New Weight Watchers Program

I would be very disappointed if WW did away with Lifetime Members. I am a Lifetime Member who attends weekly meetings. It is a struggle to stay at my personal goal weight, and I get a lot out of the meetings. I also think I, as a long time WW member, have a lot to offer by way of suggestions, recipes, etc.

Emmy

I like some of the changes. I also like lifetimers in the group because it shows me the program can work and the coaches ask how they have done it and how much weight they have lost. They share their strategies. I find it very encouraging. Kind of like how they pair kids that need help in school with the ones that don’t.

Graceread

Saw Oprah stumping for Stacy Abrams in Georgia recently. She was as big as she has ever been. Weight Watchers shares went waaaay down that day!😪

Ronnie

Wellness is the theme good grief....isnt's that the point of joining Weight watchers in the first place "wellness" and in order for most to obtain "wellness" you have get rid of the pounds that are making you unwell. I thought about rejoining after my recent health crisis and I think I'm going to pass this program has lost itself.

Grace

I got tired of the yearly changes, so I track on another sight, but still keep WW because I’m lifetime. I think doing away with lifetime will not be perceived well by lifetimers.

Maggie

I have been a lifetime member for many many years and it would be a shame to eliminate it. We work hard for that status and it doesn't mean it is easy. Show new members and old it can be done and we deserve it.

joyce

This is how rumors start and it's crazy. There is no reason to get rid of Lifetime and we've been assured it's not going away for this year. Our lifetime members are free advertising - at or over goal!

Marci Walker

I'm excited about the new changes, as long as they don't get rid of Lifetime Membership. I like the idea of wellness. People think health is always about losing weight, but it's not. People can be thin and not healthy. We all know people who can eat whatever they want and never gain weight. Just because they have a healthy BMI doesn't mean they are healthy, so I think the focus on wellness is good. But I think it'll be a long time before Weight Watchers, now WW, is not considered to be about weight loss.

Kelly Lynn

I have reached lifetime membership twice it is what motivates me when I get off track. My personal opinion is that Weight Watchers has made the name change and the program changes to make more money. The old Weight watchers was just fine. I do not care for the changes

Nancy Donnelly

I'm not sure how this will play out. I'd been a member several times and my goal was to lose weight. While I agree that a focus on good health over all is a good one, let's face it. We've gone there to lose weight. They should have kept the Good Health Guidelines front and center and only tweaked some things such as focusing on whole foods and not artificial sugars and processed foods.

Dolores

In my opinion, the problem is that Weight Watchers diesn’t Understand that people want to get down to a much lower weight for primarily health reasons as well as look and feel better. The company wants to change its image, get away from the Jean Nidetch legacy and start anew. Ya know, they own the company and they are trying out a new spin on things. The public at large have to decide if this approach is ok for them and accept the name change. I have been as low as 5 lbs. from goal weight. If I was Lifetime I can say this, I would be very sad and also with these changes we may see a lay-off of Leaders to hire new people who have no past history of Weight Watchers because I know there will be a lot of negative talk.

I know of a very good Program called Slimming World. I was able to stick to it for quite a while so there are alternatives in my opinion if this WW doesn’t work,

My question is when does this new Program start?

Stacy Volin

First and foremost Weight Watchers is a business and will always be changing the program in order to pull in more people to make more money. That's what business' do. As members get discouraged and drop out, Weight Watchers knows that a new program will lure them back in.

If the company cared so much about our wellness they would have never had their expensive snack products that they sell at meeting locations so full of horrible ingredients for all these years. It certainly wasn't just recently discovered that those ingredients were unhealthy. They have now reworked the packaged snacks in order to go with their new theme, so that's good.

I think it's stupid to change the name of the company. I will always call it Weight Watchers, as I've heard so many people say they will also do. WW just sounds so stupid. Bad step on their part.

Doing away with lifetime? That would be another misstep, especially since it goes against their new wellness that works theme. If their wellness works.... then there should certainly be people in the meetings that reflect that success. I think that they are working towards eventually doing away with all meetings and having it be an online only program. That would save them so much money in building leases, and staff payroll.

I've been on and off Weight Watchers for over 20 years now. I have always felt the various program changes over the years are always about bringing in new people, and pulling members back in that have quit, so Weight Watchers can make more money..... it's not about new research that proves they should tweak the program. We all know how to eat healthy and lose weight. That's not our problem. Our problem is keeping it off, because staying away from the foods we love, in the amounts we love to eat them in, keeps the majority of us to regaining weight..... and going back to paying Weight Watchers yet again.

Kathy

This will be a hit or a miss. We won't know until next year when they come up with something else if it's failing. WW isn't getting anymore of my money.

Barbara

First, one of the main motivators for me to stay with weight watchers is lifetime...to reach it and no longer have to pay the fees is the biggest goal of all. It is worth the price to know i won t pay when i get goal..lifetimers at the meetings are huge motivators showing the program works...their advice is priceless!

Maintaining goal weight and not paying will help keep me there. I do NOT like WW....Weight Watchers is an icon and a name i am proud to be a member of. I understand changing with the times but i wish they would have asked long time members what they like about the program and include the most popular inputs so that the program maintains a lot of its good features that work and keep people coming back...including the good health guidelines and portion amounts EVEN for zero foods.

Honestly this new change is fueling my feeling that i will never succeed by subtly admitting with the changes that diets don't work and fueling my thought that i should just quit and not pay for reviewing skills i already know and try to live by. The changes are too modern and the 'studios' are cold and uninviting..almost futuristic..yuck!!!!!!! I feel i am no longer a part of the family that they want new faces and are willing to let those that have been at it a few years go.

Please understand these are my feelings, i am a weight watcher , but not a WW, and am proud of that. I always embraced the changes each year with a positive attitude but this time, this new marketing look, name, ect. Just isn t what i signed up for and i feel out of pkace. I am only one and i do not matter and i totally support those that are going full speed ahead and loving the changes. Bottom line...i am thinking about quitting, uying a new updated scale, joining our local YMCA and doing this on my own with all i have learned with Weight Watchers. And if Weight Watchers reverts back to some of its old self that i loved, i will rejoin! I am still deciding and trying to be more comfortable with the changes.

Lahren

I asked my WW leader directly if the rumors about ending Lifetime Membership are true. She said the company's CEO answered that question during a nationwide online conference with employees several weeks ago and said that Lifetime Membership is absolutely NOT GOING AWAY, not now not ever. I don't know that I'll ever reach that lofty goal, but I've been working at it for a long time and I'll continue to do so. I love WW. And by the way, I thought Oprah looked GREAT during her campaign stump in Georgia!!! OPRAH 2020!!!!

Mary Beth

Weight Watchers has always been a scam, as evidenced by the way they keep changing it (NOT improving it, just changing it), and the way that it is a money making racket that rips off the people who can least afford it. Eating disorders are diseases, not hobbies that have weekly get togethers like quilting. People need to be treated medically, with individual treatment plans, and intense psychotherapy. Weight Watchers has done more to keep America fat than all the potato chips in the world. People become so obsessed with food in that program (ALL of their failed programs), when the goal should be to make food an afterthought. Alcoholics Anonymous is the most successful program for alcoholics because they work on the physical, emotional, and spiritual sides of the disease. Unfortunately, due to Weight Watchers, those who try to work the program of Overeaters Anonymous are too often brainwashed by years of the Weight Watcher's philosophy, which is all about the food.

Sue

Weight Watchers has never claimed to be a diet...in fact, just the opposite. They always stayed away from using the word diet. I am very disappointed in Weight Watchers for changing their name and for eliminating Lifetime membership. That's what kept so many at their goal weights. Guess they want people to gain that weight back and then come back as paying members. It's all about the $$.

Susan

If you think WW is a scam, then quit going! And I don't know what your experiences are, but for me and the many, many people just in my Saturday morning class, the program is working just fine, thank you. And we get a huge amount of support from one another...sharing our difficulties, our successes, and our favorite tips and recipes! We help one another learn to use the app and to get the most out of what's available to help us overcome our over-reliance on food. Does it work for everybody? No. But for those who work the program the way it's designed to work, it most certainly DOES work! And I see those occasional changes to the program as improvements! Freestyle is AMAZING!

Mary Beth

Completely disappointed in the direction this company has gone. Double You Double You is doomed to fail if they continue to disregard members concerns.

I will always call it Weight Watchers. I will continue to attend my meetings and will never call them workshops and as soon as they do away with Lifetime, I’m gone. Freestyle was a failure for those looking to lose weight-yes it works for some but not all. It’s too restrictive. It’s been a great program for years but since 12/2017 it’s sucked.

Cathy

I have been a lifetime member for about 20 years. I don’t know what the big deal is. All you get is 1)no sign up fee, but they have specials all the time where you can get no sign up fee. I recently rejoined with a 3 month special that had no sign up fee.

2)free meetings and etools. That is a great benefit, but it is super hard to stay

within 2 pounds of your goal, and continue to have free meetings. I always say I’m going to do it but after a few weeks I think I’m going to be over the 2 pounds and I don’t want to pay more money

So I don’t go.

So the thought of Lifetime membership is really way more glamourous than actually trying to

keep up with being a lifetime member!

Trust me I’ve been at goal several times!

Nancy

Ever since Freestyls it is clear they do not care about their long time customers. They only want the shiny new ones. Problem with that is many people are repeat customers because Weight Watchers (used to) work. Oh and WW? It's just stupid. I am lifetime, lost consistently but gained when Freestyle came out. Now they are getting rid of Simply Filling once again not listening to their customers

Trish

If WW does away with Lifetime membership, it's merely for the money. Now, if they want to keep their lifetime members, they should get a discounted rate -something to keep them and not let the fees cause them to leave. They need the "oldtimers" so the newbies can see that it does work.

Dee

Last night at the meeting the topic was "happiness"....it's the most unhappy I've ever seen the "old timers" (which includes me)...and our leader in no shape or form could provide any answers. We're there to lose weight and we're paying for that help and guidance and we are no longer getting that. I don't need useless trinkets from "wins" to keep me motivated. Freestyle was created because the one thing members hated was tracking....so now you don't have to track as much BUT then we're going to create a program with incentives if you..."track"! How does that make any sense? The conversation in the parking lot after the meeting was more helpful then the meeting and we may be branching out on our own instead of wasting the money.

Laura

I am a lifetimer, currently struggling with 4 pounds right before the holidays. I don't attend meetings as often as I should as I am NOT a fan of Freestyle. I am a Smartpoint girl through and through. Give me my 30 daily points, not unlimited chicken, plain yogurt and eggs. Gag. I lost 30 pounds on the program and I know it works. I'm not interested in the new WW and whatever they are promoting now or the new CEO for that matter. Just sayin'.

Sherox

As a loooooong time WW member and lifetime, my opinion is you don't fix what isn't broke. WW had long been the premier wt loss program, recommended by doctors and past participants. It's claim to fame was it was REAL life, nothing was prohibited as long as you could account for it be it points or old time portions etc. Granted that some made less than healthy choices. I do think there is lots of new research that should be accounted for but overall the flexibility and the support made it a winner for most. I don't like their new image very much. I go to my therapist for wellness or take a yoga class or run or knit or....I don't look to WW for overall wellness and I don't really think their leaders are well trained in this aspect.

Ilene

Ilene-I agree with you 100%!!!

Cathy

Ilene - I also agree with you. You said it all!

Dolores

WOW! So many negative comments. Bummer! I think Weight Watchers, WW, double you double you, whatever you want to call it will work for those that want it to. I am always eager for their changes. Sometimes I like them, sometimes I don't but I always look forward to them. Carry on....

Charity Kane

Are you kidding me! Wow multi-million dollar owner just can't seem to make enough MONEY to bleed the everyday people who use this product. No More! You've lost another faithful user!!!!!! Blasting your greed on every Facebook,Tweet acvount!!!! 😓😖😬😠😣😅😫

Kat

Ilene,

Make that three of us that agree with you!

Ms. G.