User Review #63 by Susan on May 21st, 2010 at 9:01 PM CDT

Name

I joined weight watchers in January and stayed on the program for almost 3 months and gained 5 pounds. I currently weigh about 160 pounds and my height is 5 9" so i am in the range. The classes in Boynton Beach were designed for retired people where the class instructor coordinated walking trips for the majority of the members. I switched to the Boca Raton facility and found the speaker to be very motivated; she was skinny skinny(an X- flight attendent). I believe she took diet pills to stay as thin as she did and did not actually follow the weight watchers plan. Weight watchers pushed all of their health bars( only 1 point per bar) which got me into the habit of eating bars on a daily basis. My previous diet prior to weight watchers was much more fulfilling bc. I ate a higher amount of chicken and fish but did not worry about points. With weight watchers, I snacked more bc. I tried to stay within my point limit and did not watch the quality of food I was eating as compared to my former diet that included a high protein, low carb diet. I always felt hungry with weight watchers too in comparison to not counting points and eating a low fat, low carb diet with less sugar. I feel weight watchers is all about the new products they are launching and the point value instead of the quality of what you are consuming. Perhaps weightwatcher should be categorized as a food manufacture such as quaker oats instead of a diet company. I am sure those food sales are definitely proving worthwhile for their investors and they laught all the weigh(no pun intended) to the bank. I expect more from the diet company than a bunch of marketing and sample dropping of health bars when I drive to a weekly meeting and hear all about the food launches. Enough of being a lifetime member and attending weekly meeting where you learn about what new and exciting bars weight watchers is pushing.

I joined weight watchers in January and stayed on the program for almost 3 months and gained 5 pounds. I currently weigh about 160 pounds and my height is 5 9" so i am in the range. The classes in Boynton Beach were designed for retired people where the class instructor coordinated walking trips for the majority of the members. I switched to the Boca Raton facility and found the speaker to be very motivated; she was skinny skinny(an X- flight attendent). I believe she took diet pills to stay as thin as she did and did not actually follow the weight watchers plan. Weight watchers pushed all of their health bars( only 1 point per bar) which got me into the habit of eating bars on a daily basis. My previous diet prior to weight watchers was much more fulfilling bc. I ate a higher amount of chicken and fish but did not worry about points. With weight watchers, I snacked more bc. I tried to stay within my point limit and did not watch the quality of food I was eating as compared to my former diet that included a high protein, low carb diet. I always felt hungry with weight watchers too in comparison to not counting points and eating a low fat, low carb diet with less sugar. I feel weight watchers is all about the new products they are launching and the point value instead of the quality of what you are consuming.

Perhaps weightwatcher should be categorized as a food manufacture such as quaker oats instead of a diet company. I am sure those food sales are definitely proving worthwhile for their investors and they laught all the weigh(no pun intended) to the bank. I expect more from the diet company than a bunch of marketing and sample dropping of health bars when I drive to a weekly meeting and hear all about the food launches.

Enough of being a lifetime member and attending weekly meeting where you learn about what new and exciting bars weight watchers is pushing.

User Review #62 by holly on November 18th, 2009 at 12:42 PM CST

Name

I'm a WW lifetime member, but have decided to look elsewhere for weight loss and maintenance support. Originally, I enjoyed the low price, and the points system, and the fact that no foods were off limits, but, there was still a bit of a structure to the daily food plan. Now, you can choose various plans, make your own, or just eat chocolate and milkshakes all day long, it seems to make little difference to Weight Watcher's leaders, in the long run. Plus, when I sit in the meetings, all I hear is talk about food, where to get this food, or that food, and I see members salivating at the mention of food. In every meeting, from the time you walk in, until you leave, you see boxes of WW candy bars, milkshakes, full color posters of foods, and some of the rewards after the meetings are food! Do drug addicts sit in a pharmacy, looking at full color posters of the drugs of their choice? Do Alcoholics Anonymous meetings have free samples at meetings, and pictures of beer, wine, and liquor plastered all over their walls? The meeting leaders don't really seem interested in any personal struggles of the members. Well, they like to listen to you contribute to the meeting, as long as it doesn't get too deep in thought, or take up too much of their time. I can not recommend Weight Watchers to anyone who wants to keep their weight off for life. There is no real info on how to change your thoughts about food.

I'm a WW lifetime member, but have decided to look elsewhere for weight loss and maintenance support. Originally, I enjoyed the low price, and the points system, and the fact that no foods were off limits, but, there was still a bit of a structure to the daily food plan.

Now, you can choose various plans, make your own, or just eat chocolate and milkshakes all day long, it seems to make little difference to Weight Watcher's leaders, in the long run.

Plus, when I sit in the meetings, all I hear is talk about food, where to get this food, or that food, and I see members salivating at the mention of food. In every meeting, from the time you walk in, until you leave, you see boxes of WW candy bars, milkshakes, full color posters of foods, and some of the rewards after the meetings are food!

Do drug addicts sit in a pharmacy, looking at full color posters of the drugs of their choice? Do Alcoholics Anonymous meetings have free samples at meetings, and pictures of beer, wine, and liquor plastered all over their walls?

The meeting leaders don't really seem interested in any personal struggles of the members. Well, they like to listen to you contribute to the meeting, as long as it doesn't get too deep in thought, or take up too much of their time.

I can not recommend Weight Watchers to anyone who wants to keep their weight off for life. There is no real info on how to change your thoughts about food.

User Review #61 by Alisa on November 13th, 2009 at 4:08 PM CST

Name

I agree. I don’t think weight watchers teaches people to eat healthy. What I learned was how to eat the most for the least amount of points. And the meetings were far from group therapy; it was mostly people talking about how to eat the most food for the least amount of points. There really was no mention of eating smaller portions of nutritious foods. I knew people who would eat cake for dinner or a pile of broccoli because they had no points left.

I agree. I don't think weight watchers teaches people to eat healthy. What I learned was how to eat the most for the least amount of points. And the meetings were far from group therapy; it was mostly people talking about how to eat the most food for the least amount of points. There really was no mention of eating smaller portions of nutritious foods. I knew people who would eat cake for dinner or a pile of broccoli because they had no points left.