The only successful diet for me (Weight Watchers)

Member Name: Cheryld

Product:	Weight Watchers
Date:	06/10/08 (190 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Easy to follow, unrestrictive, fits in with your life

Disadvantages: Erm.....

I first tried the WeightWatchers diet about 4 years ago, after a friends of mine lost about 2 stone on it. Since then, I've had periods where I follow it strictly and periods where I don't, but I generally have WeightWatchers in the back of my mind.

I've never been to a Weightwatchers meeting, so I can't comment on those. Personally, i've never felt the need to, but my willpower is pretty good once i get going. I guess others find the weekly weigh-ins and meetings a good boost and motivator.

As others have stated, there are 2 plans: The core plan (where you are restricted in terms of the foods you can eat, but you don't have to weigh these foods or count points), and The Points plan (where you can eat what you want, but only have a certain number of points to eat in a day, so you have more choice but have to weigh foods and keep a count of your points throughout the day).

I've always used The Points plan. It's easy to start on your own. You only really need 'The shopping guide' and 'The eating out guide' to start. These contain the points values of a wide range of foods and brands of foods, as well as for popular take-aways and restaurants. You can pick these up from ebay easily, so it doesn't have to cost much. There are websites that help you to work out how many points you are entitled to each day. I have recently bought a Points Calculator, which is helpful for foods that aren't covered in the guides, but I managed to lose weight successfully without this before, so it's a nice extra but not essential.

Ok, that's a bit of background. Now for the reasons that I love weightwatchers Point plan:

1) It fits in with my lifestyle. Unlike some other diets, you don't have to eat specific foods so you don't end up having to eat something different from the rest of the family. It's so easy to adapt easy family meals so that they are low in points. Staple meals that we eat regularly are Chilli, Spag bol, stir fry, omelettes, roast dinners, fish fingers and oven chips, pasta dishes, casseroles, sausage and mash. The list goes on..... but I won't!

2) It really can become a way of life. Because of the lack of restrictions, you can easily maintain the diet in a low-key way and maintain your weight. Ok, you still need the dreaded will-power, but it's definitely possible.

3) It's really flexible. You can save up to 4 points a day and use them on another day. I often save a few points up during the week so that I can relax at the weekend and have a couple of glasses of wine, a take-away or a chocolate bar. Then it doesn't feel much like a diet at all.

4) Although you have to count points strictly to start with, you quickly become familiar with points value of your favourite foods. I very rarely weigh foods now. I just have a pretty good idea of amounts and points values. This makes it a pretty low-maintenance diet, after you get used to it.

All in all, the only diet for me. I have tried other diets occasionally, just for a bit of variety, but they never last and I always come back to WeightWatchers.

Summary: Works every time