Jumping on the Low-Carb Bandwagon: Weight Watchers' New Plan

By Jonathan Berohn

Far be it for me to want to burst your bubble of imagining me as the svelte, cut, and in-shape author toiling away for you in between work outs and 10 mile runs. But, as most of you probably know, once you have kids, it’s more common to find yourself needing to loosen your belt than having time for a trip to the gym.

Even the most diligent of us—OK, I imagine the most diligent need it, too—at least I know that I need some help watching the old waistline once in a while.  My wife is a great resource for this because, like just about every woman I know, she’s always wanting to lose a few pounds, and she’s an expert on just about every new plan out there.

Traditional Weight Watchers

After trying all kinds of plans and gimmicks, my wife and I settled on Weight Watchers as our diet of choice.  I must say that I don’t have any inclination (or the nerve, for that matter) to go to meetings.  I do find their plan easy enough to stick to, and it seems to work for us.  Basically, you try to eat balanced meals with lots of fruit, vegetables, and high fiber foods, and you use Weight Watchers points system to make sure you don’t eat too much.  Of course, exercise is a big key, but the whole package seems to work pretty well.

Free and Flexible Plan

Of course, unless you live under a rock, you know that the big deal in dieting now is the whole no carb business.  With Atkins, South Beach, and all those other no and low carb plans out there, Weight Watchers felt they had to jump on board, hence the Free and Flexible Plan.  In this plan, you can eat all the no carb foods you want and only count the points for your carbs.

While at first this seems like an easier diet to follow, it seems to set you (or me, my wife, and her friends, anyway) up for failure by teaching you eating habits that just won’t work in the long run.  For us, anyway, the balanced approach of the old plan is far more appealing and effective.