My wife talked me into going with her to Weight Watchers. I weighted 245 lbs, so I thought what the heck, I could lose a few pounds, and if it helped her to lose some weight that would be great too. So, off we went. I was quite surprised by the the atmosphere, I didn't realize that losing weight could be taken so serious and also be so much fun at the same time. I met lots of nice people, we all talked about losing weight, how hard it was, etc. We weighted in, we were given our literature, we discussed how much weight we wanted to lose, and what we were allowed to eat and how much we were allowed to eat. I was taken back how restrictive the food intact was. I was trained as a French Cook, and here they were telling me that I would have to give up on the sauces until, I got to the weight maintenance program. My desserts had to go, even many of my appetizers, and of course the snacks were gone. Talk about a culture shock, I was ready to quit, but my wife talked me into staying. I stayed. I would spend the next several months making sure that the fridge was stocked full of carrots, celery, tomatoes (which I love), broccoli, for snacking. This snacking is the key for maintaining weight loss. There are no calories in many vegetables, so you can eat as much as you want. I still maintain this snacking. While you might burn off 600 to 1000 calories in a workout, it doesn't take much to put that back on - even many drinks will start adding the calories as they have so much sugar in them.
The other benefit to Weight Watchers is the cutting down of the food bill. Our food bill dropped an incredible 33%. I couldn't believe how much it cost to be overweight.
The The Weight Watchers Collection is a great way to introduce you to Weight Watchers. I lost 45 lbs in 6 months, and was able to maintain that weight for over 14 years.

It all started in September 1961 in Queens, New York, when Jean Nidetch, a 214 lb woman who wore a size 44 dress, and many of her overweight friends would meet in her apartment. Jean and many of her friends started to lose weight, and the news spread quickly. Soon Jean was trying to squeeze 40 people into her apartment. By 1963 she had incorporated her small company, and she had 500 people show up for the company's first meeting. In 1978 Heinz purchased Weight Watchers.

It is my belief that this model was the basis of her success. While, with the help of research, it enabled the diet to improve, it was the social aspect that enabled this diet to take the world by storm.

The basic diet is great for losing weight, the maintenance diet is also essential to keep the weight off. I have gone on a 140 day juice diet, in which I jogged every other day, I saw my weight drop to 175 lbs, but within a year I saw that weight go up 285 lbs, because no maintenance diet was followed. I sincerely believe that this diet is one of the most effective ways to take the weight off, and to keep it off.