Weight Watchers New PointsPlus Program; A Living Thin Perspective
by Sonja Rose on Jan. 19, 2011, under Health
Eat as much fruit as you want on the new Weight Watchers PointsPlus Program
In January 2011, Weight Watchers updated its 13-year-old Points Program to a new, improved, eat-all-the-fruit-you-want plan called (drum-roll please), The PointsPlus Program.
David Kirchhoff, President and CEO, thought it would be more satisfying to eat a 100-calorie, all-natural apple (for example), than a 100-calorie bag of processed little chocolate chip cookies (and more healthy). The stampede to sign up for the new program on Jan. 2 (including new scales, cookbooks, calorie calculators and Weight Watchers food) was almost deafening, the lines snaked out the doors — and the 7% dip in attendance in 2010 will most assuredly go up for the No. 1 worldwide diet company (with sensational svelte Jennifer Hudson as their spokesmodel).
This brought back (somewhat) fond memories for this Living Thin author; as Weight Watchers was the first “official” diet I ever went on in 1977. My mom and I attended every Wednesday evening, when a once-a-week liver meal was still required (I never complied), and we carried little passbooks with us to every meeting to keep track of our weight loss.
After months of eating tunafish for lunch every day, weighing and measuring all my portions, eating
Sonja in Maui, Hawaii
little bags of dried apples for a treat, I lost 30 pounds — and my life changed. I was finally a more normal weight teenager, and I felt thin and attractive for once and could fit into cute clothes.
Over the next 30 years, as I went up and down the scale (See: Yo-Yo Dieting; Stop The Insanity!). I re-joined Weight Watchers many times, and other diet programs, doing my share to pump thousands of dollars into the weight-loss industry. In 2001, I decided to just “stay thin.” It’s been a lot easier, and I certainly have saved a lot of money since then.
Kirchhoff thought the Points Program needed a facelift because dieters were eating too many processed foods. There are zero points for fruit on the new program. For thirteen years, WW dieters have been able to eat whatever food they wanted, just keeping track of their points to lose weight (calories in, calories out?). Reminder: remember your treats, even if it’s a processed little cookie (see: Breaking the Deprivation/Binge Cycle).
And yes, as much fun as dieting can be, it’s a lot more fun when it comes to an end and you don’t have to do it anymore (or at least pay to attend an official program). Try living the thin lifestyle when you reach your happy weight, and never diet again!
