interesting article

Several people that know I have joined Weight Watchers told me this week of a news report on FOX News that rated Weight Watchers as the BEST diet plan to follow - I still say it's a lifestyle change, a way of eating healthy - not a diet. But, anyway... here's the article they referred to:

Weight Watchers, Slim-Fast Top Diets
Tuesday, May 10, 2005

Meetings and shakes trump counting carbs when it comes to long-term weight loss, according to a recent analysis of diets by Consumer Reports magazine.

The publication, best known for rating cars and electronics, put Weight Watchers, with its support group meetings, and Slim-Fast, whose shakes let you opt out of cooking, at the top of the heap.

The ratings were based on pounds lost, nutrition, how easy the diet was to follow and dropout rates after six months and a year.

Though low-carb diets have dominated headlines, the highest marks went to Weight Watchers, which uses weekly meetings to reinforce its decidedly simple philosophy — eat less and exercise more. After a year, its followers were far more likely to stick with the plan.

Weight Watchers did not, however, earn the strongest scores on weight loss, a distinction that went to second-ranked Slim-Fast, which replaces parts of two meals a day with shakes and bars.

Atkins, which has led the low-carb charge, got good scores for short-term weight loss, but landed at the bottom of the ratings because of poor marks on retention and nutrition.