I was asked a question about a recent post I did on the new Weight Watchers Momentum Program and sort of challenged on my notion that in the past it has been an unhealthy diet for some. I also asserted that it seemed they were heading in a new direction.
So I pulled up a thread to show what I had seen in the past. Again, this is just what I observed, but many on Weight Watchers seemed to be really focusing on ways of following the diet but really sticking to their old habits. I also observed that it seems that Weight Watchers has been attempting to address this issue
Here were some of the comments that caught my attention:
"For all you people that use WW like I do I just wanted to tell you about the blueberry muffins, they are so good and would never realize they were WW. THey are only 3 pts and def worth it. Also the carrot cakes are only one point, I am going to see what else is out there for the WW brand when it comes to junk food."
"Thanks for the tip. Also, I love the WW cheesecakes, I think they are only 3 pts and worth it!"
"Ok just had the WW cheesecake and oh my god! They could be dangerous! So far I am amazed at how easy the program is and the pounds are just dropping even though I am eating sweets again. The WW ice cream sandwichs @ 2 points are great as well as the gaint fudge bars @ 1 point"
"Well, if you think about it, it makes total sense--the kind of sweets you used to eat probably had ten times the fat and calories as the WW sweets do. That's why I love WW; you can still eat the kinds of foods you want but they are replacing much more fattening choices, so you do lose. Works for me!"
"I just started WW and found it to be the easiest to follow. I like their fudge bars, they don't taste like low fat at all."
And then the discussion turned:
"this is why I don't like weight watchers... it's not like that food is exactly "healthy." The OP is looking for "healthy" junk food... why not just decide to find healthy food that is yummy?? The idea should be to find ways to eat healthy and enjoy it- not find lower calorie versions of bad food."
"I agree with the most recent poster. I did WW and got tired of hearing about their products - we are paying for a meeting after all, not to hear a commercial. I don't think they are really teaching or emphasizing nutrition, and I think the points recommended for me was too drastically small, I felt starved. I'm glad you all like it so much and if it works for you that's great, but I have a lot of problems with WW."
It is a pretty interesting discussion but that captures the essence of what I was getting at.
Context Is Everything!!
Update: June 14th, 2011: One thing that we would add to this post is the notion that "context is everything." Yes, Weight Watchers is deeply committed to a line of processed foods that any health expert could critique endlessly.
Yet, if you are just starting out in the weight loss process, Weight Watchers will teach you portion control, and truly help those people who are looking to put the fundamentals of change into place. The portion control side of things can be incredibly difficult, even for people who are fairly far along in their weight loss journey.
We would also observe that no weight loss approach is healthy when done by itself. You need to have as open a mind as possible, and treat the path to better health as a journey that will likely take several years. When you break things down this way you give yourself a lot of runway.
Suggested: A Quick Way To Learn Portion Control
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