I've struggled with my weight for as long as I can remember. While I've never been considered overweight, I tend to gain and lose (and gain) the same 5 pounds over and over again thanks to stretches of eating "good" food punctuated by massive binges. The back-and-forth is accompanied by stress, anxiety, and feelings of guilt.
As a consequence, I've tried every diet in the book. I was eating organic and cutting out wheat, sugar, and dairy — "eating clean"— before it was cool. When Atkins diet-related advice told me to avoid "high sugar fruits" I listened, refusing to eat apples or bananas. But still, no dice on the scale.
In early June, I was sick of feeling like my weight fluctuations controlled me. That's when one of my coworkers suggested I try something that I hadn't thought of in years: Weight Watchers. Specifically, the app that you get to use when you become an online member of its program.
That's right, Weight Watchers — the diet your mom was on in the 90s. And thanks to the app, you don't have to go to weekly meetings to step on the scale anymore if you don't want to.
I tried it, and I lost 10 pounds — something I hadn't even thought was possible before. And I didn't have to cut out wheat, dairy, meat, or sugar to be successful. Plus, I didn't feel guilty about food for the first time in years.
Here's how the Weight Watchers point system works
Weight Watchers has been around since the early 1960s. It began as an offshoot of what was believed at the time to be a healthy heart diet. The plan itself has gone through a lot of permutations over the years. At first, alcohol was strictly forbidden, but now it's okay as long as you track the points. And points weren't even part of the plan at the beginning, but they've now become the crux of the whole thing. The company's Wikipedia page has an exhaustive history as well as detailed equations explaining the points system over the years.
At this phase of its existence, Weight Watchers points are based on a food's fat, carbohydrate, fiber, and protein level, and a point value per serving is assigned to whatever food you're eating.
You get to eat a certain amount of points per day with a bank of 49 extra points each week for days when you want to eat or drink more.
For example, a 27-year-old woman who is 5'5" and weights 166 pounds (the average weight of a woman in America) would get 27 points per day, according to this unofficial Weight Watchers points calculator. For the average man, who's 5'9" and weights 195.5 pounds according to NPR, the daily value is set at about 43 points if he's 27 years old. Of course, if you have any health issues, you should talk to your doctor first.
As you lose weight, you are given fewer daily points, which aids the weight loss. Once you get to your goal weight, your daily points allotment goes up.
You also get activity points, which you can dip into if you're out of weekly points and daily points. The idea is for this to happen very rarely, but one thing Weight Watchers prides itself in is its flexibility. There are going to be days or weeks where you just consume more than allotted. The idea is to just keep track of it all.
Members who dutifully track their points can lose quite a few pounds the first week. I lost about 3. Generally, people lose about 1-2 pounds a week after that.
If you plateau, the app gives you tips or changes your daily point count in order to help you keep losing. The company also has blog posts and message boards where you can seek out tips.
I'd tried the MyFitnessPal app bef