What is it?
Weight Watchers Diet is a diet plan based off a point system, where each food has a value, and you’re allowed only a certain amount of points a day. You can eat any foods you want, as long as you don’t pass the allowed points for the day.
The points offered are called SmartPoints, and the amount allowed is based off one one’s own body and individual weight loss goals. Healthy and low calorie foods have much less value, so it naturally steers people into eating more wholesome foods instead of eating high amounts of junk food. In this review you’ll hear customer reviews, the science behind Weight Watchers, and whether or not it can promote weight loss. The highest rated diet plan of 2024 was found to be the 18 Shake Diet. It’s a combination of a natural metabolism booster and high protein meal replacement. Learn more about the 18Shake diet plan by following the link provided here.
Do You Know the Best Diets of 2024?
Weight Watchers Diet Ingredients and Side Effects
Ingredients:
No pre-packaged foods are required, it’s advised to cook one’s own meals at home. An app and guide is offered with over 287,000 different foods which have a stated number value.
High fiber, non-processed, and sugar free foods have a much lower point number. Processed foods and highly saturated foods tend to be the highest in points. So the diet focuses on introducing more healthy foods, which is already known as a practical way to lose weight.
There are also 4,000 recipes offered as well as optional support for meetings, online coaching, and dietary tips. Mobile apps are also offered to help people calculate their total points.
There isn’t much information provided by the company to showcase exactly how their approach is scientific, or how they choose specific foods to have higher points than others. The top 10 list found here offers the best diet plans that our experts have reviewed.
EDITOR’S TIP: Combine this diet with a proven meal replacement such as 18 Shake for better results.
Weight Watchers Diet Quality of Ingredients
The quality of the ingredients can vary on what’s purchased, since no foods are off limits, what one purchases will determine the overall quality. The high points that processed foods have will force people to be more conservative in their food options.
No proof is provided by the makers of Weight Watchers to show why this diet has been formulated in the point system it offers.
It’s clear that by eating less processed foods and focusing on quality meats, high fiber, and filling foods that naturally weight loss is possible. However, no evidence is provided as to why their coaching system would be any better than not paying for this system and simply eating healthier,
One study by the Annals of Internal Medicine found that:
“Weight Watchers participants achieved at last 2.6% greater weight loss than those assigned to control/education”
This was in a 12 month period, and there were only slight increases in weight loss in comparison to people who were allowed to diet without control.
2.6% for someone weighing 200 pounds would be 5.2 additional pounds. This means that every month, a person can expect an additional 0.43 extra pounds of weight loss more than those who dieted on their own and made their own decisions without a points system.
This is a very poor amount of weight loss considering the amount it costs to pay for the online support. A list of the very best diet plans has bene reviewed by our experts.
Another major issue with the plan was that no official information is provided to show the points system before one buys into the plan. This makes it impossible to calculate if one is even capable of keeping up with this plan. Certain foods are not preferential for people, and it might require extreme changes in dieting in some.
Even with online support, there’s no guarantee that the advice offered will help one lose weight safely and effectively.
The Price and Quality of Weight Watchers Diet
There are different plans offered such as:
OnlinePlus: $4.30 per week when a 3 month long plan is offered. This amounts to $64.50 for the total 3 months.
Meetings + OnlinePlus: A 3 month plan is offered for $8.30 a week. This amounts to $124.50 for the full 3 months.
Coaching + OnlinePlus: Like the other plans, if 3 months is selected, the full price is $10.15. A full 3 months is $152.25.
These prices can vary, as it depends on what one chooses as their meals and how much support they want. No information is provided on what kind of background the people who give advice are, and whether or not they are certified diet or nutrition experts. Since they fail to mention this, it’s important to be cautious of the support offered.
A $20 fee is mandatory for every first time member. Web MD discusses the pricing of this diet by stating:
“Be prepared to spend some cash to get the full benefits”
Many customers also agree it’s incredibly pricy to keep the online support available. As you’ll see in the “Customer Opinions of Weight Watchers Diet”, many felt it wasn’t worth the price.
The top 10 list featured in the link here has the best diet plans.
Business of Weight Watchers Diet
Weight Watchers International is the official company name. Their contact information is as follows:
Phone Number: (800) 651-6000
Further contact information is provided to those who subscribe to the online system. There are currently 339 negative reviews on their Consumer Affairs page. Here are some direct quotes from customers:
“thought I was signing with a reputable company… Weight Watchers continued to withdraw money from my bank account for 3 months”
“I have been requesting my account to be closed for the past 3 months”
“No one is ever there when you need them”
“Weight watchers are total thieves. I cancelled my account 3 years ago and they have billed my credit card”
Hundreds of people claim that they continue to be charged by the company even after they’ve cancelled the online support, and no longer logging into to their profiles.
There are also 279 complaints on their Better Business Bureau site, mostly for the same reasons. People complained often about being constantly billed even after months or even years of no longer using their accounts. Customers were frustrated since they were told their account was cancelled, only to see billing from Weight Watchers appearing on their credit card statements.
People also said that when their accounts were active, that there wasn’t much support offered. To see a list of the top 10 diet plans click on the link offered here.
EDITOR’S TIP: The top 10 list of the best diets is available here.
Customer Opinions of Weight Watchers Diet
Here is what some users had to say:
“just got de-motivated as I could see this wouldn’t work for me anymore”
“I tried it, but I didn’t have too much luck”
“helped me at first but I failed later on”
“it did not work… felt the meetings were very one sided, and it was like a chat”
People said that the offered meetings and support weren’t really helpful, and that it didn’t cater to people’s needs. It was more just general advice people were given such as obvious weight loss advice.
Another major issue was that people often said that they couldn’t keep up with the diet, and that many common foods had too many high points where they couldn’t eat comfortably.
Users had issues as well with the foods with fewer points, as its common sense what foods are allowed and which aren’t. The top 10 list features the best diet plans out now, click on this link to learn more.
Conclusion - Does Weight Watchers Diet Work?
When making a decision on a diet plan like Weight Watchers, it’s important to examine customer reviews, what’s offered, and whether or not weight loss is likely. The plan offers a point system which is meant to make dieting easier. However, hundreds of people have complained about a lack of food options, as well as being forced to limit many common foods. There were also hundreds that complained the company continues to charge them long after they’ve cancelled. Both on Consumer Reports and the Better Business Bureau people mention they continue to be billed.
The 2024 diet plan of the year was found to be the 18Shake Diet. It offers a high protein, appetite suppression meal replacement alongside a metabolism booster made with natural extracts with no added stimulants. There are no artificial additives, colors, binders, fillers, or harsh ingredients. Many customers have left testimonials and review showcasing their own weight loss results. People have said that the meal replacement can help suppress appetite for hours, and that it mixes well and has a pleasant taste.
The 18Shake Diet offers a diet pill and meal replacement that are both backed by full 30 day money back guarantee. Returns are offered with no questions asked, risk free. To discover more information about the 18Shake Diet, click on the link provided here.
User Feedback
(Page 7 of 41, 805 total comments)Joe
+My fiancé has been doing WW for 3 weeks and so far has lost 15-17 lbs, I have been on for a week and lost 5 pounds! The thing people don't understand is that you have to be tedious, and u really have to be honest entering ur points in. We also exercise moderately 4 times a week. If your not lazy and you learn to replace certain items in your diet, you'll get great results. We've replaced a majority of our drinks with water or water with the drink packets and treat ourselves with a normal sweet tea/soda/etc. when you do something like this you're making a lifestyle change, it's not going to work unless you want to change. Stop being lazy people. Put the effort into it, and get the results you want. WW gets a 5/5 rating in my book!
posted Feb 25th, 2013 11:49 pmPS
?Is WW paying for this article? It seems biased. BTW, this article seems to promote Weight Watchers versus a truly unbiased review of different weight loss options.
plainlyspoken
-The meetings are really silly at this point so I emailed them about any changes to the "online" program that would make me want to try it again. The last time I tried it, it was "okay" but had no advantage to the many FREE apps out there (Lose It! etc). They never responded directly to 3 emails and finally sent me a solicitation email in response to my question. The last time I went to a meeting, the leader yelled my weight to the back of the room to another woman who had inverted the numbers on my form (showing that I gained instead of lost 2.5 pounds!) and the meeting consisted of playing silly games like making "diet" anagram words from the name of the program (e.g. Weight Watchers--"eight" as in number of glasses of water and so on...). It was a waste of time for a busy professional. The employees who run the meetings here have all the personalities of zombies. Further, forcing the meetings is not about "social" or "support." It's about marketing the many products they have to sell and they have to get us in the door for that. Which is why "charging" for the actual silly juvenile content-free meetings that are run by worn out burned out leaders is ridiculous. I am wiling to pay for something of value but this is simply paying to weigh myself and buy more products. I will stick with the Lose It! Application on my phone and increase my activity. That's really all Weight Watchers is, folks. Common sense. We have to eat less, move more and we don't need to pay a lot of money to actually lose weight. There are also free support groups out there online (SparkPeople).
posted Feb 21st, 2013 7:32 pmAl
-Very poor customer service. I called to discuss cancelation of my account and was past their auto renewal by a a few days and they refused to refund or credit me and would rather lose customers permanently than provide good fair service.
posted Feb 19th, 2013 3:11 pmwendy
-if you dont like their services, or it just doesn't work with your lifestyle. dont expect your money back unless you can give them their thingy they say they mail to you. i've never recieved some pass card. yet they keep charging me, and will not give me my money back., then want to say it's part of their "rules" and what's so funny is the guy could not find me by the email address i signed up with... STAY AWAY!
posted Feb 11th, 2013 8:24 pmNina
-The Weight Watchers system is pretty easy to follow, but the online eTools never works The app is also horrible. I have reached Lifetime status which means that as long as I maintain my weight, my membership is free. However, they are always charging me memberships fee and always trying to find excuses to not refund m money. They are always having technical problems with their system and then blaming it on the customers, saying that the customer is doing it incorrectly. I know many people who have fropped out for this reason. It is not really worth the hassle and countless hours ou have to spend trying to get the eTools towork properly.
posted Jan 29th, 2013 10:16 pmEl
+Any diet that encourages healthy eating and portion control works. It is beyond me how anyone can claim a program like WW "doesn't work". Of course it works... if you stay with it and maintain the limits that are set within the diet. The only reason it "doesn't work" is if you don't follow it and learn to make good, healthy choices.
posted Jan 28th, 2013 8:37 pmOf course WW works. It is built on a foundation of healther food choices and portion control. How could it "not work"?
It is a question of whether or not the diet is right for someone not whether "it works". WW is perfect for me. I went on Medi-Fast last year, stayed on it 5 weeks and I can honestly say it was the most god-awful thing I have ever done to myself. But did it work? Of course it worked. How could it not when you're on an 800-1000 calorie a day diet. I found it beyond stifling. The food was awful, I had no energy and it left a bad taste in my mouth. But "it worked"... and I hated it.
WW is more my style and I'm in the process of changing my eating habits.
Yes, WW "works"
Marilyn
+I have lost around 118 lbs on WW since Jan. 2011. I recently reached lifetime. This plan has worked well for me. It allows me to splurge when I want (as long as I count for it). Ultimately, it has encouraged a great lifestyle change for my family that will always stay with us. This is not a diet. It is learning to take control over what you stick in your mouth.
posted Jan 28th, 2013 5:44 amLilly
-There website sucks! It is beyond difficult to track what I am eating regardless of how it is entered into the system. There cutsomer service is terrible too!
posted Jan 22nd, 2013 4:53 pmbrenden cooper
ITS GRRREAAT!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!!
posted Jan 21st, 2013 4:56 pmSarah
+I love WW I have lost 26lbs so far. My doc suggested it and im glad he did.
posted Jan 18th, 2013 11:57 pmPat
-I joined WW in 2010 and in 9 months I lost 75 lbs. I looked and felt great, however, I was ALWAYS hungry! Then they changed the plan and it took me 5 months to lose 5 lbs. After a year of meetings and $500. I ended up gaining it all back. There's too much carb + not enough protein.
posted Jan 18th, 2013 3:21 amBeth Herndon
-I liked the old way of counting points better than the Points Plus version
posted Jan 11th, 2013 11:36 pmKim
-The diet itself works. The 'e-tools' are never available. The web site sucks as does the Droid app. Don't do the Active Link. It doesn't work very well. You are better off spending the money on a good heart rate monitor and calculating points yourself. Diet = good, WW technology is POOR.
posted Jan 8th, 2013 1:39 amback again
+I am back again after failing last time i tried WW. I lost 75 pounds over 10 years ago now and finally after two kids and illness it has all come back. I tried the new points program last year and i found it wasn't working for me. This time around I put everything into the recipe builder. I love bananas and strawberry and orange salad. That should be 0 points right? Well when you put it into the recipe builder it comes to 4. So I count 4 points and when i started to put eveything into the recipe builder (even fruit) I started to loose. My first week on the plan was 4 pounds lost, then for 3 weeks it was lucky to even it a pound if that, once I put everything in the recipe builder I was losing 4 pounds on average per week again. Yes everything counts, well at least for me, my leader said fruits and veggies are not free they are zero points but don't freeforall them. So by doing this I am back to losing and I love the program again. Everyone needs to find what works for them.
posted Jan 7th, 2013 6:53 pmMike LoCascio
-With all the brouhaha of the 2010 released program and the need to buy new books etc., it seems to be more of a con for WW to make more money.
posted Dec 31st, 2012 2:56 pmWith all the years of research and supposedly learned doctors helping in development of the 2010 program, there has not been any real breakthroughs.
Can anyone tell me the success of WW after one year, two years and 3 years or more?
TereH
-Weight Watchers didn't work for me. i gained weight. All those free fruits are full of carbohydrate and sugar, and i do better on a moderate-carb diet. I joined eDiets once and the recipes were full of carbs and I started gaining weight. When I asked about it, I was told I just needed to comply. There's no one at Weight Watchers to ask! A simple cup of peaches in water got tons of points, even without fat, because of the carbs, but a banana or an apple or an orange is 0 points? It didn't make sense. I moved to http://www.myfitnesspal.com so I could see the carbs and fats and proteins I was eating. Dieting is like anything else - if you let someone do the work for you (the calculating of nutrients), some corners are going to be cut. I wanted to see the totality of what I was eating. NOW I'm losing weight!
posted Dec 30th, 2012 4:17 pmDan Kelemen
-I signed up for 3 months, and found that Weightwatchers continued to bill my credit card, even though I had stopped using their service. I requested a refund for the unused months, but their response was that they have a no-refund policy.
posted Dec 29th, 2012 1:47 pmI think you can lose just as much weigt by avoiding carbohydrates, which is mostly what their diet recommends.
Jodie
+I didn't have much weight to lose, but I have been yo-yoing between 20 pounds for the last 4 or 5 years. I'm now 30, and wanted to be at my age's ideal weight. Since I've started the program 3 months ago, I've reached my 10% goal and am only 7 lbs away from my goal weight. Once I figured out how the points worked, I've thrived on WW and think this will be a lifelong change, resulting in me being able to maintain my current weight. I suggest WW to everyone I know who is trying to lose weight!
posted Dec 28th, 2012 10:54 pmarlene
-I ate what I was supposed to, lost 7 lbs. the first week but no more after that, even when increasing my walking. The ladies talked to me less and less, after 3 months of not loosing anything they would barely even look at me. They didn't want anything to do with me...
posted Dec 27th, 2012 9:13 pmI also like the 80s program much better...it really worked, I kept the weight (40lbs) off for over 15 years when life and illness issues did me in.