By Emilia Benton
How do you decide which diet is for you? Not ready to cut something completely out of your food habits?
Don’t drop anything but pounds by getting the support you need with a healthy balance of eating through the new Weight Watchers program on campus.
“I had never seen myself as the ‘dieting’ type, because I love to eat and eat and eat! The first week was rough, and I cheated the second week,” senior Jennifer Long, an International Business major said. “Overall, I’ve had a lot of success with the program and have lost over 10 pounds in total. So far so good. Pants that I had put away because they didn’t fit anymore fit me now, and I’m extremely psyched about it.”
The University began providing the Weight Watchers program a year and a half ago to administrators and employees.
After gaining much success, they decided to provide a group for students for the first time this spring, Pat Montagano, director of the Recreation Department, said.
Through the program students can attend support sessions every week, keep journals of their good eating habits and use the Weight Watcher’s manual to log their calorie intake.
“Whenever I get frustrated I go to the meetings and I realize that I am not the only one, and I learn that I don’t always have to be perfect, I have a little room to cheat,” Long said. “But if I cheat, I’m only cheating myself.”
The weekly meetings are led by Weight Watchers representatives Mary Anne Quail and Roz Quirais and begin with students sharing their successful weight loss.
The atmosphere is very cheerful and the 23 female students enrolled truly support and encourage each other.
At the meetings boxes of the Weight Watchers brand snacks are provided for the students.
The main message that Quail and Qurais try to send is students should remind themselves they are doing this so they never feel they need to lose weight again.
Quail said if students make wise decisions pertaining to food and activity 80 percent of the time and less wise choices 20 percent of the time, it’s okay because the program is not about perfection.
The Weight Watchers program is designed to educate participants on what foods are healthy and what foods appear healthy and really are not.
“Don’t assume you can’t do Weight Watchers with Hofstra food,” Long commented. “I have not purchased a single Weight Watchers food product and have seen significant results.”
A popular healthy place to dine is Nature’s Organic Grille, which provides options like stir-fry with whole wheat pasta that aren’t too “expensive” in Weight Watcher’s points.
“It would also help if the dining locations on campus were to include the nutritional values of some foods, because the Student Center food really isn’t that healthy,” Long said.
The difference between Weight Watcher’s and other diets like Atkins or South Beach, is participants are not restricted from eating any specific type of food.
The catch is they must stay below their total point value each week. However, there is a chance to bend the rules a bit: participants can eat more points if they can offset them with exercise.
Many participants like the Weight Watchers plan for the reason that no food is considered “out of bounds” as long as it is eaten in moderation and they exercise regularly.
Weight Watchers holds meetings at the Recreation Center every Friday from 1 to 2 p.m. It is available to all students at a one-time cost of $120 for 12 sessions. The prices are standard Weight Watchers corporation fees. This program will continue next school year.