In my opinion, Weight Watchers is playing games with people's heads. You've probably seen their new slogans, "Stop Dieting, Start Living." If you're a woman, like me who's spent (wasted) years of your life on Weight Watchers in an attempt to lose weight using their programs, only to be disappointed in the end and to regain back the weight you lost following their system, then you will be shocked and appalled to hear that they have reached a new low in their marketing. They are claiming that their program is not a diet, because diets don't work.

Evidently the breaking news that came out in April of 2007 with the UCLA long term composite study claiming diets don't work has already spread like wildfire. Now thanks to Traci Mann, a psychology professor at UCLA and lead author of the study, it is commonly accepted by most people that diets really and truly don't work. I guess even Weight Watchers has to agree that it's a fact. After all, now it's backed up by solid research. You can find more details on the study in the April 4th issues of American Psychologist, the journal of the American Psychological Association.

The truth of the matter is that Weight Watchers is still a diet no matter what they claim to the contrary.

As a former devoted member to Weight Watchers, I want to scream when I watch their commercials that insult my intelligence. Like so many women, I was duped into believing that diets were the holy grail, the answer to all my problems lay in my inability to lose weight, have more will power, be more disciplined, just say, "No" , eat less food and by all means exercise more. So simple right? Weight Watchers made it all seem so damned simple. Yet it wasn't. Because they are a diet. They were and they still are a diet, whether they want to admit or not.

Let's review a bit about dieting and put Weight Watchers claim under a microscope. Shall we?

* A diet tells you what to eat. Weight Watchers often hawks products and sells them with the intention of making money off of your unwillingness or inability to choose food and prepare it yourself.

* A diet tells you when to eat. A common battle cry of Weight Watchers is don't let yourself get too hungry. Make sure that you eat something before you head off to a party or somewhere else before you'll be faced with too much temptation.

* A diet tells you how much to eat. All diets have a limit indicating either a range of calories, points or fat grams that must not be exceeded over a day or a week's time

* A diet gives you a goal weight and tells you what you should be weighing. My years at Weight Watchers were spent hoping and praying that one day I would reach that golden number that would indicate that I had won the weight loss game.

* A diet keeps you focused on how much you weigh. Weight Watchers still wants people to come in to the meetings a half hour before to weigh in.

If I sound bitter, it's because I am. I'm flippin' mad. How dare they claim that they are not a diet.

I've spent the last 18 months of my life embracing a true non diet approach to eating. Sure there have been bumps in the road because I had so much to learn about how to listen to my body and undo all the hurt that years of Weight Watchers and other diets had caused not only to my body but also my self esteem, my metabolism, my sense of independence, general health, spirit and well being. In the long run, diets have caused nothing nothing but pain for me.

Now that I've learned to eat real food and discovered the importance of handling the stress that pushes me to eat when I'm not hungry, I can't envision my life ever being dictated by a diet again. How about you? Are you still dieting or are you ready for a taste of some real freedom?