> The company, now known as WW International, has struggled with about $1.5 billion in debt and has failed to keep pace with more convenient weight loss options, including GLP-1 drugs like Ozempic, over counting points and calories.
> Sistani, CEO, bought a telehealth platform that connected patients with doctors who can prescribe weight-loss and diabetes drugs.
They lost their way.
If I'm so lazy that i'm not going to restrict my diet and instead rely on drugs, I won't need weightwatcher at all.
In that case I just need a ozempic prescription from the doctor..
jdlyga · 14h ago
I lost 60 pounds on WeightWatchers back 15 years ago. I signed up again recently but quit after a month after finding better methods and realizing they've lost their way. What made WeightWatchers great back in the day was its no-nonsense approach, great word of mouth, and excellent in-person sessions and resources. You lose weight, and if you achieve your goal you get a lifetime membership.
In the years since, WeightWatchers got caught up with customizable and ever-changing programs that were far too soft and excessively permissive. And they lost sight of why people joined the program. It felt like they wanted to become a lifestyle brand instead of a support group of people focused on achieving a goal.
They also drastically cut down on in-person sessions, and the virtual sessions are a poor replacement. It's a zoom call with a few dozen people and the entire thing feels very phoned in.
And while they were among the first to have a points tracking website (I loved e-tools!), which was excellent in 2009, Weight Watchers never really improved upon the technology and got left behind. Nowadays there's cheaper apps that do the same thing, and more advanced LLM apps where you take pictures of your food or describe it and it figures out the nutrient values.
My advice to post-bankrupcy weight watchers: focus on in-person sessions, and make it more goal and education oriented.
technofiend · 13h ago
They also rotate their points system making what seem like contradictory choices when the system changes every couple of years. In contrast taking Wegovy simply shut down any desire to snack and drastically reduced the desire for all but the smallest portions. You don't have to think about or apply a system: your body will do it for you.
You still need to establish good habits of eating sensibly and maybe that's the narrow wedge for Weight watchers now, but the blunt instrument is the medicine, not the process. WW needs to go back to teaching people to eat well.
terribleperson · 10h ago
Much like dating apps, weight loss programs are incentivized to work poorly while manipulating you to stay in the program.
> Sistani, CEO, bought a telehealth platform that connected patients with doctors who can prescribe weight-loss and diabetes drugs.
They lost their way.
If I'm so lazy that i'm not going to restrict my diet and instead rely on drugs, I won't need weightwatcher at all.
In that case I just need a ozempic prescription from the doctor..
In the years since, WeightWatchers got caught up with customizable and ever-changing programs that were far too soft and excessively permissive. And they lost sight of why people joined the program. It felt like they wanted to become a lifestyle brand instead of a support group of people focused on achieving a goal.
They also drastically cut down on in-person sessions, and the virtual sessions are a poor replacement. It's a zoom call with a few dozen people and the entire thing feels very phoned in.
And while they were among the first to have a points tracking website (I loved e-tools!), which was excellent in 2009, Weight Watchers never really improved upon the technology and got left behind. Nowadays there's cheaper apps that do the same thing, and more advanced LLM apps where you take pictures of your food or describe it and it figures out the nutrient values.
My advice to post-bankrupcy weight watchers: focus on in-person sessions, and make it more goal and education oriented.
You still need to establish good habits of eating sensibly and maybe that's the narrow wedge for Weight watchers now, but the blunt instrument is the medicine, not the process. WW needs to go back to teaching people to eat well.