Remember a few paragraphs ago when I explained why calorie control was so important to weight loss? Well, Weight Watchers understands the importance of calorie control. They understand it so much in fact that they invented the Weight Watchers Point System. You see, on the Weight Watchers diet plan, you don't worry about calories. You don't count calories. You don't track calories. You don't even think about calories. Instead, there are points. You count points, you track points, you think about points.
Did you see what they did here?
The Weight Watchers diet plan threw out the word calories and replaced it with the word points for the purpose of... uhhh... hmmm... ummm... making money? That is honestly the only purpose I've come up with. Monitoring calories is free. Monitoring points costs money. Silly, isn't it? And don't even try to tell me that counting Weight Watchers points is any easier or simpler than counting plain old calories. Tell me, which sounds better...
You're eating a food. You turn it over. You read the back label. You've got your calories.
OR
You're eating a food. You turn it over. You read the back label You remember that foods don't list "points" in their nutritional information. You go to your computer. You turn it on. You go online. You log in to your Weight Watchers diet plan membership page. You go to the points section. You locate your food. You've got your points.
And for the foods that don't have a label (like when you eat out) you could simply buy a cheap pocket size calorie counter book or just as easily come online and look up how many calories they have (for free) just like you would look up Weight Watchers points. In this case counting points and counting calories require the same amount of effort. The only difference is that counting points puts you at a disadvantage for the majority of foods that do list calories right on them.
So once again, that's:
calories = free and convenient points system = costs money and is inconvenient
The other big catch of the Weight Watchers diet plan is that you are allowed to eat anything you want... in moderation of course. If you've been to this site before, you probably already know my feelings on food cravings and eating in moderation. That is just my personal opinion. But enough about me, let's get back to them. I've seen their advertisements. "Lose weight without giving up the foods you love!" This is their biggest selling point. Lots of times they also include pictures of chocolate cake in the ad. Yes, really. It's a smart idea. People want to lose weight... people love chocolate cake... and now here is this Weight Watchers diet plan telling them they can literally have their cake and eat it too. It must bring in a ton of sales. Good for them.
And in case you're wondering... they aren't lying about this. As long as you stay within your daily calorie range... oh, I'm sorry... your daily POINTS range... you can indeed have a piece of cake and still lose weight. While the quality of food you eat is very important, the whole "staying within your calories/points range" thing is what is most important to the Weight Watchers diet plan. Actually, it's what's most important to ANY effective weight loss program.
The Weight Watchers program isn't special. Like I explained before, your body needs a certain number of calories each day in order to maintain your current weight. If you eat less than this number of calories, you lose weight. If some of those calories happen to come from chocolate cake every now and then (although I'm against that), you'd still lose weight as long as you stay within your calorie range. Nothing specific to the Weight Watchers diet plan makes this possible. They want it to appear like it does, but then again, they also want your money. The ability to eat not-so-great foods "in moderation" and still lose weight is specific to a calorie controlled diet, not Weight Watchers. The only difference is, it costs money to do it on Weight Watchers. You can do it for free anywhere else.
Let's not forget the other big selling point of the Weight Watchers diet plain... the support meetings. You go to these weekly real life meetings with other Weight Watchers people trying to lose weight just like you. I'm not really sure what goes on at these support meetings exactly, but I'm guessing it's a lot of, "Come on, don't give up! You CAN lose weight. We're all behind you 100%. We know you can stick to your diet and workout... we believe in you!" While I would probably pee my pants from laughter at one of these meetings, I am completely aware of and respect the fact that some people need this type of support. For these people, I'm glad such support exists.
And for the people who don't feel like meeting with complete strangers in real life and sitting around chatting about points and weighing each other, the members of the Weight Watchers diet plan also have access to an online support group. This is fine and nice and good and all, but there are literally 100's (probably 1000's) of other online weight loss support groups, forums and chat rooms... and they are all free. Most even have their own specific Weight Watchers section. Once again... the only real difference here is that these other 1000's of groups are free... and the Weight Watcher's group costs money.
This whole "one way is free, one way costs money" thing is becoming a bit of trend here, isn't it?
Another less realized selling point of the Weight Watchers diet plan is that they sort of do some work for you. I've never actually joined this weight loss program, but as far as I can tell THEY are the ones who figure out how many points you're allowed each day. I'm assuming you give them your height, weight, age, activity level, measurements, favorite animal and other very important information, and they then do some diet math and come up with how many points you can eat each day. With calories, you would of course have to figure this information out yourself. Do you know what that means? It means you are basically paying Weight Watchers to do basic math for you.
This is what sells the program to the people with the "I can't sit around adding and subtracting calories all day" type of attitude. Trust me, if you can do 3rd grade addition and subtraction (or at least have a 3rd grader in the family who can) you can easily figure out the whole calories thing. So really, if a person didn't get on the Weight Watchers diet plan for any of the previously mentioned selling points, one can only assume they dropped out of school in the 2nd grade and really do need someone to do the math for them.
Ya know... on second thought... those support meetings are starting to sound a lot more entertaining.
"Hey, how much do you weigh this week?" "I'm not sure, I dropped out of school in the 2nd grade and can't read a scale." "I know what you mean. I had to get my 8 year old neighbor to tell me how much weight I've lost so far."
In conclusion...
So, to sum up, here is what you are essentially paying for as a member of the Weight Watchers diet plan:
- The completely unnecessary Points System. - The ability to eat a food like chocolate cake in moderation, which you could of course do on ANY calorie controlled diet... for free. - A weight loss support group that you could find somewhere else for free. - Basic 3rd grade math.
I know I've joked around a little in this Weight Watchers review, but this list is really real. Honestly, this does seem to be what you're paying them for.
If you didn't join this weight loss program, you would be forced to:
- Count calories for free - Find support somewhere else, for example: Join one of the 100's of free support groups and forums. Find a friend or two (or three) and lose weight together... for free. - Use a calculator. - Save all your money.
So, what is the final conclusion here? Is this weight loss program right for you? I guess only you can really answer that. All I can do is give you my personal opinion. And, in my personal opinion, the Weight Watchers diet plan is a waste of money. To me, you are basically paying for a compilation of features that can either be described as "completely unnecessary" or "available for free somewhere else."
And to me... that just isn't right for anyone.
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