Weight Watchers: Benefits, Cost & How It Works

Weight Watchers is a holistic diet plan that developed the "four pillars of healthy weight loss"---eating smarter, building a supportive environment, getting adequate exercise and developing healthy habits. Weight Watchers does charge a fee to join, but you can attend a meeting for free to find out if it fits your needs before paying.

• Weight Watchers promotes healthy eating habits.

Meetings

• Weight Watchers offers weekly meetings to keep you motivated and teach you how to stick to a healthy lifestyle. According to a 2008 Weight Watchers tracking survey, 96 percent of Weight Watchers meetings members say they would recommend meetings to a friend.

Online

• Weight Watchers Online offers an alternative to people who do not wish to attend meetings. There are tools, recipes and forums to help you stay on track.

Men

• Weight Watchers offers a customized plan for men including meal plans for families or men who travel often.

Points

• The Points system takes into account a food's calories, fat and fiber content. Points help you keep track of what you eat, allowing you to eat anything you want in moderation, emphasizing nutrition.

Smart Ones

• Weight Watchers offers Smart Ones, which are premade meals or food items with the points already calculated for you. Smart Ones are available in most grocery stores.