Weight Watchers meets Clean Eating

I’m a third generation Weight Watcher. My grandmother joined the program in 1977 and lost a significant amount of weight. Back then, the plan involved a ton of vegetables, tuna, and fruit in it’s whole form. There were long lists of “forbidden” foods such as baked goods, sweets, high carb foods, sodas, etc. She lost her weight in a year and then went to work for them in the Greater Mississippi chapter. She retired from WW in the late 90’s and during this time has maintained her Lifetime status.

I am not currently on the program. I got to my goal weight in ‘07 but never completed the 6 weeks of maintenance to get the coveted Lifetime status. I lost most of my weight by doing the Core program, which is eating from a list of whole foods and lean proteins without having to count “points” for everything. To me, it was a no-brainer. Eat clean, lose weight.

Unfortunately, most of the meetings were not geared to us Core people. Each meeting centered around how many 100 calorie packs of Oreos one could eat in a day and still be “on program”. Then, when WW ditched Core and revamped Momentum, I quit for good. They totally threw away the program that worked for me. Sure, they called it “simply filling” foods, but again, the meetings were all about the crispy crumbly things on the shelves at WW.

Well, imagine my surprise to read this from Karen Miller-Kovach, Chief Scientific Officer of Weight Watchers regarding the new Program called PointsPlus:

The formula takes into account that protein and fiber are important for fullness and warding off hunger.

It also factors in how hard the body has to work to process food into energy, she says. The body has to work harder to use protein and fiber than fat and carbohydrates.

And this from David Kirchhoff, CEO of the company:

the new system helps dieters realize that a snack of a 100-calorie apple is a much better choice than a 100-calorie bag of chips.

Hmm, where have I heard this before? Oh yeah, the old Core principles. Remember this list of REAL food 100 calorie packs?

I’m beyond thrilled that the powers that be over at WW have come to my side of thinking. Whole, real, clean food is best. There is always room for dessert, but I wouldn’t recommend it at every meal and snack.

Now, I’m off to read the list of Power Foods that I’ve been eating for a while now. I wonder how much my oatmeal concoction will be in points?