The key to losing weight on the Weight Watchers program is portion control, healthier food choices and increased physical activity. By using its patented PointsPlus system, members are encouraged to pay closer attention to the protein, carbohydrate, fat and fiber aspects of the food they eat. Based on these nutritional categories, foods are assigned a point value, which goes toward a daily point allotment. These allotments differ from person to person and are determined on a variety of factors, including age, gender, height and weight.
The Basics
Weight loss will occur when your caloric expenditure exceeds your caloric intake. Everything you do burns calories, including sitting at a computer for eight hours. However, if you increase your activity level through daily exercise while decreasing the amount and improving the quality of foods you eat, you will lose weight. This is the essence of the Weight Watchers program. With its PointsPlus program, the company has developed a system that focuses on these weight-loss tenets.
Points
When you attend a Weight Watchers meeting or subscribe to its online program, you will be able to determine what your daily point allotment will be while on the program. Once your daily point allotment has been determined, your job is to stay within your daily point limits. To better facilitate this process and encourage its members to eat healthier foods, Weight Watchers has designed its points system to assign lower point values to foods that are low in fat and high in fiber, protein and carbohydrates. To further motivate clients, the company assigns a point value of zero to all fruits and vegetables.
Choices and Exercise
You can increase your chances of losing weight on the Weight Watchers program by learning to substitute healthy food choices for less-healthy ones. For example, a lunch of french fries, a double cheeseburger and large soda could cost up to 40 points. However, substituting the burger for a grilled chicken sandwich on whole wheat with no mayo, a plain baked potato for the fries and a tall glass of water for the soda will reduce your meal’s point value to 11 points. Add exercise into the mix by adopting a regular workout routine or instituting habits that will expend more calories, such as taking the stairs instead of an elevator.
Updated Program
In late 2010, Weight Watchers unveiled its PointsPlus weight-loss system, doing away with the previous Points system that was introduced in 1997. While the PointsPlus system kept the fat and fiber nutritional focus on determining points, it did away with the calorie aspect and replaced it with protein and carbohydrate categories. Official Weight Watchers food-point values are available only through the company and come in the form of handheld and online calculators and special publications, such as its dining-out guide.
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