There is a specific point in WW, I think its week 4 where the introduce exercise. They like members to control eating habits first. You are supposed to aim for 28 activity points each week and can gain no more than 4 food points back per day from exercise. The have a Exercise point calculator as well. That holds true for the core plan as well.

Sorry to hear that your mom was having issues maintaining but the CORE plan is just that, you must continue to eat only core foods to maintain your loss or stay within the additional 35 weekly points allotted for NON core foods. That is the program...you can't go back to eating whatever you like and maintain.

Either way its about keeping your portion sizes and food choices in check regardless of which plan you adhere to. I agree full participation is pricey, but being overweight is a much higher price to pay...

Better than nothing but not optimal and not worth paying for. That is my 2 cents.

I do the core plan on weight watchers and I have lost 91lbs since January.

I won't deny that Weight Watchers is out to make money, they are a corporation after all, but the leaders are all regular people who have been through the same issues and have lost weight on the programme so they believe in it and they want to help.

I do the Core because it is the closest to a healthy lifestyle change. Essentially you eat healthy foods in healthy proportions. It really is as simple as that. If you do it and don't cheat you will lose weight. You can do it by yourself (and to be honest if you are thinking of not actually joining up the stickies on nutrition here will tell you everything you need to know), but I needed the discipline of being weighed every week. I might also say that statistically the people who stay for the whole meeting lose more weight and keep it off and I would attribute that to it helping to keep you focused for the coming week. Again you could use this site to keep yourself motivated if you so wished.

As for keeping the weight off, I won't know that for a while. But it seems reasonable that if I go back to eating the way I was that I would put it back on again. The key is to make a healthy lifestyle change, not a diet. Core on weight watchers is a good way to kickstart that lifestyle change in a supportive atmosphere.

So, to sum up, you can join or you can do it on your own. Neither will work beyond the short-term unless you're ready to commit to making changes in your eating habits.

Best of luck in whatever you decide to do.

You guys missed the point of what I was saying. She did the CORE plan then when the weight was off she switched to the REGULAR WW plan and gained the weight back. Either way, the "excercise" they discussed was walking every day for 30 minutes. Not the advice I would pay for.

Anyway, it is a good place to start and maybe 1000Monkeys is right, it probably does help keep people motivated. It's not for me but I have always been a pretty self motivated person.

Thanks. I agree completely - if you're very self-motivated then you won't need it. I guess it comes down to figuring out what works best with your (meaning everyone in general) personality and goals. I know from experience though that I need the little motivation! I have great will power in short bursts, I just need something to keep me going in between the bursts .

I'm sorry to hear your mother put the weight back on when she went on to the points plan. I've never tried the points to be honest because the idea that you can eat crap in the right amounts all you want and be healthy just seems wrong to me. I'd rather do the healthy thing and go nuts once in a while knowing that tomorrow is another day. That's probably just me though.

Also, you're right about the exercise thing. They definitely get you to focus more on food than exercise. That didn't bother me though because it meant that I could find exercise in my own time when I was ready.

For anyone who wants to try WW here's what I did. They often have a promotion where you can go sign up for free and get alot of the starting stuff at no charge then only pay for meetings. After that if you don't want to go anymore or can't afford it you can quit and just do it on your own.

I did purchase their extra dining out guide and another book but I've now come across those in used book stores pretty cheap :X. So you could go, get the info and do it yourself and see if its something you'd want to do. As far as the groups THAT is what I minded paying for. Of course the group and who is running it makes all the difference and my schedule only allowed me to get into one I did not care for. Then my hectic schedule made it less fun and more of something I was dreading having to add one more thing to my day. Personally I do just as well with support here in the forum but for WW you're mostly paying for the meetings, and for some people that helps tremendously. Especially if you find a group you click with or have friends that join with you. As everyone else said, the plan itself is pretty basic, just substituting points for calories and adding exercise in later.

So anyway, if you check online or call a local number they can usually tell you when the promo is coming up to join, they do them pretty often. I still have all my stuff and I've saved it for if I ever get tired of counting calories and want to trick myself into thinking I'm doing something new, lol.

I know a lot of people that have had success with weight watchers. I tried weight watchers, and lost 15lbs or so, but I put it back on fast. For some reason, I just find it easier to count calories. I find calories are easier to understand, and you don't have to calculate anything, the calories are listed on most packaged foods.
I did like the program, the weekly weigh ins, the supportive group meetings and routine of it. I think it is a great program, but what works for one person isn't always what will work for another. In the end, all diets work because they are about reducing the amount of calories you eat while increasing the amount you burn. Some diets or programs are just easier for some to follow. I would say give it a try, and if you decide its not for you then you can save $$ and count calories for free (and have money left over for some new clothes!). Good luck on whatever you decide!

I just thought I would put in my two cents. I had been doing WW for the majority of this year and soon got down to the lowest amount of points allowed in a day (20), and I just felt like I wasn't getting enough to eat and I was only loosing 2 or 3 pounds a month... or even none at times. I decided to see how many cals I was getting from my 20 points. I put everything I ate into fit day and it came out to roughly 1100 calories... I was rather shocked. My bmr suggested that I should be consuming around 1700 calories a day to loose 1.5 pounds per week. So long story short, WW IMO is for those who have issues with food as far as choosing the right foods and portion size goes. But once you learn how to make better choices in both those areas its time to move on to something new. Since I switched to counting calories I have dropped another 5 lbs and I have waaay more energy than with just 20 points a day.

Either way I thinks its great that you have decided to make a change in your life in the positive direction!

Werd. What she said.

Hi,
I am doing the weight watchers diet now. I find it to be the best one I have tried! Its the dieting basics of exercising and eating healthy but I find the meeting to be a god send. It gave me great motivation and encouragement. I've lost 4st and feel so great! It is basically counting calories, but with their system it is alot easier. You can eat and drink what you like just keep within your limit, if you are as over weight as I was it can be quite a lot. They provide free books with endless lists of food and their point values, and you get a slider (or a calculator which is soooo handy) to work out calories in food yourself.
I know I have mentioned this site a lot but I find it to be so useful, (especially if you want to go it alone and not go to meetings) groovybluetees.com it explains the basics and has the food list and the point values for some restaurants there too. and its free which is great!
anyway best of luck.
But if anyone is reading this post, I highly recommend weight watchers.

it works. just have to figure out if it is right for you. i lost 10 pounds in 3 weeks, but i got SO sick of figuring out points.

I've done WW in the past, yes it does work, but I always felt like the people in the meetings were always trying to figure out ways to 'cheat' with the lowest amount of points. I didn't want my lifestyle to feel that way, so I stopped going. I did try core as well, and it too worked, but still, I got sick of people being obsessed with trying to find ways to cheat, instead of just eating in moderation, and being sensible about it.

I started with Jenny Craig, most people frown on it cause its 'prepackaged'. But I found it to be my magic bullet. I only did it for 5 months. I did lose weight on it, and the reason I stopped was I could just feel that it was time to take things to the next level. It was my choice, and although I didn't have to stop, and I wasn't at my goal yet, I just felt it was time. WHat I loved about it was it taught me portion control, meal timing, what I should eat at each meal and moderation. I got a treat every night, and I never had a craving to cheat while I was on JC because I knew my little treat was coming later on that night. As time went on, I naturally just wanted to transition off, by cooking some stuff on my own, and incorporating less processed food and more whole foods. It made the transition to a clean / bodybuilding diet very easy.

Now I just cook my own little meals, freeze them, and every meal is ready to go.

Just my .02

Good Luck to you!

Hey, anyone tried the online program at weightwathers.com??? was curious on what people thougt before I tried it... thanks.

Anyone tried it?Tell me what you think please!

I LOVEEE WEIGHTWATCHERS! I lost all of my 72 pounds on it...it worked very well for me.!