Weight Watchers Gets It Right

I’m a fan of Weight Watchers.

I know many of my wellness colleagues are rolling their eyes reading this but Weight Watchers' simple approach of portion control, recording what you eat, and providing group support just works. Millions of people have shed tens of millions of pounds by counting points, keeping food journals and showing up for weekly weigh-ins.

So why do my colleagues make snide comments under their breath? Well, for one, Weight Watchers never really cared WHAT you ate. They assigned points to every food under the sun and as long as you stayed within the point range you could eat any combination of foods your heart or stomach desired. (You see, my personal trainer friends tend toward organic and paleo eating, avoiding all things processed. A 2-point bag of WW cookies will send them into a 2-day cardio binge).

But now the venerable weight loss company has taken a bold step. Their famous Points system, introduced in 1997, just got an overhaul. They have recognized that the idea of “a calorie is a calorie is a calorie” is not the optimal way to approach nutrition.

“Calorie counting has become unhelpful,” according to the company’s president David Kirchhoff as quote in Time Magazine. “When we have a 100-calorie apple in one hand and a 100-calorie pack of cookies in the other, and we view them as being ‘the same’ because the calories are the same, it says everything that needs to be said about the limitations of just using calories in guiding food choices.”

The new Points Plus system assigns NO POINTS to fruits and vegetables (except for the most starchy varieties). That’s right, you may now eat bushels of apples, bunches of bananas and all the mango you’d like.

Basically, if the food is high in protein and fiber it gets a low point rating so you can eat more of it. If the food is high in processed carbs, it will be accompanied by a high point total.

So the mantra I have been instilling in you for several years, “eat meat and vegetables, fruits and nuts, few starches, no sugar” has now been confirmed by the most popular weight loss program on earth.

The lesson, try every fruit and vegetable you can find, list out 5-10 that you like, keep them on hand at home and eat them at any point in time.

Be well,

Paul

Paul Dziewisz
Active Personal Fitness
CrossFit Level 1 Trainer
NASM - Certified Personal Trainer
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