I know, I know – an image of Jennifer Hudson singing her heart out
while calculating how many points are in a sandwich just popped into your
head. But, before you write Weight Watchers
off as a scheme built for a company to make money, hear me out.
(I should say that I am not in
any way affiliated with Weight Watchers.
What is written below is a direct result of my personal impression of
and experiences with the program.)
The Plan
The current Weight Watchers program is based on three basic principals
– staying within your points target, following the good health guidelines, and
attending weekly meetings.
1.
Points
Simply put every food item is assigned a points value based on its
amount of fat, carbohydrate, fiber, and protein, with the exception of fruits
and most vegetables, which are 0 points. (You better believe I load up on these – at
least 8 servings a day.)
Every day I eat my target points amount, which is calculated based on my
height, sex, and weight.
I can earn extra points by physical activity – which is calculated by my
body weight, duration of activity, and level of exertion. You are also allowed extra weekly points to
use or not use throughout the week, as necessary.
The end of the day should look something like this:
Daily Points + Activity Points – Eating Points = 0
All the calculations may seem a little complicated, but Weight Watchers
provides you with multiple resources to make tracking a breeze.
2.
Good Health Guidelines – in addition to tracking
your points, Weight Watchers encourages a balanced diet by following the
following guidelines (source)
3.
I attend weekly meetings to discuss challenges
and successes and to encourage others on their weight loss journey. Each meeting also has a focus topic – like
staying active, eating out, portion control, etc. This part of the plan is completely optional
– Weight Watchers can be followed completely online and there is an enormous
virtual support group through their message boards and other websites.
The Good
Weight Watchers is an extremely balanced
and flexible plan that allows me
to eat whatever I want – just not however much
I want. It has taught me portion control
and to eat more of the good-for-me things and less of the not-so-good-for-me
things.
I realize that their plan isn’t rocket science and that to some, eating
less and exercising more is the obvious way to stay healthy. In a perfect world I would just know what I should eat and what I
shouldn’t eat, but the world isn’t perfect.
I have tried multiple diets on my own only to fail days later. This is simply an area of my life where I
need help and this combination of fellowship, accountability, and tracking
really works for me. I rarely feel
hungry and instead feel completely in
control of my health and happiness.
I have also trained for and ran
my first half marathon at the Disney Princess Half Marathon while following
the Weight Watchers program which allowed me to safely fuel my body during the
entire process.
The Bad
A few complaints I have heard about the program:
·
“Calculating the points is always such a
hassle.” I agree that punching numbers
into the computer can get a bit old, but after a while it is just another part
of everyday life. I started to learn how
many points values my normal foods were and looked up anything new I thought
about buying. Taking the time to meal plan once a week also keeps this stress down to
a minimum. If this still isn’t your
thing, Weight Watchers also has a plan called Simply Filling which does not
require much tracking / calculating and instead focuses on what they call power
foods, but that is for another day.
·
“I hate paying money to lose weight.” Agreed.
Parting with that $40 a month is painful. I hate paying taxes too, but some things must
be done. The good news is that once I
reach my goal weight I get LifeTime member status and don’t have to give them
another cent as long as I stay at goal. I
also think of it has spending money now to save money on the high cost of poor
health later. Or a bigger jeans size.
·
“Talking about my weight loss problems in front
of other people is weird.” Although I
can’t personally relate to this (for some reason I can’t stop talking about it), I understand how others could be a little
shy about the whole meeting process. I
think that online is the way to go in that situation
·
“This isn’t something I plan on doing for the
rest of my life.” This is completely
false in my case. I fully intend to
follow this plan for the rest of my life – and l look forward to every single
flavorful, fun filled day of it.
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