Your diet is never done, Weight Watchers CEO warns

Less than minute into my interview with Weight Watchers CEO David Kirchhoff, and I’ve already made him wince.
 
I’m recounting that episode of Mad Men, the one where Betty Draper (or ‘Fat Betty’as fans refer to her online) attends a Weight Watchers meeting to help address certain unhealthy habits (such as spraying whipped cream — directly from the can — into her mouth). She finds solace with her group of fellow housewives who “weigh-in” weekly and cheer one another’s progress.

“Yeah, the thing that makes me cringe a little bit about that scene is how they announce each person’s weight loss,” says Kirchhoff. “Maybe that happened in the early ‘60’s, that doesn’t happen now. It’s all confidential.”

While the program promises confidentiality, Kirchhoff is famously open about his own struggle with weight and his success with the Weight Watchers program. As a gangly youth, he had never worried about his weight until, at 32 years old, weighing in at 242 lbs, his doctor informed him he was clinically obese.

He started attending a local Weight Watchers chapter in New York. 

“A woman started talking, and it turns out she’d lost 100 pounds. I thought that was something that happened in magazines.” Kirchoff ultimately reached — and maintained — his goal weight of 203 pounds.

If you want to read more about his weight loss story, his blog, Man Meets Scale is a funny and compelling complement to his book, Weight Loss Boss.  

I ask Kirchhoff how it feels to be the male CEO of the iconic diet company when weight loss has always seemed like a women’s game.

“When I first stepped into the job I have now, I felt a sense of obligation, particularly because I was a guy.  But what I would tell you in retrospect is that women have historically been pressured to lose weight for the wrong reasons – body image, media pressure — and men have gotten the pass.”

But now, says Kirchhoff, more men are tackling weight gain. And part of that is a newfound vanity:

”You have movies like Magic Mike, and the guy from True Blood who is like 12 feet tall. And they’re ripped, 8-packs. And men are starting to feel some of the same pressure. That’s no more right. But the fact is that obesity is a health issue. Men are as likely – if not more– to suffer from obesity as women. And obesity leads to weight-related illnesses such as cancer and diabetes.”

Weight Watchers, says Kirchhoff, is drawing men into the fold.  And once they begin the program, they’re quick converts: “When [men] start doing the points, they love it. It’s like fantasy football. By far, the most fervent, passionate, Kool-Aid drinking supporters of Weight Watchers I’ve met have been men. They love it. It makes sense to them.”
 
Which brings us to a real draw for dudes: turning weight loss into a game. Through the point system, dieters can log and track their consumption online and through apps. And this has turned out to be key for attracting a new, hairier demographic.

“When they start doing points, it’s like a toy. They’re like, oh wait, what’s the worst thing in the database?”

As our interview draws to a close, I bring up the thorny issue of maintaining. If with all her power and grace, even Oprah can’t keep the pounds off, how can the average person expect to maintain her weight loss over the years?

“We as a society still have a view that obesity is something that can be cured it 12 weeks. But it can’t. So it doesn’t work that way. If you struggle with weight – which is most of us – you will always struggle with weight. I know that’s true for me, and the fact that I know that is a relief. I know that I will always have to make a point to work at my health. There is no point where you are done.”


David Kirchhoff’s Tips for Weight Loss Maintenance:

  • Avoid the mindset of crash dieting, something that you can only stick to for 2-3 months. Whatever you’re doing should be something you see yourself doing for the rest of your life.
  • Stop relying on willpower to soldier through difficult situations. Instead work on developing habits that become second nature. And manage your personal environment that keeps temptation away from you.
  • Avoid being deprived. If you’re miserable and hungry, you will start eating. If you looked at the amount that I eat, you’d be shocked. I’m a huge believer in eating as much as possible for as few calories as possible. I eat a small oatmeal portion every morning but I stuff it with berries.
  • Love the foods that love you back. Foods that take a while to eat, keep you feeling full, have relatively few calories.
  • The weight will come back. People will fall back on their patterns or habits. The question is when that happens, how fast do you course correct?  Do you make a decision to throw it all away or do you make a choice to re-establish healthy habits?

Weight Watchers is turning 50 next year, but the methods have changed significantly since the days of group weigh-ins. While the 80’s may have touted gems such as half a cup of low-fat cottage cheese, the point system changed all that to target ‘mindful eating’ rather than specific foods (which means it can apply to diet restrictions and cultures – there is a pilot program running in China).

“The universe of food is open to you,” says Kirchhoff. “You just need to be smarter with how you make your choices.”

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