How to Succeed on the Weight Watchers Diet

Weight Watchers was incorporated in 1963, offering a diet plan that has been constantly evolving ever since. The proprietary Points, and, later, the PointsPlus program has been tweaked over the years, but its premise is still the same: Each food is assigned a number Points, and you count these instead of calories. To succeed on the plan, don't just learn about the PointsPlus system and follow it as prescribed. Also take advantage of the entire Weight Watchers system.

Instructions

• 1

  Attend meetings. Don't just arrive, weigh in and leave before the meeting starts. Meetings are an important component for support as well as menu, cooking and exercise tips. If you are enrolled in the Weight Watchers Diet online program take advantage of all the interactive tools and frequent the forums for online support from other Weight Watchers members.

• 2

  Plan ahead. Figure out your meals and menus as far ahead of time as possible. Make grocery lists and shop for what you need to prepare your menus.

• 3

  Eat plenty of foods with low Points values. In Weight Watchers, there are no forbidden foods. However, if you choose to eat high-fat, calorie-dense foods that are high in Points you won't be able to eat much. While high-calorie foods such as pizza are fine as long as you stay within your Points allotment, plan most of your menus around plenty of low-Point foods.

• 4

  Eat more fruits and vegetables. Most vegetables on the Weight Watchers plan are considered "free foods" because they are 0 Points. Fruit is just 1 Point per serving. Combine this with low-fat or fat-free dairy, lean sources of protein, healthy whole grains and small amounts of healthy fats and you will be eating a decent amount of food each day.

• 5

  Serve Weight Watchers-friendly foods to your family. Don't stress yourself out by cooking two meals every night. Even if your family doesn't need to lose weight they will still benefit by eating the healthy foods that you eat. Watch your portions by counting Points; the other members of your family won't need this step.

• 6

  Use all your Points. The Weight Watchers diet plan gives you extra Points each week to use as you like. You can spread these Points out through the week or use them for a special occasion. For example, if you enjoy going out to dinner on Saturdays you can use your extra Points and splurge a little. Make sure you use these Points. Some members think they will lose weight faster by eating fewer Points, but instead end up feeling hungry, frustrated and deprived.

• 7

  Keep a journal. Writing down everything that you eat is a great way to stay on track.

• 8

  Exercise each day to help boost weight loss and earn extra Points.