Weight Watchers Diet
Diet claims, fads and programs are everywhere these days. The majority of overweight women (and some men too) have tried more than one of them at some point in their lives. Most diets lack some key elements that are necessary for true, long-lasting success. The Weight Watchers core diet plan is probably the longest-running, most widely recognized success story in the diet industry.
It all started with an overweight Queens housewife by the name of Jean Nidetch who, in 1961, had a weakness for cookies. After trying several unsuccessful fad diets, Jean discovered a diet recommended by a New York diet clinic. She lost 20 pounds initially before her self-control began to wane, so she called a few overweight friends together to talk about dieting ideas. The meetings worked and eventually turned into weekly classes. By 1963 Weight Watchers was incorporated.
Since then, Weight Watchers has become a highly successful, ever-expanding company. The reasons are numerous. The corporate philosophy has a firm base of support and accountability. Group meetings are a key element because they offer information, advice and encouragement to each member. Members interact with each other in a support group environment, which helps to strengthen occasionally flagging willpower.
Dieters are influenced with information and advice, which is how Weight Watchers takes support to a higher level. Add to this the benefits of local meetings, where members encourage and support each other and compare results. These interactive gatherings are critical for keeping members on track because not only are they sharing success stories but must also confess lack of success.
Weight Watchers basic philosophy of dieting includes a two-fold plan. The first is a basic, or core, plan. The second plan is made up of a points system.
The Weight Watchers points guide might sound familiar to many who have made previous diet attempts. Daily point allocations are based on a member’s current weight as well as their target weight. Every food has a points value and members may eat only up to their points total in any one day.
The best thing about following the Weight Watchers points guide is that virtually every food in existence is assigned points, and as long as you limit yourself to your daily allotment of points you can eat anything you like. Some other diets put restrictions on what may be eaten, even banning some foods while at the same time making others necessary.
Even better than the freedom to eat any food you like up to your points allocation, exercising contributes negative points to your daily allocation. This gives you the flexibility to actually exceed your points allocation at any time provided you add the required exercise allotment to bring your points total back down to your limit.
When the Atkins and the South Beach plans began gaining in popularity, Weight Watchers added the core diet in response. This plan specifies quite a variety of foods that may be eaten without limits. Fat free dairy products, lean meats, vegetables and fruits are only a few of the many types of foods included in the Weight Watchers core diet. The only limitations on these foods is that you should eat them only until you no longer feel “hungry”, not until you feel “full”. Points on these foods are not included in your daily total, but if you follow the core diet you are only allowed 35 points of non-core foods per week.
Neither the Weight Watchers points guide nor the Weight Watchers core diet is an original concept. The pattern they follow is offered by hundreds of other diet plans out there. The success of Weight Watchers is not based on the specific weight loss plans but on the strength of the support system, information and advice built around those plans. The help that is provided by the total Weight Watchers package makes the often long and difficult journey toward a healthy weight much easier and more enjoyable.
Over the years, Weight Watchers has gained the status of a “club”and has added to its strengths as more success stories have added to its glowing reputation. Offering so much more than just a core diet plan ensures that Weight Watchers will be a growing company for years to come.
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Are you willing to change your eating habits to just the healthy carbs and proteins, add an exercise regimen and interact with others who have the same weight loss goal? Can you keep track of the foods you eat with
help from a great support group?
Are you disciplined enough to make the switch to eating mostly
high-protein foods like meat, eggs and nuts? Could you bypass your
favorite carbohydrate-rich foods almost completely if it meant losing
megapounds fast?.
Could you switch to eating only "good carbs" if it meant losing
weight rather quickly? Would you be willing to track the Glycemic Index of the food you eat so your food choices leave you slimmer AND healthier?
Could you learn to eat good carbs and good fats to reach your goal in
losing weight? 