What is Weight Watchers?

Weight Watchers International was founded in 1963 by Jean Nidetch. While the program has evolved over the years, the philosophy behind it is a science-driven approach to weight loss.

The core of the program is based on points. The food you eat is assigned a certain number of points, and your goal is to stay within your allotted number of points each day to lose weight.

What makes Weight Watchers special is that the points go beyond calorie counting. The weight watchers points take saturated fat, sugar, and protein into consideration as well. This allows you to actually make smart choices based on a food’s nutritional value.

Pros

Eat What You Want

There are no foods that are off limit on Weight Watchers. This is great news for anyone who has felt too restricted on other popular diets. As long as you are staying on track and counting points, you can have your cake and eat it too.

There are no foods that are off limit on Weight Watchers. This is great news for anyone who has felt too restricted on other popular diets. As long as you are staying on track and counting points, you can have your cake and eat it too.

Understand Food

Since this plan is about more than counting calories and working out, you will actually gain education about how to nourish your body. This is one of the many reasons it is easy for Weight Watchers customers to maintain their weight even after going off the diet. While you are on the plan, you still get to live normally and eat what you want. Yet, since you are learning the right ways to eat as you go, it is easier to transition later.

Support

You aren’t in it alone. Weight Watchers facilitates in person meeting with other dieters. Additionally, their OnlinePlus tools give you access to other users and advice wherever you go.

Cons

Cost

There are a number of different Weight Watchers plans to choose from and you have to pay for them on a weekly basis. If you plan to use the program for a long time, these costs can add up fast. Weight Watchers can end up being much more expensive than one-time purchase diet plans.

Lack of structure

You are given a lot of freedom within this program. While that works for some, it’s not great for others. If you are looking to whip yourself into shape fast and for a structure to cling to, you won’t find it here.

Weekly weigh-ins

Weight watchers meetings require you to weigh-in on a weekly basis. This is encouraging to some but can cause others to quickly lose their motivation.

Pricing

So how much does this cost? All plans start with a fee of $20. Other pricing depends on how long the subscription your purchase is, but here are some guidelines:

OnlinePlus: $19.95 per month
Meetings + OnlinePlus: $44.95 per month
Coaching + OnlinePlus: $54.95 per month

Current promotions

You can find promotions running often on the Weight Watchers website. At the time that this article is being written, the current promotion is 50% off select subscription plans.

Now that you know about Weight Watchers, will you try out this diet?