lifestyle change that actually fits into your life. You like pizza? Have some! Chocolate? Well, they make our own, so you know it's diet-legal! Of course, you're encouraged to eat a healthy balance of foods - including loads of veggies ('free' foods - sounds good, no?).
On top of that, it's pretty easy. Ok, it's really easy. You stay within your allotted points, you do lose weight. It's based on the most simple, tried & true formula: Eat Less. And, you can earn more points by exercising. It's a pretty good deal all around. Also, I think the support, whether it's online or in person can be extraordinarily helpful. Hell, if I didn't think community dieting was smart, this article would've started as "Dear Diary..."
On top of it all, it's been around for awhile. That means it's established and constantly refining the program. Plus you can come in contact with real live success stories. In fact, I know quite a few. My sister in law, Ms. M, recently dropped 10+ pounds on it. That said, a WW guru is never too far. My friend/coworker S can rattle off the plan, plus 14 tips and tricks that give you no excuse to be puttin' on any poundage.
The online resources for Weight Watchers are pretty amazing. Message boards make it easy to get advice and make connections. eTools help you track your progress, tally your points, and look up foods. Plus all sorts of ways to push you toward eating the right foods. And if that's not enough, there's a HUGE recipe database containing a Weight Watchers recipe for whatever you're craving. And if that doesn't work for you, there are loads of fan sites & other resources, like the all-knowing, all-tasting Hungry Girl
The Faults
Ok, so I have to say WW is a great plan, and the faults are pretty much on me. That said, there is such thing as too much freedom. After being on plan for a couple weeks, I will slowly start abusing the privileges of the point system. The picture below is a prime example of that. I, like many Women of Weight Watchers (WoWW), stock my house with handy little snacks from the grocery store. At first, it's exciting. "I can have ice cream - and it's only 2 points? For reals?!" and the one serving is perfect and you feel satisfied and smug. Me? It goes down hill fast. I quickly calculate how many healthful foods I can sacrifice in order to devour maximum snackage. The picture you see here is a sane & delicious WW ice cream bar, on top of a
perfectly portion controlled WW brownie.
I don't think the fine folks at Weight Watchers intended for these convenience foods to substitute for dinner.
Speaking of convenience foods, this plan has A LOT of them. You could totally get by on frozen dinners and pre-packaged snacks. While this is, well, convenient, it's also very high in sodium. For example, ubiquitous comfort food Macaroni & Cheese has 790 mg of sodium. That's a third of what you should have in a day.
Other than convenience foods, there are a lot of things that WW offers to assist you in dropping weight - and dropping cash. Books, cookbooks, magazines, website memberships, weekly dues, water bottles, scales, smoothie mixes, special mixers for your smoothie mixes, points counters, point calculators, little sugar free candies, and body fat meters...to name a few. You have the choice NOT to purchase the extraneous merchandise. While some are helpful tools, others will just lighten your wallet. Try to remember that buying a book won't help you lose weight, it's acting on the information inside the book that does the trick.
The Bottom Line
Weight Watchers is a solid plan. Flexible, easy to follow. However, like any other diet plan, if you don't follow the rules, you keep your extra pounds. The community aspect, combined with the wild popularity of the company, makes it easy to make changes to your lifestyle. If you're new to weight loss in general, I'd recommend starting here. If you're a chronic rule-breaker like myself, you might want something slightly more strict.
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3 comments:
I can't believe this post. I JUST came to these conclusions myself after a month-long attempt at finding the best way to break the WW intentions but stick to the letter of the law. WOW, it was a fun month of food, but I lost all of 1.5 pounds. THanking GOd I didn't gain! After one week--seven days--back on my tried and true low carb diet with no counting of points or calories, I lost SEVEN pounds. Yep, this is the one for me. I'm in love.
You said it: The problems with any diet plan are: rules & restriction AND yourself. Frankly, it's not about the diet plan or the food, it's about you and why you use food as a coping mechanism. When you figure that one out, you'll have the weight issue licked (pun definitely intended!). Working with a wellness coach will help you create a wellness vision for yourself and get to the heart of why you've "failed" in the past to achieve your goals. Learn to be an instinctive eater and "eat like a baby" again.
I am impressed with your knowledge of the program and its positives and negatives as you see them - many very valid points. What many people fail to recognize, and what you didn't touch on in your summary was the behavioral tools offered by Weight Watchers. Many people miss out on using these because they follow the food plan and maybe activity plan, come weigh in but don't make the time to stay for the meeting and learn the behavioral tools - reframing, mental rehearsing, storyboarding, winning outcomes, etc, as well as reinforcing habits like environment management, self care, self-monitoring, etc, and really miss out on the where weight loss really happens: above the neck.
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