The Weight Watchers Experience
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Last week I joined Weight Watchers. It may sound funny—a fitness professional joining a weight loss program—but like any person, I could use a little help monitoring my food intake from time to time. Besides, with so many clients joining or asking for information on the service, what better way for me to learn more about it?
Rather than telling you what to eat, Weight Watchers shows you how to eat; it teaches portion control and an easy way to track calorie consumption. Weight Watchers’ flagship service is a template that tracks the foods you eat and the subsequent calories you burn. It measures an individual foods calorie, fiber and fat content and assigns a point value based on these factors. After filling out some basic personal info you’re assigned a daily point quota. Provided you meet your point total, you should lose weight. Extra points are awarded for exercise, which provides a strong incentive to keep moving.Weight Watchers membership also offers access to a database of detailed, yet simple articles with tips and suggestions to help avoid pitfalls and maintain long term, healthy eating habits. These articles do a great job of breaking a wide range of fitness topics into terms and principles that are easy to understand.
In my years as a fitness professional I’ve met a lot of people who speak highly of the Weight Watchers program and so far I’ve been impressed by the programs balance of detail and flexibility. There is, however, room for improvement. A more complex algorithm for assessing the point values of foods would be a great start. Only a small task bar is provided to check daily intake of water, dairy, meat, veggies, etc. There is nothing to incentivize people to use the tool, or to eat a more varied and healthy range of foods. Although calorie density and fiber content are key, they are by no means more important than the essential fatty acids, micronutrients and phytochemicals provided by a well rounded diet. In the search for foods with low point values, foods high in healthy fats and loaded with nutrients (e.g. nuts and avocadoes), lose much of their draw. Instead, a Weight Watchers branded granola bar—stripped of its nutrient base and artificially supplemented to provide optimal levels of fiber and low calories—is promoted as a legitimate snack substitute. While this allows Weight Watchers to sell more products, it’s not an ethically sound food prescription. Food marketing giants all over the county promote high fiber this and low-cal that. Because of the confusion this causes it’s an ongoing battle to educate people about what healthful food really is and what’s just another food marketing ploy. The differentiator for Weight Watchers is that they’re a trusted source of health and fitness advice. They should be going the extra mile to insure members are not only losing fat, but maintaining healthy bodies.
Despite this over simplification of food, Weight Watchers provides a great way to learn how to manage your daily calorie intake. I would recommend it to anyone trying to lose weight or firm up. My one caveat would be that before getting caught up in the point value of foods, think about the significant benefits of eating natural and whole foods. Use the branded snack foods and supplements sparingly to compliment your meals, not replace them!
If you have any questions, or are curious to hear more about my 3 month experiment with Weight Watchers, let me know in the comments!
Ralph Griffiths
Reader Comments (6)
Too funny--I'm "re-starting" WW this week! A few years back the Points system helped me loose 20 lbs. and I've found that I need the accountability of weigh-ins and portion control to really loose weight. I tried to do it on my own with sparkpeople.com, but I have very little willpower. I truly believe that WW is the best "diet" program out there. It's more of a lifestyle change and it makes you very conscious about the types of food you eat and portion control. Good Luck!
Thanks Amy. It's great to hear you're reclaiming accountability for your food. Good luck to you too!
Ralph, it's so cool that you did this! What a great way to prove your commitment to good health and inspire others to do the same. After all, as we learned at the GGSummit, you don't have to be fat to e an unhealthy eater. I think some people view going to WW as "admitting you have a problem." The idea that it's just responsible living is really fresh and nice.
Marissa, thank you. Your comment is right on the money. Since starting WW three weeks ago, many of my clients have decided to join me on the program. "Responsible living" is a great way to define their choice. I hope the realization that you don't have to be grossly unhealthy to benefit from joining a program like WW is shared by other readers too.
Hi Ralph--just was curious to know how your WW experiment is going? I'm doing great--I've lost about 9lbs. already, which is reflective of the 1-2 loss per week. I have had some set backs, but so far I already notice a difference. I'm trying to eat more the the "filling foods" and have become more conscious of portion sizes.
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