Keto vs Weight Watchers - How are they different?

Has weight become a challenge for you? Well, the good news is you have multiple credible diet plans to manage weight. The keto diet and weight watchers have shown promising results for obesity and other health concerns among various diet plans. They may be similar in their effects, but the approach is very different. Let's look at some of the differences between keto vs. Weight Watchers.

This blog will walk you through the basics, similarities, and differences between the weight watchers and keto diets.

Weight Watchers

Weight watchers or WW is a popular weight loss diet program. It revolves around portion size and moderation, allowing its followers to eat any food. Unlike other diets, WW has nothing to do with calorie counting; instead, it assigns bright points given to you based on the weight loss goals you have to achieve. 

Studies show that WW can help reduce weight, and it may maintain this weight loss for more than one year. It may also help with managing appetite and cravings.

Programs

It has three primary programs based on color groups.

• The green program offers more points each day and mainly includes veggies and fruits as zero-point foods with 100+ points. 
• The blue program deals with a moderate number of points allowed each day. It includes lean proteins, vegetables, and fruits as zero-point foods with 200+ points. 
• The purple program allows you a few smartpoints per day. It includes whole grains, proteins, vegetables, and fruits with 300+ points.

Usually, the food with few smartpoints is low in calories, sugar, and fats but higher in protein and fiber. On the other hand, high point foods have high levels of sugar, fat, and calories but low levels of protein and fiber. Also, you are allowed zero-point foods, which you can consume as much as you want; there is no limit for them.

You can include high-point foods such as fatty meals, ice cream, or fries each day, but they will quickly use your smart points. The point-based system allows you to eat whatever you like but within the limit of points allotted to you. WW is a paid diet program with a support page that you have to sign up for and access helpful tools. 

Keto on WW?

If you are a keto fan and you find it challenging to comply with the rules, you can choose the keto diet on WW. When filling the questionnaire on WW, select fewer carbs and more fats. While counting points for WW, you can also keep track of your carbs for the keto diet. However, you may find it challenging to do because WW encourages you to eat all sorts of foods.

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Keto Diet

The Keto diet is not a paid program like WW; instead, it is an eating pattern. Originally started to help manage epilepsy in children, it limits the number of carbohydrates and increases the concentration of fats and proteins in the diet. Now people use it for many purposes, such as weight and blood sugar management.

Keto targets burning fats stored in our body as fuel instead of carbs. This approach triggers ketosis in the body, a metabolic state that produces ketones. Ketones are energy-rich compounds produced by the breakdown of fatty acids. 

Different research studies have found that the keto diet may help with:

• Weight loss
• Appetite
• Blood sugar
• Insulin levels
• Epilepsy
• Heart disease

Comparison: Keto Diet Vs. Weight Watchers Diet

Both diets may have different mechanisms and styles, but they share the following similarities. 

Weight loss

Both diets are a fantastic option for people looking to lose some pounds, as the weight loss benefits of these diets have extensive research behind them. This diet followers can experience 2 pounds or less weight loss each week, but the results may vary from person to person. It is easier for a person to lose weight in the first week for a person following a keto diet because of water loss.

Other health benefits of Keto and Weight Watchers

It is a known fact that obesity is one of the significant causes of heart issues, cancer, and high blood pressure. As both diets help lose weight, they indirectly manage various health conditions.

Various research studies indicate that following a keto diet may lower spikes in blood sugar levels and overall blood sugar, leading to better management of type 2 diabetes. Low carb diets such as the keto diet can effectively improve the levels of good cholesterol in the body and decrease the risk of heart disease.

On the other hand, a study in 2013 suggested that people following WW experience a delayed onset of diabetes compared to those who were not following the diet. It also helps adults with pre-diabetes to effectively make lifestyle changes that can help prevent diabetes.

Risks

Within both WW and keto diets, there is room to make healthy food choices among the allowed food options. However, both diet programs' drawbacks are that people may obsess over the WW food points and keto carb counts. As a result, they may sacrifice nutritional importance and variety of food.

Fewer cravings

Over time, both diets decrease hunger levels and cravings. When doing a keto diet individual may experience food cravings in the first week. However, when the body gets used to not having some food options, hunger and cravings decrease.

Calorie counting

There is no fuss about calorie counting in both these type types. WWW has a unique point system in which every food option is given points based on its nutrients and calories. In contrast, following a keto diet, you need to keep track of carbohydrates to limit your daily intake.

Differences: WW Vs. Keto Diet

One of the primary differences between the keto and WW diets is that the Keto diet is not a commercial diet program. Keto is an eating pattern that focuses on decreasing daily carbohydrate intake.

Community support

WW is the winner of these two diets if you talk about the support system. Even though many pages and groups support a ketogenic diet, WW has a big community. You need to sign up to become a part of this community, and you can opt for one-on-one face meetings or coaching. When someone changes their lifestyle, the transition phase and associated issues can be debilitating and limiting. A strong support network can be beneficial for the person to comply with the guidelines of a specific diet.

Cost of Keto vs Cost of Weight Watchers

The typical individual knows nothing about macronutrients and how each is involved with a specific amount of calories; you need to sign up for a membership to follow a weight watcher's diet. It's a membership program that charges a monthly fee for your coaching program or additional workshops. And this is apart from the meals you prepare each day.

With WW, you have to choose membership according to your needs and budget. It starts at 3.38$ per week, and if you include digital workshops and one-on-one coaching, the cost can increase up to 11$ per week. As a result, you have to pay about 14$ – 44$ per month for the program.

For keto, you may have to buy a meal plan or a guided program, but this is possible for you to count your macros for free, plan your diet, and do groceries.

You can buy branded keto-friendly or WW food products online or in select stores. On average, the cost of a keto meal ranges between 10$ and -22$ per meal, and per meal cost of fresh WW pick up meals costs between 14$ -20$.

Macronutrient Content

Our body requires three significant macronutrients: fats, proteins, and carbohydrates, to work correctly. The ketogenic diet encourages the person to keep track of the number of macros consumed within a day. Tracking macros helps ensure that a low-carb diet is well balanced with a high amount of healthy fats and a moderate amount of proteins.

WW allows you to eat everything with no restrictions. You don't have to limit carbs and eat a lot of fats, and you can enjoy a balanced diet within the allotted points for the day.

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Drawbacks: Keto Diet Vs. Weight Watchers

Side effects

On a keto diet, you may experience many side effects, most of which subside with time. The most common side effects of the keto diet are experiencing a foggy brain, nausea, and headache—these symptoms of constipation due to a lack of fiber intake. During the transitioning phase, it gets tough to train or work out, which can decrease the performance. It becomes difficult to attend any social gathering with a restricted list of foods on a keto diet.

On the other hand, since WW does not decrease the macronutrients, you may not experience any side effects.

Weight Regain

However, weight regain is familiar with these two diets, just like any other diet. So the most significant problem seems to be compliance with the guidelines of either of the diet.

Keto Vs. WW: What To Eat?

The number of food options and amount of each macronutrient are also different in both diets.

Unlike the keto diet, the list of food options on a WW diet can be customized to your liking. Therefore, some foods may be allowed in some cases, but others may be limited.

Although almost all food options are allowed on a WW diet, it is better to choose lower-calorie foods. You can eat sugary food, alcohol, or processed food as long as you do not disturb your daily point budget.

The keto diet is a rigorous diet that only allows a very little quantity of carbohydrates and a high amount of healthy fats.

Let's look at what food options each diet allows and its limits.

Conclusion to the Keto vs. Weight Watchers Comparison

Both diets are healthy options for weight issues as long as you reduce highly processed or unprocessed foods. So the type of diet better for you depends on how well you can limit unhealthy foods. If limiting the number of carbohydrates is difficult for you, WW may be suitable. It allows you to eat anything you desire in smaller quantities to stay under the limit. Don't forget that it is more expensive than a keto diet.

If you want to reduce additives and sugars from your diet and prefer to eat healthy fat-based foods, a keto diet is a good option.

In a nutshell, it depends upon you and your determination to sustain either of these diet plans.