AACK! sometimes I feel like Dr. Evil in the first Austin Powers film...remember the scene when he was trying to 'connect' with his son Scott? "I'm hip...tukka, tukka, tukka... "

Foxy is still in use eh? Hubby is a bassist and likes to play a lot of P-Funk...so we're still firmly embedded in the 70's/80's...although we do listen to No Doubt, Fishbone, and Tool!

i think this article is just ridiculous, and someone has too much time on their hands...they just want to blame everything on everybody else, forget what we eat, its not the hamburgers and the french fries we are eating, its the weight watchers plan which tells us not to eat too much of it....oh well

thansk for posting it, i enjoyed it thoroughly.

Annie

I had to read and re-read this article. I want to thank you for posting it actually. It reminds me that their are people out there who are just plain JEALOUS. Yep, jealous over the peole who have lost weight on WW. I have WW to thank for the 50lbs I've lost and KEPT OFF. Over the past year. The last few months have not been kind to me, but in no way is that WW fault, its MINE. For not following the program and eating right.

One Phat chicky-poo

I am pretty sure they wouldn't get very far in the states. WW has millions of statements about "results not typical, your results may vary". And, I know that there are hundreds of long term WW maintainers out there. Just another silly lawsuit to get someone in the press!

anyhow, back to the topic at hand foxy ladies.....I agree with past posters that no "diet" plan is going to work unless you change your life style and make good choices. Eating healthy food, portion control, drinking water, and exercising are the keys to successful weight loss. Isn't it awesome that we all have different ideas!?!?!?!

Personally I don't think WW is responsible and I can justify someone suing them. You are ultimately responsible for yourself and your own actions. I personally have never been promised anything by WW. They give me the tools I need and it is up to me to use them. I have never had any of their products or services "pushed on me".

Even when I was on the WW plan but not attending meetings I maintained my weight or lost. But if I don't stick to my plan then I do gain - my fault - not WW's.

Just my 2 cents....

WW did not work for me. I have the tracking sheets to prove that I stayed on program, but "on program", at least at my WW office, wasn't the best eating plan. The meeting leaders all kept showing us how much popcorn we could cram into a 1 cup measurement, how to get the most Snackwells possible, etc. etc. The plan materials said one thing, the meetings said quite another. You can blame me if you want to, but I know that I tracked ALL of my food and workouts and I would lose maybe 1/4 of a pound a month on the WW Fat & Fiber plan. I tried to stay on the Selection plan, but the meeting support people kept telling me to switch to the new program. After spending several hundreds of dollars so I could feel like a fat, disgusting failure every week, I quit out of sheer frustration. I don't know what WW programs look like these days.

I sincerely wish I had kept looking for a better progam.

I think the reason this is coming up is that they have a money back guarantee. It's going to be awfully difficult to prove that it doesn't work, though - I know that many people have had success on WW. The plan that DID work for me is Body for Life; compared to the WW plan I was on, it is much stricter and has a LOT more physical activity than WW. I have maintained my weight loss for 7 months now.

Different plans work for different people - that's why this website is so great. If you haven't lost weight on WW, there ARE other plans that may work for you. Don't give up, keep looking and keep working out and eating healthy.

Anybody trying to sue ANY weight loss company - good luck, you're gonna need it. I'd rather spend my energy at the gym.

Jennifa
242/186

I believe that people should take responsibility for their actions. There is no question that weight loss has gone from a medical issue to a complete industry in the last couple of decades. There are companies that take advantage of our weaknesses. And it isn't just the weight loss industry. Watch ANY commercial on TV - it is called marketing.

I think what is important is for the general public to arm themselves with information and define what is realistic for us. Oprah is a perfect example. I absolutely adore and respect her. But I cannot compare my weight struggle to hers. Was it easy for her to get the fabulous new body she has? Surely not. But clearly she has access to chefs, trainers, etc. that the average person doesn't. Now, I'm not saying the information that she shares isn't good - it is. Just that the average person can't realisically have an "if Oprah can do it, I can too" attitude. Same thing with celebrity spokespeople. Ferggie looked great in her before and after shots. But what aren't they telling us? How much airbrushing was done? Are they going to run a new add if she gains any of the weight back? I am the first to admit that I am inspired by other people's success. I think it can play a vital role in my own success. But I always try and not be sucked into the glamour of it all. If I see a before picture of someone whose starting weight is 450 and ended at 115, I think that is great. But I immediately have to question what surgery was required after that weight loss to make the after picture so terrific. And have you ever noticed that you NEVER see cellulite in any after shots? Please.

And make no mistake, very few of these weight loss organizations are not for profit. Years ago I went to Jenny Craig. I met my goal weight. Within a month I was getting sales calls trying to get me to set up another appointment. It is as if they INTENDED me to gain the weight back so that they could rack up a few more bucks. Now, after 9 years of marriage and a few pregnancies later I am back on the weight loss track. But I wouldn't imagine shelling out any money to meet my goal thanks to those calls.

So, does the general public need to change their attitude and look again at their goals and options available for meeting them? Absolutely. But no lawsuit in the world is going to facilitate that change. The bottom line is and always will be - not every program is going to work for every person. WW is truely a life saver for many, many, people. I hated going. The structure of Jenny Craig will work for lots of people. Their sales tactics turned me off. And on, and on, and on.

I think if the people who initiated this lawsuit really wanted to protect the rest of us they would be busy getting REALISTIC information out and STOP pointing the finger. Let's face it, one of the biggest challenges in losing weight is accepting that you got yourself in this mess and you are the only one who can get yourself out of it. Suing WW for not doing it for you seems down right silly to me. What's next? Suing food manufacturers for producing low calorie and fat free foods that still make you gain weight if you eat too much?

Jennifa - sorry you had such a bad experience, the people at that office sounded like they did not know what the heck they were doing. My leader encourages people to make healthy choices - not to figure out how much diet junk you can scarf and still stay within your points, I can't believe your centre encouraged that!

The current program, at least where I am, encourages people to eat healthy, eat more non-processed foods, eat good carbs such as whole wheat products and brown rice, make better food choices and to exercise. There are people in my group who have lost and maintained 100lbs or more and some people who quit after losing 15lbs So what works for some doesn't necessarily work for others.

Body for Life looks like a great program but it doesn't fit into my lifestyle. I totally agree - you have to find a plan that is a good fit for you

Hi, I know a few of you have said this already but I think we all like to put the blame on someone else when we fail at a diet or when wesimply do not have the will power. WW is a great program if you actually work it. I have lost almost 60 pounds on WW during the last year. When I would cheat - no I would not lose, BUT when I stuck to the program I always lost at least a pound a week. You get out of it what you put into it...plain and simple ( with any diet ).

But doesn't she talk about the need for permanent change in her article? In this, she is absolutely right - if you have a diet plan that works for you and then you reach your goal & don't keep on with a healthy eating program, you'll gain it back no matter what the program is.

"I spoke to Weight Watchers’ then chief executive in Britain, an American. She told me that one of the biggest problems confronting Weight Watchers was recidivism - people who followed the diets and then went back to their “bad” eating habits. She seemed genuinely concerned and told me that they were working with psychologists to confront these problems."

Along with permanent change, she's also right to bring up the "why people eat when they're not hungry" thing - does WW address that in an significant way? (I did try WW many years ago but it just wasn't my style).

Sounds like she's going after WW because they're the biggest, and people seem to trust them the most.

cheers,
Sue

Yep! WW does address the permanent change and treats the plan as a lifelong change/process.

No quick fixes on that plan!

I agree with some of the things said, but I don't think she should be going after Weight Watchers..it is one of the most well known for a reason. People gain weight back b/c like others have already stated they think once they reach their goal weight they can eat everything they want again and not bother with eating healthy or exercising anymore, which isn't true, weight watchers helps you get on the right track and then your supposed to stay there for the rest of your life (hence the term 'lifestyle change')

I know a lot of people that weight watchers as worked for and I am currently doing it myself!

Anyway thanks for posting, it was an interesting read!

I respect Susie Orbach and think she makes a lot of valid points. I highly recommend "Fat is a Feminist Issue." And it IS a feminist issue. Women use fat for all kinds of reasons such as to insulate themselves from intimacy or to protect themselves after abuse. And fat women are treated terribly by our thin-obsessed society, much worse than fat men. Self-hatred due to body size reaches even the youngest girls. We are conditioned to believe being fat is a moral failing, the most awful thing that could happen to you. How is that productive? I don't believe anyone can lose weight permanently without ending this self-hatred that the diet industry thrives on. And the fact that recidivism is almost assured (if you believe the statistics), simply means that the diet industry has many repeat customers--why would they change?

However, I don't know why she's taking on WW either--there are much worse offenders with very unethical tactics. I reached my goal weight and became a lifetime member when I was a teenager and didn't have much to lose. Since then, I have gained weight and gone back countless times. I found I could not follow the program, whichever program they were peddling at the time, for any length of time, and I became obsessed with food. For me, it was not a lifestyle I could maintain. It was a diet, complete with feelings of punishment, self-deprivation, self-hatred, etc. I think the author's points are that we've been sold contradictory advice by an industry that preys upon our feelings of self-loathing, and doesn't address the real problem: the emotional/spiritual basis for overeating.

This article is rather. . . interesting.

I also believe that fat is a feminist issue, but I don't agree with that lawsuit. It's about as ridiculous as that silly McDonald's lawsuit a while back.

I wouldn't go so far as to say that eating right is a question of willpower, but at the same time, we can't shrug off the responsibility of how we take care of our bodies to someone else.