Weight Watchers Diet

Weight Watchers is a commercial organization offering flexible food plans, weekly support meetings, and an emphasis on sensible eating and healthful lifestyle habits, including regular exercise. Members are assigned an initial goal of losing 5 to 10% of their body weight through a combination of exercise and food plans designed to reach that goal.

The program offers two food plans:

• The Flex Plan—All foods are assigned point values. No food is prohibited, as long as the total number of points does not exceed the daily allotment.

• The Core Plan—This plan focuses on choosing nutritious, low-calorie foods from every food group instead of counting points.

The weekly support meetings and detailed diet plans could work well for you if you like having specific instructions and enjoy meeting with other people who have had similar experience with wanting to lose weight.

Get started: Weight Watchers requires that you purchase membership in the program to attend group support meetings, and to receive printed materials. You can access more information on their official Web site: www.weightwatchers.com.

More about this diet

In the traditional program, called the Flex Plan, all foods are assigned point values according to fat, calorie, and fiber content. Each member is given a daily range of allowed points, and no foods are prohibited as long as dieters don't exceed the daily or weekly point maximum. Increasing exercise allows a member to earn more points for additional daily point allowances. A Web site (www.weightwatchers.com), printed guides, cookbooks, and branded Weight Watchers foods available in grocery stores are designed to help members learn and apply this point system.

A newer program, called the Core Plan, provides a list of nutritious and filling yet low-calorie items in every food group that can be eaten freely without counting points. Occasional treats are allowed in both plans, and members can switch from one plan to the other if they desire.

Weekly group meetings led by a trained, experienced member allow dieters to get advice and support one another. Members are encouraged to weigh themselves at each meeting. Online tools are available to members for counting Flex Plan points and for tracking weight-loss progress and exercise habits. Weight Watchers also offers a weight-maintenance plan.