I did weight watchers after my 2nd child was born. All I can say is that it works. I kept on some weight from my 3rd child who is now SIX!!! I really feel now is the right time, so I am back on it now since January 1 and I've already lost about 8 pounds. I know that last time the weight came off fast up front, and then started to come off slowly.
The best tip I can give is to keep track of your points after every meal. Once I started trying to keep track in my head, I got off track. For me, my biggest problem was not eating breakfast and sometimes not eating lunch either which threw my metabolism in the toilet! When on WW, I eat more and one thing that really helps me is that I eat the frozen meals for lunch and that helps a lot...they are low in points and that way I could eat decent supper which is important to be able to do because that's our family mean and I want to eat what they are! :)
Also, one thing they did suggest at one of the meetings was to put your food on a smaller plate at meals and stop eating once you get that first feeling of being "full."
As far as the meetings and not going, I really never went either and I lost weight. But, they are good for ideas and some just need that extra support.
Main thing you need to know is, how many points can you have, a points finder, and a journal to keep track. Just use that points finder for everything..just use the Nutrition labels on packages and you'll be all set.
One more thing that's great is that by keeping track in a journal, if you have leftover points at the end of the week, you can have a reward! I loved adding up all my points for the week and seeing what I did not use.
I wish you much luck!
Marybeth