Weight Watchers
What's it all about?
If you are vegetarian and looking for a diet suitable for you there are a number of different plans you can consider.
There's the Rosemary Conley plan (and we particularly recommend her Whole Body programme - you can read more about that by clicking on the 'Rosemary Conley' link on the left), there's the Vegetarian Slimming book by Rose Elliot (see link on left) and there's the do it yourself version where you count calories (click on Weight loss Tips and then the 'What should I eat?' link)...
...and there's Weight Watchers. But how does it work?
The 123 Success programme is a diet based on points. All food and drink is worth a certain number of points and the number you can eat each day depends on hw much you weigh now and how much exercise you do. As longer as you stick to the number of points you can eat whatever you like.
The points are calculated from the calories and saturated fat each food contains. This means that you will probably end up limiting foods that are high in saturated fat as they 'cost' more points. Also, foods that are lower in fat, or with no fat at all, like most vegetables, will make up more of your 'diet'.
How many points will I have?
Well it depends on what you weigh. For example - if you weigh between 14 and 15 stone you're allowed 24 points worth of food per day. You'll be allowed more than this if your start weight is more than this and less points if you weigh less. Also, as you lose weight your points are adjusted. So, if you start at, say 14 1/2 stone and lose 9 pounds you're now in the next points band so now you eat 22 points a day to balance out the fact you've lost weight.
You can 'earn' points by exercising too. For example, cycling strenuously for 15 minutes will earn you an additional 1.5 'bonus points' - you can either choose to use these by having more food that day, save them up (to a maximum of 12 points a week) and use them towards a special occasion where you know you'll be going over your points (a wedding reception or a meal out at the weekend for example) or you can just forget about them - which will help your weightloss progress a little faster.
What sort of things can I eat for my points?
Well, here's an example of the sort of food you could eat for, say, 24 points a day:
Breakfast - 4.5 points
Special K, 50g - 2.5 points
Skimmed milk - 1 pint (some for breakfast, the rest in tea and coffee over the rest of the day) - 2 points
Lunch - 6.5 points
Egg, 2 small or medium - 2.5
Veggies sausages, 2 - 1.5
Baked beans 1/2 large can - 2.5
Main Meal - 6.5 points
Tofu, regular or smoked, 110g - 1.5
Olive oil, 1 teaspoon - 1
Egg noodles, uncooked 62.5g - 3
Black bean stir fry sauce, 3 tbsp - 0.5
Healthy choice fromage frais, 1 tub - 0.5
Snack - 6.5 points
Dairy milk chocolate bar (small) - 5.5
Slice of brown bread - 1
Do I have to go to meetings?
Not neccesarily. Although lots of people feel they gain a lot from being weighed every week and learning from the leaders there are other ways of following Weight Watchers. You can follow the plan from home - either paper, or CD-ROM based. The CD-ROM is particularly helpful as it will counts your food and exercise points for you! It also has a useful weight loss chart (you key in your weight each week) and daily tips that appear (from Freddy the fork!) when you log on each day and FAQs and recipes.
Anything else?!
Yes! There are loads of recipes books available online that you can use to help plan your points. We've featured a couple of them on this site but there's a handy search box below for you to look for all books Weight Watchers related. Just type in Weight Watchers and off you go!
For vegetarian recipes with points we recommend the cook book Weight Watchers Vegetarian Cooking
Costing
only £3.99 this book is a must have for anyone vegetarian
on the Weight Watchers weightloss plan! To read reviews of this book or
to buy it (via Amazon.co.uk) just click on the picture.
For more information on Weight Watchers you can find loads of information and discussion boards where you can chat to other WW diets at www.weightwatchers.co.uk
This site was featured in Woman's Own Diet Special™ Magazine as one of the Top Ten Diet Sites!