Weight Watchers

The Promise Pasta, steak, cheese, even ice cream. You can eat what you want on Weight Watchers provided you're willing to count the points. Each food is assigned a number of points, and foods that fill you up have fewer points than foods that are just empty calories. This isnt so much a diet as a lifestyle change program designed to help you learn how to eat healthier and become more active, so you lose the weight for good. Weight Watchers says that people who follow the PointsPlus plan can expect to lose 1 or 2 pounds a week. Studies have shown that this rate of weight loss leads to long-term success. Weight Watchers also recently launched a 2-week starter program called Simple Start, which includes more than 30 meal ideas; tips for dining out; photos of recommended portion sizes; motivational support; and suggestions for snacks and beverages. You do Simple Start on your own via a mobile app. You can also follow the whole diet online entirely on your own: track food and exercise, chart progress, and find recipes and workouts. Or you can go to in-person group meetings, where youll weigh in and get support from other people going through the same process. That's part of the Weight Watchers appeal: You're not on your own. A Consumer Reports survey found that people who attended meetings were more satisfied with the program and lost more weight than people who used only the online tools. Does It Work? Many studies have shown that Weight Watchers can help you lose weight and keep it off. Compared to people trying to lose weight on their own, people doing Weight Watchers lost more weight, according to a study from The American Journal of Medicine. The Consumer Reports survey also found that women who followed the program for 9 months lost between 10 and 28 pounds, while men lost between 12 and 35 pounds. What You Can Eat and What You Can't No food is forbidden when you follow this plan, which doesnt make you buy any prepackaged meals. Youll eat real food, all of which Weight Watchers assigns a PointsPlus value. Youll have a PointsPlus target, which is personalized to your body (including your height, weight, age, and gender). As long as you stay within your daily target, you can spend those PointsPlus however youd like, even on alcohol or dessert. Of course, healthier, lower-calorie foods cost fewer points. Some are even free. Level of Effort: Medium Weight Watchers is designed to make it easier to change your habits long-term, and is flexible enough that you should be able to adapt it to your life. Youll be tweaking your dietary and lifestyle habits, many of which have been years in the making, and creating new ones. As a result, how much effort it takes depends on how much youll have to change your behaviors. Cooking and shopping: Expect to learn how to shop, cook, and dine out in ways that support your weight loss goal without sacrificing taste or requiring unusual foods. Packaged foods or meals: Not required. In-person meetings: Optional.

Exercise: Weight Watchers encourages you to exercise and make it fun so you stick with it. Does It Allow for Dietary Restrictions or Preferences? Because you choose how you spend your daily PointsPlus, Weight Watchers can accommodate various dietary preferences, including vegetarians, vegans, and people who need to limit salt or fat. What Else You Should Know Cost: Weight Watchers offers several payment options. If you do the diet online only, it's $48.90 for the first month and $18.95 for each additional month. Or you can sign up for a 3-month savings plan, which costs $65 for the first 3 months and $18.95 for every month after that. If you want to go to meetings, the prices vary depending on where you live. Youll need to contact Weight Watchers for the cost. You can also buy a monthly pass (as long as youre over 18), which gives you unlimited meetings and access to the online tools. Again, the price varies depending on where you live. Support: Besides the optional in-person meetings, Weight Watchers has an online community, a magazine, and a web site with tools, recipes, tips, success stories, and more -- including a section just for men. You can also sign up online for Weight Watchers' newsletter.