hi Wendy,
I've done Weight Watchers 3 or 4 times, but not in the last decade. First was in 79, and I still have my old program book. Funny, looking over the daily menus --- larger portions of meat than today (8 oz for women), 3 servings of FAT (gasp!), only 2 servings of bread a day, and potatoes, rice and pasta were a 3 x per week splurge. Averaged 1200 calories a day, and if you work out the percentages, comes pretty close to The Zone or Sugar Busters. I don't know much about the 1-2-3 points system, except that the Fear of Fat is First and Foremost. I never really was successful with WW after that first time, especially as the diet plan became more mainstream, more lowFAT and higher in bread and cereals. I think the once a week weigh-in was not enough for me, because I had no other support system .... family or friends. In later years, I found that I had some success by following the detailed program per the old book ON MY OWN, and using the recipes and menus there. Going to the meetings, they just handed me a menu for the week, but I never really learned anything about nutrition or health. And the meetings always seemed to be taken over by one or two persons who needed a lot of support for always (and I mean ALWAYS) falling off the wagon.
In 81 or 82, I went to Diet Center. You went every single day, and received one-on-one consultation and weigh-in. Plus, you were given pamphlets and flyers on nutrition and the psychology of eating and self esteem. This plan was also lower carb and higher protein. They also gave me a pouch of supplements, and these fiber pills that you chewed before meals with a glass of water, to fill you up ... I called 'em Kibble, cuz that's what they looked and tasted like. I lost 30 lbs in 9 weeks. Actually, I maintained for at least a couple years after this program, because they had taught about nutrition and eating behaviours. I don't imagine they're still running, or it's not the same program because the meat portions were large, by today's standards.
I also tried Weight Loss Clinic, another daily-visit plan, but it was a VLC program (very low calorie). Started out at 900 per day, but I kept stalling, I remember being at 600 calories a day for a while. It was awful, yes I lost the weight that I wanted to, but gained it back quickly, and then some. There was no nutritional education, just that the program was medically supervised, so you had your blood pressure checked every day.
So, strengths of programs -
1. At the time, or the particular stage of my life, having to report in to somebody else was a real motivator to stick with whatever program.
2. More frequent supervision made for better compliance and reaching the goal.
3. Combining the basic eating plan along with education about nutrition and eating behaviours was most successful, and better likelihood of maintaining after the loss is achieved.
4. In general, all the programs used real food, from grocery stores. A few "special" foods could be purchased, but not necessary to be successful.
Weaknesses -
1. Less frequent check-in = less compliance, less success.
2. Just being handed a menu, here eat this, with no education about nutrition or behaviours was a waste of time and money in the short term, and ultimately has harmed my health in the long term.
3. The WW meetings were so BIG, so many people. You just felt lost and insignificant. Stand in a long line-up to get weighed and the stamp in your book, then sit and wait for half an hour for "the talk" and "sharing" which if you were shy, meant you listened to everyone else's concerns, but if you had questions, tough!
Ok, I'm out of ideas. Time to cook my supper...
Oh, by the way, first diet I ever went on was in 75 --- it was Atkins' original Diet Revolution. I was 17, lost 20 lbs and I ate lowcarb until I went to college (nursing) where I learned "the error of my ways". Thus began my rollercoaster into diet hell.
Doreen
Linear Mode
