Weight Watchers Update

Last November, Weight Watchers took a bold step and dramatically improved their program.  For those of you who aren't familiar, Weight Watchers (WW) is a system that has been around for decades to help people lose weight.  Their primary method has been to attach a point value to foods and then encourage clients to stay within a certain number of points per day.  

While many people have found much success with the program, nutritionists have often had a love-hate relationship with WW.  Their strict adherence to the 'calorie model' of weight loss lead to all kinds of common sense violations. For example, some clients would eat a candy bar that "costs" a lot of points and then skimp on food elsewhere so they stayed within the allowance.  In fact, the WW website sells a variety of candy bars, ice creams, baked goods and other "junk foods" while advertising the number of points they contain.

To their credit, WW decided to read up on current research and completely re-vamped their entire system of points.

"We used to say 'A calorie is a calorie is a calorie,' " says Karen Miller Kovach, chief scientific officer and registered dietitian for the organization. "We recognize now that nutrients that provide those calories ... also have an impact on the body. The new formula is completely different than how we originally calculated."  Jan 10, 2011 LA Times

 Under the new system, most fruits and vegetables are zero points!  That means you can enjoy them all you want.  Under the old system, bananas were worth 2 points; now they are 0 points.  Successful weight management is not about "counting calories."  It is about choosing the right foods the vast majority of the time.  From there, your physiology will stabilize and you will have the foundation for successful weight loss.

Kudos to Weight Watchers for keeping up with research.