I posted this question at Herport.com, but haven't had much response.

Does anyone here belong to Weight Watchers? If so, what is your experience? Do you find the group meetings really motivational? Do they give good information about exercise? Have you really lost weight and kept it off?

I want to lose 20 to 25 pounds by October 5th and I'm hoping Weight Watchers can help me.

No more goofy diets that deprive me and exercise alone isn't cutting it, so I must be in need of some sound nutritional advice.

Anyone here have anything positive or negative to say about Weight Watchers?

I, myself, haven't been on weight watchers but my boyfriends sister and aunt who I'm also close to were on it and I believe still are. All I have to say is WOW! They both lost SOOO much weight and look GREAT!! I can't give you much information about how they did it, but I know it's about eating the right foods and some exercise I believe. Trust me too, his sister isn't one to be very motivated but this worked SO well and fast! Just from what I've seen, I recommend it!

I lost 60lb on Weightwatchers, I found the program really easy to follow..it allows you to eat what ever you want so long as you fit it in your plan..and exercising allows you to have extra treats

I'd say give it a try, it seriously does work

Oceangurl, as you know from the support group thread, I am now on weight watchers. It has been wonderful for me so far. I find it very easy to stay within my points range, and I have come up with some really tastey dishes! I think around the 4th week, they give you a book on exercise and a points finder to calculate the extra points you can have as you exercising.

Hi Sandy! I'm so happy W.W. is working for you. I just got home from my week #8 meeting. I have only lost 5.5 pounds, but it's certainly better than gaining 5 pounds right?

I have not determined a goal weight yet, but I'd like to lose a minimum of 20 more pounds. Doesn't sound like a big goal to a lot of people, but I'm 5 feet tall, and when you're as little as me, weight loss is really difficult.

I also got results of my cholestrol from my doctor today. My HDL good cholesterol was 67 and my LDL bad cholesterol was 168. The last time I had it checked was 2 years ago. My good cholesterol dropped 11 points and my bad cholestrol increased by 36 points. This is scary and even more of a motivation to stick to Weight Watchers!

I'm signing off now so that I can go out for a walk! I think I can make myself commit one hour a day to walking or some sort of steady exercise.

Good luck to you, I'm so glad you're seeing such consistent results!

By the way, check out the "Diet/Nutrition" section of www.herport.com. I have posted some of my favorite Weight Watcher's recipes for the other ladies.

Have a great Memorial Day Weekend!

Oceangurl, You are right, 5 off is MUCH better than 5 on! Keep it up. I will check out herport, I haven't been there for a while. I always like getting new recipes!

My mother was on it, and had good success with it........she lost 101 pounds in a year's time. And a side benefit was that the rest of our family trimmed up some, too, as she made Weight Watchers meals for the rest of us.

Unfortunately, over time, she got away from it, and gained a lot of the weight back. And this time there was no local Weight Watchers group to help. So she had to do it on her own.

But when there was a Weight Watchers group, she did very well.

Good luck! I need to lose, too, but I wish it were only 20 pounds I need to shed.

Hey, all you milk shake fans (like me ) try this, it's got a little less calories in it and it tastes great!!!

Take some frozen yogurt (like strawberry) and put it in a glass with a V8 smoothie. (flavor of your choice) It's sooooo good and it's got the vitamins of a V8 in it, plus the yogurt has way less calories then ice cream (which I totally love, but don't like the calories! ) I finally found something to replace my milkshake cravings!!

That sounds great Puppy, I'm going to try it! One thing that I do to satisfy my sweet tooth is take chockolate graham crackers broken in half, fill them with light cool whip and make a sandwich out of it. Wrap in plastic wrap and freeze. Tastes just like and ice cream sandwich.

Another trick is to freeze grapes. I've only tried the red ones, and they are delicious!!

Any other ideas out there?