What They Say: “Our aim is not just to help you lose weight but to keep it off for the long haul. What you eat is important, and the Discover Plan will help you make smart choices and keep hunger at bay. The “Four Pillars” of the Weight Watchers approach also promotes healthy habits, a supportive environment, and exercise, in addition to making smarter food choices. And what you learn will stay with you for a lifetime. Our members agree that it works: 97% of them say they would recommend us to a friend.” – from WeightWatchers.co.uk
My Experience: From what I gathered in my three or four tries at losing weight through WW, there are several options available to the dieter. Two of the main options involve a Point system, where every food is rated with a specific designation of points, and based on your weight, you are allotted a certain amount. Of course, you can also build a bank of points to be used later, which is useful when you want a giant ice cream sundae from the local Dairy Queen. The other option involves a food list. You can eat all you want as long as the food is on the list. This is useful to those who cannot seem to control their portion size, but realistically what’s the point of a diet that doesn’t limit you in some way?
At the end of the day, millions of people have found Weight Watchers to be a useful tool to losing weight. It works. It’s proven to work. But in my experience, there is a slightly sinister underbelly to the WW World, which involves public shaming rituals in the form of weekly weigh-ins. While this makes some folks more contemplative about the reasons they gain and lose weight, it sometimes makes people give up all together if they DO have a slip up. No one wants to account for their sins in a group forum when your neighbour down the road has just lost ten pounds in one week!
ISMe Rating: 6/10 – works for some, but not for me