I read a recent article in WIRED magazine about the changes in the Weight Watcher's program and decided to try it again, online. I only lasted eight days*. While the new points system is designed to steer you towards more healthy and more filling foods, their online food tracking program is clunky and difficult to navigate. I was spending over an hour a day using their online points calculator, and a lot of the food I eat regularly is not on their lists and I had to calculate the points from the sum of the ingredients.
I tried to simplify the counting by trying some of their frozen meals. Their food products are marked with the points value and this made counting points easier, but the meals did not taste as good as similar frozen meals that (according to their labels) seemed to have almost the identical nutritional value but cost a lot less because they didn't have the Weight Watcher's label on them.
I met some nice people in some of their forums, but overall, I did not find the support or ease of use I expected. Weight Watchers is one of the biggest commercial weight loss companies in the world. Their income is in the trillions, and they spend millions in advertising. They should have spent more money improving their online site.
For me, a good diet program needs to be one I can use without thinking a lot about it, and it needs to be accessible when you do not have a computer or other electronic gadget.
I know that the Weight Watchers program has helped many people, but I cannot recommend signing up for their online program.
*because some of these days were in March, and some in April, they charged me for two months when I cancelled. According to complaints I've read on line, it could have been worse.
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