Weight Watchers Diet Plan

No more food scales, no more "red-light" foods - Weight Watchers has changed with the times. This program is based on the premise that weight management needs to fit into your life, not be your life. Weight Watchers says that it is much more important to find an eating style and exercise routine that suits your life and that you can stick with in the long run.

The good thing is that the Weight Watchers diet plan believes there is no one diet that works for everyone, so you can tailor your eating habits to conveniently fit your lifestyle. There are two different plans you can choose from with Weight Watchers, based on the philosophy that the easier it is, the longer you will stick to it. Essentially, Weight Watchers says that there's no magic bullet-just had some self-control around the dessert table and gets your booty moving.

What makes the Weight Watchers Diet different?

Eat what you want-within limits. Weight Watchers encourages a balanced diet, including foods from all of the food groups, and even allows sweets every now and then. What makes the Weight Watchers diet program unique is that you can choose between two different programs, either keeping track of what you eat by converting foods into POINTS, or designing your meal plans from lists of core foods (mostly high in fiber and protein). This program also has meetings you can attend for support and guidance, as well as great online resources where you can get recipes, track your progress and calculate how many POINTS you ate. In the end, it's still a calorie-control plan, but it's much easier to follow than your grandmother's Weight Watcher plan of yesteryear.

What is the Weight Watchers Diet plan?

There are two options to follow. The Flex Plan is designed to allow you to eat any food, as long you keep track and control how much you eat.

Every food has a POINTS value, based on calories, grams of fat, and grams of dietary fiber. You are allotted a total number of daily POINTS based on your weight.

The Core Plan controls calories by focusing on a core list of wholesome, nutritious foods without counting. The list is made up of foods from all the food groups, but be advised that it's not quite all-you-can-eat-high-fiber carbs such as whole-wheat pasta, brown rice, or potatoes are limited to one serving per day, and processed meats such as hot dogs are off the list. For the occasional treat, you can eat foods outside of this list in a controlled amount.

On both plans, you can eat real food and you're not required to buy or eat specific foods. The only rules are to watch portion sizes and depending on which program you choose, either keep track of your daily POINTS, or stick to foods on the core list.

What are the weight loss expectations?

There are no weight loss promises while on the Weight Watchers diet plan, but a steady, incremental weight loss of 1-2 pounds per week is recommended. This rate of weight loss is thought to be ideal in order to maintain weight loss. If you attend meetings, be prepared for a weekly weigh-in, which is intended to keep you motivated and on track.

Is exercise promoted?

The Weight Watchers diet program starts with focusing on the food plan and then brings activity into the plan a couple weeks later, once you have had a chance to master the eating plan. Initially, the focus of exercise is to spend less time sitting, (take the stairs, park the car far away). Anything that does not require a great deal of effort, is doable, and does not reduce the focus on learning a food plan is suggested.

After a couple of weeks of reducing sedentary behavior, the POINTS Activity System enables you to do any exercise or activity that is enjoyable and fits into your lifestyle. Activity points are calculated based on your activity, which you can swap for additional food (walk briskly for 40 minutes and you can feel better about that cookie, for example).