Re: Traditional weight loss groups losing people to low carb diets

[Guest guest]

Hi:

I wonder how long it will be before the low carb people start losing

people to the restricted calorie people? ; ^ )))

Probably a very long time. Most people don't like being restricted,

and are incapable of restricting themselves. From what I have heard

from people on a low carb diet, I have difficulty distinguishing it

from an 'all-you-can-eat-fat/protein' diet. Even if that isn't what

the fine print says.

Suits me. I much prefer to be in the minority. If I find I am among

the majority I quickly search to figure out where I made my mistake.

Rodney.

>

>

> The Battle For Your Bulge

>

> By Margaret Webb Pressler

>

> This should be a feeding frenzy for the weight-loss industry. The

health

> consequences of obesity, a national epidemic, are more powerful

reasons to

> shed pounds than fitting into last year's bathing suit ever was.

Employers

> are pushing workers to downsize, and the IRS now allows tax

deductions for

> certain weight-loss expenses.

>

> Yet Weight Watchers, Craig and Slim-Fast -- the traditional

giants of

> the industry -- have been struggling to compete with a low-

carbohydrate

> craze that is proving to be harder to lose than a couch potato's

spare tire.

>

> " People walk into our centers and say, 'Gee, my friend lost

15 pounds

> in two weeks and she was eating bacon and steaks,' " said P.

,

> chief executive of Craig Inc., the privately held California

company

> that offers a low-calorie, nutritionally balanced diet based on its

own

> portion-controlled meals, which cost about $70 a week.

>

> But responding to the low-carb threat can be risky. That's because

for

> years, the three largest weight-loss programs have competed with

fad diets

> precisely by not changing, and by being there like an old friend

when the

> fad passed.

>

> Gigi Skowron, 56, a District resident who last year tried both the

low-carb

> Atkins Diet and its popular rival, the South Beach Diet, just

returned to

> Weight Watchers because she was worried that the high-fat diets

were going

> to be harmful " somewhere down the road. " Stopping at Weight

Watchers'

> Rockville location on a recent lunchtime, she said the routine of

weekly

> weigh-ins helps. " It's psychological, " she said. " You have to pay

$14 a

> week, so you want to make sure you get your money's worth. "

>

> What especially worries the traditional weight-loss industry is

the

> staying power of the low-carb diet. " Unless something comes out

from the

> medical community saying there's something wrong with the Atkins

Diet, I

> don't see any end to it, " said La, president of Marketdata

> Enterprises Inc. in Tampa, an industry research firm. Well, many

in the

> medical community have, in fact, said there are problems with the

Atkins

> approach, but enthusiasm for its delivery of quick weight loss has

kept " Dr.

> Atkins' Diet Revolution " in print continuously since 1972.

>

> Slim-Fast has been hit hard. The privately held meal-replacement

program

> that was introduced in 1977 has built its business around the

convenience

> and simplicity of drinking a shake rather than eating a meal.

But " easy "

> isn't enough for customers anymore. According to data collector

Information

> Resources Inc., sales of Slim-Fast's traditional meal-replacement

shakes and

> powders slipped 27 percent last year, to $290 million.

>

> " I think it's kind of like, 'Been there, done that, what else is

new,' ''

> La said of consumer sentiment about Slim-Fast.

>

> Slim-Fast Foods Co. officials declined to discuss the company's

recent

> financial record. But it has been heavily promoting on its Web site

and in

> newspaper ads a new line of shakes and snack bars " for use as part

of a

> low-carb diet. "

>

> Craig, meanwhile, still advocates a balanced approach to

dieting. A

> new management team has been making major changes since the company

was sold

> by Sid and Craig in 2002. Sales had been flat or declining

for much of

> the past five years, chief executive said in an interview. But

> increased marketing to corporate customers, a home-delivery program

called

> Direct, the sale of new franchises and the hiring of celebrity

> spokeswoman Joy Behar helped push sales up last year and in January

of this

> year, he said.

>

> wouldn't cite figures on sales or profits, and said

he " wouldn't know

> how to estimate " how much better things would be if the company

weren't

> facing the low-carb groundswell. He said he's expecting big gains

when what

> he thinks is a fad ultimately passes.

>

> The real testing ground remains the 550 Craig weight-loss

centers.

> The company is trying to stave off the low-carb market grab by

improving

> food quality, partnering with cookbook author and spa chef Cary

Neff, and

> carefully training employees about how to respond to low-carb

questions.

>

> Weight Watchers International Inc., the only publicly traded

member of the

> trio, has been similarly fighting for members, whose fees are its

main

> source of revenue, but with little success, according to recent

analyst

> reports. After strong growth for three years, membership fell 3.1

percent in

> the fourth quarter of 2003, not counting members gained through

franchise

> acquisitions. Product sales were down 8 percent, and the company's

stock is

> also in the doldrums, dropping about 18 percent in the past six

months.

>

> And this when 26 percent of Americans report being on some kind of

diet,

> according to market research firm NPD Group.

>

> Weight Watchers countered the low-carb message by relaunching its

> FlexPoints system last fall, which allows for greater flexibility

in the

> program -- based on counseling members how to eat a nutritionally

balanced,

> low-calorie diet -- and makes it easier to follow. Such an approach

is a

> necessity, analysts say, when the diet du jour allows eggs and

sausage for

> breakfast.

>

> In January -- high season in the weight-loss world -- Weight

Watchers also

> offered a promotion called FastTrack. Designed to offer rapid

weight loss in

> the first two weeks of joining, it included " a quick and easy guide

to

> higher protein eating. " Analyst Greg Capelli with Credit Suisse

First Boston

> called it a version of " if you can't beat 'em, join 'em, " and said

it helped

> spur membership growth. When the promotion ended, though, so did

the bump in

> attendance, and now Weight Watchers says its first quarter will

show another

> slight loss in membership.

>

> " Short-term, they're obviously suffering through the pain of not

having a

> low-carb option at a time when it's a very hot diet, " Capelli said.

CSFB has

> an investment-banking relationship with Weight Watchers, but

Capelli does

> not own Weight Watchers shares.

>

> The low-carb phenomenon exploded in part because it allows dieters

to eat

> fun, fattening foods, but also because Atkins Nutritionals Inc.

began

> pushing scientific studies backing its approach in 2001, just as the

> nation's interest in losing weight began to surge. In 2002, the

company

> introduced several nutrition bars, which gave the company even more

name

> recognition. And, ironically, the low-carb diet got another public

relations

> boost when its creator, C. Atkins, died in an accident a

year ago.

>

> Through it all, though, some medical practitioners have continued

to

> believe that low-carb diets have been overhyped and that interest

in them is

> bound to wane.

>

> " Atkins has been around for 15 or 20 years in one variety or

another, " said

> Arthur , medical director of the Obesity Management Program at

> Washington University. " It's just a gimmicky way to change your

caloric

> intake. The only thing that makes a difference is how many calories

you

> consume. "

>

> explained that " you wreak nutritional havoc eventually with a

> high-fat diet, " and predicted that a balanced weight-loss approach

will come

> back into vogue. He commended programs such as Weight Watchers and

> Craig for " giving people sound, thoughtful nutritional advice, "

along with

> structure, support and motivation.

>

> And companies with such a traditional approach are just waiting

for the

> public's fascination with low-carb diets to come to an end. Weight

Watchers

> officials wouldn't be interviewed on their competitive situation,

but in a

> recent conference call with analysts, President Huett

predicted " this

> low-carb diet craze has now peaked, and the seeds of its decline

are in

> place. " She said it usually takes about six months for low-carb

dieters " to

> recognize these diets are unsustainable, " so this year should bring

the

> first wave of defections.

>

> Atkins officials are undeterred by such predictions, and say that

while the

> overwhelming excitement about low-carb diets may calm down, the

diet is here

> to stay as a lifestyle.

>

> " There are people out there that want you to believe that this is

bad for

> you, and the reason they want you to believe that is because

otherwise their

> economic interests are threatened, " said Matt Wiant, chief

marketing officer

> for Atkins Nutritionals.

>

> " I think that the hysteria will settle down, and then that low-

carb will be

> a permanent part of the way people eat, " he said.

>

> Huett at Weight Watchers, though, said the introduction of so many

low-carb

> supermarket products may hurt the low-carb lifestyle in the long

run.

>

> People " eating unrestricted amounts of low-carb packaged foods and

snacks

> [will] realize that their waistlines are actually expanding, " she

said.

> That's what happened with the mass introductions of low-fat

products 10

> years ago. And her company is getting ready: Its newest marketing

campaign

> is built around the hopeful theme " Welcome Back. "

>

> © 2004 The Washington Post Company