Is Weight Watchers Healthy?

First of all, let me just set the record straight and clarify that I won't be slagging off Weight Watchers in this article. I really don't feel the need to anymore as I know what I do gets the best results possible without compromising health.

Before we get into the meat of the article, I'm not disputing the fact that Weight Watchers definitely works and gets results so please don't think Im saying that it doesn't, HOWEVER IAM asking one simple question and that is:

Does it promote optimum health?

I believe that there's some MAJOR flaws in the weight watchers fatloss model, some of which I'd like to tackle in this article. so read on and lets get it on:

Is Weight Watchers Healthy?

As a fitness professional that promotes health and focuses on nutritional cleansing, I simply CANNOT advocate a system that allows you to:

1) Eat in moderation,
2) Consume sugar & processed food,
3) Focus on overall weight loss and not fat loss!

Eating In Moderation

As you may already know, the Weight Watchers model encourages you to "eat in moderation" which is fine (if you're actually eating in moderation!)but as I've said before in previous articles, the problem with eating in moderation is that no can do it?

Be honest, when was the last time you ate (and drank) in 'moderation' and got outstanding, draw dropping fat loss results that left your friends absolutely dumbfounded by your transformation?

Ask yourself this,

If eating in moderation worked then why is the UK now the fattest country in Europe?
If eating in moderation worked then why is there currently an obesity epidemic?
And if eating in moderation worked then why is no one getting AWESOME fat loss results from their programmes?

You may have guessed that I have a real problem with this piece of dietary advice and if you want to lose bodyfat (NOT WEIGHT) anytime soon than you simply HAVE to stop listening to this advice! Its not working for you!

2) Consume Sugar & Processed Food



When I first saw this picture above I couldn't believe it! The label above is from a Weight Watchers cereal bar. Interesting isn't it when you read the ingredients, especially when you'd think a weight watchers cereal bar would be considered "healthy" right?

Well, it's quite staggering the amount of sugar and cr*ap thats in this bar. MOST of the ingredients in it is basically sugar, chemicals and preservatives.

REALLY not great if you want to dump bodyfat anytime soon.

The problem with most of these so-called healthy cereal bars (not just weight watchers!)is that they are stuffed full of chemicals and preservatives. Chemicals that your body won't recognise and in order to get them out of your system will dump them into your fat cells. If you want to lose bodyfat then the first thing you need to do is get rid of the chemicals and toxins from your adipose tissue (fat cells).

Don't get me wrong, once you've achieved your fat loss results it's ok to have a dessert or a treat every now and then but there are healthier treats out there that are free from all these chemicals and preservatives that won't overburden your liver, so just because its from weight watchers, don't automatically think its a "healthy" option cos it aint!

3) Works with Weight Loss and Not Fat Loss!

The problem with overall weight loss is that you have to use the scales as a way of measuring your progress which is a TERRIBLE way of tracking your results. I'll give you an example:

You've lost BODYFAT and increased lean muscle tissue (which is a good thing because the more muscle tissue you have, your bodies ability to burn bodyfat quickens up considerably which is EXACTLY what you want) BUT on the scales your overall weight may not have changed? This often then leads to disappointment, demotivation and worse still, dropping out of the healthy eating plan completely.

This makes a mockery of the whole weight watchers way (and other slimming clubs that like to use scales to monitor progress), they look at overall weight loss and not fat loss.



Let me put it another way, would you be happy to be the same weight that you are now but have no bodyfat, have an amazing killer physique with an abundance of energy?

I rest my case!

Heck I recently finished a 9 week six pack challenge with some of my fellow fitness professionals and I didn't lose ANY WEIGHT (not a single pound!) but my bodyfat levels went from 10% down to 8%, my waist went form a 32 to a 30 and I had a killer sixpack to show off! (and I didn't eat in moderation!)



See what I'm getting at?

So now that we've highlighted a few flaws in the weight watchers model lets talk about some things you can do that Weight Watchers doesn't talk so much about:

1) Stop eating in moderation and focus on Cleansing your fat cells!

Lets face it, this advice isn't working for you is it. If it did, then you would have already achieved your dream body by now right?
Focus on cleansing your fat cells for the next 28 days. If you want to drop body fat then you need to allow time for your liver to heal. Your body will choose to drop bodyfat once youve restored liver health. No wheat, sugar, processed food and alcohol for 28 days.Focus on lean proteins with plenty of fresh fruit & vegetables. Be strict with yourself (no piss poor excuses! If you can't give up alcohol for 28 days then you need to take a long hard look at yourself) and remember you don't have to be boring to eat healthy. You can check out the Evolution Cookbook if you want some recipe ideas. Over 60 wheat, gluten & sugar free recipes to choose from (including chicken pizza, healthy fish & chips, chocolate brownies & clean choc chip cookies)

2) BIN THE SCALES!

Scales have to be THE WORSE way to measure your progress! Ditch the scales and go on how you look, how you feel and how your clothes fit you. Take measurements before you start from your chest, waist, hips and thighs, all at the widest point) and measure as you go to monitor your results. Do ANYTHING! just stop using the scales!!! If you dont trust yourself then just bin them! Im serious!

So to come back to the title of this article? Is Weight Watchers healthy?

Here's where I respectfully disagree.

Definitely get's results for some as Im sure many will testify but for me it doesn't advocate optimum health. We should be striving to restore our health, going back to basics with our nutritin and when we do then we'll naturally achieve our ideal bodyshape and we wont have to worry about calorie counting and complicated point scoring.

It really is THAT SIMPLE!

In the words of my business partner and fellow fat loss expert Nisha Obaidulla:

"WEIGHT WATCHERS. GREAT BUSINESS MODEL, CRAP FAT LOSS MODEL".
Couldn't have put it better myself!

Peace out :-)

Sam

My Six Pack Journey (I'm REALLY proud of myself!)

Hey!

Hows it going? First of all I'd like to apologise for not updating this blog sooner. Things have been CRAZZZZY busy for me over the last few months both personally and professionally so I promise to update more frequently from now on.

But hey, enough of that, I just wanted to share my Six pack journey with you that I've just been on over the last few months.

Let me put you in the picture as to why I decided to go on a quest for six pack abs:

At the start of this year, my goals were very different. I placed a huge emphasis on improving my endurance running. I have 2 epic challenges that I want to do soon which partly involve endurance running so my main fitness goal was to improve on my distance running. This was one of the reasons why I went to Club La Santa, Lanzarote in June - to get some mileage in my legs, take part in a couple of races and basically lock myself away and just focus on my own training.



The last few months have been crazy busy for me. My Bootcamp and personal training business have literally been "blown up!" (thanks to my business mentor Paul Mort). My Sevenoaks Bootcamps are now thriving with positive action takers, I'm about to open another Bootcamp in Tonbridge and I'm now in the position where I only train people on a 1-2-1 basis who I want to train. Its invite only.

And I'm now ALSO working with fellow fat loss expert Nisha Obaidullah on our new sixpack abdominals programme (for fit pro's and general members of the public who want their abs back!) which Im really excited about and is the reason why I embarked on my own six pack journey.

As myself and Nisha are spearheading the challenge then it's only right that we're kept accountable and practising what we're preaching. I personally believe that there are WAY too may fat unhealthy personal trainers out there in the industry giving out "health" advice to their clients that blatantly can't do it themselves.

So I decided from June onwards to change my fitness goals slightly and focus 100% on obtaining a six pack.

Now don't get me wrong, Ive always been lean and have always had bit of a sixpack but never what I call, a proper one! Never one that was visible even when I wasn't tensing! Never a six pack that was truly outstanding so I decided that I was gonna get A KICK ASS sixpack just like the male fitness models on the front cover of Mens Health! Hell if those 'goons' could get one then I could DEFINITELY do it :-)

So my goal would change from endurance running (at the start of the year) to training purely for aestetics for the next few months, and at the end of it I'd book myself in for a professional photo shoot to show off the abs ;-)

Once I decided what my goal was, I made sure I planned 100% for it. I would be following my Elimiation Diet to the letter so I made sure I had all the clean, allowable foods in my cupboards. I made sure I knew what I was going to eat (and at what time) for the weeks ahead and I made sure I planned ALL my workouts in at the start of the week aswell. I put the workouts in my diary and I made sure I was 100% committed to doing EVERY single one of them, no BULLSH*T!

One of the things I found VERY hard during my Six pack journey and that was eating out with friends and family. I usually associate eating out with "pleasure" and normally when I eat out, I like to have a few beers and a dessert (cheesecake is my achilles heel!)so I did find it difficult at times resisting the temptation, especially when my deer Dad was tucking into a dessert or if at the cinema, my buddies munching on popcorn, BUT I stayed strong, my will power was good and I didn't cave in.



I'd like to point out something important here about Willpower, something that my mentor told me which REALLY hit home with me and that is:

"If you're WHY is strong enough then WILLPOWER doesn't come into it."

This basically means if you know EXACTLY what your goal is, you know WHEN you want to achieve it by, you know HOW you're going to do it and you know WHY you want to do it then WILLPOWER doesn't even come into it!

In my case, my goal was to be SHREDDED by September (so I had a deadline!), I knew how I was going to do it, I would be following my Elimination Diet 100% without fail no excuses and training 6 days a week. I'd also be adopting an Eat Stop Eat lifetyle during my journey aswell. The reason that I was doing this (so my WHY!!) was because I wanted sixpack abs.

I made sure my WHY was strong enough before I started this journey, I made sure my goal was 100% crystal clear before I started. If I didnt do this then I dont think I would have got the results that I did.

FINAL RESULTS

So since I embarked on my Sixpack journey (starting from June)

my bodyfat levels have gone from 10% down to 8%,
My sixpack is more visable,
I've gone from a 32 inch waist to a 30!
and I feel and look sooo much more leaner than before!

Below is my Before & After pictures:



I'm REALLy proud of myself for achieving my sixpack goal. It wasn't all plain sailing. There were times when I thought I wasn't gonna do it but I stayed strong, I kept focused, I had my photo shoot done and I got the result I wanted.

What next for me? well, Im gonna get back into my endurance running and refocus my attention on my 2 endurance challenges for next year that I want to do. Can't say too much at this point but lets just say that they'll be a huge challenge for me!

I hope my story and pictures inspire you to achieve the fat loss goals that you deserve.

Onto the next challenge!

Peace out :-)

Sam Winkworth
CPT, SPN

PS - I'll be uploading all my pictures from the photo shoot I had done last week so keep 'em peeled. They look pretty awesome if I dont say so myself! Sorry if that sounded big headed, I dont mean it to be, its just that Im SUPER proud of myself for achieving these results :-)

PPS - If you're interested in the detailed nutrition plan and the exact daily workouts that I used to achieve my six pack goal then get yourself over to my facebook page, add me as a buddy and keep an eye out for mine and Nisha's six pack 6 week challenge details. The results are unbelieveable ;-)