Keto Weight Watchers: A Comprehensive Guide To Success

Combining the keto and Weight Watchers plans can be challenging, but it is possible. Weight Watchers is a commercial diet focused on weight loss, healthy eating, and lifestyle habits, while keto is a high-fat, low-carb diet. Both plans can be effective for weight loss, but they have different approaches. Weight Watchers uses a points system to help you make healthier choices and control portions, while keto restricts carbohydrates and encourages eating more fat. To combine the two, focus on choosing healthier fats, lean proteins, and the right fruits and vegetables. It is also important to monitor your overall carb intake and choose whole, unprocessed foods. Combining the two plans may take some extra work and balancing, but it can be a successful approach to achieving a healthier lifestyle and weight loss.

Choose healthier fats

Choosing Healthier Fats

The keto diet specifies the amount of fat to eat but does not give rules about the kind of fat. This means that it is within the keto guidelines to eat a diet packed with foods high in saturated fat, such as bacon, butter, coconut oil, and fatty meats. However, diets high in saturated fat can raise your "bad" LDL cholesterol levels, which can contribute to an increased risk of heart disease.

Weight Watchers, on the other hand, guides members toward an overall eating pattern that is higher in healthy fats (fats with more unsaturated fats than saturated fats).

If you want to make keto work while following a Weight Watchers plan, you need to choose healthier fats. This means, instead of loading up on unlimited butter or cheese, you add in things like:

• Olives
• Coconut oil
• Avocado
• Leaner cheese options

These foods will still provide you with the fats your body needs, but you can limit them and not be penalised on the Weight Watchers plan.

On a daily basis, you can cook foods in olive or coconut oil in small amounts. You may also add avocado or olives to salads or toast. A smaller portion of full-fat cheese in a meal can also add some fats without going off your points plan.

Make lean protein choices

The protein needed for a ketogenic diet doesn't have to be high in fat to be effective. Opting for lean protein sources such as turkey, chicken, lean pork, beef, shrimp, and eggs is an easy way to add protein to your Weight Watchers plan without exceeding your points. It also helps you maintain ketosis.

The SmartPoints system used by Weight Watchers encourages members to eat foods that are lower in calories, saturated fat, and sugar, and higher in protein. The system assigns a point value to every food and beverage based on its nutritional content, with fruits, vegetables, and certain lean proteins sometimes counting as zero points.

The standard ketogenic diet (SKD) typically contains 70% to 80% of calories from fat, about 10% to 20% protein, and only 5% to 10% carbohydrates. However, there are variations of the keto diet, such as the high-protein ketogenic diet, which increases protein to 35% of calories while reducing fat to 60%.

While the keto diet may seem to focus on fat, it's important to remember that it's the combination of fat and protein that promotes satiety and makes it easier to restrict calories.

Pick the right vegetables and fruits

Combining the keto and Weight Watchers plans may seem unusual, but it is not impossible. It will, however, take more work. Here are some tips for choosing the right vegetables and fruits while following a keto Weight Watchers plan:

• Vegetables are easier to choose than you think. Simply add a hearty salad once a day or a side of cauliflower or broccoli with your meals. Broccoli is a great option as it is high in protein.
• Fruit can be tough because it is often high in sugars and carbohydrates. It is recommended to stick to berries and limit other carbohydrate-rich fruits.
• Don't worry about being as strict as some recommend. It may be more important to focus on simply lowering your overall carb intake. Skip the processed bread and snacks, and focus on lean meats and vegetables instead. Many people find great success following a keto and Weight Watchers plan that is simply less than 50 grams of carbohydrates per day instead of the much more restrictive 20 grams per day.

Don't be too strict

Combining the keto and Weight Watchers plans can be more challenging than following either programme individually. It's important to remember that you may not be able to follow both programmes to the letter, and that's okay! The goal is better health and weight loss, so as long as those two things are happening, try not to stress about the details.

For example, Weight Watchers is generally a lower-fat way of eating, whereas keto is the opposite. Because of this, you may find yourself going over your daily points, or you may find yourself not eating enough fat. Knowing ahead of time that you may not be able to work both programmes exactly simultaneously will help reduce your stress levels when it happens.

Take small steps by lowering your carb intake to under 100g a day, then under 50. With Keto, you're encouraged to go even lower, but you will most likely see great results if you stay under 50g of carbs a day while following the Weight Watchers plan.

If you go to any Keto forum or group, you're going to see lots of fat: fat bombs, bacon-wrapped everything, and more full-fat cheese than you're used to using with Weight Watchers. High fat = high points. For example, bulletproof coffee (which many swear by!) is 10 points. If you only get 23 points a day on Weight Watchers, that means you have 13 points left for the day. Because of the amazing 0-point food options, this could work... but it may not be very fun!

To combine Weight Watchers and Keto, you'll want to eat healthier fats like coconut oil, avocado, etc. This doesn't mean you have to give up your full-fat cheese completely, just make sure you count the points if you add it in. Full-fat means full flavour, so you'll probably enjoy it more than the 0-point fat-free cheese anyway!

Remember, the number one reason for adding Keto principles into your Weight Watchers lifestyle is because of how you will feel when you get the positive effects of Keto kicking in! The mental clarity, the energy, and the overall health of your mind and body can't be beaten.

Understand the principles of both diets

The ketogenic diet is a low-carb, high-fat diet. The goal of the keto diet is to force the body into a metabolic state called ketosis, where it burns fat for fuel instead of carbohydrates. This is achieved by drastically reducing carbohydrate intake and replacing it with fat. Typically, the keto diet consists of 70% fat, 20-30% protein, and only 5-10% carbohydrates.

There are several versions of the keto diet, including the standard ketogenic diet (SKD), the cyclical ketogenic diet (CKD), the targeted ketogenic diet (TKD), and the high-protein ketogenic diet. The SKD is the most researched and recommended version, consisting of very low carb, moderate protein, and high fat. The CKD involves periods of higher-carb refeeds, such as 5 keto days followed by 2 high-carb days. The TKD allows for the addition of carbs around workouts, and the high-protein ketogenic diet is similar to the SKD but includes more protein.

On the keto diet, you can eat meat, fatty fish, eggs, butter, cheese, nuts, seeds, healthy oils, avocados, and low-carb vegetables. Foods to avoid include sugary foods, grains and starches, fruit, beans and legumes, root vegetables, low-fat or diet products, some condiments and sauces, unhealthy fats, alcohol, and sugar-free diet foods.

Weight Watchers, on the other hand, is a commercial diet focused on weight loss, healthy eating, and lifestyle habits. It uses a points-based system, called SmartPoints, which assigns a point value to every food and beverage based on its nutritional content. This system encourages members to eat foods that are lower in calories, saturated fat, and sugar, and higher in protein. There are also ZeroPoint foods, which don't count towards your daily points allowance and include fruits, vegetables, lean proteins, and whole grains.

The Weight Watchers program offers different plans, such as the basic plan, the plan with workshops, and the clinic plan, which provides access to weight loss medications. The basic plan offers access to the Weight Watchers app, a customized weight loss and wellness plan, tracking tools, workouts, and meditations. The plan with workshops includes everything from the basic plan, plus virtual and in-person meetups with a coach and group. The clinic plan combines the basic plan with access to prescription weight loss medications and ongoing support from a dedicated care team.

The Weight Watchers diet has been found to be effective for short-term and long-term weight loss. It also provides a flexible and sustainable approach to weight loss, as no foods are off-limits, and members can enjoy their favorite foods as long as they fit within their daily points allowance. Additionally, the program offers in-person and virtual support through workshops, online community forums, and a dedicated care team for those on the clinic plan.

Frequently asked questions