Why Weight Watchers Works for Me

I've been overweight and even obese since about my 40s and before that I struggled to maintain a lower weight. When I was a teenager and in my early 20s, like so many of us, I was skinny, really. Like many women I know, I've tried this and that, have lost weight and gained it back, and even tried Weight Watchers a few times before.

My sister who was always the chubby one of 3 sisters, joined WW when she was in her 40s, achieved her goal weight, and has been a lifetime member ever since (she's now in her early 70s). I know of many other success stories with people following this plan, which has greatly improved over the years.

The thing about this program that makes it do-able is that WW has access to a large range of experts--dietitians, nutritionists, probably endocrinologists, psychologists, and other healthcare professionals--who do the research and devise a sound nutritional plan that really works.

It's up to the individual to follow the program and make it work for him or her.

I think it is working for me this time because I am super motivated: it's now or never for me. My lipid profile shows my bad cholesterol (LDL) and triglycerides to be too high, good cholesterol (HDL) to be too low, and my HBA1C (3-month profile of blood sugars) to be very close to indicating diabetes. My joints hurt, especially knees, from carrying around an extra 35 pounds, and it is just imperative that I get the excess weight off my body. They say even a 10% reduction can help.

And after 5 weeks on the program I've achieved a weight loss of 5%. I already feel better, lighter, and have more energy.

I love the program this time around because it makes me pay attention to what I'm taking in each day--food and drink--by counting and tracking the points values and writing down the points I'm expending each day. And I know how many points I should be consuming in order to achieve a weight loss.  It's not a fad diet where you eat only meat and vegetables or just grapefruit or just rice--it's a sound nutritional program where you focus on filling foods like fresh vegetables, fruits, whole grains, lean proteins, and low-fat dairy or other calcium-rich foods.

It's easy to figure out the points values of what you like to eat and you learn quickly that a 4-point cookie or a 3-point bag of potato chips might taste great, but for that same number of points you can have a lot more food if you eat fruits, vegetables, and so on.

I'm ready to eat this way for life, and that's what the WW program is all about--learning how to eat for life so that you can have a life.