Frankfurters Never Looked So Good

Weight Watchers in 1974 = Awesome.

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Sugar Rage

Some people steal cookies and call themselves "the Cookie Monster" when they're caught with crumbs all over their mouths. Others shoplift Weight Watchers desserts or trash cupcake shops that run out of "sweet tooth fairy cakes." And then there are those who fly into a rage when no one'll share their imitation maple syrup.

Ah, sugar.

And don't be all smirky if you're sitting there with a glass of juice and an agave-flavored bowl of whatever it is you're eating. You're just as likely to throw what the Whole9 folks call a "sugar tantrum."

Weight Watchers: The New Math

Last week, Weight Watchers drastically overhauled its points system for the first time in 13 years, and as the New York Times reports, some members are going batshit crazy over the change.

“It’s a complete overhaul; it doesn’t get any bigger than this,” said Karen Miller-Kovach, the chief scientific officer for Weight Watchers International. “Fifteen years ago we said a calorie is a calorie is a calorie. If you ate 100 calories of butter or 100 calories of chicken, it was all the same. Now, we know that is not the case, in terms of how hard the body has to work to make that energy available. And even more important is that where that energy comes from affects feelings of hunger and fullness.”

Some people were drawn to the Weight Watchers point system by the idea that it seemed almost like an anti-diet: you could eat whatever you wanted, as long as you gauged the portion, counted the points and, if necessary, scrimped elsewhere. And while many members are lauding what one blogger described as a “Weight Watchers meets Michael Pollan,“ and celebrating the advent of the guilt-free fruit cup, others are pushing back.

“I don’t want to be forced to choose veggies. I do NOT like veggies or fruit,” one member wrote in an online discussion on the Weight Watchers Web site. “I feel like I am being forced to ‘diet,’ and that is what I DO NOT WANT.”

Of course! I mean, if I paid good money to join Weight Watchers, the last thing I'd want to do is watch what I eat, or consume anything other than packages of Little Debbies and Cool Ranch Doritos.

Weight Watchers is taking a (very, very small) step in the right direction by backing off of its long-held "a calorie is a calorie is a calorie" nonsense, and recognizing that folks should avoid carbs and processed food (by increasing the number of points for such foods).

But IMHO, the company's overall approach remains pretty awful. With its closely monitored points system, Weight Watchers is still encouraging obsessive weighing and measuring. And while it's not strictly calorie-counting anymore, members can still choose to eat incredibly unhealthful shit -- all they'd have to do is pare back their overall intake levels. In other words, they can still starve on Cinnabon and cupcakes.

Plus: Under the new system, "[a]ll fruits...are point-free," while the points for fatty foods (including stuff we know are actually good for you) have been bumped up. So under this plan, a person struggling to lose weight is allowed to gorge all day on bananas -- a fruit that's 93% carbohydrate in content -- without having to tally a single point. Smart.

(Source: The New York Times)

McNuggets: Only 6.5 Points!

Weight Watchers' newest corporate partner is ... drum roll, please ... McDonald's. As the UK's Daily Telegraph puts it:

Chicken McNuggets (my personal favourite) or a Filet-O-Fish (does anyone actually order this?) are worth 6.5 points on the Weight Watchers programme. Dieters are allowed to consume 18 to 40 points each day meaning that someone could be justified in cramming around 40 golden nuggets down their gullet. Get in!

Weight Watchers has given its stamp of approval on three Mickey D's meals in Australia and New Zealand: The aforementioned McNuggets and Filet-O-Fish (both of which come with a side salad and a medium diet soda), and also something called the Sweet Chilli Seared Chicken Wrap (which comes with a diet soda but no McSalad).

Weird. But I guess Weight Watchers assumes (probably correctly) that many dieters are likely to find themselves at a McDonald's at some point, so it's better to give them some guidance on choosing the least nutritionally damaging stuff in the restaurant.

Speaking of which, here's what's in the three Weight Watchers-approved items (sans soda, salad, fries, shake, etc.):

• 6-Piece Box of McNuggets: 269 calories | 11.3 g of carbs | 12.9 g of fat | 405 mg of sodium
• Filet-O-Fish: 330 calories | 32.4 g of carbs | 14.9 g of fat | 647 mg of sodium
• Sweet Chilli Seared Chicken Wrap: 374 calories | 40.5 g of carbs | 9.8 g of fat | 801 mg of sodium

Best bet: Pack a lunch.

Better Than a Cracker Jack Prize

Someone named Noreen wrote to The Consumerist about finding an amphibian in her Weight Watchers frozen meal:

I have been eating a Weight Watcher’s Smart One for lunch just about every day of 2010. After microwaving yesterday’s Fettuccini Alfredo, I peeled back the plastic cover to find a small frog nestled among the broccoli.

I don't know. People eat frogs all the time. But planning to ingest a Weight Watcher's Smart One for lunch every day of the year? Now that's horrifying.