An Analysis
An Analysis
Weight Watchers diet started in September 1961 when Jean Nidetch, an overweight woman from Queens, New York, discovered that the most effective keys to weight control are actually "empathy, rapport and mutual understanding." This discovery was made while she was talking to her friends who, like her, had trouble sticking to their diets and were thus gaining weight instead of losing it. What started as a mutual support meeting between her and a few friends grew to be a world-wide weight control organization now commonly called the Weight Watchers. Officially, Weight Watchers International became a company in May 1963 and expanded throughout the world. Its branches included those in Australia and Brazil. In 1978, H.J. Heinz Company acquired Weight Watchers International and the reach of the company as well as the number of members have only been growing since then (“The History of Weight Watchers,” n.d.).
The advocacy of Weight Watchers is that losing weight is more than just a diet. They say that changing one’s habit as well as getting support and encouragement from people who are going through the same struggles can produce better result that just simple dieting. As such, the members of the program are usually people who have undergone several fad diets with little to no success or those who are wary to try overly expensive or complicated diets.
Members of Weight Watchers follow a basic Food Plan reflecting the most recent nutritional findings. The Food Plan works by assigning points to meals and detailing how many points is healthy to be able to lose about 2 pounds of weight per week. There is also a behavioral management program designed by a leading psychologist which aims to change bad eating habits. Weight Watchers is also one of the first organizations to introduce an Exercise Plan as an aid to overall fitness. The culmination of these points, however, happens in the weekly meetings wherein the members get to share their experiences and learn new things through insights from each other.
Although Weight Watchers encourages nutrient-dense food as well as organic food, the company also offers its own food line of entrees, breakfasts, snacks and desserts which are manufactured by Weight Watchers Gourmet Food Company, an affiliate of H.J. Heinz. The members are not required to buy these products but most of them do anyway since these are available for buying at most Weight Watchers meetings.
The Weight Watchers claims that a person can lose an average of two pounds per week by following their diet routines as well as regularly participating in meetings in which members encourage and support each other. This dietary claim is supported by several scientific studies including one research by Scott Kahan and Robyn Osborn (2013) wherein they studied 144 participants ages 30 to 65 with a body mass index (BMI) of 27 to 50 kg/m2. The research showed that in the follow-up period of 48 weeks, the participants who were subjected to Weight Watchers program were able to lose an average of 10% body weight.
Above is a graph on the dietary analysis of the one day meal plan from Skinnyms.com. If we compute everything from the graph, we can see that the meal has 778 calories, 130.5 calories from fat, 436.8 from carbohydrates, and 191.2 from protein.
The Diet Analysis column chart above shows the difference between the ADMR recommendations found on the Macronutrient Ranges Report and the diet analysis of the sample menu for Weight Watchers diet. The blue and red columns are from the recommended amount of calories for each nutrient that was in the Macronutrient Ranges Report while the green column shows the amount of calories detailed in the diet analysis of the Weight Watchers sample menu.
As you can see from the chart, the calories from the sample menu are significantly lower than that of the recommended calories. This would mean that the Weight Watchers diet is effective for people who want to lose weight. Also, it can be said that the sample menu still provides for the required nutrients for the body in the correct proportions since the chart shows that the ratio of carbohydrates, proteins and fat for the AMDR are parallel to the sample menu. The parallelism is explained by the fact that in the AMDR, the calories of carbohydrates is typically greater than the calories from protein and fats. This trend is consistent with the sample menu. In this sense, we can say that the Weight Watchers diet works. However, like any other diet, Weight Watchers is not without its shortcomings.
In researching the Weight Watchers diet, we have come to realize that there are several pitfalls to this diet. The program in itself is helpful and very effective. However, it is the fact that the Weight Watchers diet is a company that brings the downfall of the program. Because profit is important for a company, the Weight Watchers have produced their own food line selling more and more processed food. We have to recall that the processed food most likely contain sugars that are harmful for a person’s health as well as adds weight to the person. This is because sugar interferes with the proper metabolism of fat. Improper metabolism of fat couples with increased blood sugar levels increases the possibility of a person having cravings and overeating later in the day (Pierce, 2010). As such, even though the person may have initial success with the Weight Watchers diet, they are more likely to gain back the pounds that they lost.
The best advice to give to a friend who is considering on going through the Weight Watchers diet is to follow the meal plan and exercise program but avoid being swept into the consumerism cycle that many members of the diet fall into. If the friend can internalize the importance of nutrient-dense foods and follows through the Weight Watchers meeting without giving in to the marketing strategies of the processed food that are supposed to be ‘healthy,’ he or she should be okay and will probably be on his or her way to getting that desired weight.
References
Kahan, S., & Osborn, R. (2013). Weight loss was greater with Weight Watchers than with a
behavioral program plus Weight Watchers.ACP Journal Club, 159(10), 1.
The History of Weight Watchers. Retrieved from
http://www.dwlz.com/WWinfo/historyofww.html
5 Day Weight Watchers Menus with 20 Points or Less. Retrieved from http://skinnyms.com/5-
day-sample-weight-watchers-menus-with-20-points-or-less/
Pierce, A. (1 Mar. 2010). Diet Analysis: Weight Watchers. Retrieved from
http://piercewholenutrition.blogspot.com/2010/03/diet-analysis-weight-watchers.html
