WW Freestyle sees success stories in Central Florida

Eddie and Vicki Bagwell of Orlando want to make the most of their retirement and grandparenting years. In January, the couple joined Weight Watchers, recently rebranded as WW, to lose weight in a measured, sustainable way.

By using the WW mobile app and attending Thursday morning WW meetings, Eddie Bagwell, 59, has lost 62 pounds and Vicki Bagwell, 58, has lost 25 pounds — so far. The couple follow the WW Freestyle program, which was introduced in late 2017 and added more than 200 foods to the WW “zero points” list of items. The Freestyle program also features rollover options so members can save points for special occasion eating or drinking. Weight Watchers assigns point values to every food, and members get a certain number of points they can use each day.

“I think that the WW Freestyle program works because you can live your life while on it,” Vicki Bagwell said. “With a little pre-planning, no food is off limits. Go to lunch with the girls or enjoy a special evening out. It’s a lifestyle.”

Though more than half a century old, and despite a plethora of other trending diet and fitness trends, WW is seeing a surge in memberships. Stacey Mowbray, WW president of the Americas, says membership has increased by 1 million people in the past year, for a total global membership of 4.5 million.

“We have been shifting the program’s focus from weight management to overall wellness for years now and just recently made that official with rebranding,” Mowbray said. “We are really evolving the brand to focus on even more personalization and a healthy mindset.”

Earlier this month, WW unveiled its first member rewards program that recognizes when people make healthy lifestyle choices with “wins.” The accumulation of these points add up to prizes, such as apparel and fitness gear.

“We are taking what we know from our years of behavioral science and moving forward, we will apply that to even more activity, fitness and diet tracking and motivation,” Mowbray said.

WW members can go a more traditional route, where they attend meetings and work in person with coaches, or they can follow the program solely through the mobile app and by using online tools. Both options, or a combination of them, are available to WW members. The traditional “weigh in” associated with WW meetings is now optional, as Mowbray says some members join who are not actually interested in losing weight.

“We have members who just want to be sure they are eating correctly and getting enough exercise. We also have members who need to follow a specific diet for other health reasons,” Mowbray said.

Another recent addition to WW is more specific groups online and through the app. These optional groups are designed based on interests, like groups for new moms or groups for