Weight Watchers Research Papers

According to the Boston Medical Center and the LiveStrong foundation, “approximately 45 million Americans diet each year and spend $33 billion on weight-loss products” (LiveStrong) in the attempt to gain their ideal figure. As you’ve probably heard all your life, diets are known for being unhealthy for the consumer, as the dieter typically reverts back to their original weight while developing “several psychological effects, such as stress, anxiety, lower self esteem, depression and irritability” (LiveStrong). However, some diets, even those meant for weight-loss, can actually be advantageous. If the dieter is willing to sacrifice certain foods and stick to their dieting program, they can reduce their “risk of conditions such as type 2 diabetes,

The founder, Jean Nidetch, began inviting her friends with similar weight issues to her house weekly in order to discuss how to lose a few pounds. Losing a couple pounds turned to losing a couple dozen pounds for Nidetch, going “from 214 lbs. to 142” (Sifferlin). At the start, the founder charged “$3 for initiation plus $2 a week” (Sifferlin) and within six years, she and a few of her friends became millionaires. The company became public in 1967 and took storm across the United States. The diet was special and successful because it was mostly based on communicating with others about weight problems and figuring out ways to fix it. Nidetch describes compulsive eating as an “emotional problem, and we use an emotional approach to its solution” (Sifferlin). Weight Watchers became owned and managed by the H.J. Heinz Company from 1978 to 1999. Today, Oprah Winfrey owns “a 10% stake in the company”

Weight Watchers would be recommended by people such as Michael Pollan, Marion Nestle and Joel Salatin. Pollan’s famous moto says, “Eat Food. Not Too Much. Mostly Plants.” This easily follows what Weight Watchers says about eating healthy by “load[ing] up on the fruits and veggies” since “they carry zero points, meaning you can eat as many as you’d like” (USNews). Nestle believes that “food is a great source of pleasure and many of us live to eat” which resulted in him expressing that if the goal of a diet plan is to help one “eat less, eat better, and enjoy what you are eating, it ought to work” (Nestle). The program, as mentioned before, does not require the user to spend any more money on food than before they started Weight Watchers. Personally, I would follow this indispensable program. Although I am not looking to lose weight, I would still follow the ideology of how Weight Watchers works. Along with the program being a weight loss diet, it is also a lifestyle diet which means Weight Watchers can be for those not looking to lose weight but for those who are looking to live a better and healthier life. My own mother has been a part of Weight Watchers for many years. Even after she lost the weight of her desired goal, she continued to stick to the diet. She claimed that she felt at ease and healthier after she switched to better food and continued to have a support group that understood the struggle she had