Weight Watchers' rebranding won't help save the company that built its business around fat-shaming
S E E D E D C O N T E N T
The company that gifted us classic dogmatic weight loss rhetoric such as, “the thinner, the winner” and “nothing tastes as good as thin feels” has decided to instead focus on promoting “wellness that works.”
In a press release Monday , Weight Watchers announced that they are dropping the “weight” — literally — and instead renaming itself WW, with the intention of focusing on “health and wellbeing of inspiring powerful habits rooted in science.”
My inner skeptic sees this differently: The writing was on the wall, and they finally decided to read it. The daughters of the Baby Boomers who grew up attending Weight Watchers meetings, who endured their teen years listening to Weight Watchers dogma like “one moment on the lips, a lifetime on the hips,” and who watched their moms put their lives on hold while waiting for thinness to unlock the doors to happiness — those daughters have decided to go a different way, eschewing the chase for thinness altogether.
Gallup poll data published in 2016 showcased a major shift in the public’s thinking about the relationship to their bodies, with the number of Americans actively wanting to lose weight seeing its first decline since Gallup started tracking the data in the 1950s. Fully 53 percent of Americans said that they wanted to lose weight during the 2010-2016 time period, a 6 percent drop from the previous decade when the percentage peaked. Interestingly enough, even as rates of obesity and overweight are at their highest, fewer people describe themselves as “overweight” today than did in the 90s.
That means fewer people see fat as quite the problem, barrier or life-ruining issue as our forbearers. It means that, slowly but surely, our perception of what being “fat” means has changed drastically. It also means that companies profiting off of people's poor body image have to try a new approach, as the decades-old “show them the flaw, sell them the cure” business model isn’t quite working anymore.
We are also having open conversations about the shortcomings of the health care industry, and how ill-equipped the average primary care physician is to handle the needs of the average patient. We are learning that what it means to be “healthy” is more complex than being thin, because diabetes and heart disease are not exclusive to the overweight. In fact, abouta quarter of adults at their BMI-recommended weight have unhealthy levels of cholesterol and blood pressure — two characteristics of heart disease — and blood sugar, which is a risk for diabetes.
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Years ago I went with my sister to Weight Watchers and I didn't feel like they were weight shaming. I am curious about other people's experiences and have people just stopped caring about their weight?
I stopped caring. And when I stopped caring I started losing weight. Not a lot, but I don't eat like I used to. I don't eat when I'm bored or watching TV like I used to.
I know somebody who lives her whole life thru Weight Watchers and she's a miserable person. Miserable as in hard to get along with
Well, I am about to start my first real diet ever. Menopause has been no friend to my waistline and I am very unhappy with the weight I am. I think there is a happy medium between being obsessed with your weight and feeling good about yourself. As a used to be thin person, I am not feeling good about myself.
Menopause is a bitch.
Tell me about it
Well, I don't have any experience with menopause, but I have experienced various weight shifts throughout my life. My personal experience has proven that I have to be obsessed with my weight. If there is a fine line, it's 1/100th of a razor's edge for me. I have never been static in my weight. I am either gaining or losing...gaining if I am not obsessed.
I don't know anything about weight watchers. I've tried low carb, paleo and several others. I have recently, by that I'm talking within the past 2 months, started in with intermittent fasting. I will say that I have been pleased. I'm down 15 lbs. And, as part of a full disclosure, I started with around 45 lbs to lose. I don't know if I'll get all of those off. I will say that the intermittent fasting is extremely easy, and I think there is a better than not chance that I will be able to maintain. (caveat: I cheat a little on the weekends, especially if I find myself sitting around watching football) I'm sure it's not for everyone, but I find it works for me, and I am not buying plans, supplements, etc. May be something to look in to. Best of luck in finding the version of you that you feel good about.
I'm 6 ft 4, and 200 pounds.
there was a time few years ago where I got to about 212, and I really wasn't happy with it. I did Weight Watchers Online, it worked, and I moved on.
As far as fat shaming goes, nobody can make you ashamed without your permission. It's past time that we stopped putting up with people trying to blame others for their own feelings.