Not Losing Weight on Weight Watchers? Science Shows Why (2024)

Are you feeling frustrated by your weight loss journey with Weight Watchers? I’ve personally worked with many clients that were not losing weight on WW and I have seen through their stories how exhausting it can be.

By the time people discover my work with eating psychology, they are absolutely fed up with dieting, and for good reason. Weight Watchers, even with its new updated Points system, is not a good fit for everyone. Clinical evidence has shown that restrictivediets don’t worklong-term — and no matter how “flexible” Weight Watchers claims to be, it’s still restrictive when you have to stay within a point system.

Nevertheless, Weight Watchers is the largest weight loss support group in the world.^[1]Their marketing dollars make success stories look both inspiring and doable. However, not everyone experiences success — particularly long-term.

If you’re not losing weight on Weight Watchers, you’re about to discover evidence-based reasons why along with alternatives for stopping compulsive eating without counting Points ever again.

Clinical Evidence For and Against the Efficacy of Weight Watchers

I researched this topic thoroughly using my background as a fact-checking medical writer who spent 9 years reviewing clinical studies side-by-side with clinicians. After scouring as many studies as I could find, I did not find any clinical studies linking Weight Watchers with clinically significant, long-term weight loss — where “clinically significant” is defined as a 5% reduction in weight.^[2]

First, many WW studies follow participants short-term, often for just 12 weeks. One study found clinically significant weight loss with WW but only over a 12-week period without any follow-up. The study even goes on to state that:

“Twelve weeks is a relatively short duration for a weight management programme... Research suggests that in many cases the weight lost during behavioural and pharmacological treatments is regained after treatment cessation.”^[3]

An abundance of clinical evidence shows that weight is often regained after restriction-induced weight loss.^{[4], [5], [6]} One study even shows that one third of people regain even more weight than they initially lost.^[7] Furthermore, one long-term study on Weight Watchers specifically says that after 2 years, weight lost with WW “is partially regained over time.”^[8]

Is the key word here ‘partially’? If weight is only partially regained, there is still weight loss, right? Other evidence isn’t so compelling.

No Clinically Significant Long-Term Weight Loss with Weight Watchers

A randomized, controlled trial found that Weight Watchers led to “a loss of 3.2% of initial weight at 2 years.”^[9] While this may sound impressive, let’s break it down. If an individual weighs 200 pounds at baseline — which is beautiful and, more importantly, can be healthy — then 3.2% weight loss is a mere 6.4 pounds. Is it worth tracking Points for “every lick, bite, and taste” just to lose six pounds over two years?

Plus, an enormous body of clinical evidence shows that dieting actually increases your “set point weight” — the weight your body naturally settles upon when you aren’t dieting.^{[10], [11], [12], [13], [14]} This builds a strong, case for the probability that, even if you lose 6 pounds with restrictive point-counting on Weight Watchers, you’re likely to regain it.

If you’re not losing weight on Weight Watchers, this might reflect a broader scientific consensus: the program often results in short-term weight loss followed by clinically insignificant weight loss long-term that may or may not be sustained.

Finally, the official WW website says:

"People following the PointsPlus program can expect to lose between .5 and 2 pounds per week. But for some — especially those closer to goal — it can be at the bottom of that range, if not a little below it. Give it time. Even .2 of a pound per week adds up to more than 10 pounds in a year.”

Official ww website

Why Am I Not Losing Weight on WW? Exploring Your Options

By now I hope you’re starting to see why it’s normal if you’re not losing weight on Weight Watchers. The evidence just isn’t there. Fortunately, you don’t need to keep counting Points in order to maybe lose weight. When you turn your focus to the psychology of weight loss, you’ll be able to address the underlying reasons why you do the things you do around food.

Once we dig through these common and compelling reasons for not losing weight on Weight Watchers, I’ll provide tips for redirecting your focus towards your psychology instead.

Issue 1: Tracking Leads to Stress, and Stress Is Not Conducive to Weight Loss

While tracking can be helpful for developing awareness of the foods you eat, it can also have a damaging psychological impact when the focus is placed on calories (and Points are based on calories). One reputable study found that the act of counting calories — not restricting calories, just counting them — increased stress.^[15]

Stress is not conducive to weight loss. Clinical studies have found a link between excessive abdominal fat and a predisposition towards stress in challenging situations.^[16] Body fat is, in its most basic definition, stored energy; and when your body perceives stress, it does not want to release energy reserves that it might need. If counting WW Points stresses you out, then for the sake of weight loss, a non-counting, non-restrictive approach may work best.

Issue 2: Weight Watchers (and Any Restrictive Diet) Goes Against “Set Point Weight Theory”

If you’re looking for a science-backed explanation for why you’re not losing weight on Weight Watchers, I highly recommend the book Health at Every Size by Linda Bacon. It digs into the compelling science behind set point weight theory, which illustrates how the human body is wired to resist weight loss through restrictive dieting.

(While I don’t agree with Linda’s advice on how to deal with emotional eating, she does an excellent job of scientifically backing set point weight theory through hundreds of clinical studies.)

In relation to not losing weight on Weight Watchers, Health at Every Size discusses why many of us regain the weight we lose after a diet: dieting actually increases your set point weight.^{[10], [11], [12], [13], [14]} This can explain why some people regain even more weight than they initially lost while dieting.^[7]

I am a fan of set point weight theory because it can provide some peace of mind around giving up dieting altogether. Many people (myself included many years ago) are afraid of gaining weight without dieting, but the enormous body of clinical evidence around set point weight theory builds a case for the opposite: dieting is what actually leads to weight gain, not the other way around. In fact, studies have found that intuitive eaters have more stable weight than dieters.^[17]

Issue 3: Avoidance of High-Point Foods Can Push People to Overconsume Zero-Point Foods

When you restrict your diet and eat less food than your body needs (which is, at its core, how Weight Watchers works) the body respondsby increasing the desire forhyper-palatable foods, which includes foods high in carbs, fat, salt, or sugar.^[18]

The more we restrict, the more we are biologically wired to crave hyperpalatable foods like desserts and indulgent meals — which are often high point foods. Then, when these delicious foods are placed off-limits, you begin to think about food even more. Clinical evidence backs this up: when foods are placed off-limits, we become more preoccupied with them and more likely to binge.^{[19], [20], [21]}

Sometimes in an effort to avoid eating “high point” foods, people may opt for zeropoint foods instead. Still, overconsumption of zeropoint foods can become a loophole and may explain why someone is not losing weight on WW.

Issue 4: WW Does Not Address Emotional Eating

In my experience overcoming compulsive eating and seven years of coaching others through the same, the desire to eat past hunger is often emotional. Self-sabotage around food doesn’t happen for lack of knowledge because many people know what they want to be doing (eating healthy) yet they compulsively do the opposite of their goals.

The subconscious motivation behind the compulsion could be the desire to avoid an uncomfortable emotion like stress, loneliness, or anxiety or to gain a positive emotion like the pleasure of hyperpalatable foods. By solely focusing on counting Points based on the caloric and nutritional content of food, Weight Watchers overlooks the psychological reasons for overeating.

Does this mean that so-called psychology-based diet programs like Noom are better? No, because they still place limits on food, which predisposes you to binge on those foods^[21] — and it neglects the emotions that drive compulsive eating.

Issue 5: Other Factors Can Interrupt Your Ability to Lose Weight

Finally, there are many other small factors that may or may not be affecting your ability to lose weight. If you’re not losing weight on Weight Watchers, consider these areas:

• Sleep: When sleep-deprived, the body produces more ghrelin, the hormone responsible for stimulating hunger, while reducing levels of leptin, the hormone that signals feelings of fullness.^[22] This can cause you to feel hungrier than you actually are and eat beyond your allotted Points.
• Metabolism: If you aren’t eating enough, your metabolism can slow down and ruin your chances of weight loss. One study even said, “this metabolic adaptation may persist during weight maintenance and predispose to weight regain unless high levels of physical activity or caloric restriction are maintained.”^[23] In other words, you’re likely to regain the weight you lose if you don’t keep counting and tracking Points.
• Gaining muscle: If you’re not losing weight on WW but your pants fit looser, you could be gaining muscle, which is denser than body fat.^[24] This is one reason why BMI is a poor indicator of health, because an athlete can easily have a high BMI even at a healthy weight if they are very muscular.^[25]
• Overexercising: I wanted to mention exercise because, in my coaching practice, I see some clients running themselves ragged with overexercising in the hopes of losing weight. But again: stress is not conducive to weight loss, and overexercising is stressful on the body and mind.^[26]

As you can see, balance is the theme that emerges when you explore all possible reasons for not losing weight on WW. While Weight Watchers claims to be flexible and balanced, the evidence is clear: counting Points is stressful, sets you up to crave even more hyperpalatable foods than before, and ultimately leads to clinically insignificant weight loss at best and weight “overshoot” (regain) at worst.^[26]

Exploring Alternatives for Weight Loss Without WW

If you’re frustrated by a lack of results with WW, perhaps it’s time to explore alternative ways of losing weight without dieting or counting Points ever again. Instead of perpetuating the restrict-binge cycle, let’s break free from traditional diets.

Dieting involves strict rules, calorie counting, and food restrictions, which can lead to feelings of deprivation and ultimately result in overeating. By seeking an alternative, intuitive approach, you can establish a healthier relationship with food, which can lead to a more stable weight.

Here are some steps to help heal your relationship with food, adopt more intuitive eating habits, and break the cycle of frustration with Weight Watchers:

• Allow All Foods: Although WW promises that you can still eat the foods you love, one scrumptious dessert will usually cost all the Points you have allotted for the entire day. When you remove restrictions around certain foods, you decrease preoccupation with them and reduce the psychological desire to want what you can’t have.
• Stop Dieting Behaviors that Create Stress: Your body is not wired to release weight under stress. Opt for the least stressful way of eating for the best weight loss results. For some people, this involves intuitive eating; for others, it means slowly breaking away from point-counting and calorie-counting. Do what’s best for you.
• Remember That Restrictive Dieting Increases Your Set Point Weight: If you are afraid of giving up the food rules because of the fear of weight gain, you aren’t alone. This is a common fear — one that I felt myself when I was giving up dieting. What helped encourage me to take the leap is the clinically-backed evidence that dieting increases your set point weight; so I felt I didn’t have much to lose by giving it up — besides maybe some weight.
• Practice Listening to Your Natural Hunger and Fullness: Long-term point-tracking with WW can diminish your connection with your natural hunger and fullness signals as you become trained to focus on Points instead of physical hunger and fullness cues. It’s normal to feel unsure about what hunger actually feels like after giving up dieting, so be patient as you get back in touch with those cues.
• Heal Your Metabolism: If you’ve been restricting your diet for many years, it’s likely that your metabolism has slowed down too. You can work on healing your metabolism by gently reintroducing foods back into your diet, eating when you’re hungry, and stopping when you’re full.
• Practice the Stop, Drop, & Feelto Stop Emotional Eating: Stopping when you’re full is often the hardest part, and that’s where my technique comes into play. It’s a powerful tool to stop overeating by addressing the hidden emotions behind compulsive eating.

What to Do When You’re Not Losing Weight on WW

Many individuals struggle with not losing weight on WW, and the reality is that Weight Watchers, like many other diets, does not lead to clinically significant weight loss, especially in the long-term.The body is wired to conserve energy when calories are restricted, which means WW quickly becomes counterproductive.

If you want to addressthe psychology of eatinginstead, check out my free ebook below. It comes with a free mini course onPsycho-Spiritual Wellness, my approach to stopping compulsive eating rooted in psychology and spirituality. It’s much better than WW, in my opinion! I invite you to decide for yourself.