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Table of Contents
- Have you ever wondered what the old Weight Watchers Plan was like in the 1960s?
- Why I think The Old Weight Watchers Food Exchanges Program (Quick Success) Was Best
- The Underlying Concepts of the Old 1960s Weight Watchers Plan
- Rule and Menus of the Old 1960s Weight Watchers Plan
- Old Weight Watchers Menu Plan for Women (Circa 1960s)
- 1960s Weight Watchers Plan Menu Suggestions
- Helpful Hints While Dieting
- More Helpful Articles for WeightWatchers
Have you ever wondered what the old Weight Watchers Plan was like in the 1960s?
I picked up a copy of this old Weight Watchers Cookbook (affiliate link) from 1966 and have really enjoyed taking an inside peek at what the old Weight Watchers plan was like back when it began in the early 1960s.
Learn more about Weight Watchers program changes for 2025?
I originally lost weight and became a lifetime member with Weight Watchers back in the early 1990s, when it was an exchanges program. I think it was called Quick Success. I lost about 30 pounds in 8 months and felt incredible.
Why I think The Old Weight Watchers Food Exchanges Program (Quick Success) Was Best
Martha McKinnon’s Weight Watchers Story: Part 1
Martha McKinnon’s Weight Watchers Story: Part 2
Martha McKinnon’s Weight Watchers Story: Part 3
I learned so much about healthy eating and portions with Weight Watchers Quick Success. You couldn’t game the system by gorging on a ton of fruit or filling up on lots of junk the way you can with the new Weight Watchers Points Plan. It was much more restrictive and disciplined.
Which got me thinking about why the original 1960s plan might be a better option than points for some folks. The kind of people who do better abstaining from certain things than trying to practice moderation. (You can read more about abstainers and moderators here.)
In addition to lots of recipes, the book includes an introduction by Weight Watchers founder, Jean Nidetch, along with the plan’s “Rules” and “Sample Menus.” It has all the information you need to follow the original 1960s Weight Watchers Plan.
If you have not been successful with Weight Watchers Points Plus or newer programs, this may be the solution for you! Here’s a link to a great food tracker if you want to give it a try. I’ve tried to provide a synopsis of everything you would need to get started.
In the book’s introduction, Nidetch describes her years of struggle to lose weight. Anybody who has ever been overweight and worked to lose it, will relate to her story. As someone who was overweight by the time I was in 4th grade and “matronly” looking by the time I was in my late 20s, I certainly did.
The original Weight Watchers Program was based on a diet developed by the New York City Department of Health’s Bureau of Nutrition that Nidetch followed after registering with one of its obesity clinics. When friends wanted the details of how she had lost weight, she began to meet with them at her house, where she shared what she knew and they talked over their common problems related to overeating.
When the little group got too big to meet at her house, she rented a basement, and then a large meeting hall in 1963, and the rest, as they say, is history 🙂
The Underlying Concepts of the Old 1960s Weight Watchers Plan
1. Overeating is a habit.
And like any habit, it can be conquered, if you have the will and drive to get started.
2. Proceed with your weight loss one meal at a time, one day at a time, one week at a time.
Taking one step at a time, strengthening yourself slowly, you can not fail.
3. Learn to delay gratification.
The next time you begin to bite into a candy bar, order a fattening dessert from a restaurant menu, walk into the bakery for a Danish pastry, stop and ask yourself: “Would I rather have this or a slim young figure?”
4. No crash dieting.
Because you must learn new habits of eating, it is useless for you to go on a “crash” or “fad” diet or to take diet pills or appetite depressants of any kind. “Why learn to use a crutch when you can learn how to walk properly?”
5. Control your environment.
Don’t surround yourself with temptation by buying cookies and candies. Even a four-year-old can understand, if told, that mommy needs help because she wants to become his “beautiful mommy.” (Learn how to create a healthy environment for weight loss.)
6. Learn to laugh.
We are constantly playing games with ourselves and in serious denial about why we are heavy and/or not losing weight. The book is peppered with illustrations depicting some of the favorite rationalizations heard through the years, which are timeless.
7. No alcohol. No skipping meals. No counting calories.
8. No excuses.
You can stick to the program and successfully lose weight no matter what your home, social, business, or school life may be.
9. Stick to the plan and the plan will work.
10. Maintenance is important.
Once you lose the weight, follow the maintenance plan so you learn to keep the weight off.
11. To be successful on the program, will require your desperation, your sincerity and your cooperation and your patience!!
Rule and Menus of the Old 1960s Weight Watchers Plan
1. Eat only the foods listed in your menu plan, in the quantities specified and at the meals specified. Weigh your portions until you can judge them accurately.
2. Eggs. Limit them to 4-7 per week. They may be taken only at breakfast or lunch; not at dinner.
3. Cheese. Only hard cheese or pot, cottage or farmer cheese is allowed and only at breakfast or lunch.
4. Fish. You must eat a minimum of 5 group A fish meals each week for lunches or dinners.
Group A fish:
abalone, bass, bluefish, bonito, butterfish, carp (fresh), calms, crab, croaker, cod, finnan haddie, flounder, fluke, haddock, hake, halibut, lobster, mullet, mussels, oysters, pike, porgy, salmon (canned), scallops, shad roe, shrimp, sole, sturgeon (fresh), swordfish, trout (brook), trout (lake), tuna fish (fresh or canned), weakfish, whiting
5. Meat and poultry. Provided you use the specified number of fish meals, some of your lunches and dinners may be selected from Group A meats and poultry or Group B fish. Select a maximum of 5 weekly meat meals (luncheons or dinners only from Group A and a maximum of 3 weekly meat meals (luncheons or dinners) Group B.
Group A meat and poultry:
white meat of chicken (skin removed), white meat of turkey (skin removed), pheasant, organ meats (liver, lungs, brains, kidneys, heart, sweetbreads)
Group B meat and poultry:
beef, frankfurters, lamb, dark meat of turkey
Group B fish:
mackerel, pompano, salmon (fresh), shad, white fish
6. Limited vegetables. Must eat one a day, at dinner only, 1 portion only. Vary your selection from day to day. One serving is 4 ounces, or 1/2 cup or 1 medium sized.
Limited vegetables:
artichokes, bamboo shoots, beets, brussels sprouts, carrots, eggplant, green beans, okra, onions, parsnips, peas, pumpkin, scallions, squash (yellow), tomato, tomato juice, turnips
7. Unlimited vegetables may be taken at any time. These include most of your non-starchy vegetables.
Unlimited vegetables:
asparagus, beet greens, broccoli, cabbage, cauliflower, celery, Chinese cabbage, cucumber, endive, escarole, bell pepper, kohlrabi, lettuce, mung bean sprouts, mushrooms, mustard greens, parsley, pickles, pimentos, radishes, rhubarb, sauerkraut, spinach, squash (green), string beans (french style), watercress
8. Condiments and seasonings such as bouillon, herbs, and spices, salt, pepper, and paprika, vinegar and wine vinegar, tea, coffee, horseradish, soy sauce, lemons, limes, etc, are unlimited.
9. Fruit. Three to five servings a day, depending on age and gender. One daily fruit must be either orange or grapefruit.
Permitted fruits:
1 apple
1/2 cantaloupe
1/2 grapefruit
2-inch wedge of honeydew
1 orange
1/4 medium-sized pineapple
1 cup of strawberries
1/2 cup raspberries or blueberries
1 peach or nectarine
2 apricots
1 plum
Forbidden fruits:
Bananas
Cherries
Watermelon
Grapes
Dried Fruits
10. Milk. Powdered skim milk, buttermilk, or evaporated skim milk must be included in your daily program, according to the amount specified for your age/gender.
11. Bread. Eat enriched or whole grain packaged bread according to the amount allowed for your age/gender. No rolls, bagels, biscuits, muffins, crackers, cereals or special breads.
12. Do not eat or drink the following except for legal recipes given in this book:
- alcoholic beverages, including beer, wine, whiskey
- avocado
- bacon or back fat
- bagels
- biscuits
- cake
- candy
- cereals
- coconut
- cookies
- crackers
- cream cheese
- doughnuts
- fried foods
- gefilte fish
- gravy
- honey
- ice cream
- ices
- jam
- jello
- jelly
- ketchup
- mayonnaise
- muffins
- nuts
- oil
- olives
- pancakes
- peanut butter
- pies
- popcorn
- potato chips
- pretzels
- puddings
- rolls
- salad dressings (except for those given in this book)
- smoked meat or fish
- soda, ginger ale, cola drinks
- sugar and syrups
- waffles
- yogurt
Old Weight Watchers Menu Plan for Women (Circa 1960s)
Breakfast: 1 egg or 1 ounce hard cheese or 2 ounces fish or 1/4 cup cottage or pot cheese; 1 slice enriched bread
Lunch: 4 ounces fish (canned or fresh) or lean meat or poultry or 2/3 cup (6 ounces) cottage cheese or pot cheese or 4 ounces farmer cheese or 2 ounces hard cheese or 2 eggs; All the unlimited vegetables you want; 1 slice enriched bread
Dinner: 6 ounces cooked lean meat or fish or poultry; 1 portion limited vegetables; All of the unlimited vegetables you want
Must Be Taken At Some Time During the Day: A total of 3 fruits (one of them orange or grapefruit); 2 cups skim milk or buttermilk or 1 cup skimmed evaporated milk
May Be Taken At Any Time of the Day: Any unlimited foods, beverages, etc.
1960s Weight Watchers Plan Menu Suggestions
Sample Breakfasts:
- Half Cantaloupe, Eggs, Sunny-Side Up on Toast
- Pineapple Quarter, Two Ounces Tuna Fish on Toast
- Cottage Cheese (2 ounces), Fresh Grapefruit Sections, Lettuce Bed, Toast
- Fresh Fruit Cup (1/2 cup), Scrambled Egg WW, Toast
- Broiled Half Grapefruit, Salmon (2 ounces), Toast
- Fresh Juice of One Orange, Melted Cheese (1 ounce) on Toast
- Half Grapefruit, WW French Toast
Sample Lunches:
- Bean-Sprout Soup, Shrimp (4 ounces), Toast
- Tuna Fish, Mixed Lettuce w/ Radishes, Celery and String Beans, WW Dressing, Toast
- Tomato Juice, Broiled Salmon (4 ounces), WW Cucumber Sauce, Lettuce, Toast
- Fresh Fruit Salad, Cottage Cheese (3 ounces), Toast
- Broiled Hamburger, One Slice Toast, Relish
- Melted Open Cheese Sandwich on 1 Slice Toast, Fruit
- Two Eggs on Toast, Fruit
Sample Dinners:
- WW Swordfish Diablo, Chinese Vegetables, Mushrooms, WW Lemon Gelatin
- Tomato Bouillon, WW Butterfly Shrimp Scampi, Larde Tossed Salad, Eggplant
- Curried Cream of Kale Soup, Broiled Trout, Carrots, Broiled Mushrooms, Stewed Fruit (1/2 cup)
- WW Braised Beef Roll-Ups, Cucumber Salad, WW Basil Salad Dressing, WW Strawberry Ice
- WW Beef Ragout, Mushrooms as desired, Ginger Melon Mold
- WW Frankfurter Casserole Creole, Cole Slaw
- Escarole Soup, Chicken Cacciatora, Herbed Zucchini, Maple Bavarian Cream
Helpful Hints While Dieting
Many of these concepts have definitely stood the test of time:
1. Do Not Count Calories. 200 calories of cake is never a substitute for a 200-calorie lunch. You can’t bargain with the diet.
2. Weight Your Food Carefully. You’ll be amazed at how much more will be on your plate when you weigh food rather than guess at it’s weight.
3. Carry Your “Before” Picture and a mental image of your ideal figure with you at all times.
4. Weigh Yourself Once A Week Only. Weight can fluctuate daily for various reasons. It is the weekly average weight loss that is important. Be sure to weigh yourself at the same time each week, on the same scale, under the same conditions.
5. Take Advantage of the “Free” Foods allowed in this diet. Never allow yourself to be hungry.
6. Be Aware That You Are Learning New Eating Habits even away from home. It is possible to follow this diet plan in any restaurant anywhere in the world, if you really want to.
7. Do Not Allow sympathetic thin friends or envious fat ones to give you “permission to deviate from your diet plan.”
8. Follow The Diet Honestly. The key to successful weight loss and its maintenance is learning discipline and control.
9. Think Before You Eat. When tempted to gobble, just stop and count to ten and look at your “before” picture, remember your reasons for wanting to reduce.
10. Be Patient!
Do you have any favorite memories and or recipes from the old Weight Watchers program to share? Did you have success with the old 1960s Weight Watchers program? I’d love to hear from you!
Source: Weight Watchers Cookbook (1967)
Watch Martha Tell Her Own Weight Watchers Story
Martha McKinnon’s Weight Watchers Success Story: Part 1
Martha McKinnon’s Weight Watchers Success Story: Part 2
Martha McKinnon’s Weight Watchers Success Story: Part 3
More Helpful Articles for WeightWatchers
- A Comprehensive Guide to the WeightWatchers Program
- Why I Think the Weight Watchers Food Exchanges Program is Better than Points Plus
- The Weight Watchers 360 Program
- Weight Watchers Celebrates 50 Years
- Weight Watchers Cottage Cheese Danish Recipe
- Vintage Weight Watchers Coffee Fluff Recipe
- Why I Worship the Weight Watchers Founder Jean Nidetch (The New York Times)
I joined the original Weight Watchers with my mother in 1968, at the old Singers Hotel in Spring Valley, New York. Did any of you attend that one? If you did, you will remember the leader, Sheila. She was a crack-up of the Joan Rivers type. The meeting was a large one, held in the hotel’s theater with velvet curtains and a real stage. I wasn’t quite overweight enough to join, so Sheila adjusted my height. At two inches shorter, I qualified. I just wanted to lose ten pounds. I lost twenty-one pounds in sixteen weeks on the original program and received a beautiful onyx pin with a single “diamond” and a fancy WW carved into it. The pin was for the first ten pounds and the “diamond” was for the second ten. I still have it. It’s really beautiful. I loved the original program.
My favorite recipe was an UNLIMITED DESSERT: SLICED RHUBARB, BAKED IN A PIE DISH WITH SUGAR-FREE JELLO MADE WITH “NO-CAL” CHERRY FLAVORED SODA (ANYONE REMEMBER THAT?) INSTEAD OF WATER.
Hi Sandra,
Thanks for sharing your early WW memories with us here!I can only imagine what it would have been like to attend a WW meeting in a theater! Your onyx pin sounds lovely 🙂
I remember those days….terrible, I was in High School. The Book I have is different. When I joined I was given the Weight Watchers Program Handbook for Ladies and then I purchased for .50 cents Mona’s Recommended Recipes. There is one recipe that I still make today and it is the TUNA SURPRISE, – For Lunch ONLY. 1 can French style green beans, drained, 2 oz. tuna, drained, 1 oz. hard cheese, diced, 1 tsp. dehydrated onion flakes, 1 tsp. mustard, Salt and Pepper to taste. Combine all ingredients, put in a small baking dish (we used foil pie pan) and bake at 350 for 30 minutes. We also made the Cabbage Soup, I now make it with ground turkey to provide protein. I loved reading this article. Thanks you so much for posting.
I think I’m gonna try the tuna surprise! I love some of these old retro WW recipes that have stood the test of time. I’m so glad you enjoyed the post 🙂
When I first started work in the mid-1980s I put on about 15 kilos. I started doing the WW diet from a book loaned to me by my father-in-law, who had been put on the diet after a heart attack. I loved that diet, it was so easy to follow (I also ignored the liver requirement, lol) and combined with walking to the train station and back every day (roundtrip 4 kms) instead of catching the bus, I lost up to a kilo per week. I have never felt healthier or more full of energy! I didn’t even join WW, just followed the book and teamed up with a buddy who was doing Jenny Craig.
20 years and 2 kids later, the weight had crept back on. I joined WW and tried the Points system; I hated it! After a few days of feeling headachy and starving, I figured out the Starting Plan was about 1200 calories – not enough for a 5’10” 105kg woman like me. Also I felt the new system didn’t encourage a healthy balanced diet the way the old one did. I know people it’s worked for, but it doesn’t suit me.
I was able to find a lot of the old WW recipe books second-hand. Some of them include the original plan. I still find though, that I have to combine daily exercise with watching what I eat, in order to be successful.
Hi Kay,
So, great to hear from you! Glad you were able to find the old WW recipe books. I’ve got several of them that I still use quite a lot. I know what you mean about the new points plan. It works great for some. But, I agree that it doesn’t teach you the basics of healthy balanced eating the way the old plan did. I’m glad I originally did WW and learned the basics of good eating and portion control in the process!
Thanks so much for taking the time to share with us your experience here. I appreciate it 🙂
I lost nearly 50 pounds in the early 70’s using the original WW. I still have the book but lost the “tip sheets” printed above. Thanks.
I have recently been battling post-menopausal weight gain with no help from my doctor (who I have changed – she was worse than useless).
I am starting the old diet with the tip sheets TODAY starting with a trip to the supermarket after work and a clean-out of my kitchen cabinets. Wish me luck.
Hi Lorraine,
Best of Luck! The old WW plan was effective as your 50 pound weight loss demonstrates!!
i was a member in the late “70′ and love to tell my story. my daughter had just entered 1st grade.1978 i think.her teacher took me to weight watchers THAT IS A WHOLE WONDERFUL STORY IN ITS SELF> we are still friends 35 years later.i was always the last one standing when we were ask if we got in all of are foods including the liver and all the fish meals.i lost a 110 lbs.before my daughter got out of the first grade.i had been XXL most of my child hood and my adult life.i gained it all back because i never learned how to maintain .my job went to nights and then a few other thing got in the away.but it was still it was one of the best times in my life.
Loved to read your story, Deloris or is it Delores? (I noticed two different spellings, so am not sure!) I know what you mean about learning to maintain. I think that can be way trickier than the losing! At least it was for me 🙂 Thanks for taking the time to stop by and share your story about WW back in the 70s!
I have lost almost 3 pounds this week!
Loving my food now!
I had gotten burned out eating the 68 / 72 Atkins Induction. And yes my body is smiling at me today.
I just simply stopped losing after over 2 years of this WOE.
I felt failure staring me in my face.
Thats to finding you and the free veggie list and much more info I feel I just minght get back into the 50’s!
I’ve fought weight porblems since I was 12 years old. I am 62 now and my body can not handle seeing 300 again!
It will kill me!
Way to go Marylouise!
I was on the Weight Watchers diet in the 70’s in my 20’s. I lost 30 lbs. Down to my goal weight but my downfall was not staying on the maintenance plan. I liked the strictness of the old diet. I use to have that book that you have. I remember a recipe I use to enjoy for breakfast. It was suppose to be like a cheese danish made with cottage cheese, sweetener, and vanilla extract. You put it on toast.
Hi Anita, I love that recipe and still make it sometimes: https://simple-nourished-living.com/weight-watchers-cottage-cheese-danish-recipe/
Martha, I can’t find your address to send my pix.
I know it’s staring me right in my face, but I don’t see it?
🙂
OH , well my goodness. I wasn’t even thinking about it like that. Yes I do know they sell it in 3 levels. Thanks for raising the shade over my eyes. I feel silly.
I will send you my before and after.
I’m going to be busy this weekend but I will be back.
Oh I am doing great on my new woe. 🙂
1 cup skimmed evaporated milk
Does anyone know what that means?
Skimmed E. milk??
I would like to put my picture in here. If I can figure out how to? 🙂
My before 🙁 and after is a pix to see! 🙂 LOL
I ate a pear today.
A fresh picked pear.
Best thing that has came into my mouth in too many months to count.
I have been eating:
Meat
Eggs
Cheese
green olives
For a very long, long, long time.
Hi Marylouise,
Most of the stores I shop at sell evaporated milk with varying fat contents: Regular evaporated milk and skimmed or fat free evaporated milk. Hope this helps.
Congrats on eating a fresh picked pear. It sounds delicious. Our bodies love all the nutritious stuff found in fruits and vegetables!! Your body must be smiling on the inside 🙂
Warmly,
Martha
If you want to email me your before and after pics, I’d be happy to add them into this post!!
I think they mean evaporated milk, which is great for making milk shakes and smoothies in the blender, because it keeps the ice from diluting it too much.
Martha I’m sorry.
I should have reread your postings. I see the answer to the rest of my Q’s.
Thank you again.
Marylouise
🙂