From its simple starting point as the meeting of a group of friends to discuss dieting tips and ideas, Weight Watchers has matured into an enormous publicly quoted company operating worldwide. This article examines just why this particular diet plan has proved so successful.
Anyone who has ever even thought about dieting has undoubtedly heard of the Weight Watchers plan and it's astounding to see that what started out as a simple meeting between a few friends in Jean Nidetch's front room in Queens to discuss dieting tips and ideas has matured into a large publicly quoted company employing almost 50,000 people and operating in more than 30 countries across the globe.
But just why has Weight Watchers become so successful and why does the company continue to grow after more than 40 years in business?
The answer rests in the fact that Weight Watchers does not merely offer a diet plan but is based upon a philosophy of dieting as part of an overall plan to set and maintain a healthy lifestyle in term of mental, physical and emotional health.
As a consequence Weight Watchers does not just provide you with a diet sheet and tell you what you can and can't eat, but gives you the advice and information necessary to make the best decisions about your diet.
Also, and very importantly, the Weight Watchers plan gives you a level of motivation and support which is essential to your success and that is missing in many other weight loss programs.
Locally organised group meetings, which many who have not had the benefit of the Weight Watchers experience frequently dismiss as being nothing more than an unnecessary waste of time, are, in many ways, the key to the Weight Watchers plan. Not only do these meetings provide a wealth of tips, information and advice, but they also allow members to offer each other support and encouragement which is essential to the long-term success of any diet.
Additionally, the fact that you will need to meet with your fellow dieters regularly and show them your progress, or lack of it, is an excellent way of helping to keep you on track as, now and then, you're tempted to stray from your dieting regime.
Supporting Weight Watcher’s philosophy of dieting there is naturally a basic diet plan, or more precisely, two plans - the points plan and the core plan.
The idea behind the points plan will be familiar to anyone who has tried dieting. Members are assigned a weekly points allocation dependent upon their present weight and the target weight they are aiming for and are free to eat whatever they like up to their allotted points.
The strength of the points system is that a points score is allocated to any food imaginable and there is no limit on the types of food that you are permitted but only the quantity that you eat dependent upon that food's points score. This is in contrast to many other diets that ban certain foods completely or require that specific foods are included in your diet.
The points plan also provides you with considerable flexibility by allocating negative points for exercise. So, if you need to go over your points allocation you can as long as you take enough exercise to compensate for the additional points consumed.
The core plan was created in response to the popularity the Atkins and South Beach plans. Under this plan a wide range of foods including whole grain foods, lean meats, vegetables, whole grain foods, and fat free airy products are classed as "core" foods and there is no limit on the quantity of these foods that you can eat, other than the provision that you should only eat these foods to satisfy your hunger rather than eat them until you are "full".
Any food item that isn't included on the "core" list is then allocated a points score in the regular manner and members are given a weekly allowance for these foods of 35 points.
There is nothing new of course in either the core plan or the points plan and many of the diets available follow the same sort of pattern. The strength however of the Weight Watchers plan is not to be found in the underlying diet itself, but in the need that all dieters have for advice, information, help and, very importantly, support in what is commonly a long, and at times difficult, struggle to get rid of those stubborn pounds.
Operating for the most part as a "club", Weight Watchers has grown and strengthened over the years and, as long as it continues to offer so much more than just a diet plan, it will doubtless continue to flourish in the future.
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