Basics of Weight Watchers

Weight Watchers is a weight loss program that has been helping people lose weight for more than 45 years. The program focuses on making sure you learn how to make healthy decisions on your own that will result in weigh loss over time. According to its official website, Weight Watchers works under a scientifically supported four-pillar approach: eat smarter, move more, make good habits and get support.

Food

• Weight Watchers helps members eat smarter by structuring a diet plan that is easy to follow. You are given a book with a list of thousands of types and brands of foods and even a restaurant guide. Each food is assigned a point value. You are allotted a certain amount of points to eat daily based on current weight and nutritional goals.

  For example, a woman who weighs 155 lbs. is allotted 22 points each day. A sample menu might look like this:

  Breakfast: 1 serving plain oatmeal (2 points), 1 cup blueberries (1 point), 1 cup 1 percent milk (2 points). Total: 5 points
  Lunch: tuna sandwich with fat-free mayonnaise, lettuce and tomato (5 points), 1 large apple (2 points). Total: 7 points
  Snack: 1 cup fat-free cottage cheese (3 points). Total: 3 points
  Dinner: 3 oz. chicken breast (3 points), 3 cups mixed greens (0 points), 1 cup chopped tomatoes (0 points), 1 tbsp. light dressing (1 point), 1 cup lentil soup (3 points). Total: 7 points
  Total for the day = 22 points

Exercise

• Moving more is encouraged by allowing you to earn extra food points as a reward. By adding a workout plan to your daily routine, you will not only lose weight faster, but you will have more flexibility to occasionally indulge.

Behavior

• One of the basics to having success on the program is being able to build healthy habits. You weigh in at each meeting to track your weight loss progress. You are also given the opportunity to discuss helpful hints with other members, which can be advantageous because they may be able to offer suggestions for foods to eat or workouts to incorporate that you have not thought of on your own.

Support

• A supportive atmosphere is one of the differentiating aspects of Weight Watchers. The weekly meetings get members to encourage each other through successes and hold each other accountable through struggles.

Considerations

• According to an article published on the "CBS News" website, Weight Watchers has an impressive success rate when compared with fad diets and other weight loss programs. You may want to consider joining the program if you want to lose weight healthfully and do not have the knowledge or support to do it on your own.