Weight Watchers Vs. Fitness Centers

Being overweight and obese is a big concern in today's world, isn't it? Apart from it not being very physically appealing, being overweight/obese also carries many health risks with it. Extra fat around the skeleton harms the heart and can lead to many obesity related diseases, including the fatal diabetes and stroke. Obesity has become a major concern, and it troubles not only the adult population, but also the children and youth. Owing to major health awareness campaigns conducted by the medical fraternity, lots of people have understood the significance of a 'proper weight' for better life.

To help people lose the extra and unwanted fat, there are lot of programs, in the form of diets and physical exercises formulated. Weight watchers is one such program that helps in weight loss. It is not dieting, and according to the weight watcher program developers, it is a healthy way to lose weight and live life. Fitness centers are especially popular among the younger generation and target weight loss through exercise.

Disclaimer: The comparison has been made with the Weight Watchers program and not the latest Weight Watchers 360° program. The details of the current program are exclusively available to the paid members of Weight Watchers.

Weight Watchers Or Fitness Centers

Like is the case with shopping, people also face confusion while selecting the right weight loss program! There are innumerable diets and techniques to lose weight, making it very difficult to choose the right one. A popular program to lose weight is the weight watchers program. And there is no need to mention the popularity of the other program in our discussion - fitness center (or gym as it is popularly called). You can find virtually innumerable fitness centers even in the smallest of localities. So, if you have narrowed down on these two options as your weight loss aids, a detailed discussion on the two would be of immense help to you, to choose the better one among the two.

The goal of people joining either of the two options is either weight loss or fitness. But for majority of people the goal is getting lean. Let's briefly understand how both these techniques of weight loss work.

Weight Watchers
The program is based on eating healthy food. The food requirement of each person is different, each person requires a specific amount of nutrients in the form of carbohydrates, fats, proteins, fibers, etc. It encourages healthy food consumption, and limiting of the calorie intake to only what is required. It is based on a point system and food items with high amount of calories are assigned high points, and food items with few calories are assigned low values in the program's point system. You become member of the program once you fill in the required form that fills in all your health details. Based on the variety of factors like the gender, age and fat burning ability of the person, daily points are assigned to the person, and he/she should not exceed the food consumption beyond these points for the day. The calorie intake is generally limited to 1200 calories a day and this distribution differs for each person.

It is definitely a good way to lose fat, as you are eating healthy and nutritious food, and also losing weight. If you eat more than what is required that is if you go beyond the points, they recommend exercise to compensate for the negative points. But for guaranteed weight loss results you should become a paid member of the official program, and then they will allocate required points to you, that will help in weight loss.

Fitness Centers
There are many reasons for the noticeable boom in such centers. One reason is they offer recreational benefits along with weight loss. Traditional centers focus on the use of various exercises, cardio workouts, push ups, use of dumbbells, etc., Now days, many centers also offer activities like swimming, badminton, dancing, aerobics, etc., One advantage of fitness centers is that they do not compel you diet or restrict the amount of food you consume, you have the choice to eat the food you like. But for expected results to show fast you need to be consistent with the exercise routine.

Another noteworthy point is that they improve your fat burning capacity and also tone up the muscles. But, all the gym activities should be done under an expert only for safe results. As we had mentioned, activities like swimming and some sports are also included under fitness centers. These activities are a lot more safe and work for the whole body. Combined with healthy diet, these centers are good and effective.

Conclusion
Studies conducted suggest that both these programs have their own set of pros and cons. A study conducted on people following these showed weight loss results in the people. But, it is also believed that the programs burn lean mass and not fat. Losing lean mass is not good for the body, as it slows the metabolic or fat burning rate.

The con of fitness centers is that they help only in temporary weight loss, and if the exercise is not combined with proper diet measures, long term weight loss wouldn't occur. Expert studies conclude that the two options should be used in conjunction for best weight loss results.

At the end, you must have guessed that there is no obvious winner between the two, and a proper combination of these two techniques would be beneficial in long term and aid in safe weight loss.

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