@bjkmom I can tell by your tone this time in this thread that you have found a “winning” plan for you. You are confident and know what you are doing. That is SO key. You are off to a great start. I like how you say you have a food/points “budget” - that would work for a lot of people. Great way to frame it.
Do you earn extra points if you exercise?
You believe in this program and are already having some mental and physical wins - that’s amazing! SO don’t be afraid to also defend the program, share your successes, admit any defeats and be ready to back your program up IF anyone tries to derail the thread - which already has a GREAT start. Defending what works for you is a great way to build confidence and OWN what you are doing.
Look forward to hearing more successes!!
BTW my H lost 40 pounds about 3 years ago on WW and he was really keyed into the program. Then he had knee surgery and got off the wagon - and still is. He does still go to the meetings but has not been able to get to that great place again…YET.
Exercise is a bad word at WW but they do encourage “activity” or “moving,” which means the same thing but without the negative connotations. If you do enough of it you can earn Fit Points, and you can exchange them for the food kind of points.
I’m not very physically active, so I’ve never bothered to learn this part of the program. When I do enough to perhaps earn some Fit Points, I just let them go because figuring it all out is too much effort. But it’s definitely worth learning about this aspect of the plan if you engage in physical activity (see how I didn’t say “exercise”) intensively or regularly.
I’m a lifetime member of weight watchers and have been since 1975. I’ve been through I don’t know how many different WW programs…and really, I’ve liked them all.
The newest one I am familiar with has zero point lots of things…including many meats, veggies, and fruits.
I think a newer program just launched, and I’d be interested in hearing about it.
I haven’t been to a meeting in years…but I’ve done WW at work, and found it very good innterms of support. We shared recipes, for ideas, and for a while did a veggie soup once a week for lunch…which was really good!
I don’t need to lose weight right now…but if I did, I’d jump on this program again.
I desperately want to lose 20 pounds so joined WW about a month ago. I’m so frustrated because I’ve actually gained a little. I am eating mainly off the 0 point list and have loads of points left over many days. This is all pretty new to me. Any ideas what I’m doing wrong?
I grew up in a WW household - both my grandmother and mother were part of the foundation at the very start of the program in NY. I have always touted WW as the best way to get a handle on eating issues, and losing weight, for one plain and simple reason…real food. I stopped listening to them (WW) after the Heinz company bought it and started pushing pre-packaged and frozen foods (Heinzes’ specialty) - but then along came the points program, and once again I am a fan. I am almost 60 and have followed the WW program for most of my life. The points program, in my opinion, is by far, the easiest and most realistic eating program out there. You eat food. The food you like. And you account for it. And you exercise to burn additional fat/calories. There’s nothing “off limits”, so you never feel deprived. Because, go ahead, eat/drink it…just account for it. And there’s no massive weekly losses, there’s steady, healthy losses which are truly sustainable over a person’s lifetime. The one thing I don’t buy in to with WW, is their “goal weight” - those numbers seem to be very low, and not sustainable for the long term, and the problem is if you don’t maintain that goal weight (within 2 pounds) you are back to paying the weekly fee (example, they say my goal weight is 128 pounds, I simply cannot maintain that number, for me it’s closer to 135-138). But other than that, I think the current incarnation of the program is wonderful.
Which brings me back to me…in the last calendar year I’ve put 11 pounds on, and I am not happy about it (I do not have a closet of fluctuating sized clothing, so if I don’t get a handle now, I’ll be going to work nude…trust me, they don’t want that!). So, that said, @bjkmom I will quietly join you and get my act together. Starting at my next meal, lunch. Thanks for the tap on the shoulder. Here’s to health and well being!
Do most people join for 1,3 or 6 months to start? Are people successful with online only? I’m not sure what I need to get properly committed. Also, is it common to join and pay the weekly fee for years? I’ve lost a lot of weight, 3 times (70 pounds) using exercise tapes, step aerobics, and eating healthy, but it’s tougher as I age to stay motivated.
@psychmomma - my suggestion for those having a tough time sticking to a plan is to go to the meetings, vs online. When you have real people to talk to, get feedback from, and actual (not virtual) accountability, that can mean the difference in success. I would never pre-pay for a program, the monthly $ difference is (basically) pennies. Do the bare minimum to get in the door, and get in the door! As a paying member, once you’ve made your goal weight the meetings are then free. But as I mentioned, I find their goal weight numbers unrealistically low. Even still, it’s worth it.
For some people, “exercise” is an unpleasant thing you force yourself to do. “Activity” doesn’t seem as unpleasant.
Some people are. I wouldn’t be. I would forget about it, just like I sometimes forget about the Netflix account I’ve been paying for for years even though I rarely use it.
My fee is automatically taken out of my bank account every month – which possibly is not the best idea. I think I might be more motivated if I had to fork over money every week. I would probably think, “See, I’m paying for this. I had better get the most out of it.”
Probably eating too much of the zero point foods that have substantial amounts of calories. But I’m only guessing. I’m not an expert. If you’re a meetings member, you may want to track everything (including zero point foods, with specific amounts) for a week or two and then bring the list to your leader at the end of a meeting. Often, they can figure out what might be standing in your way just by looking through your list. For one guy at my meeting who stopped losing weight after a long period of success, the problem turned out to be that he was eating too many servings of fruit. He modified that, and presto, he started losing weight again. Other times, people are miscalculating the point values of some foods – maybe they misunderstood the serving size or they don’t know some of the fine points (like a fruit smoothie having points even though the fruit it’s made from doesn’t). Leaders can spot things like this.
WW definitely encourages exercise and rewards members for doing so by giving Activity Points to be used for more food points for engaging in exercise. It is very much part of their program and they do encourage it. However, the WW program does work without exercise (not everyone is capable of the same movement because of health and other reasons) as well. If you don’t exercise, you’ll have much less to eat. It’s a balance and teaches realistic tradeoffs, IMO.
@bjkmom , I can see how your schedule could make all the water drinking hard. On the other hand, you can’t snack then either!! I have worn a path in the carpet from my office to the restroom!
I like the way they continuously tweak the program. @psychmomma , I did have success with online alone years ago but I think it’d have been easier with meetings. A friend lost a ton of weight going to meetings and loved how inspirational and motivating the leader was. It also helps to make you accountable.
@GRITS80 , I am like you - I find it very hard to lose weight. I seem to have a very resistant metabolism. On many diet plans, I just don’t lose, even when I am completely faithful! WW has no way to adjust for this, so it may be that you just need a few points less a day than it says you do. And I second the advice about a food diary and talking to a meeting leader. The clean eating thing I am doing was mostly about me developing discipline and awareness around my food, and that has made it easier for me to accept that my weight loss has not been as great as others. Sometimes, wrapping another goal in (besides weight loss) can make it easier to stick with it, which is important if it’s going to take a while. Not sure if that would help.
I love this thread. I am also a lifetime member of WW and have always loved their programs. I even loved the meetings. Since we moved I haven’t connected with a new center, but I’d like to start that soon. It’s such a reasonable, doable diet which I’ve always been successful on. I’m going to take this thread as a sign.
Is there a way to print my daily entries from the online system? I’m afraid they are going to take away the fruit and I don’t even eat much of that. I am so resistant to weight loss.
I just left my weight watchers meeting and have lost a total of 10 pounds. Slow progress over the last two months. Yes, I joined early December and tracked through the holidays.
Agree with an earlier post that free doesn’t mean unlimited. I still mostly portion control on free foods like chicken, beans and eggs. I just don’t need to track those which makes it easier from that perspective.
In the end, if one eats more calories than one’s body needs, there will be an excess that eventually is stored as fat. I used to lose weight fairly easily, and I did heavy cardio several times. Everything has slowed down, so progress is much slower. I gained last week and this week I lost enough to put me at -10.4.
Use your daily allotment of points on WW. One of my WW leaders said that actually folks who don’t do so lose LESS weight. Don’t ask me why. I had the same experience as you and once i started using the daily allotment of points…I lost weight.
I started WW last week and have already lost 3 pounds. I’ve done WW in the past, and I’ve noticed that with the Freestyle plan, I have to eat a lot more fruit and vegetables to keep from going hungry. I assume the change was made to get vegetable-phobic people like me to increase their intake. I’m not sure if I like the program yet. Despite the name of the program, I feel less free to eat whatever I want on Freestyle than on previous WW programs.
I started (again!) a few weeks ago with DD. So glad to see this thread! I am down a little over 10 lbs. One of the things our leader stresses is that the 0 point foods are just that- 0 points, not free and that is how you have to think of them. So far I am fairly happy on the program. Found a great 0 point chicken tortilla soup which is awesome and filling. DD even takes it to school in a thermos for her lunch. Thanks @bjkmom for starting this!
Here is the recipe- @doschicos
0 point chicken tortilla soup (I make it in a slow cooker)
1 tsp olive oil
1 onion diced
2 cloves of garlic -minced
1 lb chicken breast
2 cans black beans- drained
2 cans corn- drained
2 cans diced tomatoes (I use 1 with chiles)
1 carton of fat free chicken broth
1 tbsp chili powder
1.5 tbsp cumin
Heat olive oil in a pan and sauté the onions and garlic until soft. Put in slow cooker then add all other ingredients.
Cook at least 6 hours.
I remove the chicken breast and shred it and then put it back in and stir.
You can garnish with cheese or sour cream or crush a few tortilla chips on top (this will add points) or use FF Greek yougurt.
