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Weight Watchers Diet

	Weight Watchers' goal is to educate people about the foods they are eating and encourage them to enjoy more physical activity, thereby losing weight safely.
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Weight Watchers does not tell people what they can or can't eat. The goal is to educate people about the foods they are eating and encourage them to enjoy more physical activity, thereby losing weight safely and sensibly. At local group meetings, Weight Watchers members get motivation, mutual support, and encouragement in handling the challenges encountered in the process of changing behavior.

No foods are prohibited. Instead, based on their weight, age and sex, the dieters are given a personal number of points to keep to each day. Members can earn extra points with exercise.

How it works

Members keep track of the calories/fat they eat (in the form of points) and burn enough calories/fat to lose weight. It's just that simple.

A "points finder" helps members calibrate the points value of a recipe or a packaged product using the Nutrition Facts label. Over the first 10 weeks at Weight Watchers, the dieters will receive 11 different booklets. These, together with classes provide information on subjects such as setting realistic goals, choosing a balanced diet, menu plans, recipes, cooking tips, points values, eating out (‘bonus’ points can also be earned with extra exercise), positive thinking, relaxation and coping with lapses. Other resources such as cd roms and points calculators are available for purchase, and information is also available via the Internet.

By doing this, they will end up taking in fewer calories than they need to keep their weight stable, and so lose weight, typically at a healthy level of 1 to 2lbs a week. The dieters attend weekly classes and are provided with an information pack as part of their membership fee.

Weight watchers plan details

The dieters start with a two-week 'power start' schedule, where their points targets may initially be a bit lower. Their first aim is to lose 10 per cent of their weight, as this brings significant health benefits. If the dieters still need to, and want to keep losing, they can carry on. Awards are given for 10 per cent weight losses and achieving goal weights in the healthy weight range.

There are daily menus to guide the dieters on ways to use their points, or they can choose their own meals using the extensive food lists with points values. There is guidance on using points to choose a balanced diet, but in theory you could use all your points as chocolate or curry (that would equate to around one serving of balti chicken korma or 150g or so of chocolate, depending on their personal target!). But basically, the lower in fat and sugar their choices, the more they get to eat. While getting used to the points system the dieters will need to keep their food lists to hand.

Once the dieters reach their goal weight, they are given advice about weight maintenance and encouraged to keep attending weekly classes for six weeks. After that they can attend as they choose, for ongoing support, and there is the incentive of free classes if they stay within 5lbs of their goal weight and attend at least 6 times a year.

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Food for thought

The Weight Watchers philosophy follows recommendations from the National Weight Loss Registry, which shows that weight maintenance is achieved through a variety of changes in life-style not just diet-focused changes.

Recently, Weight Watchers sponsored a two-year clinical trial in which researchers followed participants randomly assigned one of two weight loss methods -- Weight Watchers or self-help. Those assigned to Weight Watchers consistently averaged weight losses that were about three times greater than the self-helpers.

The advantages of weight watchers plan is that while it helps people limit caloric intake, it also allow for optimal nutrient intake. Exercise is critical in dieting. However, weight watchers depends heavily on support groups, which may help many people stay on the straight and narrow. However, not everyone likes the group approach.

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