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Towards the end of the last lockdown I finally reached peak belly. Months of being cooped up inside, treating myself to Deliveroo lunches, daily pasta dinners and a beer or four meant that the sofa creaked dangerously every time I sat down.
Something had to be done. The problem was, I’d never had much success with diets. I’d tried several times ever since the weight began to stay on, but no weight loss ever stuck. I got bored of monotonous meals or the fiddly calorie maths that made every plate a chore. Mostly, I could never bring myself to just eat less.
So when Coach asked me to try the WW app, I didn’t really think it would work because I am a bad dieter. However, I’m happy to say WW worked for me. It really did. In four months I’ve lost more weight than I managed in 20 years. It is, as they say, the bomb.
A 10kg bomb in fact. Ten kilos sort of sounds like a lot. It feels like a lot when I look at my missing belly, but I hadn’t really realised how much it really is until my mum bought a 3.5kg salmon for dinner. It was a mighty fish, far too big to fit in the oven. It fed 10 of us, easily. Later, as I ate my moderate helping, accompanied by a towering portion of salad, I reflected that, until recently, I had been walking around with three of these monster fish strapped to my torso.
So why did it work so well? I’ve got three big reasons.
The biggest is that the WW app is easy to use. When you sign up, you answer 20 questions about what you like to eat, how much weight you want to lose, and your age and height. I was put on one of three ready-made plans, but from 2022 each person’s plan is unique.
My plan said that I could eat as many veggies and as much fruit as I liked, and had to fit everything else into a daily points budget. Logging meals was easy, especially as I quickly realised that if I ate only salad I didn’t even need to log anything. The interface was quick and intuitive, and the app worked really well.
The second reason is that diet worked even better. I didn’t feel hungry because, nudged by what I could eat without a cost, I had completely changed my eating habits. I’d dropped sandwiches, pasta and rice completely. Sauerkraut, fresh veg and lentils were on the plate instead. With the help of the app, I did this almost without thinking about it and four months on, I’m still eating differently from before.
The final reason why I’ve found the diet so easy to keep up is the points system itself. It is wonderfully easy to understand. I was allowed 40 points a day. Some foods are horribly expensive: a pint of beer, for example, is seven points. Some foods are gloriously cheap: a BACON RASHER is only one point. Rather than counting calories, having this simple standard made it easy to see what habits needed to change and how much is healthy to eat in a day. My appetite has shrunk to match my portion sizes.
See related
- 13 Expert Weight-Loss Tips
- Lose Weight With This Four-Week Meal Plan For Men
- Lose Weight With This Four-Week Meal Plan For Women
- The Best Weight-Loss Apps
As well as dieting help, the WW app offers many other features. These range from the slightly annoying (the adverts for WW products) to the useful (being encouraged to weigh in once a week rather than daily). There’s lots more besides: recipes, exercise videos, support groups, and advice from coaches and other people using WW.
These weren’t for me. Partly this is because I try to limit the time I spend on my phone, and partly because I was doing so well on the diet solo I didn’t feel I needed that extra push.
I could see how useful that support could be. A few months ago, another friend, noticing my success with WW, decided to join up himself. We have been texting each other recipes, and a dash of healthy competition has made the experience more enjoyable. If you look for it, you can find that kind of comradeship in the app too.
One thing I haven’t mentioned is price. There are options for every budget, including various levels of support. You may or may not find that extra help useful – but I found that the core weight loss app was enough for me. If you sign up for a six-month contract, the first three months are free, bringing the cost to just over £50 in total.
If you want to lose weight, I hope you do. Without doubt, this is the best diet I’ve ever been on. It’s easy to use and effective. I feel lighter and happier, and I’m eating better. My kids are eating better too. My long-suffering sofa is grateful.
Should I ever need to go on another diet, I would gladly pay the subscription (which I didn’t have to this time) to do it again.
But hopefully, I won’t have to. WW has changed how I eat – and I don’t see myself going back to the bad old ways ever again.
Join the WW digital program | £14.95 a month | Download the WW app from App Store or Google Play
WW’s latest programme is called PersonalPoints, where no two plans are alike. To find out more, visit ww.com/uk
