By The Weight Watchers Research Dept.

« NEW YORK, Dec. 28 /PRNewswire/ -- Losing weight is a popular New Year's Resolution for 2006. According to a new survey commissioned by Weight Watchers and conducted by Harris Interactive® about half (45%) of U.S. women say losing weight will be one of their New Year's resolutions for the upcoming year. Among those who will resolve to lose weight in the New Year, almost all (97%) say they think they will need some assistance to keep their resolution. However, each year, many people try to go it alone without any support. Weight Watchers, the leading authority in weight loss, knows what it takes to help people lose weight, with a scientifically-based programme that has proven successful with thousands of people nationwide. »

Weight Watchers is committed to providing a comprehensive approach to weight loss that is based on the latest scientific thinking. All too often in weight loss, a programme or product is developed and then individual studies that support the programme are provided to "justify" its existence. The Weight Watchers approach comes out of the science, not the other way around.

There are four principles from which Weight Watchers will not waiver.

Healthy Weight Loss
First, any approach developed by Weight Watchers must provide healthy weight loss, which means:
• Produce a rate of weight loss of up to 1 kilo per week (after the first 3 weeks, during which losses may be greater due to water loss).
• Guide food choices that not only reduce calories, but meet current scientific recommendations for nutritional completeness and reduced disease risk.
• Construct an activity plan or exercise plan that provides the full range of weight- and health-related benefits that exercise offers.
• Be sustainable. Healthy weight loss is weight loss that lasts, so it is necessary to look beyond losing the excess weight and address keeping it off.

Fits Into Your Life
Second, any Weight Watchers approach must be realistic, practical and livable. It must also be flexible enough so that people can apply the approaches that work well for them. That means encouraging the achievement of realistic goals. For example, we do not recommend that a person with a lot of weight to lose begin with a weight-loss goal that defines "ultimate success." Rather, we start with our "10% goal" or losing 10% of body weight (e.g., a 10% goal for someone who is 90 kilos is 9 kilos). A weight loss of 10% translates into significant health benefits. Likewise, pacing weight loss and following a system that encourages food and activity choices that are livable and sustainable in the real world is key. Weight Watchers is designed on the premise that weight management needs to fit into your life, not be your life.

Informed Choices
Third, Weight Watchers believes in imparting knowledge. At Weight Watchers, people learn not only what to do, but why. This knowledge brings understanding and with understanding comes the confidence needed to make informed choices and live by them.

A Holistic View
Finally, the Weight Watchers approach must be comprehensive. Sustained weight loss comes from taking a holistic view of all its components – food, exercise, behavior and a supportive atmosphere.

Let's take a look at how each of those pillars gets translated into a science-based approach that a person can follow.

THE FOUR PILLARS: FOOD

It is often said that different roads can lead to the same destination and nowhere is that more true than eating for healthy weight loss. Each person is unique when it comes to having foods that provide eating satisfaction, preferred meals and times of day to eat, and "style" of making food choices for sustained weight loss. Weight loss success depends on finding a method that fits within one's lifestyle and preferences. The Weight Watchers food plans are designed to make this happen.

The Time For Success Programme and Tracking ™
Through our research we found a distinct approach to controlling calories and kilojoules. The approach is based on tracking and controlling how much you eat.

The Weight Watchers Time For Success programme offers a flexible food plan based on a distinct approach to eating for lasting weight loss. People can use this approach to structure their eating in a way that fits their life.

Here is a snapshot of the programme and the approach it is based on:
• The Time For Success programme is based on Weight Watchers patented POINTS® Food System. This approach is designed to allow you to eat any food as long as you keep track and control how much you eat. Every food has a POINTS value – a small, easy to remember number (e.g, 1, 2, 3). The number is based on the calories, grams of total fat and grams of dietary fiber of a specific portion of the food. The system does not require exact weighing and measuring, but instead encourages people to focus on the bigger picture by building awareness of the food choices they make and eating reasonable portions. The POINTS formula gently guides food choices by encouraging selection of healthy foods with a lower energy density because that's where you get the most food for a given POINTS value. Based on a person's current weight, a POINTS Target is established, that is the total of POINTS values for the day. Choosing foods to meet the Target ensures a healthful rate of weight loss. On the programme, tracking and controlling your food intake allows you to lose weight while having the entire variety of foods available.

Flexible Restraint
Developing the skill of flexible restraint, which is the ability to put a moderate level of control on your eating, is important to weight-loss success. The key is to find the balance between control and flexibility in an eating plan that is not so rigid that it is impossible to stick with.

With this approach, there are some fundamental food choices essential for good health and nutrition. Weight Watchers covers these in its Healthy Eating Guidelines and includes the daily recommendation to:
• Include at least 5 servings of fruits and vegetables.
• Have at least 2 servings of milk; 3 if you are a teen or over 50 years old.
• Drink at least 6 glasses of water.
• Get a serving or two of a protein-rich food.
• Take a multiple vitamin-mineral supplement.
• Limit added sugars and alcohol.
• Have 2 teaspoons of healthy oil, like olive, canola, sunflower, safflower, or flaxseed.
• Choose whole-grain foods whenever possible.

Finding an eating approach that works is key to weight-loss success. The Weight Watchers food plans are designed to reach the objective of a healthy weight loss, but do so by empowering the person to make food choices in a way that suits his or her preferences and lifestyle.

THE FOUR PILLARS: EXERCISE

Weight Watchers provides a systematic approach to exercise throughout the weight-loss process. Research shows that beginning a structured food and exercise regimen at the same time is not as successful as beginning them at separate times. Therefore, the Weight Watchers approach starts by focusing on the food plan and then incorporates the specifics of activity a couple of weeks later once people have had a chance to master their eating plan.

That does not mean, however, that the role of activity in a comprehensive weight-loss regimen is not addressed from the beginning. Rather, while a person is getting started on learning the mechanics of a food plan, it is recommended that activity changes focus on reducing sedentary behavior. In other words, rather than meeting specific activity targets, the focus is spending less time sitting. Taking the stairs instead of the elevator, parking at the far end of a parking lot, or making a walk a part of daily life does not require a great deal of effort, is doable, and does not reduce the focus on learning a food plan.

Keeping Track Of Activity
After a couple of weeks of reducing sedentary behavior, the POINTS® Activity System is introduced. In a way that complements the POINTS values of food, a formula that calculates the POINTS values for activity is used. The formula is based on body weight, the amount of time the activity is done, and the level of intensity. This method enables a person to do any exercise or activity that is enjoyable and fits within his or her lifestyle. It provides a flexible approach to activity that is accurate in its estimation of the calories burned because it is based on the individual.

One added feature of the POINTS Weight-Loss System is that POINTS values earned in activity can be swapped for additional food on a one-to-one basis.

THE FOUR PILLARS: BEHAVIOUR

Making changes in behavior is really at the core of sustained weight loss, but it does not just happen. There are two specific components of behavior change that are key components of Weight Watchers: self-monitoring and cognitive skills (cognitive is a scientific term that means how you think).

There are two important pieces to self-monitoring – having a way to maintain awareness about what is being done and including a method to assess weight-loss progress. The Weight Watchers approach includes both.

The Time For Success Approach To Self-Monitoring
The Programme requires tracking POINTS® values to reach the daily POINTS Target, the Tracking™ System was developed and is included in the programme materials provided as part of each weekly meeting. This System includes a flexible, easy-to-use log where the specific food choices can be recorded to count the POINTS values as they are used.

Weight and Accountability
Fundamental to the Weight Watchers meeting experience is a weekly weigh-in to track members' progress. The weigh-in is confidential and done by a trained Weight Watchers staff member. Weight information is never shared outside the weigh-in. Many people find the accountability of being weighed by another person helpful to their weight-loss efforts and the structure of going to a Weight Watchers meeting each week is a way to keep commitment strong.

Weight Watchers recommends that weight be taken only once a week during the weight-loss process, preferably in a consistent way (time of day, day of week, etc.) to avoid putting too much emphasis on the erratic scale as a measure of progress.

Regular weighing is also a key factor in sustained weight loss. Weight Watchers has a unique system to encourage this behavior for people who have reached their weight goal by attending weekly meetings. Weight Watchers meetings members who reach a healthy body weight (defined as a Body Mass Index between 20 and 25 or a weight goal prescribed by a qualified health professional) and successfully complete the six-week weight maintenance phase of the programme become a Lifetime Member (LTM) of Weight Watchers.

People who are LTMs are asked to weigh in once a month at a Weight Watchers meeting. When the LTM weighs in within 1 and 1.5 kilos of his or her goal weight, he or she can attend Weight Watchers meetings anywhere in the world at no cost for that month. This unique system allows Weight Watchers to provide to its members two of the elements that are predictive of sustained weight loss in the Institute of Medicine (IOM) report, including monitoring weight and continued contact with those who were part of the weight-loss process.

In addition to monitoring, a series of specific techniques are taught that enhance cognitive behavior or thinking skills. Called the Weight Watchers Tools for Living, the techniques are proven strategies that restructure internal thought processes in a way that enhances the ability to make long-term positive changes. The techniques, which include Tools like Motivating Strategy and Storyboarding, enable a person to interact and thrive in the weight-challenging situations and social interactions that make up daily life.

THE FOUR PILLARS: SUPPORTIVE BEHAVIOUR

Learning to create and live in a supportive atmosphere that aids weight loss is a defining aspect of the Weight Watchers experience. Weekly Weight Watchers meetings provide members with that essential support, as well as the information and tools, needed to achieve their goals.

Each Weight Watchers meeting includes the confidential weigh-in (to monitor weight-loss progress), information about the Weight Watchers approach, and a discussion of a new topic related to nutrition, activity and healthy habits - also the sharing of Success Stories!

Meetings & Group Leaders
The weekly meetings are conducted by a Weight Watchers Group Leader. All of the Group Leaders are successful members who have attended meetings having undergone extensive training. The training includes mastering the specifics of Weight Watchers, guiding people in making positive changes in their lives and facilitating meetings. Because all of the Group Leaders have achieved sustained weight loss by attending Weight Watchers meetings, they are role models and a source of inspiration and information.

In addition to the meeting Group Leader, the Weight Watchers meetings include people who are at different stages of their weight loss, including the LTMs who have weighed in and are attending the meetings for free. They are a source of practical tips and experiences that members can benefit from for their own weight management.

Many people who have achieved sustained weight-loss with Weight Watchers tell us that they believe attending the meetings was the single biggest reason that they were successful.

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WHERE DO I GO?
Weight Watchers meetings are held across the country. Weight loss is easier with the support and encouragement of a group of people that share similar problems and experiences - a support group.
Visit our Contacts Page for National Class Enquiries.