This is the story of a skinny kid. Shortish, with knobby knees. One of the meaner boys in her neighborhood told the kid that if she took a bath and let the bath water out when she was still in the tub, she would go right down the drain.

As an adolescent, she stayed thin…she suffered a weight gain her first year of college, but then took it right back off again by going on the American Diabetes Association’s “exchange” diet.

The kid stayed fairly thin for several years, at one point joking that she was on the “Diet Coke” diet.

Then the kid turned 30. Everything just seemed to stop. Metabolism turned into sludge. Five extra pounds turned into 10; 10 into 15, and so on.

The kid (becoming a little pudgier), quit her retail “run around like a mad woman all day” job and got an office job with normal hours and less physical activity. She had a baby. She worked in an office with overweight people, and one day realized that she was one of them. She went shopping and tried on clothes, and found that she no longer fit in Misses sizes. It was time for Women’s sizes that ended in “X”.

She became slightly depressed, realizing that soon her clothes would be worn out or just plain too freaking tight to wear, and she would be forced to go shopping again. She swore that she would NOT buy anymore clothes until she lost weight.

She tried Herbalife. She got tired of drinking shakes and spending $50/month on supplements and shake mix. The 15 pounds she lost came right back.

She tried Atkins. She couldn’t go without fruit, vegetables, bread, and pasta, so it only lasted three or four days.

She tried going veggie. Her family revolted during a tofu-fest and threw eggplant at the cats.

As she became more and more depressed about her weight, a colleague at work suggested joining Weight Watchers. “I don’t want to go in a room with a bunch of fat people, have my weight announced to the world, and listen to some rah-rah BS,” she thought.

A new Weight Watchers At Work session was going to start in a week. “Come on, just come to the orientation. You’ll learn about the program, and see if it’s for you or not,” the annoying friend insisted.

“Fine. I’ll go.”

And the rest is history.
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Yep, that’s my story. I’ve lost over 30 pounds on the Weight Watchers Winning Points Program, and have had to make minimal changes in the way my family and I eat. I’m a vocal advocate for the program, fueled by the fact that Weight Watchers has given me my life back. I have confidence that I thought was gone. I have a better relationship with my husband and kids. I’m more relaxed, and have reset the priorities in my life. People can see the physical changes in the way I look, but they also see my positive outlook.

Winning Points is the name of the Weight Watchers program, and it’s about more than just counting calories. In fact, calories aren’t counted at all. Weight Watchers uses a puzzle graphic to illustrate the different components of Winning Points: goals, food choices, exercise, support, and tools.

At my first Weight Watchers meeting, I filled out some brief paperwork, paid for my program (the At Work sessions I attend require pre-paying for a full 10 week session), and weighed in for the first time. While the room was full of people, everyone stood at a respectful distance during weigh-in, and the group leader (a Weight Watchers employee), discretely recorded my weight. She gave me my initial goal of a 10% loss of my current weight.

Food choices were talked about at that initial meeting. We learned that every bite, every lick, every taste has to be accounted for. You can eat it, but then you own it. The first tool put in our hands was a journal to write every single consumable in. Taste the soup to be sure it isn’t too salty? Write it down. Eat a slice of pizza? Write it down. Drink a glass of wine? Write it down. Finish the baby’s leftover mashed potatoes (wouldn’t want that food to go to waste!)? Write it down. You get the drill.

Tool number two was a Points calculator. Just like an old fashioned slide rule, this one is designed to figure the number of Points by lining up the fiber, calories, and fat grams of the food selection. In the journal, I needed to record the Points spent on what I was eating.

Finally, we given our Points range for our current weight. This is the daily range of points one is allowed, based on gender and weight. I was allowed 22-28 Points in my first go round. Here’s a sample day:

Breakfast: 1 cups Grape Nuts O’s cereal (2 points) with 1 cup skim milk (2 points)
Snack: 1 medium raw apple (1 point)
Lunch: Wheat turkey wrap sandwich with mustard, lettuce, black olives, tomatoes, green and red peppers, cucumbers (5 points)
Snack: Hershey’s Miniature chocolate bar (2 points)
Dinner: 3 oz chicken with marinara sauce (6 points), 2 oz pasta (4 points), 1 T parmesan cheese (2 points), green beans (0 points), green salad (0 points), 1 t salad dressing (1 point), 2 slices light bread (1 point), glass of wine (2 points)
At least 64 oz. water should be consumed. To meet the 64 oz, you can count any non-caffeine beverage (decaf coffee, tea, milk, juice, soda, wine, etc.,). Just be sure if there are calories that you count the Points!

As you can see, I didn’t go hungry, nor did I ingest foods I didn’t like. I don’t like fat-free ranch dressing, so I ate the regular stuff, but I cut back on portion size. Whenever possible I prepared food without added fat, but for the most part, I did not change what my family was eating.

With Winning Points, success is measured and rewarded. To mark my first 5 pound loss, I got a red bookmark with “I LOST 5 POUNDS!” in bold white letters on it. For each subsequent 5 pound loss, I was rewarded with a gold star sticker to put on my bookmark. At first, this seemed to be rather silly, but getting those darn stars got to be pretty inspirational when times got tough! Additional rewards along the journey include a nifty brushed gold key chain with an inconspicuous “WW” stamped on it for achieving my 10% goal and subsequent charms for reaching goal and life-time status.

At 10% weight loss, the Weight Watchers leader helps to set a new goal. For me, it was where I wanted to be as a final number. For others who had a little further to travel, it may be another 10%. Your program will be what you want it to be with the help of your leader.

Exercise is introduced in week four of the program, but that doesn’t mean you can’t start earlier. While exercising will buy you extra Points (based on intensity, duration, and your current weight), not using those Points allows you to lose weight more quickly. Exercise can be whatever you want it to be – from weight lifting and aerobics classes to simply taking an evening stroll. The key is to get your body moving – at least 20 minutes per day.

Have I driven the point home that Winning Points is not a diet, but a lifestyle? If not, how’s this for a twist: Got a big dinner out? Vacation? Mom’s home cooking? Plan for it and you can eat what you’d like. The Winning Points program includes the ability to save and “bank” Points – holding onto precious Points that can be used later (within a week and no more than 10 per day) for special occasions. As long as you don’t go over your daily total, you can bank Points for later.

Throughout my journey, I was provided with many other tools that Weight Watchers has found successful. Not all of them work for every person. Recipes, which included the number of Points per serving, may appeal to you or not. You’ll also find out what kind of eater you are (grazer, three squares), and the types of foods that satisfy you. Weight Watchers Winning Points is more about finding out about your own eating styles and learning how to work within your daily routine…and less about “take our program and make yourself fit into it”.

After 26 weeks, I reached my final destination. Over 30 pounds lost and goal weight. I was rewarded with the metal gold star charm to put on my key chain went on to the maintenance section of the program. I get to add Points (yes, that means eat more!) until I find where my body is able to maintain without gaining (eek!) or losing any more.

After I’ve completed six weeks of maintenance I will become a Lifetime Member of Weight Watchers. This means that I can continue to attend meetings at no cost, as long as I weigh in at least once a month and maintain my weight at no more than 2 pounds above my goal weight. (Check back on January 15, 2002, if you are interested, to see what happens.)

Pitfalls to avoid:
Skipping the journal, especially early in the program. Get the discipline in place. You can get sloppy later on (if that’s your style). Don’t forget to calculate those Points…including the extras that you earn from exercise and banking for special occasions.

Missing a meeting. I missed one meeting in six months ( I was in Mexico). However, if I had something else going on during my normal meeting time, I would go to another meeting. If you have a conflict with your usual meeting schedule, visit weightwatchers.com and find an alternate that is close and at a convenient time. Our leader told of how she had been just a couple of weeks away from being a lifetime member after losing 70 pounds, and then skipped a meeting because she’d had a bad week. One week turned into four years and 40 pounds gained back. That support is essential.

Throwing in the towel. Just because you have a bad day, a bad lunch, a bad week, doesn’t mean you have to give up. You’re allowed to slip, but you have to get back on the wagon. My friend taurusmoon gave me a great visual: The wagon doesn’t have to be a big old covered wagon from the old west. It’s just a little Red Flyer…and there are lots of helping hands to get you back into it at any time.

Best of luck to you if you decide to join Weight Watchers and the Winning Points program and become a LOOSAH too…let me know how you are doing!

Update August 10, 2002 Been a while since I've visited this review! Just wanted to drop a line that since obtaining my Lifetime status on WW January 15, I've been maintaining ever since. I'm not as diligent on journaling, but I've learned to balance my input (food) and output (exercise) to be able to keep my weight within a couple of pounds of goal. Sure I've had some set backs...in June, I weighed in at my heaviest (4 lbs over goal) and jumped right back into the regiment of journaling and counting every single point until I got back down to where I wanted to be.

Exercise is now an important part of my life...I'm training for a 60 mile marathon, so believe me, I get in PLENTY of miles of walking!!

Bottom line, it's still working for me. I love the WW program and encourage you to find out if it's the right one for you.

Thanks for reading,

Lynn


Recommended: Yes

Approximate Monthly Cost (US$) 44
Food Variety Restrictions You eat any food you want
Restrictiveness of Portions Several hearty portions