Weight Watchers for vegetarians? You bet! WW has a pretty simple yet comprehensive system for weight loss and includes information for special populations such as nursing mothers and vegetarians. Every food has a point value and each person, depending on their weight and their weight goals has a total number of points per day that they are allowed. You choose how to meet your daily point totals. You choose what to eat and when to eat it (night time eating is allowed with this diet!) just as long as you do not exceed your point total. If you do, there is not guilt here, just techniques to cut back your points over the next several days. Exercise such as jogging and aerobics counts as points added to your daily allowance - a real plus! But beyond just this point system there are meetings where others who range from mildly overweight - those who are struggling with the last ten pounds - or obese - those who have had challenging weight issues their whole lives - participate in a support group type meeting that is fun, informative, and upbeat. I expected it to resemble a therapeutic support group, but it did not. Tips for staying on track are given, recipes shared, and disappointments discussed, but the tone is light and positive.

The part of WW that has worked for me is journaling. WW has a motto, which they call the ABC's of dieting. This stands for All Bites Count. You know that nibble of food you take while making dinner? That handful of cashews you stick in your mouth on the way out the door? That juice you grab to drink in the car? They all count in your daily points total! Once you add up these bites, you begin to realize that part of your weight gain is in these unrecognized mini meals. A nibble here, a bite there - they all work against your weight goals. When you journal in WW you write down every bite you take all day. Now this takes some getting used to and, in the beginning, is time consuming. You look up the points to each food item, figure out the quantity, and total it all up - but it is worth the effort! Without journaling you lose track very quickly of your points and suddenly, without realizing it, you are over your allotted amount and, of course, then gaining pounds. As soon as I stop journaling, I start gaining. I try to figure the points in my head, but, inevitably, I am not accurate.

Of course there are other supports in WW as well. You weigh in privately each week and this sort of discipline is another technique that allows me to carefully monitor my progress and not feel as though I am out of control. I would rather know that I gained a couple of pounds during the week than find out a month later that I had gained ten. So every Saturday at 7:30am (times of meetings vary) I weigh in to check my progress for the week. Since I am not a self-disciplined person, this gives me some accountability to my weekly food choices.

In addition, WW has their own foods, which you can purchase from mainstream grocery stores. They have recipes and point calculators, and other tools of the weight loss trade. WW is relatively inexpensive when compared to the results. I lost weight faster on some of the other diets I tried but they were not healthy over the long term and I could not keep the weight off successfully. With WW the weight came off much more slowly, but it has also stayed off. Their techniques have truly worked for me, and in particular I have found weekly weigh-ins and journaling to help tremendously. The staff were wonderful resources and their materials were vegetarian friendly. Mostly their weight loss program depicts principles I embrace: they promote healthy eating that leads to a healthy life.

WW is a weight loss program with proven results and not just the latest celebrity fad in dieting. I am proud to say that I am one of its success stories. I lost eighteen pounds using WW techniques, and the best part is that I am able to keep the pounds off for the long haul. I feel good using their point system, I make better food choices overall, and exercise is a part of my weekly routine.

Here is our family's favorite WW recipes - one of those great zero point meals!

Garden Vegetable Soup

In a large saucepan, sprayed with nonstick cooking spray, sauté the carrot, onion, and garlic over low heat until softened, about 5 minutes.Add broth, cabbage, beans, tomato paste, basil, oregano, and salt and bring to a boil. Lower heat and simmer covered about 15 minutes or until beans are tender. Stir in zucchini and heat 3-4 minutes. Serves hot. Serves 4 at about 1 cup each.

--Carol Laliberte is mother to Andrew, a college instructor, newspaper columnist, freelance writer, and consultant. She lives in Western Massachusetts with her son, her husband, Phil, and their two fish, Seaweed and Week Week. She has been a vegetarian for more years than she can remember.