The OP’s first post concluded with:
“And can I please ask a favor? Even if you’re sure that it’s not the right program for you, can you please accept that it may be for me and whoever else chooses to join in?”
So @Sybylla , does it help me, in selectin foods in Ww, to pay attention to PRAL? That would have me avoiding seltzer water and chowing down on spinach. Should I or is it all poppycock?
The ADA studies I am talking about found that 30 minutes 3x per week of any kind of exercise, regardless of intensity, will not compensate for a sedentary lifestyle and protect against metabolic and endocrinal diseases of aging. You need to put regular movement back into your daily life. Conversely, I don’t care what kind of hard core athlete or exerciser you are, if you don’t have a food management plan that you can stick with, you are going to gain weight. What legit scientific literature and my own experience in the fitness industry have also shown is that 30 minutes 3x wk of structured resistance training can effectively promote the weight loss from a dietary plan coming from fat tissue and not muscle tissue.
YES!! I was loving this thread. Lots of support, lots of tips and suggestions…it was great. Let’s keep it on topic.
It never fails.
Anyway…
Dinner tonight was a zero point version of chili from a friend. I’'m not a fan of chili, but tasted hers the other day at work and enjoyed it, so here goes:
- 1 can corn
- 1 can red kidney beans
- 1 can black beans
- 1 jar salsa
- 1 package frozen diced pepper & onions.
- 1 package Tyson Shortcuts chicken. (I chose frajita grilled flavor) Cut into bite sized pieces.
Throw everything into a crock pot until hot; I left it in for about 2.5 hours. Then I topped it with some nonfat shredded cheese. The only points were from the cheese~
WW is based on counting calories, but there’s more to it than that.
The point system is designed to nudge you toward better choices of calories – both in terms of nutrition and in terms of keeping yourself satisfied on fewer calories a day. The online tracking and/or meetings help keep you accountable, as does the weekly weigh-in. There’s fresh information every week on some aspect of weight loss – everything from motivation to self-image to finding physical activities that work for you to the best choices at a Thanksgiving dinner table. And the group aspect of the program is enormously helpful to many people.
As I mentioned earlier in the thread, I lost 30 pounds on WW several years ago. I was in a Weight Watchers at Work group at my office. Then they changed the meeting time to one that conflicted with a weekly staff meeting I had to attend. I didn’t think it would be a problem. I knew how to do WW, right? I understood the principles. I could apply them on my own. But it didn’t work. Without the structure and accountability of the program, I drifted away. And I gained 45 pounds.
I’m back in WW, and this time I’ll be staying. Eventually, if I reach my goal, I may leave the program to save some money, but I’ll be back if I gain 10 pounds.
Some of us need a structured program like WW to help us manage our weight just as some of us need a structured program like a 401K to help us save for retirement.
I’d like to congratulate everyone this program helps. One if my friends found it very helpful as well. To me it does sound easier to count a few points and watch portion sizes than trying to count each and every calorie.
I have a decades-old international weight watchers cookbook I got from opening a savings account in the 1970s. One of the things I was impressed about in the book was the careful attention to portion sizes and creative ways to try different ethnic foods in small quantities. (Of course it doesn’t have the point system, unfortunately.)
Thanks for posting that easy chili recipe.
My go-to breakfast is baked potatoes (diced), hard-boiled eggs, and salsa. Easy, flavorful, satisfying.
Where do (plain) potatoes fall in the WW points system?
Yes, using WW points is much simpler than counting calories and that’s part of its appeal and effectiveness. While it’s important to understand some of the nuances of WW and its point system in order to maximize success, if you stick with it, for most people you will lose weight. Learn to understand the system, learn about making healthy choices to fill your points, learn more about the role of exercise and the types of activity that will enhance the benefits of WW, but by all means, stick to it. Odds are you will achieve successes.
I have a young adult friend who has lost 40 lbs on Weight Watchers 9 months. She swears by the Skinnytaste cookbooks. She goes through them and with post it’s marks the recipes she wants to try facing one direction, the ones she has tried and would make again she uses a different color post in facing a different direction. She has a you tube channel where she talks about how she started and runs her business. She has added some videos about her weight loss journey. Some of her tips are she only eats real food so she doesn’t buy any of the weight watchers products, uses herbs and spices to give food flavor. She has eliminated going out for drinks or a glass of wine with friends, leaving a glass of wine for a special occasion. She no longer rewards or comforts herself with food. A massage, a manicure or even a new outfit when she reaches a goal. She also felt that she needed to begin to exercise. She was an artsy girl and never saw herself as an athlete. She downloaded the Couch to 5k app and made slow progress in the beginning. She also spoke about how she had never viewed herself as someone who could run. She was on the swim team in HS but it was a no cut sport. Through WWers and the running she feels she has changed her whole outlook on life. She no longer feels sick. She has more energy.
A medium baked potato is 5 points.
The chicken tortilla crockpot soup is outrageously good! I made one minor adjustment due to what I had on hand and that was I used chipotle chili powder vs regular. So smoky good! Thank you.
Here’s an interesting article about the points plus program and Weight Watcher’s CEO.
Points Plus is an OLD WW program. The new one was just released and it’s called Free Style.
Some questions:
- For you long time WW users, how do you like the new Freestyle system compared to the older Points Plus and Smart Points. Easier or more difficult to use? More or less restrictive? Are you able to choose healthy foods, maintain saiety and stay within your point limits with Freestyle?
- For those new to WW, how is Freestyle working for you? What do you find challenging about it, what do you find works well for you. Do you feel that It is difficult to restrict what you eat to remain within your points. Do you view it as a diet to go on until you reach your goals or as an approach to eating that you will want to continue long after your goals are met?
- For everyone, how do you like the mobile app software user interface? Easy to use or challenging to navigate? Do you prefer it over earlier versions?
Nothing judgemental in these questions. Just trying to compare and contrast old and new from a user’s perspective.
I’ve done WW a couple of times. Once I was doing really well and then was diagnosed with celiac and it sidelined me for a while - I like the low point english muffins and bread. Gluten free equivalents are so much higher. Then tried on-line a few years back but got frustrated with technology and once again GF stuff made it harder since mostly not in database.
I follow at GF WW facebook page now and looks like more of GF foods now in database so I’m tempted to try again. I’ve looked at other things, low carb, etc but fact is you can do that with WW - it’s all about choice you make. The first time I did it I did open hour weigh ins and didn’t stay for meetings but felt that having to show up and get on scale helped with accountability. Second time I didn’t try to go since I remembered the meetings that I did go to spent time on low point alt which were never GF.
Do most of you use on-line or meetings? I’m researching all this now.
It’s an interesting article @HImom. Points Plus preceded Smart Points and Smart points was simply the next step in the WW evolution that’s described in that article. They key change was that sugar was added to the algorithm and foods containing processed sugar skyrocketed in points. That was hard for me! I adapted eventually and I acknowledge that this is a better way of eating.
Freestyle isn’t a new program in the way that the preceding ones were. It’s designed to make tracking and meal planning easier (I still track everything) and honestly, all it is is a new way of accounting. It’s more like the “simply filling” program vs. counting points than it is a different approach. So far I am eating pretty much the same way I did before they rolled out freestyle.
Well, I’m in favor of whatever helps folks. I don’t know all the different versions that have been around. To me whatever simplifies things and encourages folks to be get to and remain at a healthy weight is good.
To that end, simple is good, as is support. Some folks like in-person support while others are fine with online support.
To me switching a program that works is inherently risky but sometimes needed to stay “fresh” and relevant. The CEO of Weight Watchers sounds like a smart businessman.
SmartPoints was more effective for me, in terms of weight loss, than Points Plus, but it took a LOT of getting used to because it drastically penalized sugar and Points Plus didn’t. I had to make major changes in my food choices. But I was pleased with the results.
After the first few weeks of transition, I’ve found Freestyle easier to use and no more restrictive than SmartPoints (the restrictions are different but comparable in terms of the amount of planning necessary to accommodate them). I can and do choose healthy foods, and I have no difficulty maintaining satiety and staying within my point limits with Freestyle. I also chose healthy foods on SmartPoints, but I had more difficulty maintaining satiety and staying within point limits.
However, for me, the problem with Freestyle is that I’m not losing weight. I’m just maintaining my current weight. I’m going up and down within the same three-pound range every week. I think I’m probably overeating the foods that have been added to the zero point list – the ones that are not fruits or nonstarchy vegetables – but I’m not sure which foods or how much I need to cut back on them.
I think that to make Freestyle work for you easily, you need to be able to make the distinction between “satisfied” and “stuffed,” and I have difficulty with this. I can eat huge quantities of food at one sitting without becoming uncomfortable. So I may have to figure out some other way to make Freestyle work for me – perhaps by imposing arbitrary restrictions on myself that the plan itself does not require (e.g., limiting myself to a specific number of servings of zero point foods per day or double-counting points and calories and limiting myself to a specific number of calories). This is a work in progress.
I should add that I know many people who are having great success with Freestyle and don’t seem to have the difficulties I do. Some of them absolutely love it and consider it a huge improvement over SmartPoints. I’m not condemning Freestyle. I’m just saying that so far, it hasn’t worked well for me, personally.
One hint I got a LONG time ago from some WW leader. Eat a reasonable amount of food each meal…but not to the point of stuffed…then wait at least 30 minutes while your brain and body deal,withnwhat you have eaten. If you are still hungry 30 minutes later…eat something that is low points…or have a cup of tea.
Sometimes you really aren’t hungry…if you wait.
That leader also said to have other things to do besides eat as an option…so read a book, go for a short walk, or whatever.
Her point was…for many on any kind of diet, they always think eating will be the answer…and she suggested coming up with multiple answers.
Bottom line…you can overeat on WW just like any other eating plan…and if you do, you will either not lose weight or you will gain weight.