Weight Watchers Works! Support, Laughs and Flexibility

by Leslie
(Canada)

I've been on and off WW for years. They've gone through some changes to their system and diet.

I've found it easier to balance what I eat with the points plan.

What I really liked about the points plan is that it gave me the flexibility to work around holidays, eating out, or events that came up in my life.

I found this helped me out so much as I could 'cheat' (which really wasn't cheating when I worked the points out and plan for these events.) It didn't make me feel bad and make me just stop the diet altogether, give up, or go on a binge.

The one thing I did find though was that my life revolved around what I ate because it was constant planning, and adding points to my daily totals. Even though I wasn't hungry I found the fixation of the diet made me want to eat. lol

Although there is a lot of room for flexibility within this diet to help you get through cravings, etc., the weight will come off VERY slowly. Half a pound a week is pretty normal.

I found adding exercise 5 times a week would bring my weight loss to 2-3 pounds. It was VERY rare to lose 5 pounds. That part was frustrating.

As much as diets are frustrating, WW has meeting leaders who are fellow WW members, and have also lost weight too.

I found lots of support and laughs in the meetings. I also found out that if you can find a WW meeting 7 days a week, you can go 7 days a week for the support, and only pay the weekly meeting fee once.

Overall, weight watchers is a good diet to do, but if you easily give up, or are easily frustrated on diets, this is not for you.

Leslie

Note from Dr. Dan

Leslie,

You mention that, "It was VERY rare to lose 5 pounds. That part was frustrating."

Losing 5 pounds a week on a diet is not just rare, it's almost incomprehensible. Why?

To lose weight -- if you mean losing fat -- you need a calorie deficit. You have to take in less than your body burns.

To lose 5 pounds a week -- if you're losing fat and not just water weight -- you would need to have a calorie deficit of over 24,000 calories per week.

I think that advertisements, weight loss shows on television and just plain wishful thinking contribute to this unrealistic idea.

It's too bad, though, because for many people it becomes a barrier to actually finding what does work and becoming successful.

Dr. Dan