Last year I was lucky enough to spend six weeks in France as part of my M.A. program. The downside of my wonderful experience abroad was that I spent six weeks stuffing my face with butter, cheese, sauces, wine, and that world-renowned French bread. Thank goodness the airline weighed only my luggage and not ME on my return trip, as I had gained close to ten pounds. This coupled with the ten or so pounds that I'd accumulated since turning 30 were making me look like a chunky middle-aged woman rather than the hot babe I considered myself in my mind's eye. It was time for a reality check, so I checked out Weight Watchers' Winning Points.

The result? I lost over 20 lbs. in about three months and have kept them off for almost a year. I'm now a foxy size 4 and have no intention of ever returning to my previous weight thanks to the habits I've developed through Winning Points.

Despite what infomercials tell us, there's no magic formula for losing weight. If you eat fewer calories than you burn, you'll lose weight. If you exercise, you'll burn more calories and lose more weight. I knew this before trying Weight Watchers and had successfully lost weight sticking to my own version of this formula in the past. However, for whatever reason I was simply unable to discipline myself enough to lose the twenty pounds I wanted to lose last year on my own. After several half-hearted attempts to do it on my own, I signed up for the Winning Points plan online.

Winning Points follows the fundamental "eat fewer calories than you burn" rule. Weight Watchers has assigned point values to thousands of foods based on their calorie, fat and fiber content. The fewer the calories, the fewer the fat grams and the more fiber in a food, the fewer the points it is assigned. Based on your weight, you are allowed to eat a certain number of points per day. Various exercise activities are also assigned point values that earn you the right to eat more food points per day. As an illustration, I started Winning Points weighing 140 lbs. Based on this weight I was allowed to eat between 18-23 points per day. I walked briskly daily for 30 minutes, which allowed me to add 2 points to this for a total of 20-25 food points per day.

The Winning Points plan also allows you to "bank" (save) up to 9 unused points per day to use later in the same week. Although I understand that this has been modified somewhat with Weight Watchers' latest version of the "points" program (Flex Points), the idea is the same: you have flexibility to eat more points than your daily allowance on some days provided that you save for these occasions during the week.

There are several features of the Winning Points program that motivated me to stick with it:
- I had control over what I ate or didn't eat, provided that I stayed within my daily points range. If I wanted to eat 23 points worth of ice cream one day, I could. The fact that I had this kind of control prevented me from going overboard and breaking my diet.
- The flexibility of banking points allowed me to budget during the week so I could indulge when I wanted to. For example, my husband and I usually dine out every Friday, and I was still able to enjoy our night out while on the plan. We're also wine geeks, and Winning Points gave me the leeway to include wine in my life while still losing weight.
- The Winning Points plan is predicated on you keeping track of EVERYTHING that you eat. I'm certain that my failure to do this during the couple of months I tried to lose weight on my own is what prevented me from succeeding. "Journaling" everything you eat was a real reality check, but also a motivator to a goal-oriented person like myself.
- The "learning curve" on the plan is pretty flat: after a week or so I got pretty good at remembering and/or estimating points for foods I ate regularly or planned to eat. Reducing food values to points instead of calories made it a lot easier for me to remember them and add them up during the day.
- Winning Points provides a post-weight loss plan based on point values that allow you to maintain your weight. This encourages you to maintain the good eating and exercise habits you developed while on the weight loss plan for life.

Although I know lots of people who have attended and benefited from Weight Watchers meetings, I knew myself well enough to know that they weren't for me. I've never been a "joiner", and the idea of having to make my weight loss a group effort really turned me off. For an individualist like myself, the fact that I could do the Winning Points program online and on my own was attractive and motivating.

I also found that the online tools that Weight Watchers provides for Internet subscribers were easy to use and extremely helpful. These include an online journal to keep track of daily points, points calculators to tell you point values for thousands of foods (including prepared and restaurant foods), an index of thousands of Weight Watchers recipes, and a recipe builder that allows you to calculate point values for your own recipes or food combinations. There are also various message boards that let you share tips, stories, gripes, and praise with other Weight Watchers members.

So what were the cons of the program and of doing it online?
- I tended to obsess about point values and what I was eating in my first few weeks on the program, which I'm sure was annoying for those who had to listen to me yammer on endlessly about points. However, I think this was a necessary step in modifying my behavior over the long term.
- Some of the online tools were slow to load and had bugs. However, Weight Watchers has since upgraded their site and I find that they work better now.
- You still must pay for Winning Points' online program every month after you've lost your weight. I understand that this is different than joining Weight Watchers' meetings, where your membership is free once you enter the maintenance phase (provided you actually maintain your weight).
- If you're going to do Wining Points online, you must be highly motivated and enjoy working online. Some people who I've recommended the online program to who haven't met these criteria haven't been able to stick with the plan on their own. If this is you, I'd recommend checking out Weight Watchers meetings first.

I highly recommend Winning Points to anyone who has tried losing weight on his or her on but has failed. What Weight Watchers proposes isn't rocket science, but it's packaged in a user-friendly and motivating format that works.


Recommended: Yes

Approximate Monthly Cost (US$) 15
Food Variety Restrictions You eat any food you want
Restrictiveness of Portions Satisfying