Tweaking The Weight Watchers Program

I've lost a majority of my weight on the Weight Watchers program.  It is the plan that I return to most often when I need to reign things in again, and to this day I log my foods in my Weight Watchers Points Plus food log even when I am maintaining.  (I've always done better with a pen and paper than virtual tracking.)  But I've found that with the new program that came out last year, I believe it was, I was having a hard time losing weight when needed and others were commenting the same.

Now, let me say before I go any farther that if you are using the Weight Watchers program and losing just fine, don't change a thing!   If you hit a stall down the line you can revisit this blog and see if it helps, but in the meantime there is absolutely no point in fixing something that is not broke. 

It didn't take me very long to figure out what the problems are, and the biggest in my opinion is the unlimited fruits.  Now, I've always thought and still think that fruit gets an unnecessarily bad rap, along with wheat, white potatoes, and corn.  But to let people eat fruit without accounting for it can completely stall weight loss, and actually cause people who are maintaining to gain weight.

The problem isn't that fruit is bad for you.  The problem is that most people in the weight loss world have an issue with portion control.  Fruit is higher in sugars, albeit natural sugars.  I don't have enough room in this blog to explain the entire biological process (and you'd probably get bored, anyhow), so just trust me when I say that too many sugars of any source can actually change how the body stores calories, sending more of them to fat. 

Yes, the Weight Watchers gurus tell you to eat fruit until you feel satisfied.  But lets get honest here:  If people who are or have been overweight could tell when they were satisfied.... well.... there wouldn't be a need for Weight Watchers.

Consequently, my proposal is that you count the first two servings of fruit as "free", and account for any after that in your daily points.  In case you weren't around for previous Weight Watchers programs, a serving is about 80 calories, or the equivalent of a cup of cut-up fruit.  Or in the case of bananas, a half of a large banana.  (So if you eat a whole large banana for breakfast, that's the end of the "free" fruits for the day.)

The unlimited non-starchy veggies are still good, though.  While it's not portion control, it'd be almost impossible to eat enough of them to mess with fat storage.

The second tweak I would suggest is to up the intake of water from 6 cups a day to 12.  And make it real water- not "non-caloric beverages".  (To read my blog on why water is so important, click here.)

Another thing I would highly recommend is to rely more on whole foods rather than processed, to include Weight Watchers food products. While I think Weight Watchers is a good program, it bugs me a little that they don't put more emphasis on minimally processed foods.  Calories are not all created equal, and the your body turns processed foods into fat much easier than foods the way Mother Nature made them. (This is, by the way, the reason I could never be a Weight Watchers leader: They push the employees to sell their products.  I could not in good conscience sell people foods that I know aren't truly healthy.)  

And lastly, eat your exercise points earned, but forget about your weekly Points Allowance, unless you are really desperate.  Doing so seems to put the daily calories at a more metabolism-friendly level.  And when you count your exercise points, err on the side of caution and don't be too generous with your estimations.  But do go ahead and give yourself more than the 42 on the log, if you have earned more than that.

I realize this blog is not going to apply to the majority, and I am sorry for that.  I just thought the few frustrated might find it helpful.