Weight Watchers is best known for its Points System, which assigns specific values to different foods and permits each member a daily allotment. The Points System has been a very successful way to lose weight. I can personally attest to that.

The latest Weight Watchers system, started a little over a year ago, is called Points Plus. It apparently was intended to” steer people toward more healthy food choices, encouraging people to eat more fresh fruits by giving them zero points, as most vegetables already were”. The problem is that many people going to Weight Watchers programs are having difficulty losing weight with the Points Plus system.Weight Watchers tried in December 2011 to address the concerns by recommending that” all members consider reducing their daily food intake, or points allotment, by 10 percent, not counting fruits and vegetables”)

On the Points Plus plan, dieters can have as much fruit as they want without counting any points for fruits.

Marjorie Nolan, speaking on behalf of the Academy of Nutrition and Dietetics is quoted as saying “No single dietitian I know would count fruit as a ‘free’ food if someone is on a diet and trying to lose weight. You have to account for it,”…that is something we all would surely agree with. Weight Watchers defends its action saying that consumption of fruits is low in this country (talk about being on another planet)! In New York City that is definitely not so. I am not certain what the situation is in other parts of the country.

You can read the New York Times article at

http://well.blogs.nytimes.com/2012/02/06/in-new-diet-math-subtracting-is-hard/?ref=health

Pat, et al,

What's interesting about this is that WW does employ RDs to help research and design their wt loss programs.  I don't know how much of their input is taken into account when approving the final product, however.  

Wonder if they are hired "for show" to add credibility to their programs, or to actually function as their wt loss program engineers.

But even with that said, I've seen many non-diabetes wt loss programs that allow unlimited fresh fruit (or canned w/o sugar) and non-starchy veggies.  Many HCPs would defend this concept, I'm sure, as these foods are very low cal and very filling due to high fiber and water content.

Mary Ann Hodorowicz, RD, CDE, MBA, Certified Endocrinology Coder
PresentDiabetes Author of MNT and DSMT Reimbursement Audio Lectures

Eat Well, Laugh Often, Love Much

There's no such thing as a free lunch, right?

I think that whenever weight management programs focus only on data - portion sizes, calories, fat grams, WW points, etc - they're missing an important part of the weight loss puzzle:  why we eat.

When we also pay attention to why we're eating, we can truly change our habits to lose weight, and then keep the weight off. Figuring out why we eat, and what we want to do about it, is typically much more difficult than counting points or calories. Perhaps that's why it's often not emphasized?

I think WW is on the right track encouraging people to eat more veggies and fruit, but they would be more effective if they take it one more step and get people to think about why they're eating in the first place.

If you go to this website, you will see the Scientific Advisory Board:

http://www.weightwatchers.com/about/his/board.aspx

There is only 1 Registered dietitian on the Board ! mostly MD's and PhD's

Hey Lynn,

Great points about addressing WHY we eat!  Remember the old saying:

"It's not what I'm eating, it's what's eating me!".

In one group weight loss program I taught for years, the patients to:

1)  Identify their own:

     > trigger foods

     > trigger moods

     > trigger situations

2)  Prioritize their top 3 triggers in each category

3)  Identify their own "trigger control" strategies to match each trigger

It was fascinating to hear the creative strategies pts would come up with!  

That's another blog all by itself!

Mary Ann Hodorowicz, RD, CDE, MBA, Certified Endocrinology Coder
PresentDiabetes Author of MNT and DSMT Reimbursement Audio Lectures

Eat Well, Laugh Often, Love Much

Dr Oz had a good show today (Feb 9) with Rosie O'Donnel discussing why she can't resist trigger foods, and what she is doing about it

Hi Pat,

Do you remember what Rosie said about exactly HOW she is controlling her trigger foods?

Mary Ann Hodorowicz, RD, CDE, MBA, Certified Endocrinology Coder
PresentDiabetes Author of MNT and DSMT Reimbursement Audio Lectures

Eat Well, Laugh Often, Love Much

Hi Mary Ann

I taped the program, when I get a chance to review it, I'll put it on this blog

Trigger food tips:  I make my husband keep his potato chips in his truck!  And only one small bag of cheetos are allowed in the house per year.  But...Hey, I get to have all the veggies I want!  How cool is that.  : - ) 

I just reviewed the Dr Oz program with Rosie O'Donnell. She actually solves the problem by keeping her trigger foods out of her house and asking her friends to not have her trigger foods around when she visits them....that is surely one approach!

She is concentrating on eating healthy and has lost 15 pounds. She is now eating lots of veggies, fish and chicken.

Other stratgies to control "trigger foods" are:

1)  Put only 1 serving size (from food label) on small plate and put

     bag/box in away immediately

2)  To stop the "lingering" taste of the food in your mouth after eating    this 1 serving (which is another trigger in and of itself), either:

     a)  Chew gum, OR

     b)  Brush your teeth

3)  Put 1 serving of fruits and/or veggies on the plate WITH the 1 serving of the trigger food.  This help to fill you up on healthier foods AND starts to train your brain to gradually switch from junk food treats (e.g., Cheetos) to healthier treats.

4)  Drink a big glass of water or a SF beverage BEFORE eating the trigger food to help fill you up, even on a temporary basis.

5) Set a timer for 15 minutes BEFORE eating the trigger food.  If you really still want it after waiting for 15 minutes, then have it....BUT, use strategies 1-4 above!

Check this pic out!  It's hysterical!

Mary Ann Hodorowicz, RD, CDE, MBA, Certified Endocrinology Coder
PresentDiabetes Author of MNT and DSMT Reimbursement Audio Lectures

Eat Well, Laugh Often, Love Much

That is a hysterical picture, Mary Ann!

MaryAnn, did you use a picture of Cheetos on purpose!

Hi Sonia,

Yes, I did use the Cheetos pic on purpose, secondary to your great comment about this trigger food (loved it, and love them!):

And only one small bag of Cheetos are allowed in the house per year.  But...Hey, I get to have all the veggies I want!  How cool is that.  : - ) 

Mary Ann Hodorowicz

Well the grossness of that picture may have cured my cheetos condition... Almost!

I tell my obese diabetes patients that non-starchy vegetables are "free" because they have very few calories and carbohydrates and are not likely to be eaten in amounts that will cause problems with weight gain or blood sugar.  However, fruit is another story.  Even when counseling people without diabetes I do not count fruit as 'free'.  It has about 60 calories per serving and you know how small the serving sizes are!  Calling it free is inherently flawed I think.  Especially when people are struggling to lose weight.  If the old Weight Watcher's system wasn't 'broken' why did they try and 'fix' it?  

Hi Micki,

I think that WW continuously changes it's programs in order to make them easier, better, more current and more in sync with newer nutrition research.

And especially in response to client's needs......and needs change when food labels change, eating habits change, the competition changes their product or marketing strategy, etc.

In the end, companies always have to revise their product or service to make them fresh, more intriguing to their target markets and to meet their clients' demands.   This generates renewed interest, and of course, more revenue for the company.

Look at how many times McDonald's has changed it's tag line song!

Boy, when I think of the evolution of the cell phone, smart phones, lap tops, I-Pads, it makes my head spin!

I'm sticking with my "dumb phone" for now until one of my clients demands that I get his/her "text messages" or "tweats".........UGH! 

Mary Ann Hodorowicz, RD, CDE, MBA, Certified Endocrinology Coder
PresentDiabetes Author of MNT and DSMT Reimbursement Audio Lectures

Eat Well, Laugh Often, Love Much

I have had several patients with diabetes who were on Weight Watcher Programs and felt they could eat unlimited fruits which they did, asnd they obvious to us, had the expected increases in blood glucose values.

A former nurse colleague of mine while I was working for Medtronic Diabetes, Janice Veliko, RN, CDE was hired by Weight Watchers this past fall to start a specific program for them for people with diabetes.  So Weight Watchers knows their Point Plus program is not working for those folks with diabetes and has taken some actions to rectify this.  We'll all have to stay posted to see what Jan can do to improve the program for our patients--she's a mover and a shaker, so I trust she'll get the job done.

Thanks for the Weight Watchers information, Donna. That is encouraging news. When I was President of the Metropolitan NY Association of Diabetes Educators, I sent a proposal to Weight Watchers for just such a program for people with diabetes. I never got a response from Weight Watchers, but I guess sowing a seed of a good idea can eventually make good things happen. I will watch this with great interest. It would be great if they decided to use CDE's in the program