Before you go back to counting your points, learn the untold truth of Weight Watchers.
Since Nidetch was not with child at the time, she knew it was time to conquer her weight.
It turns out, they all did the same thing!
Eventually, Nidetchlost 72 poundsand made a business of her weekly meetings.
According to PBS, by 1963, she incorporated Weight Watchers and gave the group more structure.
Now, each meeting had a specific meal plan, check-in meetings, and elected group leaders.
Nidetch created a system known nationwide, and it kept on growing.
But that’s not how Nidetch started it.
I don’t think we ever would have gotten excited Oprah commercials about this diet plan.
They still didn’t work with points, but had an “exchange program.”
The wording of the diet is a little strange, but the plan was fairly simple.
An “exchange” is just an odd way of saying a serving.
You were allowed a certain amount of servings in each food group every day.
In 1986, Nidetch published theWeight Watchers Quick Start Plus Program Cookbook.
Then the calories would increase gradually over a few weeks.
Some peoplereally miss these old Weight Watchersplans as compared to their modern points system.
The points system keeps changing
Weight Watchers has been around way longer than their main competition.
One of the reasons Weight Watchers is still standing is it’s always willing to change.
The “exchange” system was exchanged for the first iteration of points inin 1997.
According toVery Well, the diet plans evolved six times until they settled on the PointsPlus program in 2012.
Still, Weight Watchers isn’t done.
Not all members are pleased with all the changes.
Most likely, that means another change will come to Weight Watchers in the next few years.
No wonder the diet industry is so frustrating to those struggling with weight.
Fortunately, Weight Watchers has been scientifically studied and found effective.
Now, the results weren’t huge.
Johns Hopkins found that Weight Watchers participants lost three to five percent more than the control group.
Over the years, many celebrity spokespeople have showed off their lean figures to help increase sales.
Jennifer Hudson said she lost 80 pounds with Weight Watchers and was the main spokesperson for four years.
Weight Watchers reached royalty whenSarah, Duchess of Yorkbecame a spokesperson in 2008.
Her commercial campaign and rabid fanbase have brought new excitement to the company and a lot of new customers.
Typically, people lose about 10 pounds a year.
Plus, of those 10 pounds you lost, you’ll probablygain back eight.
Fully conquering obesity and your relationship with food is incredibly complicated.
Weight Watchers' breezy commercials and fun apps make it all seem simple.
Though it might be easy at first, to keep your results, it gets hard.
That’s not to say Weight Watchers doesn’t work.
Lots of people have had success and truly love their system.
It just isn’t effortless.
It isn’t quite so simple.
It’s not that everyone on Weight Watchers who stops counting points immediately starts binging on full cakes.
That seems pretty fair.
Kelly Burch shared her history with Weight Watchers withPrevention magazine.
She recounted how she regained the 50 pounds she originally lost on the program.
I just wanted to eat intuitively and to implement what I had learned without such a structured system.
Weight Watchers admittedly thrives on repeat customers.
That’s where your business comes from."
It just teaches you how to keep doing Weight Watchers.
Again, don’t think that Weight Watchers is terrible or completely ineffective.
That’s not necessarily a bad thing, but it’s not what most people sign up for.
Again, stock pricesjumped 105 percentfrom one word from the incredible female mogul.
But it looks like Oprah has directly tied her own profits to her weight.
That didn’t mean that Oprah’s contributions were completely ineffective.
As soon as Oprah released her newest campaign showing off her 40-pound weight loss, stock prices jumped again.
Oprah herselfmade $10 millionin less than a week from her slimmer figure.
But for Oprah, that’s nothing.
She probably gives Gayle $10 million-dollar presents just for being a cool friend.
Would that mean that stocks could plummet if she gains five pounds?
Even thinking about this makes me want to stress eat.
Good intentions, questionable results
The story of Weight Watchers is a true inspiration.
The company has changed people’s lives for the better and helped some conquer their battle with obesity.
But it’s not all easy, andWeight Watchersisn’t as successful as it claims.
