The Core Plan controls calories by focusing on a core list of wholesome, nutritious foods without tracking or counting. The list includes foods from all the food groups -- fruits and vegetables, grains and starches, lean meats, fish and poultry, eggs and dairy products -- to ensure that all nutritional requirements are met. People can also have occasional treats in controlled amounts on the Core Plan.
More Satisfaction, Fewer Calories
The Core Foods List was created to provide maximum eating satisfaction without empty calories. It emphasizes foods that have low-energy density, or few calories per unit volume.
"One of the key things scientific research has shown is that from a very young age, people are trained to eat a volume of food, not a certain amount of calories.
"To lose weight, people should eat foods that have low-energy density, that is, foods that are high in volume, but low in calories," said Weight Watchers Chief Scientific Officer, Karen Miller-Kovach.
"We also identified foods that are linked with overeating and removed them from the Core List. Once the Core Plan was developed, we tested it until we were convinced it allowed people to achieve healthy, effective weight loss, with no counting or tracking.
To learn more about Weight Watchers services, products and publications, visit WeightWatchers.com. To find the nearest Weight Watchers meeting location, call 1-800-651-6000 or click on the Find a Meeting link at the top of the homepage. Weight Watchers offers subscriptions for people wanting to follow Weight Watchers online.
This article was adapted from a news release provided by WeightWatchers.com.
I've been looking around at various "diets" to decide what way I want to lose more weight. I am thinking strongly about trying out this plan simply because there is not so much involved in trying to put some kind of number value on everything you eat. Whether it's counting points or counting calories, I just don't want to figure all that out right now.
The essence of the core plan, for those who aren't familiar with it, is that you can eat as much of the following foods as you wish (as long as you don't stuff yourself), while following some basic "good health guidelines", (which require you have a certain minimum daily intake of water, fruits and vegetables, dairy, and 2 tsp of "healthy oils" --olive, canola, flaxseed oil. Also, a multi-vitamin)
Here's the list of "allowed" foods:
~lean meats, fish, poultry
~nonfat dairy products, eggs
~whole grains (not whole grain products, just the whole grains themselves)
~sweet potatoes, potatoes, whole wheat pasta, brown rice
~beans and legumes, tofu
~more or less all fresh, frozen, or canned fruits or vegetables as long as they aren't in syrup(but not juices or dried fruits/veggies)
~coffee, tea
~most condiments (I've interpreted "most" as "all") and all herbs and spices, of course
"Limited" foods are:
~"healthy fats" 2 tsp required per day
~potatoes OR brown rice OR whole wheat pasta limited to one meal per day
Also, you get 35 extra "points" per week (more if you exercise) to spend on "non-core" foods at your discretion, if you want an occasional pat of butter, or a glass of wine or bump up your dairy from "non-fat" to "low-fat", etc.
