Is weight watchers worth the money?

[Scanner]

That's the basic idea, but as the saying goes, the devil is in the details.

Exercise of any type?

In Debt DC is actually trying to make a roundabout point about exercise.

Diet + exercise should be translated to "Diet + Vigorous exercise."

I see too many people who think a leisurely stroll around the block, if even if for a mile, is going to translate into results.

It won't.

I mean, it makes for a good "news blurb, fluffy" piece but too many Americans leading a sedentary lifestyle think that's all you need to do.

You'd be better off doing 3 sets of pushups and sit-ups (anaerobic exercise) than a leisurely walk. I am not poo-pooing walking - it can be a bonding time and a stress release. I like to walk the Wildwood Boardwalk (about 4 miles up and back).

As far as weight watchers, if you are a chick, and you are into salad and chocolate and leisurely strolls, I think Weight Watchers can possibly work as a lifestyle for money and time invested.

If you are not of that type of metabolic body type - that you can digest carbs and feel some sense of satiety, you are better off with a South Beach or Atkins lifestyle. (caveman diet)

Couple that with vigorous exercise and you have a great lifestyle.

Good luck. Investing in your health will always pay dividends.

PS: I find Weight Watchers suggests during times of hunger to injest vegetables (soup or raw) - this is a poor strategy for satiating the dieter for many reasons. That being said, I won't deny it appears to work for a select few.

Talk to an Atkin's lifestye person like me and you say, "Gee, I"m really hungry" and I'll tell you to go have a spoonful of peanut butter (not low fat!!! too much sugar!!!).

Fat is great diet food.

[zetta]

As far as weight watchers, if you are a chick, and you are into salad and chocolate and leisurely strolls, I think Weight Watchers can possibly work as a lifestyle for money and time invested.

If you are not of that type of metabolic body type - that you can digest carbs and feel some sense of satiety, you are better off with a South Beach or Atkins lifestyle. (caveman diet)

You may not be aware that WW now has an option called "core" that puts more emphasis on eating protein and complex carbs, and which would be compatible with a more "south beach" style of eating. Your description of the program as salad and veggie soup is outdated.

In any case, I would recommend that the OP either figure out the program from the websites posted above, or try the WW meetings and see if that kind of support is helpful to you. If it's not, you'll have the program materials within the first 4-6 weeks and can continue on your own.

[KellyB]

I agree with all the comments about WW. It is a really good program, IF you do it you will lose weight! It is worth the cost to me, I have tried doing the SAME thing at home, points and all, but without the accountability of going to the meetings I didn't do as well. Now I enjoy my meetings (and finding a good leader is key!). I save the $$ by not eating out as often, helps the weight and the spending! Try it, and good luck to you.

[Scanner]

You may not be aware that WW now has an option called "core" that puts more emphasis on eating protein and complex carbs, and which would be compatible with a more "south beach" style of eating. Your description of the program as salad and veggie soup is outdated.

Well, then, why not just do Atkins or South Beach then?

I guess there is a social component.

[zetta]

Eating less and exercising more is cheaper.

By this logic, we might as well close down SavingAdvice and just tell everybody, "spend less and earn more".

Just as hanging out here helps motivate people to work on their finances, frequenting a weight-loss website or participating in WW meetings is helpful to many people in staying on track with their weight-loss plan.

[rduell]

Great comparison, Zetta! Exactly why I believe it is worth the money.

And as for the comparison of Core and Atkins/SBD, they are not the same. Core does not restrict carbs; it encourages you to eat the healthier carbs. You can have white bread, bagels, etc. but you have to use your weekly points to have them. You can eat whole wheat pasta, polenta, quinoa, etc to satisfaction. Core is NOT low-carb.

[InDebtInDC]

irrelevant

[InDebtInDC]

irrelevant

[maat55]

I've went from 193 to 170 by eliminating chips, pastries, reg. pop and since dropping my golf membership, I drink no beer. Also, don't eat two platefulls anymore.

Basically, just eating less.

[ScrimpAndSave]

Yikes! I didn't mean to open a can of worms.

I'm not an idiot - and I do understand weight loss (you don't have to be a personal trainer to understand that). I've just had some friends that have had great success on the program both losing and maintaining their weight. I wanted to see if it was worth the money to follow the program the way it is structured. Free Diet Plans at SparkPeople has a fantastic database for people that want to regulate their nutrient and caloric intake as well as notate their fitness regimens....wanted to see if a membership to weight watchers would offer a better program.

It was just a simple question - and I really didn't need to be interrogated by questions that were completely irrelevant.


That being said, I'm glad I'm not "in debt" in Pa.

[BillsGirl]

Yikes! I didn't mean to open a can of worms.

I'm not an idiot - and I do understand weight loss (you don't have to be a personal trainer to understand that). I've just had some friends that have had great success on the program both losing and maintaining their weight. I wanted to see if it was worth the money to follow the program the way it is structured. Free Diet Plans at SparkPeople has a fantastic database for people that want to regulate their nutrient and caloric intake as well as notate their fitness regimens....wanted to see if a membership to weight watchers would offer a better program.

It was just a simple question - and I really didn't need to be interrogated by questions that were completely irrelevant.


That being said, I'm glad I'm not "in debt" in Pa.

what an AWESOME site!!!! Thank you soooo much for posting it!

I just have to say whats with the fiestiness! Who cares WHEN you work out... You can do it in the am or pm whatever floats your friggen boat!!!

In the am people could stretch wow who woulda thunk you can stretch before going for a walk! hmm what a concept? Yeah you can eat and an hour or 2 later go for a walk!

[ScrimpAndSave]

Heck yeah! I love that site.

[InDebtInDC]

Yikes! I didn't mean to open a can of worms.

I'm not an idiot - and I do understand weight loss (you don't have to be a personal trainer to understand that). I've just had some friends that have had great success on the program both losing and maintaining their weight. I wanted to see if it was worth the money to follow the program the way it is structured. Free Diet Plans at SparkPeople has a fantastic database for people that want to regulate their nutrient and caloric intake as well as notate their fitness regimens....wanted to see if a membership to weight watchers would offer a better program.

It was just a simple question - and I really didn't need to be interrogated by questions that were completely irrelevant.


That being said, I'm glad I'm not "in debt" in Pa.

There is absolutely no need to resort to insults. It doesn't cost anything to ask a question. You get what you paid for. If you don't like something somebody posted, simply ignore and move on.

Please understand that your original question does not control the scope of the thread, and we are free to move the thread in different directions at the forum's discretion.

If the questions are not relevant to you, they may be relevant to someone else who is reading this.

[Scanner]

And as for the comparison of Core and Atkins/SBD, they are not the same. Core does not restrict carbs; it encourages you to eat the healthier carbs. You can have white bread, bagels, etc. but you have to use your weekly points to have them. You can eat whole wheat pasta, polenta, quinoa, etc to satisfaction. Core is NOT low-carb.

Whoa. . .let's calm down. . .we are all just talking here.

Thanks for the information. . .back during the Atkins craze before he died from head injury, I know Weight Watchers had defectors in droves. . .I am sure their numbers are going back up since the reintroduction of Core.

Yes, that's a huge difference.

The theory in Atkins isn't so much that a "banana" is bad for you. . .it's just that fruit can throw you quickly out of ketosis. . .even a big bowl of oatmeal can. For the dieter, it can mean a return to ravenous hunger.

In fact, science backs this up to a certain extent. They did a study on children where they fed one group 2 eggs and the other group a bowl of oatmeal at breakfast. The oatmeal group (I think it was oatmeal. . .maybe it was cereal) consumed 1/3rd more calories at lunch.

I have found this to be true with myself, no matter how "good" the carb is.

Atkins takes on a more "metabolic angle" whereas WW seems to take on a "calorie counting" angle.

I think both have their pluses and minuses. My criticism of WW again is the reliance on carbs for satiety, which they just don't produce.

Nutritional science is still evolving and you can get strong opinions on either side.

Now. . .personal trainers. . .exercise science is much more developed than nutritional science. Exercise is a weird mediator in weight loss. Strictly speaking. . .calorie-wise. . .exercise isn't going to make you lose weight. I was listening to the John Tesh radio show where they give you little cute blurbs of information. . .they said one big hamburger and fries at Ruby Tuesdays would be the equivalent to 4 5K runs (maybe it was more - it was a ridiculous amount of exercise).

So. . .calorie for calorie, nutrition gives you the biggest bang for your effort. You can't "make it up" with exercise.

That being said. . .I have found my success comes from producing a zero sum game with nutrition. . .let's say 2000 calories in for 2000 calories out day. . .then. . .exercising for that 250-400 calorie deficit.

This works much better and is much more comfortable than doing it the WW way and trying to eat 1600 calories and not exercising. See what I mean?

What I am trying to say is "diet and exercise" seem to be important, for whatever reason.

And let's face it - WW seems to contain older fat chicks who are all in ruts with exercise. In fact, perhaps none of them ever really vigorously exercised in their life (sports in childhood). So many of them, at the 6 meetings I went to. . .seem to be frustrated because they are stuck. They only achieve "zero sum".

And I have found, unless you have some background from high school athletics, at least some consultations with a personal trainer would be valuable. You don't have to have one yelling and screaming at you every day like an army sarge but they could give you strategic input on Fartlek training, interval training, anaerobic exercise. . .instead of just doing "junk miles" (which admittedly am guilty of. . .I did a Fartlek work-out yesterday as this got me thinking about it - I am sure within 2 days, my aerobic capacity will be expanded).

OK. . .that's my little plug for personal trainers. I hope I didn't offend any WW groupies as an Atkins groupie

[InDebtInDC]

Scanner, I appreciate your comments.

By the way, this thread is no longer about the OP's original question since it has gone on multiple tangents. I feel that the original question has been adequately addressed. If not, then the OP please speak out.

The premise of this thread that nobody brought up is that weight loss = good.

What I want to know is why is losing weight important to you? Do you want to look a certain way? Are you worried about health effects? Do you want to feel better? What is the reason for wanting to lose weight?

As in everything I do, I don't question people's motives unless the motives are destructive. Based on what the person wants to do, losing weight may or may not be appropriate.

Why do you want to lose weight, and will losing the weight get you the happiness you want?


The reason I ask this is because there are actually better alternatives to pure weight loss for most people. You can actually gain weight via muscle mass, feel better, look better, and be healthier than if you just lost weight alone.

I am very very against weight loss per se because most people don't know that weight loss:

a) will not get the goals they want, and
b) is not the only alternative to attain their goals.


The only time I would prescribe weight loss is for athletes trying to make a weight class. For most people I would prescribe weight control as a small part of a complete fitness program.

Most people struggle with weight, and making this your primary concern doesn't help the problem. Please realize that weight is only one small part of a very large and complex puzzle.