Weight Watchers

Weight Watchers , founded in the 1960s by Jean Nidetch, is a company offering various dieting products and services to assist weight loss. It started as a discussion group for how to best lose weight. It now operates in about 30 countries around the world, generally under the name "Weight Watchers" translated into the local language. Its most prominent celebrity endorser is Sarah, Duchess of York.

Varying on location, Weight Watchers generally offers two distinct programs:

The POINTS program
The Core program

The programs are supplemented by optional support groups which meet regularly and provide ground assistance to those trying to meet weight-loss goals.

POINTS program

The POINTS system is, in essence, a simple way to quantify a participant's caloric intake and energy expenditure. Various servings of food are assigned a specific number of points, and various types of exercise are assigned negative numbers of points; a program participant is allocated a certain number of points per week, with that number based on the individual's current weight and weight goals.

The effect of this is that the participant is not restricted from eating any specific type of food, but they must stay under their total point value for the week. This stands in marked contrast to diet approaches such as the South Beach diet or the Atkins diet, under which some foods are completely forbidden and others are permitted in theoretically unlimited amounts. The participant's ability to factor exercise into the plan increases its flexibility: the participant can eat more points as long as they offset them with exercise, or eat fewer points if they prefer not to exercise.

Many Weight Watchers proponents enjoy the POINTS system precisely because no food is out of bounds, as long as it is eaten in moderation, and because exercise can be factored in. (In the UK, Weight Watchers advertises under the slogan "Where no food is a sin"; this is a reference to its chief competitor Slimming World's system of giving some food "sin" values.) Others, however, dislike the record-keeping that the plan imposes on the participant, who must essentially keep track of the points value of everything they eat; they prefer other plans that place restrictions on types of food rather than amounts of food.

The POINTS formula

The formula for calculating the POINTS content of a specific food serving uses a formula described in US Patent 6,040,531:

p = \frac{c}{50} + \frac{f}{12} - \frac{\min\{r,4\}}{5}

Where p is the number of points, c is the number of calories, f is the grams of fat, and r is the grams of dietary fiber (if the dietary fiber is greater than four, use four). The POINTS value is always an integer, with fractional values rounded to the nearest point. (An alternative format, mentioned in the patent and used on some websites, rounds values to the nearest half-point.)

An early version of the POINTS system did not limit the fiber "credit" to four grams. Another variation is that the "POINTSfinder" manual calculator distributed at Weight Watchers meetings does not reach a POINTS value of 2 until after 70 calories have been reached, rather than 50 as the formula would indicate. As a result, point boundaries are 20 calories (or 4.8 fat grams) higher than might be expected. Though the patent mentions possibly using 70 rather than 50 as the single point baseline, that method is said to be intended for use by dieters who do not use fiber as a "point enhancer" (reducer).

More recent versions of the program, such as that described in US Patent 6,878,885, take exercise and physical activity into account to grant additional points in the daily allowance.

The Core Plan

In part as a response to the popularity of plans like Atkins and South Beach, Weight Watchers has recently developed a separate plan, known as the Core Plan. This plan classifies certain types of food as "core," and permits participants to eat core foods with the restriction that they should only eat these foods "until satisfied, not full." Core foods are a list of healthy foods from all the food groups, including fruits, vegetables, fat free dairy, lean meats, and whole grains. Non-core foods are assigned the usual point values, and participants are given an allottment of 35 non-core points that they can eat in a week.

The Flex Plan

Under this plan, participants are assigned a set number of points to consume per day based on their current weight. The number of points allowed may be increased with exercise. The "Flex" part of the plan is that several additional points are allotted (which is not based on weight) that can be used or not used during the week.

TurnAround

In August of 2004 the TurnAround Program (a registered trademark) was introduced which not only incorporated the Points and Core food plans but is intended to assist people with developing an overall healthy lifestyle. The program includes healthy food intake but also includes following 8 Good Health Guidelines, activity and member support. It is through all of the aspects of the program that members are able to not only reach their weight loss goals but to make permanent changes to support lifetime weight management.

Corporate history

From 1978 until 1999, the Weight Watchers company was owned by the H. J. Heinz Company, which continues to produce packaged foods bearing the Weight Watchers brand name (and with points values clearly identified). Weight Watchers was acquired in a leveraged buyout in 1999 and went public in 2001.

Corporate governance

Current members of the board of directors of Weight Watchers are: Philippe Amouyal, John Bard, Raymond Debbane, Marsha Evans, Jonas Fajgenbaum, Linda Huett, Sacha Lainovic, Sam K. Reed, and Christopher Sobecki.

External links

Official Weight Watchers web site
Restaurants A to Z, Dotti's Weight Loss Zone - Very large independent collection of POINTS values for thousands of menu items at hundreds of restaurants.
Analysis of the Weight Watchers points formula
Weight Watchers tips
Bootcamp Buddies A Weight Watchers support forum

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