I followed the WW program (no meetings, just the points system) about 18 years ago and lost the weight I wanted (about 20 lbs), but with years and age the pounds have come back (and unfortunately, they brought some friends, lol). I’m considering trying WW online but there are some things I remember as problems and I’m wondering if they might still be true. Anyone who is currently using WW who has some insight, please let me know!
First, I was hungry a lot of the time. Back then I was in the lowest weight bracket and my points allowance was really low. I felt like I was constantly thinking about when I could eat next, and what foods would be the most filling for the fewest points. This time I need to lose about 30 pounds; I’m not sure if I’d be in the same bracket again. I really don’t want to feel like everything revolves around thinking about eating.
Second, I remember that there seemed to be a lot of recipes and meal suggestions that included WW brand products or “light” products like light yogurts, reduced calorie breads, etc. I’m someone who avoids processed foods and shops the perimeter of the supermarket, and I cook a lot of multi-ingredient dishes from a variety of ethnic cuisines. A typical week might include meals like Thai curry shrimp, Filipino adobo chicken, and a North African tagine (ok, maybe not all three of those in a week, but I do like to cook!). I’ll feel deprived/bored if my dinners have to consist mostly of a piece of grilled chicken or fish and steamed veggies most nights, and I’m worried it will be hard to stick to the plan, or hard to calculate points from my recipes. I don’t mind making recipes lighter as long as I can use real ingredients.
Any feedback would be greatly appreciated! Thank you!
Thank you, @patsmom , I’ve been reading through the thread and someone posted a recipe for soup that sounds delicious and exactly like something I would like to make. I’m going to buy the ingredients today! However, I did notice in a lot of people’s posts they talked about using the very kinds of products that I don’t like to buy, for example, jams with artificial sweeteners, bottled diet salad dressings, things like that. I mean no judgment of others who are happy with such products, I’m just talking about my own preference to “eat clean”. To be honest, I’m pretty frustrated that my relatively clean eating has not prevented me from gaining weight!
Anyway, while reading through that thread is certainly helpful, I would still love it if anyone would directly respond to my questions, thanks!
If you are eating clean, you might benefit from your own food tracking online or through an app. Your food sounds delicious - maybe you need to consider reducing the serving sizes of your items on your plate. Track EVERYTHING - including the flour to thicken a sauce - things like that can add up in calories.
I agree with @abasket. Unless you are just wanting moral support in your journey, I think you should just eat what you are making now but smaller proportions. I think it’s wise to see the calorie content and carb content of what goes in your recipes. Then you will know what the entire recipe consists of, and what allotment of it you should eat in one meal. I also wouldn’t last with grilled chicken and steamed vegetables.
I like counting calories, but that’s me. I also tend to eat the exact same thing for breakfast and lunch, then mix up my dinner with various recipes.
I would do a calorie calculator for weight loss and see what you need to reduce to lose the weight you want.
Thank you @abasket and @conmama. Can either of you recommend a good calorie calculating app?
I do try to keep my carbs pretty low. Other than fruit and one small spoonful of sugar in my coffee every morning, I consume very little sugar. And I try to limit the carbs that come from grains as well, by using brown rice, whole wheat rather than white breadcrumbs for things that require them, etc. I don’t eat very much bread. And a huge thing I’ve changed is no longer thinking that I need to serve potatoes, rice, or pasta with every meal. I think I was raised to have a meat, a vegetable and a starch on my plate. For quite a while now I have been replacing that part of the plate at least half the days of the week with something like roasted winter squash or cauliflower rice.
Sigh. It probably is my portion sizes, although I don’t feel like I over eat. And it probably has a lot to do with me creeping closer and closer to the big 5-0.
So would weight watchers really be a waste of my time if I already know what healthy eating looks like? Is it more for people who need to revamp their food choices along with portion sizes?
@IBviolamom - I’m a lifetime member who’s recently gone back as I managed to let 11 pounds slip on. I’ve got about 4 more to shed.
Like you, for the most part I do not eat processed foods, nor do I use artificial sweeteners, etc. The points program has been ideal for me because nothing (not one thing) is off limits, I simply have to account for it! The Freestyle program is what’s currently on tap. It doesn’t work for me with the smaller number of pounds I had to lose. It might be perfect for you though as there are a ton of “zero” point foods now, including chicken, turkey, fish and eggs (all high protein, filling and easy to prepare). Also, veggies galore (including black beans, pintos, and others) are “free” now, as well as whole fruits (not in a smoothie, or apple sauce, as an example).
I joined Weight Watchers around Christmas time to help get rid of about 20 lbs I had gained over the last 3 years. I really like their program and feel it is very flexible to allow me to eat the food that I normally have, but with some tweeks that allowed me to lose weight. Their online app was easy to use and helped my see where changes need to be made. (I also avoid diet foods and artificial sweeteners and such.) I lost the 20 pounds in about 2 months and I never felt deprived.
One big benefit to me in going to meetings for official weight-ins is that since I have met my goal, it is now free as long as I don’t go over my goal weight by more than two pounds.
Also, I don’t find that WW pushes diet food or their foods, but on the message boards I do see many people that do and everyone is entitled to their own opinion so I just move on. I personally think it is better for me to stay away from sugar and eat more fruit instead, so I don’t think you’ll find any undo pressure. Their program is all about eating what you love and life style changes.
Wow @lmhh24, congrats on your success. I’d love to lose 20 pounds in 2 months but I don’t think I could. Maybe I should just give it a try. Their online plan is pretty inexpensive right now, less than $40 for three months.
I’ll bet the other thread would like to know/see the types of recipes/products you use OP, instead of artificial sweetners, diet dressings, etc. - sounds like you could offer some advice! Sometimes people choose these products for convenience, sometimes because they don’t know how to regulate calories or have a good tasting product so it’s just easier to pull something off the grocery store shelf.
I think WW is great for some people, just like anything else. You don’t know until you do it. Go ahead and give it a shot! There is nothing to lose. Make sure you are looking at the sugar in all feels. Women need to limit it to 25 grams a day, I really try to do less than that. I don’t have a calorie calculator in mind. I just Google and do several. They all come out to basically the same for weight loss calories.
@IBviolamom I also joined around Christmas time and have lost 17 pounds since joining (about a pound a week). I’d like to lose several more so will be sticking with it for quite some time. I don’t attend meetings, just me and the online app. If you eat fairly healthy, you won’t find the program that difficult. I don’t feel like I’m dieting / limiting myself. It is more about making smart(er) choices. When hungry grab a piece a fruit or some veggies versus a sugar laden yogurt or a handful of chips, that sort thing. I wouldn’t hesitate to give it a try for a couple of months to see how well it works for you.
Thanks! I decided to sign up for the three months and see how it goes. @megawillmae I think you’re right about different choices. My meals are all pretty good and would probably fit well into the point system, perhaps with a tweak here and there or reducing my portion size somewhat.
My own personal danger zone is actually my ride home from work. I’m a therapist so I’m constantly with clients and I don’t have a lot of time to eat, so I’m often hungry on my way home and I frequently stop at the supermarket to pick up some fresh ingredients for dinner, but then I’ll tend to throw a tempting snack in the basket and eat it in the car during the remainder of my drive. I could probably solve this by packing my own healthy snack to have after work, and also planning my weekly meals better so I don’t need to stop on the way home.
I also should learn to enjoy coffee without any sugar!
I have about a 25 mile commute and have found a handful of sunflower seeds does wonders to quell my ‘salty cravings’ so that I’m not so ravenous when I first get home from work (which is my most vulnerable time). I’ve also learned to always keep an apple in my back pack just in case. Best of luck!
Holy moly, I was just playing around with the app to find out the point values of common things I have, and then I found out that there are different point values assigned to fruits used in a smoothie. It turns out that the breakfast smoothie I make every morning is 10 points! If I had all of those ingredients separately it would be one point because fruits count for nothing. Well, I guess I’ll put my plain yogurt in a bowl and top it with fruit from now on.
I understand their explanation about a drink being less filling and how it signals your brain differently and all that, but I’m still wondering if even the same ingredients in a bowl would be a problem. Especially the banana. Yikes yikes yikes. Maybe this darn smoothie has something to do with my difficulty losing weight so far.
I can’t speak to Weight Watchers - but I’ve never found yogurt for breakfast filling enough. I eat an egg, a slice of bacon every other day, and half an English muffin or half a mini-bagel. It’s the only bread and usually the only starch I eat all day.
I do recommend doing a calorie tracker for a week and see what it’s telling you.
I have been using MyFitnessPal to track foods and calories. It’s only been a few weeks, but it has been eye-opening for me, and it’s helping me make better choices about what to eat.
I also enjoy the (nerdy) writing of Stephan Guyenet. I learned some new things (to me) about why our brains nudge us (or shove us) to eat, and why most people find it difficult to restrain themselves around highly rewarding foods (baked goods for me!). He has a web site, and a book that was released recently, The Hungry Brain.
@IBviolamom You might find his writings interesting in light of your post where you mention you like to cook (then mention some interesting ethnic dishes) & concerns that food that is too simple (plain fish and steamed veggies) will make you feel deprived and bored.
Guyenet has a weight loss - weight maintenance program too, putting his research into practical terms, but I don’t know much about it beyond a blurb.
I’ve been on Weight Watchers a few times in the last 20 years. Always with success but never long lasting. I decided to give it a shot again when the Freestyle program came out. I think it is a win.
Before on WW if you wanted to snack on something you could have an apple for 3 points or a bag of 100 calorie cookies thins for 3 points. As a person with food issues of course I was going to pick the cookies! Now, I get lower points than I might have years ago but since fruit, skinless chicken breast, veggies, and lots of other things are all free I can make better choices. I am now eating differently because of it. I feel like Freestyle is definitely geared toward more of a clean eating. lowish carb frame of mind.
The app is the best thing ever too. You can use it to scan bar codes of foods around the house and in the store. The points value of some things I thought would be ok is SHOCKING. Even “Light” flavored yogurts are more points than I would like. I would rather eat the “free” nonfat, plain greek yogurt with fruit.
A typical breakfast for me is a slice of Ezekiel bread (2 pts but I love it), half a teeny tiny avocado from Trader Joe’s (weighed, 3 pts), a sprinkle of Everything But the Bagel seasoning, and a half cup of skim milk for my coffee. Very filling. If I know I need the extra points later in the day I might have a poached egg (0 points) instead of the avocado. I’ll have a banana around 9 am at work.
I do not over indulge in the zero foods though. At best I have 3-4 pieces of fruit a day (up from none before), veggies, an egg maybe once every other day, and chicken or fish as protein. The hassle of not having to track every thing I consume is a lot more freeing too. I am not having “Freestyle Taco Fiestas” like Oprah but I feel satisfied. I use my rollover points to get a mocha latte once a week (9 pts the way I drink it - yikes! I used to have one every day!)
I love it too. I joined the end of February and my husband and I are both down about ten pounds. It is just what we needed to become more accountable. I spoke with my primary care physician recently and she said she recommends it to all of her patients. She thought this was an especially great version of the WW diet. It encourages healthy eating incorporating lots of lean protein, vegetables and fruit. My diet feels very healthy and satisfying. We still get to out to dinner once a week (with a glass or two of wine). We don’t feel deprived at all.