Weight watchers skepticism

[Veggi]

Just another good word for WW. I did the WW core plan last year and had great success. I never tried the points plan, as I have no patience for counting things like that and the core food list had everything I wanted to eat, anyway. In talking with a friend who has done very well with the SBD, we realized that WW Core and SBD P2 are very, very similar. I decided to check out the Beach this month when I bought the book off a dollar rack. I'm on P2 now and if feels just like my old Core plan. Main difference is that on SB, low-fat dairy is permitted while on Core it has to be no-fat. Not a very big difference, I like both just fine. And often I don't do any dairy at all.
South Beach and WW Core are very compatible, and I will credit both for my improving health.
I can't discuss living on WW Points as I never tried it.

[frustratedieter]

This thread is a "hot topic"!!!! I did WW for about 1 1/2 years and lost maybe 25lbs or so. Then plateaued without budging. It was highly frustrating!!! I too found out I was insulin resistant about that time. But didn't figure out why I couldn't lose anymore!!!
In my recent investigations of how to conquer my issues I found SB. BUT back to WW...I remember our leader being able to share what foods to buy at the grocery store (all sorts of good stuff) then later on she share that the corporation wouldn't allow that anymore. Don't know if they felt that the WW brands needed to be purchased and things like Amy's etc. were the competition.
One of my leaders (I went to 2 different meetings in that year-and-a-half) really stressed exercise but I didnt' hear it I guess. Now I'm exercising AND eating pretty healthy I think. The carbs were a HUGE part of my retaining the lbs!!!
Today's society really relies too much on pre-prepared foods, drive-through, and what is fast to fix....rather than the "made from scratch" food items! I think this plays huge into the obesity problem!!!

[pedsrn]

i didnt think i would find a thread on this but i've been thinking about how similar it is to WW. I also was a BIG fan of WW until I decided to try something else. Now that i'm in phase 2, i see it very similar to WW in some ways but think SBD promotes healthier eating and lifestyle.

I got sick of trying WW again (each time i lost over 20 lbs easily and smoothly) because I wasnt interested in counting everything I ate. It does come natural after a little while, but still. Also, its true that with the points, some times all i would have for supper would be a slice of ice cream pie. I'd waste my points on such junk and I wouldnt have any extra points left for healthy fish or chicken, etc. Also, you learn how to get around the points like only eating egg whites of hard-boiled eggs,etc.

So, to be honest, I'm 2.5 weeks into SBD and i feel very full, not deprived, healthy, losing weight at a slow but nice pace and dont have to worry if i have an extra peice of meat or another egg. I dont have to count most of what I eat. I thought I would start SBD and then switch over to WW if SBD was getting to hard for me. But I think I'm "sold" with SBD now and realize how much healthier I feel when I eat healthier foods.

[carolinagal]

Well I just re-joined weight watchers recently. I was not excited about counting points again - but I thought it was worth a try to lose some weight. I was thrilled to see that they added the Core Plan. I hated counting points with a passion! So far from what I can tell the Core is similar to P2 on SBD. Sooo Im ditching my weight watchers membership & going with SBD. Last time I did SBD I lost 13 lbs in Phase 1... Hope to have same results this time around.

[pedsrn]

im thinking of going back to WW again but without the membership. When I commit to it, I can do really well on my own without the meetings.

[frustratedieter]

I haven't read through all the posts here but will add my 2-cents worth anyway. I'm a past WW member and was highly frustrated the 2 times I belonged. I did the point system as I felt it was more "strict" and that I needed that to stay OP. Anyway I lost very slowly and would yo-yo along the way and then I hit a wall (Plateau) that lasted for weeks into months. I got very discouraged BOTH times and quit.

THEN I was told I was "insulin resistant" and while not impossible...it would be very hard for me to lose weight! This from my health-care provider. I did some online research and read SB in alot of the material and thought I should look into this! I've been doing SB since March of this year ( '08 ) and have to date lost 14 lbs. I've steadily lost and this never happened with WW. I think WW probably is a good program "if" one doesn't have insulin resistance, PICOS and similar issues. For me and apparently for others by this post's information...it probably isn't a program that works well. At least if one counts the points. I want to be on a program where my insulin levels as well as cholestrol become more in normal ranges. If I"m eating alot of processed foods (which has hidden sugars and more in them)...this can't be a healthy way of eating!!!!

[Kimboroni]

I think WW probably is a good program "if" one doesn't have insulin resistance, PICOS and similar issues.

The problem is that abusing the points so that you eat a certain way can eventually make you develop insulin resistance. It isn't something that just happens-- IR comes directly from lifestyle habits.

[Elaine64]

Hi. I'm new to the SBD (just started P2) and actually this is my first post. Love these boards, btw! I had about 15 pds to lose and had been doing WW's flex plan for the past 18 mths. It worked for me and I lost about 12-15 pds but eventually found myself doing what a lot of people OP tend to do; I was saving all of my points and wasting them at the end of the end on empty calories. I am a huge chocoholic and love my sweets so I was using 50% of my points on junkfood every day. Eventually my weight plateaued and I stopped losing. Then my plateau turned into gradual increases. I've now put back on about 5 pds. I started exercising 5 days a week and decided I had to make a major change and that meant giving up sugar and refined carbs. I think that WW's has many positive qualities and it did work for me. I did learn some healthy eating habits but now it's time for a change and I feel like SBD is the best way for me to do this. I was extremely anal about counting my points everyday so having that burden lifted off of me is great!

[rainbow~beach]

My WW story...

I first tried WW when I was about 13 years old. Back then, it was the ticking boxes for each portion eaten. I lost about 10 pounds (out of 70 I needed to lose), then plateaued for a couple of months. Now, as my mother was the one preparing my meals (and paying for the classes), SHE got bored and went back to making me the same food as the family and stopped paying for classes.

When I was 21, I followed the Rosemary Conley WOE. I attended the weekly exercise classes and managed to lose 10lbs, and again plateaued for weeks, so I stopped going.

When I was 28 I decided to go back to WW as I was heading for my 30th birthday and didn't want to spend my 30s being fat (as I had my childhood, my teens, and my 20s). I attended the classes, lost about 10lbs (I'm seeing a pattern here!), plateaued, left.

When I was 32, I went back to WW, joined a fairly new class in my area. By now I had been through a period of clinical depression, with all the illness and med side effects, such as craving for carbs and being too knocked out to exercise or go anywhere. In 6 weeks I GAINED 7 lbs. The leader was baffled. She read over my food journals and couldn't see anything wrong with them at all. She recommended I drop a few points to see if that kick started weight loss. I gained another 2 lbs. I left.

Then I fell ill with polycythemia, and was referred to a haematologist. We discussed my weight during the assessment appointment, and the specialist asked if I had heard about South Beach? He went onto explain what it was all about and how it's the only "diet" he would recommend - and also said that WW only works for approx 20% of the population...

For me, WW clearly doesn't work. I've tried the flex and core plans. Both have too much leeway to eat too much (bad) carbs. My haemo said that the WW food "chart" is still very much based on 1970s research - basically 1 third of your intake should be carbs/starches - which is one of the reasons why it doesn't effectively deal with IR or pre-diabetes. Also - as has previously been mentioned - it doesn't deal with your cravings or blood sugar levels. Even when I "worked" the plan to the letter, it didn't work for me.

[beachmeup]

Just want to add my experience to the other voices that are not WW fans...if this doesn't reflect the differences between SBD and WW, nothing will! About 3 years ago, I had lost 115# on SBD, and had kept it off for about 6 months. Wanting to lose another 15-20#, but starting to feel like I couldn't get back on a strict PH I or II, decided to try WW. I bought all the books, signed up for 10 weeks, was all gung-ho. I counted my points religiously, never going over, but LOVED being able to occasionally eat a slim-a-bear, or once a week, something like fried chicken or abig old cookie. I continued exercising religiously, 5-6 times a week, 1 1/2 hours a day. At the end of 3 weeks - I had GAINED 9 POUNDS!!!
Many of you won't be surprised to hear that I have polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), and am insulin resistant. The thing that pissed me off the most, I think, was the response/attitude of the WW people. Every time I weighed in, and would show them my food and exercise journal, they'd say something to imply I was not being "honest" or shoot me a look like "yeah, right." And whenever I even tried talking to them about why was I able to lose so much on SBD, but was having such disastrous results on WW, they would get all haughty and not want to hear A WORD about SBD. So, I got back on SBD then, PHI religiously for 2 weeks, then PH II, and it took me 4 weeks to lose those dang 9 pounds.

[gjkoolkat]

Weight Watchers is a great program! A major focus in WW is portion control. There are steps/guidelines to follow. They try to teach you that you can have everything in moderation. Yes, a lot of people abuse it and choose to have all of their points in pasta, breads, desserts. And some of those people may be able to lose their weight while eating that way. That is not the way the program is designed, though. You need to follow the steps, 5 serv. of fruit/veggies, drink your water, 2 serv. of dairy, ect. I have done WW now for a long time and have maintained my weight, but a few lbs. are starting to creep up, so I'm trying SBD. We'll see how it goes! One problem with WW is that people really do cheat bad and people just aren't honest with themselves on the extra points they consume of their allowed number of points every week. Very few people on the diet really watch their portion sizes, I feel. I will definitely always fall back on WW, but I'm hoping that I learn a lot from SBD about a new way of eating!

[Too Fluffy]

Weight Watchers is revamping the program again, starting Dec. 7th. From what I've read, it will mainly affect the Core program, and is called Simply Filling, the Momentum plan. It has to do with intuitive eating, and includes more whole foods. Like most "diets", I think this will be out of the question for some people, and just the ticket for others.

[Tinman57]

Eh. It's a religious thing with most people. Even on WW you can get the Flex people punching out the Core people. Whatever works for you is what works for you.

[Leafar the Lost]

Weight Watchers is a business that makes it money on failure. They call themselves a non-profit which is a lie. If everyone who went on WW actually lost weight, and kept it off, then it would close down within a year or less. I can think of no other business that operates that way. They know that 95% of dieters fail, and they make their money from that failure. Their point system is a joke, and it has little to do with reality. As you lose weight, the points are lowered, but the reason they give you is another lie. They lower the points in order to make it more difficult for you to stay on the plan, because you will become so hungry. Then you will quit. Some time will pass, and you will try it again...and again... and again.

They should release their success rate. How many people who join WW actually become Lifetime Members? How many of the so called Lifetime Members actually keep their weight off? The few that do are the lucky 5%, and they probably kept their weight off by following another plan...like SB.

[chellebelle22]

Bumping this ancient thread to add a word about WW...

Like any other plan, it is what you make of it. I did the Flex plan a year and a half ago and lost 24 pounds. If you truly follow the plan, there's not much room for junk - you have required dairy, veggie, fruit, protein, whole grains and oil servings, as well as an activity requirement. If you get in all of those, there are very few points left over for junk, at least if you don't have too much weight to lose. Sure, some people abuse the program and eat nothing but (small amounts) of junk, but that's not a problem with the program, IMO, it's a problem with the people choosing to ignore the guidelines in favor of eating junk. That's just as much cheating as eating too many points is.

The reason I'm here if WW is such a good plan? Well, I quit following the plan after a while on maintenance. Figured I could just follow the guidelines without counting points or journaling, and well...um...yeah. So that didn't work - I devolved into fast food all the time, no exercise, and just generally really bad habits. This time around, I really don't want to obsess about food, points, servings, etc., and that's what I did on WW. It worked great - and I still was able to eat the occasional snack pack of doritos, or a small portion of m&ms without "cheating", even though overall my way of eating was much, much better than your average American's. I'm still not sure I'll ever get to the point where I don't want those things occasionally, which is why I'm skeptical about the "doability" of South Beach. But here I am, because I don't want to obsess and count every little thing. I want to go to a restaurant without looking online for nutritional info first so I know what I can order.

So that's my novel...WW isn't inherently a bad plan, IMO...but you have to follow it. If you're not getting your required servings of healthy foods in favor of junk, even if you stay within your points allowance? Well, you're not following the plan, then, and it shouldn't be a surprise if you don't lose weight.