Diet & Fitness 

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Diets A-Z: Weight Watchers success secrets

If you're kick-starting 2006 with a new diet or hopping back on the Weight Watchers wagon after a Christmas blow-out, iVillagers top tips for success will help shed the pounds in no time

• What's it all about?
• Tailor-making your diet
• Is it really that easy?
• Allow yourself a treat
• Survive the danger zone
• How to maintain your target weight
• Get started!

What's it all about?
It's one of the most recognisable diets in the world, but what does Weight Watchers actually involve? The WW Pure Points programme allocates points to just about every food you can think of, based on its fat, fibre and calorie content. Then, depending on your weight, height and sex, you're allocated a certain number of points each day. So long as you don't eat more than your daily allowance, and you exercise regularly, you should lose weight steadily.

Their latest plan, NoCount, has a list of 'free' foods for dieters from which to pick and choose, plus points per week for treats. You can follow the diet through meetings, at home with the help of books or online.

Tailor-making your diet
iVillager melbal35 says finding a flexible plan that works for you is the key to success:

'I lost a stone following the WW points diet at home simply by adding up my daily points from my WW book and cooking lots of delicious WW recipes. I'm not a meeting-goer and am fairly fussy when it comes to food so tailor-making a diet to suit really worked. Going to a weigh-in doesn't appeal to me - far too embarrassing and time-consuming. But for others, I know that they couldn't do it without the meeting support. What I like about WW is that you have lots of options enabling you to follow the plan in the best way for you.'

Is it really that easy?
According to cl-joycebabe, WW is a doddle:

'Weight watchers is great, and there are now two plans you can follow, Pure Points and NoCount. Points is as it always was, though there is a new way of working out how many you can have. On NoCount there is a free food list, from which you select three meals a day, and are allowed 21 points a week, for extras. Best of all, some fruit and lots of vegetables are 'free' on either plan so you can eat as much as you like! I think it's the most straightforward diet around.'

For more info on WW and the point system, visit the iVillage Weight Watchers board

Allow yourself a treat
Don't forget, the odd treat along the way won't hurt (especially if included as part of your points allowance). For you chocoholics, iVillager lozloz25 suggests this:

'I've just been into Boots and they have Cadbury's Dairy Milk and Dairy Milk Mint Chip bars that are only 90 cals each! The bars are as thin as those Animal chocolate bars you can get. I think that if you're really desperate for a taste of proper chocolate then these will do the job for very few points.'

hellysbelly also recommends:

'Saving up points during the day or week so that you can have a treat is a great way to stay on track. If you know you've got a party and that there's no way you'll be able to stay away from the wine, simply save up points during the week and 'spend' them as a treat on whatever you fancy at the party.'

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