Why Weight Loss Succeeds

Why Weight Loss Succeeds

was inspired by a friend I was recently having dinner with. The friend was describing her success with Weight Watchers. While I'm not a big fan of ​"dieting,"​ as it's unnatural for the body, ineffective, and in the long term I believe it can cause more harm than good, Weight Watchers is the exception. I've seen several friends lose quite a bit of ​weight​ (at a gradual, natural pace), and keep it off. There are several reasons why I think Weight Watchers succeeds, while others fail. The most obvious is, of course, the reason that anyone on the program will state if you ask them - you don't have to feel deprived of

your favorite foods, so you're more likely to stick with it long-term.

However, I see a couple of other important reasons as well.

One is that it greatly encourages fruit and vegetable intake. Since these use little or none of your allocated points, you can fill up largely on veggies, and then add in other more point-heavy items like proteins and a few simple carbs. But you don't feel forced to eat veggies they're just a good option to fill you up, leading you to naturally eat a ​diet​ that is more like the natural diet of humans is supposed to be - but without giving up all your favorite snacks.

Another important benefit which most people don't think about is that it easily eliminates a lot of processed foods from your diet. ​"Foods"​ that are highly processed (many of which really aren't foods, as so many contain little or no nutritional value) are usually high in sugar and other

simple carbohydrates, so guess what - most of them are also high in points!

However, in my eyes there is one big problem with the program, as well as with a lot of other weight loss programs: it focuses almost solely on ​weight loss​. (Huh? You'll see what I mean in a minute.)

I was nodding along with my friend's success story, until this point, which stopped me cold. She said she had even started working out, but she stopped because....she ​started gaining weight!!​ (And yes, she even stated that she understands that muscle is heavier than fat.) She said she doesn't want to work out anymore because she will gain back some of the weight that she lost.

I wanted to bang my head on the table! Talk about not seeing the forest for the trees....

It's so sad that this is typical thinking in our unhealthy yet ​weight-obsessed​ society!

So what are all these ​weight-loss programs​ missing? I'll cover that in Part 2 of this series, when we get into the real nitty-gritty of why weight itself is really the wrong thing to focus on, and a great example of how backwards our thinking has become in this matter....

If you're trying to start an exercise program, but struggling to stick with it, stay motivated, or find forms of exercise you enjoy, be sure to check our blog on a regular basis, as we post lots of interesting, fun, and new ways to exercise, that you might not have thought of. You can also find some fun ideas on our website at

"YES! Now"