Weight Watchers Diet Plan Information

WEIGHT WATCHERS DIET

Most people who have thought about losing weight have heard about Weight Watchers at some point. The Weight Watchers program began as a simple get together between friends in Queens but went on to become a multi-million dollar business. Today Weight Watchers employs around 50,000 staff and operates in more than 30 countries across the world.

So why is Weight Watchers so successful?

Weight Watchers success is primarily due to the fact that is much more than a simple diet plan. It is actually about a change in lifestyle and not just about what you eat. A healthy lifestyle is not just about your diet, it also revolves around your physical, emotional and mental wellbeing.

With this in mind, Weight Watchers does not just provide a simple diet sheet and tell you "eat this" and "don't eat this". Weight Watchers provides you with the information you need to make your own decisions about your diet. No food is off limits which many people find surprising. Within a structured diet there is actually room for everything, even a little bit of what other diets tell you that you shouldn't eat at all!

The reason that there are a lot of success stories with Weight Watchers is that the level of support and motivation provided is excellent. It can be hard losing weight, especially when you try to do it on your own. With the support and help of a group however, it can be a much different story. Many Weight Watchers go through the experience of losing weight together and become lifelong friends.

Group meetings are usually held locally and are worth attending. Many people who have never participated in Weight Watchers dismiss these meetings as pointless. However, many successful Weight Watcher participants say that these meetings gave them support and a focus point for their diet. It's not just about the information and tips provided at the meetings but also the encouragement given from other members that really seems to make the meetings worthwhile.

Meeting with fellow Weight Watchers allows you to show them your progress. If you are struggling you can usually get tips from other dieters who have gone through the same challenges as you. Sharing your results with others is also a very powerful motivator. You actually want to lose weight and prove to the other members that you can do it. If you succeed you will be congratulated. If you fail you will be supported and helped until you do succeed!

At the core of Weight Watchers is of course, a diet. This consists of the points plan and the core plan.

The Points Plan

Every member is given an allocation of points on a weekly basis. This is based on their present weight and their target weight. You are basically allowed to eat anything you like upto your allocated points.

This is another major strength of the Weight Watchers system. You are not limiting what you can eat but rather the quantity you eat. So if you are craving a particular food it's not a sin to eat it as long as your within your points allocation. Many other diets will ban certain types of food which can often lead to people giving in to cravings and then feeling guilty afterwards. The points system addresses this problem and makes the diet much easier to stick to.

Another advantage of the point system is that you can allocated negative points for excercising. So if you go over your points allocation you can redeem yourself through exercise. This makes the plan very flexible. If you want more points you simply do enough excercise to offset the points required.

The Core Plan

The core plan was introduced in response to other popular diets such as the Atkins plan and the South Beach diet. This plan classees certain foods as core foods where there is really no limit on the amount you can eat. However, you are supposed to eat such foods to satisfy your hunger and not eat them to the point where you are full or bloated.

The core foods include whole grains, fat free dairy produce and lean meats. If a food is not included on the core list it is allocated a score under the usual points system.

Both the points plan and core plan feature in other diet plans but Weight Watchers combines them along with great support. It's usually not enough to simply have a great diet plan in order to lose the weight. The information and support provided plays a major part in the success or failure of most diets. Weight Watchers is very good in this respect.

Weight Watchers is essentially a dieting club and not just a diet plan. It continues to grow and flourish around the world as one of the most popular and effective diet programs.