Why Weight Watchers Doesn't Work
By Kayley George, RDN, LD
Weight Watchers, now rebranded WW, is a popular diet plan created in the 1960’s by a New York City housewife that promotes weight loss without restriction. However, despite the high success rate on the program, many individuals find themselves regaining their lost weight once off the program.
In this blog post, we will discuss the potential reasons why Weight Watchers might not be as effective as it claims and what approach might yield greater success in losing weight and keeping it off.
What Is Weight Watchers?
In order to fully grasp why people do not maintain their weight loss after being on this program, it is important to understand the program itself.
Weight Watchers is a points system weight loss program that calculates your personal nutrition needs based on your height, weight, age, and activity level. Point values are assigned to food and drinks, which are then added together (so long as you consumed them that day) to meet your calculated daily points budget; the goal is to consume foods and drinks that meet the allotted points per day without going over or under to ensure adequate but not excessive nutrient intake.
The idea of this program shunning dietary restriction is rooted in each food and drink item having varying point values, but due to the limited daily points budget, you will likely need to choose lower calorie, higher volume foods in order to meet your nutrition needs.
While Weight Watchers has prided itself in being a wellness brand, it is, at its core, a program focused on weight loss without labeling itself as a “diet”. It just incentivizes clients more by putting numbers and labels on food.
How Do People Lose Weight on Weight Watchers?
Weight Watchers has a reputation of being an effective program for weight loss, but it also boasts blood sugar regulation and improvements in heart health as indirect results of better diet and exercise goals. Many individuals have reported successful weight loss outcomes while following the Weight Watchers protocol.
The key aspect to its success is monitoring dietary intake using the points system. Healthier foods – like fruits, vegetables, whole grains, low-fat dairy and lean proteins – cost no points, whereas added sugars and saturated fats cost more, meaning that clients back off consuming them in order to budget their points appropriately. A new feature to the program is earning points to your daily budget by consuming non-starchy vegetables, drinking more water and being physically active, which further motivates people to perform better. Everything is tracked using the WW app, which guides clients on what to eat, how much to eat, physical activity and sleep. By following these guidelines and being mindful when eating, clients begin to see improvements in their weight as early as a few weeks.
Why Am I Not Losing Weight on Weight Watchers?
A majority of participants using weight watchers see success on the program, but sometimes instances arise in which some people may not lose weight even if they are doing everything right.
Reason 1: Restriction
I will further address the restrictive qualities of Weight Watchers soon, especially once someone stops using the program, but for now I will go over the restrictiveness of the program.
Dietary restriction can lead to negative psychological behaviors with food and catalyze episodes of binge eating to compensate for the restriction. This will lead to inconsistency, decreased mental health associated with the plan, and something called yo-yo dieting (the on-again, off-again diet), all of which contribute to weight gain.
Reason 2: Overconsumption of Zero-Point Foods
Weight loss in its simplest form is a result of consuming fewer calories than your body requires. Sometimes we forget quantity and home in on quality, meaning that program users may eat a lot of zero-point food items throughout the day in an attempt to lose weight because Weight Watchers tells you to.
But remember: zero-point foods are not zero-calorie foods.
Eating too many of anything, including healthy ingredients, will contribute to weight gain, so be mindful of how much you eat (of any point food) and listen to your body when it tells you it’s full.
Reason 3: Inaccurate Tracking
If you don’t track and measure your food correctly, it is easy to miscalculate your points and exceed your daily points budget. Consistent inaccuracy and overshooting will eventually lead to weight gain due to the overconsumption of food.
Why Is Weight Watcher Ineffective Long-Term?
The Weight Watchers program is a double-edged sword: the reason why it is so effective is the reason why it becomes ineffective.
The points system is restrictive in nature and can potentially lead to binging or saving up points to overeat later in the day; by earning more points from exercise, there is more room to sneak in a chocolate bar. While no food is off-limits with Weight Watchers, the points system constructs what you can eat to meet your budget, inevitably restricting what and how much you eat. This means that the program’s claims of being unrestrictive are somewhat inaccurate. And it fosters an unhealthy relationship with food that is inevitably off-limits.
Many individuals also experience an “adiposity rebound” when they discontinue using the program; they regain some (and in a few cases, all) of the weight they lost from the program.
Why?
Because they are no longer incentivized by points or paying to follow the plan, nor are they restricting the type or amount of food they eat anymore. Weight Watchers is a diet, and diets are often temporary solutions to lifelong problems, especially if they cannot be acclimated to someone’s lifestyle; lifestyle modifications are the most effective approach to weight loss and maintenance. Moreover, following a “diet” that is feasible and realistic for someone to implement and follow long-term is another key to weight loss success, of which Weight Watchers is not.
That being said, Weight Watchers has incorporated many beneficial tools that encourage weight loss, namely healthy eating, portion control, hydration and exercise. That is promising, especially for individuals beginning their weight loss journeys. But, the rigorous adherence to guidelines and the need for a program to oversee any aesthetic or dietary changes are an integral part of the program. Weight loss requires physical and mental stamina, but Weight Watchers removes the mental aspect to make it mindless and easy for clients, which is not favorable in the long haul.
Weight Watchers and Ozempic
The branding of weight loss from diet and exercise, something established for decades, is no longer enough for Weight Watchers; they are buying out Sequence, a telehealth service that connects clients with doctors who prescribe Ozempic, a diabetes drug popularized for its rapid weight loss. Does this mean that the most effective and popular diet plan believes that such a natural approach to weight loss is… difficult? Results are not instant, and that good enough?
Weight Watchers acquiring Sequence implies that their traditional methods to weight loss are not enough. However, diet and exercise are enough, as thousands of clients can attest to. This acquisition and partnership is simply a step in the wrong direction and sends a worrisome message to the public about weight.
How To Enhance Your Weight Loss Efforts
If you appreciate the fundamentals of Weight Watchers but do not want to pay for the program, there are many strategies that you can use to promote weight loss, reflective of this program and of a dietitian’s recommendations.
Focus on portion control: Pay attention to serving sizes and ensure you're not overeating anything.
Enjoy nutrient-dense foods: Enjoy delicious food that also has a lot of beneficial nutrients, especially fiber, to provide fullness and keep you from exceeding your caloric needs.
Find substitutes for unhealthy food options: White bread, beef and sugar are all tasty, but do not benefit our health. Find similar but healthier options, like wheat bread, chicken and natural sweeteners, to provide the same great taste without the cost of your wellbeing.
Incorporate variety: Ensure that you are incorporating a wide range of fruits, vegetables, proteins, grains and healthy fats into your meals to yield a balanced diet.
Eat mindfully: Listen to your body’s hunger and satiety cues to make sure you are not overeating or undereating. The mind is an integral part of the lifestyle changes you need to make.
Stay hydrated: Water is necessary for optimal function of the body, but hunger signaling can also just be your body telling you it's dehydrated. Sometimes water is the “hunger” cue, so it is good to know that you can drink instead of eat sometimes.
Engage in doable physical activity: Exercise is a good habit to develop, both for weight loss and for overall health, and the best way to keep exercising is to do something enjoyable and practical for you.
One fundamental aspect of weight loss is engaging in a caloric deficit, which means consuming fewer calories than your body needs for maintenance. By monitoring portion sizes, you can ensure that your body is in a caloric deficit. This approach allows flexibility in food choices while emphasizing portion control and overall energy balance.
A critical, and very overlooked, principle of weight loss is your relationship with food. What you eat and how much is important, but fostering a nurturing environment that welcomes all varieties of food, mindful eating practices and behavior modification techniques is a powerful tool for successful weight management.
Weight loss is trial and error, because it is unique to each person, and results are not immediate. Progress is immediate, though, as every step toward weight loss, being tangible changes or mental preparation, is a step in the right direction. Sustainable weight loss is a personalized process, and consulting with a registered dietitian can provide tailored guidance to determine the ideal approach to weight loss for your body and goals that lasts a lifetime.
To start your health journey and explore weight loss options with Kayley, a registered dietitian, book a FREE discovery call today!
Published on Nov 8, 2023 at 11:15 am