If you own WW, I’m sure you’re wondering how people get to Lifetime and Weight Watchers Lifetime membership tips so you can achieve it too. I became a Lifetime member and in this post I’ll tell you what Lifetime is, important insider tips on how to get there, and why it’s so beneficial.
Updated Lifetime Membership Information – March, 2023
In March 2023, WeightWatchers announced that they were closing hundreds of in-person seminars and studios. Get details on WW closing studios here. This obviously affects Lifetime members if they can’t weigh in during the meeting.
Will WW end Lifetime memberships? No. At this time, WW continues with a Lifetime membership. If you don’t live within 50 miles of the meeting and are currently a Lifetime member, your free membership will be extended for one year.
What is a Weight Watchers Lifetime Membership?
WW Lifetime status means you’ve reached your goal weight and have the skills to maintain it.
Besides the obvious benefit of being in a destination, The biggest reason to get Lifetime is that you get your WW meetings and digital tools for free. Yes, you can attend WW meetings for free for the rest of your life as long as you have Lifetime status and are within your goal weight.
Going free is a pretty big deal, so it stands to reason that Weight Watchers has certain parameters you must meet to maintain Lifetime status.
Let’s dig into what they are more specifically, and then I’ll share some insider tips I didn’t know (and wish I had!) about making it to Lifetime.
How do I get WW Lifetime Membership?
According to the WW website, here are the requirements to achieve Lifetime status: Be sure to read on as I’ll share a little more about important strategies to make sure you hit all of these milestones.
To get a lifetime membership you need to:
- Be 18 or older.
- Join as a Workshop + Digital member. (Lifetime is not currently available to Digital Only or Healthy Habits members.)
- When you join, you must have at least 5 pounds to lose and a BMI over 20.
- Reach your goal weight within a healthy BMI.
- Complete the 6-week maintenance plan. That means maintaining your weight goal for at least 6 weeks.
- Draw at least twice in your workshop.
- Be no more than 2 pounds below your goal weight at the final storage weigh-in.
Getting to Weight Watchers Lifetime
Although I lost most of my 100 pound weight loss many years ago, I didn’t actually achieve WW Lifetime status until last year.
In addition to weight loss therapy, I used the Weight Watchers online program.
Even though I was feeling great, competing in triathlons, and enjoying life close to my goal, I was still about 20 pounds from my Weight Watchers goal weight range.
Last year I made some additional changes to break a weight loss plateau, got to my goal weight with WW and then got to Lifetime.
Achieving Lifetime status was a fun personal achievement as I’ve been a WW member for most of my life, although I’ll be honest and say it was stressful too. While that seems like a great personal achievement, it also hasn’t changed much in my day-to-day life.
Insider tips on Weight Watchers Lifetime
Now that you know WW’s official stance on what it takes to achieve Lifetime membership, let’s talk about the member’s perspective on achieving it.
1. You must attend meetings to get WW Lifetime.
Although I have done WW both online and in meetings, most of my time has gone into the online program. Although I’m sure it was mentioned somewhere in the materials, I really didn’t realize that you can’t get Lifetime status if you’re only online.
As long as you stay online ONLY, you will have to continue paying monthly. I wish I had understood this so that I would have planned to return to meetings earlier.
You need to lose at least 5 pounds at the meets, so you don’t want to hit your goal weight and then go into the meets because you’ll need to lose an extra 5 pounds. Five pounds may not seem like much, but when you reach your goal weight, it can feel like the biggest mountain to climb.
On the other hand, if you attend meetings and reach Lifetime, you can have free digital tools (online membership).
2. Once you get it, you always have a lifetime membership.
Once you reach Lifetime, you’ll be a Lifetime member forever, according to WW. You can be someone who got to Lifetime 30 years ago and is 100 pounds overweight and still a Lifer.
However, if your goal weight exceeds 2 pounds, you must pay for appointments.
3. Once you reach your goal, you must stay above 2 pounds or below 6 weeks of weighing in for Lifetime status.
Here’s another little point I didn’t realize until storage time.
At the weigh-in where you reach your goal weight, the clock starts your 6 week maintenance. During the first 5 weigh-ins, it doesn’t really matter if your weight fluctuates above or below your goal weight. However, for the 6th week weigh-in. You should be within 2 pounds of your goal weight to achieve a lifetime goal.
So not only do you need to be careful not to gain weight, but it’s also important not to keep losing weight. Honestly, I found this very stressful and I wouldn’t want to do it again. Most of us have bodies that range from 5-8 pounds and this is normal. Mine definitely has. Staying tight within 2 pounds was stressful for me.
The good news is that if you don’t reach your goal weight range by the 6 week appointment, you can keep coming back every week and reweighing until you do.
4. You must weigh in once a month to maintain Lifetime status.
If you want to maintain Lifetime status, you must weigh yourself once a month and be no more than 2 pounds above your goal.
Once you reach Lifetime, you can continue to lose weight. You can be 10-20 pounds under your goal if you want (as long as it doesn’t drop your BMI too low), but you can’t be more than 2 pounds over.
If you miss a weigh-in, you must pay for the next appointment.
5. Your goal weight must be within the Weight Watchers target range.
WW will tell you that you should choose your goal weight, which is technically true. You can set your goal weight to whatever weight you personally want.
However, to get Lifetime you must be within the weight range that Weight Watchers gives you.
6. You can change your goal weight with a doctor’s note.
If you believe that the WW target weight range is truly unhealthy for you, the program will accept a note from a medical professional stating that a different weight is medically appropriate for you.
My understanding is that WW now allows the note to be from any medical professional, like a doctor, but can also include a nurse or dietician.
7. You can attend as many meetings as you want.
This is a hidden gem fact that many WW members don’t know. You can attend as many WW meetings per week as you like. You can attend a WW meeting every day if you need to.
However, non-Lifetime members can only weigh in once a week, and Lifetime members can only weigh in once a month.
With these 7 insiders tips about WW Lifetimeyou have the information you need to reach your goal weight, pass the maintenance phase, and earn a Lifetime membership.
Are you a WW Lifetime member or looking to become one? Share about it in the comments below.
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