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Weight Watchers proves to be worthwhile lifestyle change |
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Tuesday, 04 March 2008 |
by NIKKI ROBERTI
Intern Lifestyles Reporter
Watching what you eat is what many potential dieters say their plan is – but how many actually know how to successfully go about it?
Weight Watchers is a long-term lifestyle-changing diet plan that focuses on balance and portion control.
“I think that Weight Watchers is probably one of the best eating programs,” said Dr. Bob Ellison, a staff physician at Student Health Services. “I won’t call it a diet. I’ll call it an eating program that is lifestyle changing.”
Ellison said he views Weight Watchers as an “established, reputable approach.”
When starting the Weight Watchers program, participants choose between the Flex point and the Core plan.
I chose the point plan, giving me 22 allotted points, determined by my weight.
The books and charts provided by the program calculate points for the dieter.
One of the books is a supermarket guide, which lists name-brand products anyone could find at their local grocer.
If something wasn’t labeled in either of the books, the chart
calculates points by comparing the fiber, calories and fat grams on the
nutrition fact label.
When wanting a mid-afternoon snack, I would carry all my books and
charts to The Market, hoping to find something sweet that wouldn’t cost
me my entire day’s worth of points.
Talk about awkward.
There’s nothing like flipping through two books and calculating on a chart when looking at the back of Teddy Grahams in public.
And even when I did figure out the points on the Teddy Grahams, I was only allowed eight little bears.
However, while that doesn’t seem like much, eight crackers do constitute a serving.
When I would have taken a handful of tiny cookies normally, Weight Watchers actually made me think before I ate.
Portion control and serving size can be a problem for college students, said Ellison.
Ellison’s children each gained the “freshman 15 to 25” and had to spend the other three years trying to work it off.
“I think that college lends itself to eating dinner, going to study and
then rewarding yourself with ‘let’s go share a pizza’ at 11 o’clock at
night,” he said. “I do think that portion control is not a very easy
thing to achieve with a campus routine.”
With my college campus routine, Weight Watchers was often difficult
when looking for points, or wanting to grab something quick.
When Kraft Easy Mac runs around nine points and grilled cheese hits 13,
the usual quick grabs weren’t so appetizing since they’d take up nearly
or over half of my daily points.
However, salad was set at zero points so technically, I could have
eaten all I wanted of leafy greens – and have point room for the ‘Mac
and cheese’ of my dreams.
By day five, I finally caught on to the salad method and for dinner I
ate a grilled chicken salad at three points, leaving room for the six
point dessert my friends purchased.
“Weight Watchers has the best formula. They are very affirming. They
encourage people. They teach you how to eat so that you aren’t going to
starve,” Ellison said. “You can go out to eat with friends and feel
like you can order from the menu.”
On day six my older brother begged me and a friend of mine to go to Boone Bagelry, but at first I was apprehensive.
An omelet comes with home fries and a bagel.
Adding that all together, I calculated 18 points in all.
That meant I only had four to last me the rest of the day.
However, from what I learned the past week through being on this diet
plan, I figured out how to modify the meal and balance my day.
By getting an omelet with veggies and no cheese, and also giving my home fries to my brother, I was able to cut five points.
Sure, 13 points is a lot for one meal – but I just balanced it out with
eating one slice of a five-point cheese pizza for dinner.
“Weight Watchers really talks about how you can count calories or
points or do portion control,” Ellison said. “That’s more of the
changing the psychology of food.”
My entire perspective on food has changed.
I can now see the evil in what a light grilled cheese sandwich and that
if I want to go out for ice cream with my friends, then I shouldn’t eat
a lot of pizza with them for dinner.
By changing the psychology of food, Weight Watchers offers a slower
pace at losing weight, while making sure it provides long-term benefits.
“Anybody could lose five pounds in seven to 10 days doing something
radical,” Ellison said. “So you can do all of that before Spring Break,
but you’re just going to put it back on.”
Though point books are annoying, Weight Watchers was definitely a worthwhile diet and I highly recommend it.
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