When it comes to dieting there are very few organizations that have achieved the lasting success of Weight Watchers. They have been around quite a while and show no signs of stopping. More importantly, their success stories speak volumes for those who join and stick with the program. So what makes this program so successful when many others come and go?
Community
Believe it or not, one of the most important things about Weight Watchers secret to success, so to speak, is the sense of community that is forged between the men and women who are trying to lose weight. There is something humbling and exciting about standing in front of the scale week after week and sharing not only your personal successes and failures but also the failures and successes of others.
Far too often we those who are dieting simply do not have an adequate support system at home. The bonding that is done during the Weight Watchers meeting is a strong bond of men and women who may come from different backgrounds and walks of life but who share a common goal for their futures-weight loss and better health. That is not a bond to be taken lightly particularly when they laugh and cry together. They are in their own way going through the trenches together and the success of this type of program for motivating and encouraging is nothing short of phenomenal.
Evolution
Weight Watchers has a pattern for success but they are not beyond evolving with the needs of the time. While they will be the first to state that the most successful participants typically attend the meetings, Weight Watchers also offers alternatives for those with busy schedules and even those that are simply too afraid to go to the meetings. For these people there is the anonymity of online forums, message boards, and support groups.
Weight Watchers hasn’t limited its evolutionary process to this alone, they’ve also in recent years added a points system that allows dieters participating in their program to more easily gauge how well they are doing by their dietary standards and requirements without needing to count every single calorie or weighing their food. We live in a world of busy people and it is often more hassle than many dieters find to be worth the effort to count every single calorie (particularly when dining out).
The Weight Watchers website is another example of their commitment to evolve and accommodate the diverse needs of the men and women participating in their program. If you haven’t checked it out in a while you really should take a look and see what amazing insights and information they have to offer.
Commitment to Fitness
Weight Watchers knows that it isn’t just diet that gets results. When you combine diet with exercise the results are much more immediate and more profound. The fact that Weight Watchers stresses the importance of exercise and physical fitness in addition to proper nutrition and changing your way of thinking when it comes to food is yet another reason for their widely known success.
Weight Watchers is just one of many different weight loss and dieting programs in the market today. The fact that they have made a name for themselves and stand out above the rest in many ways is nothing to take lightly. It seems that there is a new weight loss program cropping up every other month or so and yet Weight Watchers continues to achieve visible and sustainable results in those who really work the program. Very few programs can make that claim for as long as Weight Watchers has been able to.
When you combine all of the things mentioned above with the pre packaged foods that are offered by Weight Watchers, the extensive recipes that are available for Weight Watcher’s participants, and a solid track record for success you would be robbing yourself of the potential for lasting success if you didn’t at least see what the plan has to offer you.
When it comes to living a long and healthy life, there are two necessary ingredients: diet and fitness. While some believe that they are one thing all together, nothing could be further from the truth. It is quite possible to have a perfectly healthy diet with deplorable fitness habits. It is equally possible to be very physically fit with less than savory eating habits.
There’s a clever little line in the Jimmy Buffet song “Fruitcakes” when his ‘lady’ is lamenting:
“I treat my body like a temple
You treat yours like a tent”
I can’t help but think of this line whenever I think about all the people around the world who are going on these garbage in, garbage out diet plans hoping to achieve the weight loss success of those who are endorsing these products.
To be completely honest, it is possible to shed pounds through diet alone. It is difficult but possible. It is also possible to be physically fit and have a few extra pounds hanging around. To a large degree we are what we eat. If we consume a high fat low substance diet our bodies are going to lack the fuel required to burn the fat. At the same time if we aren’t providing our bodies with the tools it needs to build muscle it doesn’t matter how many weights we lift.
When it comes to diet and fitness, the best results are achieved when they work together rather than separately. Use your fitness routine to burn excess calories and use your diet in order to properly provide your body the nutrients and fuel it needs to build muscle. I’ve heard many times in my life that a pound of muscle weighs less than a pound of fat. While this is not true at all, a pound is a pound regardless; a pound of muscle occupies less space on the body than a pound of fat. Pound for pound, I would much rather mine be composed of muscle than fat. Dieting alone does not build muscle and that is something you will do well to remember in your efforts.
You should also realize that as you are building muscle you may be shedding inches while not showing a great deal of progress on the scale. It is very important that you keep this in mind throughout the weight loss process. Do not measure your progress by the scales alone or you will achieve misleading results. The problem is that far too many people do just this and get frustrated and give up when they are actually making progress. Do not allow yourself to be a victim of the scales. Look in the mirror, try on your tight pants, and measure your waistline. Measure your success by how you feel after climbing a flight of stairs not by how many pounds fell of the scale this week.
By incorporating fitness into your diet routine you are also enabling your body to burn off any extra calories you may have consumed during the day. This means that if you want to have a small ‘cheat’ during your day, you can make up for it by burning a few more calories than normal in the evening. This isn’t something that should happen often but an occasional occurrence isn’t going to make or break your diet.
You should also look at dieting and fitness as a ball and glove type of relationship. While you can play ball without the glove, it seems to work so much better if you have both. Diet and fitness when combined can create fantastic weight loss results for those who take them both seriously. The thing to remember is that neither works as well alone and neither will work unless you are willing to do the work. You must make this a priority in your life in order to achieve the best possible results.