TODAY: Does Weight Watchers work?

Weight Watchers is the next diet program to be probed in the TODAY show's series, "TODAY Investigates Diet Programs."

Karen is a working mom with one child and her own small business. Her goal is to drop 18 pounds in 3-months using Weight Watchers. Karen is given 24 points per day during the 3-months. Here is the mathematical formula WW uses to calculate points:

Where:
p = Points
c = Calories
f = Fat Grams
r = Dietary fiber Grams

(Note: min{r, 4} equals the number of grams of dietary fiber or 4, whichever is smaller. In other words, only the first 4 grams of fiber "count.") Luckily, WW users are given simple breakdowns so you don't have to do math just to eat a muffin.

Karen goes on the show with Heidi the nutritionist, and both share their opinions of WW with Ann Curry. I sware it was like a Hallmark card where I was waiting for one of the ladies to ask for a tissue. I do believe though that Karen has better odds of keeping the extra weight off, and I did appreciate her honest sharing of how hard it is to incorporate healthy eating when you are under enormous daily pressures.

The atmosphere for this WW show was very different from the Jenny Craig piece. Heidi prefers WW a great deal more than Jenny Craig because WW incorporates real food from the start and a support system is the cornerstone of the program. The price is also much cheaper at $125/month not including the food.

I'm not a fan of paid diet programs, but if I had to pick one to join, I'd chose Weight Watchers for the very reasons Heidi mentioned. Next program to be probed is plain old diet & exercise. Stay Tuned.