From her days on American Idol during the third season of the show in 2004 to the present time, Jennifer Hudson has had a lot of ups and downs in her personal life. The highs have included her great success in music and films following her performances on American Idol, meeting David Otunga and the recent birth of her baby son, David Daniel Otunga Jr. The lows have included the tragic murder of her mother, brother and nephew and breaking up with her long term partner James Payton prior to meeting Otunga.
In recent times she has hit the headlines for another reason. Since her American Idol days she has always been known as a big girl and her plus size figure was part of her appeal. However since the birth of her son at the end of 2009 she has been shedding the pounds and has slimmed down considerably. The secret of her weight loss success is said to be following a Weight Watchers program along with a little hard work along the way. She was revealed as the new face, body and spokesperson for Weight Watchers in April 2010 and following the success she has had in slimming down, the company is hoping she will inspire more people to join their programs.
Weight Watchers has been in business for almost 50 years now, having been originally created by a Brooklyn housewife named Jean Nidetch in 1963. In the years since this it has grown from a small local company to a multinational which has operations in more than 30 different countries around the world.
The company offers a few different services to those that are looking to lose weight in a controlled fashion in the hopes that the weight will stay off. Joining a Weight Watchers course enables someone to attend local meetings where they will meet like minded individuals and be provided with advice on the best ways in which to lose weight. At this they are encouraged to identify a goal weight for themselves which typically will result in them having a body mass index in the healthy range of 18 to 25.
They then have to follow a diet and lifestyle plan which gets them to their goal weight. Once they have achieved this they enter a maintenance period of 6 weeks where the aim is to stay within 2 pounds of their goal weight. If they manage to do this they are accorded lifetime membership of Weight Watchers and from them on can attend meetings for free as long as when weighed they are within 2 pounds of their goal weight. If they are found to be more than 2 pounds over their goal weight they are charged the normal fee for attending a meeting.
While attending the meetings is one of the more common ways of using Weight watchers services, it is not the only way. There is also Weight Watchers Online where which provides access to services on the internet to assist with weight loss and these include weight tracking tools and a message board which can be used for support. If you do not have the time to attend meetings this can be a simpler way to use the companies services to help you lose weight.
For those that take it seriously Weight Watchers can be an effective way to lose weight and the plans used can provide excellent advice on all aspects of weight loss. Jennifer Hudson has shown in 2010 that it is possible to effectively lose weight using the services of Weight Watchers and her new slimmer figure may encourage others to follow in her footsteps. As the new spokesperson for the company she will obviously be speaking out for people to do so. However actions speak louder than words and it is more likely to be the sight of her stunning new figure that will encourage people to give Weight watchers a try.
Further details of Weight Watchers can be found at http://www.weightwatchers.com/Index.aspx