Weight Watchers is not so much about a diet but about a lifestyle change program.
It can help you learn to eat healthier and more physically active, so you can lose weight forever.
In this article, we review the Weight Watchers diet, benefits, and risks.
Weight Watchers uses a point system to record food intake. Each meal has an assigned number of points, depending on your calorie count and the amount of saturated fat, sugar, and protein it contains.
Weight Watchers is not a fashionable approach, but rather a slow and constant plan. Due to the combination of tracking the points, choosing healthy foods, being aware of changes in lifestyle and increasing activity, whoever follows it will tend to lose weight.
Pros and Cons of Diet
The benefits of this diet are the following:
- Easy to follow: does not require high knowledge about nutrition or about food.
- It provides satiety that includes foods rich in fiber and water such as fruits, vegetables and cereals/grains of all kinds.
- It is not restrictive.
- No special foods are needed
- It is economic.
The cons of this diet include:
- Whoever follows it can make incorrect food choices without proper nutrition education.
- Counting the points of food and meals can be cumbersome in the long term.
Side Effects
A disadvantage of the program is the inclusion of too much-processed starch in the prepared foods of Weight Watchers.
Another drawback is that some people find that having too much flexibility can cause too much temptation. If you give yourself to something that is not considered ‘in the plan’ in your mind, this could cause you to overeat that particular food.
Some people can use the points for less healthy foods, for example, desserts instead of lunch. Therefore, they could still succeed in losing weight, but at the expense of choosing less nutritionally balanced foods.
The most negative aspect of the program is the fact that the meetings are not run by people educated in nutrition. On the contrary, meetings are led by people who have succeeded in losing weight in the program.
Weight Watchers is a very healthy plan that adapts to anyone. But because of its focus on nutritious and low-calorie foods, it is ideal for people with high blood pressure, high cholesterol, diabetes and even heart disease.
If you choose a ready-to-eat meal, check the labels, as some may be high in sodium.
In the case of people with diabetes, hypertension or high cholesterol, it is necessary that they receive nutritional education to be able to make the right food choices, but it is a plan that can be adapted to various chronic pathologies since it does not have great restrictions.
Who Should Not Follow This Diet
Those who tend to overconsumption, cravings and compulsive eating, it is preferable to avoid this type of approach because they can lose control when eating foods rich in fats and/or sugars.
Pregnant and lactating women should first consult with a nutritionist to avoid deficiencies.
Take advantage of this diet to lose those kilos that are still pending and enjoy reaching your ideal weight.
Taking diet can be extremely difficult process so consulting with experts or visiting websites such as this one, can be of a great help.