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Weight Watchers was founded in
the early 1960's by Jean Nidetch and has since become one of the
most popular weight loss programmes in the world. The programme is
based on reducing the number of calories you eat each day. But
rather than counting calories, you use weight watchers points. For
instance, 1 fresh apple (4oz) is worth 1 point. There are several
restaurants nowadays that provide meals calculated in weight
watchers points, so that even when you go out for a meal, you can
enjoy yourself and at the same time feel good about the fact that
you haven’t interrupted your programme.
The benefit of this
programme is that you can eat any food as long as you control how
much you eat. In addition, you attend meetings once a week for about
an hour. Your first step at each Weight Watchers meeting is to
weigh-in with one of our service providers. Your weigh-in is private
and your weight is recorded in your personal Membership Book. After
weigh-in, members like to chat together in the meeting room while
waiting for the weekly meeting to begin. The meeting is generally
30-45 minutes long. After the meeting, new members are invited to
stay for a Getting Started session. This is a special mini-meeting
where new members learn the program basics to ensure that they have
a good foundation on which to build their weight loss efforts.
The advantages are that one
can lose weight with others, having the support of others who are
fighting the same battles. Weight Watcher products are readily
available, and there are hundreds of web sites for support.
Issues to be aware of:
1) Importance of eating
nutritious food
Calorie-counting, or in this
case weight watchers point counting, does raise our awareness of the
relative calorific value of foods, but says nothing about how
nutritious that food is. For instance, a candy bar may contain the
same calories/points as a little bowl of pasta with some vegetables,
but it's not as healthy or nutritious. So as well as counting
Weight Watchers points, you should be careful to develop healthy
eating habits which will help you to lose weight and maintain
your health.
2)
Points/Calorie-counting is only temporary
Point/calorie counting is only a temporary measure to help you reach
your ideal weight. However, it is unlikely that you would want to
count points/calories for the rest of your life. Therefore, it is
important that you develop healthy eating habits as you go along so
that in the future you can survive without the Weight Watchers
points manual.
3. Class attendance
Many dieters obtain great benefits from meeting other dieters and
talking through their problems. But some find it less beneficial.
Much depends on the personality and experience of the Weight
Watchers meeting-organizer. If you are especially sensitive
about your weight, it might be best to leave the class before the
discussion period, or skip classes altogether and consider joining
the Weight Watchers at-home program, instead.
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