Weight Watchers now has options!
Written: Nov 03 '04 (Updated Aug 14 '08)
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Pros: even more flexibility, can avoid journaling, counting & measuring if you like! Real food!!
Cons: depends on who you are
The Bottom Line: Weight Watchers is the #1 doctor recommended way to lose weight & is connected with the Amer. Heart Association. It is healthy & flexible. All employees were originally members.
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| wendybeck's Full Review: Weight Watchers TurnAround Program (Core / Flex Pl... |
**I am updating this review in 2008 to be sure it is up to date. Weight Watchers still works wonders. The few rough patches I've had were all me & I can always get back on track. My weight has stayed down & I can't thank Weight Watchers enough for truly being about helping people rather than making money.**
Weight Watchers already had a wonderful Flexpoints plan that helped me lose 58 lbs & keep it off. Now, with their Turnaround plan, you have 2 options. You can still use the Flexpts plan or you can use the new Core plan.
The Core plan allows you to simply stick to a specific list of healthy foods so that you don't have to journal or count points. The only pts you keep up with is the 35 points you are allowed each week for items such as bread, desserts, or butter/cheese that has fat in it. That's 5 pts a day to use anyway you want or you can save them up & have a splurge once a week.
The foods chosen to be on the Core plan list are there b/c they do not trigger overeating & cravings. They are filling. For example, you can have grapes but not raisins b/c grapes have a high concentration of water. You can eat a lot of grapes for the same calories as a few raisins. This makes the grapes more filling. This is also why pancakes aren't on the list but skim milk, eggs & whole wheat flour are. Yes, you can mix core foods to make pancakes but pancakes are a trigger food for a majority of people. Too easy to overeat. WW has done a great job of researching what foods trigger people & which ones don't.
The hardest part about the Core plan for most folks is that you should only eat when hungry and you stop eating when you are comfortable. Many people have weight issues b/c they don't know when to stop eating or how to judge proper portions. WW has tried to tackle this issue by avoiding trigger foods & such as listed above.
Probably the most popular aspect of the Core plan is that you no longer have to write down what you eat. If it's on the list, you're good. As for the 35 bonus points, you can even buy a cute bracelet to track those. (Doesn't help guys I realize). It's so nice sometimes to take a week & NOT have to write stuff down.
With Turnaround, you are not committed to Flex or to Core. You can do one plan one week & one plan the next. Do not switch plans in the middle of the week though since there's no way to research this to know if you'd still lose weight.
For those who aren't familiar with the Flex points plan:
Foods contain calories, fat & fiber. You use those 3 things to calculate a point value for a food. For example, an egg has 2 pts (all in the yolk so an egg white is 0!) When joining WW, you are provided with a slide ruler that will tell you how many pts a food item has. You quickly learn your favorite foods by heart so don't worry that you'll have to become one with the slide ruler.
Each day you are allowed so many points (depending on a short quiz you take). You also get 35 bonus points each week on top of your daily point allowance. You can divide them up to have 5 extra pts a day or save them up for a 35 point splurge or anything in between. It's easy once you get the hang of it & the flexibility is amazing. Nothing is forbidden. It's recommended that you write down what you eat to keep up with your points. WW provides free journals to do this or you can purchase a nicer WW 12 wk journal for like $6.00. Not bad.
The meetings are the heart of WW for many folks. Having that support each week & the chance to ask questions is priceless. Also: NO ONE can work for WW unless they have done the plan & kept the weight off!!!!! I don't ever want someone who was always a size 4 telling me how to lose weight! The leader at your meeting & even the folks just weighing you in have all been in your shoes.
WW also has a variety of ways to pay for their meetings which is nice. You can simply pay weekly or you can save some money & prepay for 10 weeks. The best is their monthly pass that gets you a website account thrown in! WW also runs open house now & then so folks can sit in on a meeting without joining. That way you can get a feel for what the group is about.
WW unlike many other companies do NOT push their own products on you. They offer them. If you want them- fine. If you don't- fine. This is one of the few weight loss, if not only, groups that I find are really there to help you lose weight & not to sell you more stuff. For your money, you get meeting support, 10 wks of materials, & all bonus materials. Once you become a lifetime member, by reaching your goal weight & maintaining it for 6 wks, it becomes free. The only time you pay is if you are more than 2 lbs over your goal weight. You get support for the rest of your life for free!
I have been at my goal & stayed there since 2001. WW helped me where no other program did & I've tried nearly everything.
Recommended:
Yes
Approximate Monthly Cost (US$) 40.
Food Variety Restrictions You eat any food you want
Restrictiveness of Portions Satisfying
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Epinions.com ID:
wendybeck
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Member: Wendy Beck
Location: Atlanta, Ga
Reviews written: 13
Trusted by: 2 members
About Me:
Conservation Biology degree, zookeeper, mom, loves reading, genealogy, & hanging with family & friends.
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