I’ve been crazy busy at work and haven’t been able to tune into the boards and respond as much as I’d like, but I do read, and I’d appreciate everyone’s input on this.
Ok…
I broke up with the loser in my life 9 months ago and moved to a new city. In the course of my 5 years of university, I went from approx 150 pounds to now, 209. I would like to lose 60 pounds. I have never exercised consitently. I have never dieted.
In the spirit of my big move, and now being finally financially stable, I have made two major changes taking effect in april:
I have joined Weight Watchers
I have joined a gym.
What I’m interested in is anyone’s input on the weightwatcher’s program… has it worked for you? Any tips?
All input is appreciated!
I’m heading home for the weekend, so if I don’t chime in with a reply till sat, assume I’m reading… I’ll post when I get to a computer.
I’ve been going for about 10 weeks now and have lost 13 pounds. It really seems to be working for me. I tried South Beach on my own for a while and kept putting it all back on once I got through the first phase. I’m doing the WW Core program, which is similar in some ways, but a bit more lenient in terms of having a potato once in a while. I tried just going with the Flex points the first week, but found I was way too hungry.
It’s all common sense, really, but I do find that the touch of accountability that goes with attending meetings every week has kept me on track. I don’t know what tips to offer, beyond what you’ll hear in the meetings. The main thing for me is to plan ahead and make sure I have good food packed for the day, don’t shop hungry, and pretty much stay out of restaurants. I bought their little book that lists the values of foods at common restaurant chains, and it’s a real eye-opener. Good luck! I’ve been enjoying it so far.
I have lost 52 lbs since July following a plan I made up myself. Just some general tips I found really helpful:
Avoid food without any kind of nutritional value - white carbs, sugar, booze
Try to eat whole foods and avoid processed/packaged foods (especially packaged baked goods which contain trans fats).
Eat a wide variety of fruits and vegetables every day (5 veggies/4 fruits)
Don’t overly avoid fats - good fats aren’t the enemy (avocado, nuts, olive oil)
Try to eat protein at every meal, protein is very filling (eggs, lean meat, fish, low fat dairy, tofu, nuts, beans)
Switch empty white carbs with their whole grain counterparts (get rid of white potatoes, white rice, white tortillas, white pasta for sweet potatoes, brown rice, whole wheat tortillas, whole wheat pasta)
Move your body
Drink plenty of water
Get enough sleep
Plan your meals for the week, don’t be caught without healthy snacks/food and have to hit a fast food place. Try to make the house a “safe zone” without tempting junk food
Do not overly restrict your calories - putting the body in starvation mode is counter productive and can lead to cycles of binging, restriction and slow your metabolism down
Make changes you can maintain for the rest of your life. Thinking of how you eat as a “short term” diet you can stop when you reach your goal is setting yourself up for failure.
Stay off the scale - weight fluctuates a lot during the day
Take measurements
Create short term goals and reward yourself extremely well. Self bribery definitely works for me.
This is basically how WW works - everything you list here is the basis for the foods that are WW friendly vs those that are not, whether they come out and say it or not.
I’ve known several people who have used WW to lose weight, and it worked well for all of them. Of course, you definately have to be serious about losing weight - as there have also been people I’ve come across who treat a diet as a ‘ok, now I’ve signed up and I dont have to do anything differently, but since I’ve signed up and go to the meeting, the weight should just fly off with no effort from me!’. That doesn’t work.
I lost 35 pounds in 2001/2002, over the course of about 6 months, then for various reasons ran out of steam.
I loved the points program (Called Winning Points back then, Flex now) because they encourage you to make lasting changes to your diet, but absolutely nothing is forbidden. You want pepperoni pizza? Count your points & eat it in moderation, then go easy on points for the rest of your foods if necessary.
I also love their no-guilt philosophy - that guilt is counterproductive. You ate half a cheesecake after dinner? Get back on track in the morning, but don’t punish yourself or rashly decide to ditch the program. Hokey analogy: If you had a dozen eggs and you dropped one on the floor, you wouldn’t throw the whole dozen in the trash, would you?
Anyway, I’m back on WW now, trying to lose the last 15-20 pounds. Hopefully it will go as well this time around as it did last time.
Oh, BTW, I joined online and didn’t do meetings because I wasn’t attracted to the concept of group therapy, or whatver it is that they do in meetings.
I’m an online member, too, but my workout buddy goes to meetings. I am really good about keeping myself on track, but she needs the support and accountablity she gets from the meetings. We’re both losing very steadily (I’ve been on the program for 3 weeks and I’ve lost nine pounds; and she’s been on it a month and has lost twelve, but we both started out with quite a bit to lose. YMMV).
When I tried to lose weight on my own, I always felt bad if I felt like I ate too much or had a meal out. Now I feel no guilt if I end up snacking or occasionally having a meal that is higher in fat, because I haven’t gone over my points and I have it right there in black and white that it’s ok. I have not felt deprived at all even though I rarely use my flex points. They are great for the occasional treat or the days where I just feel like eating more. Heck, over the Easter weekend I had a caramel egg on Friday, a Reese’s egg on Saturday, and a Cadbury cream egg on Sunday. I never went over my daily points, and I didn’t have to sit around watching my family enjoy all the goodies while Eeyoring, “Nooo…I can’t have any…I’m on a pausediet…”
I can also see that it encourages you to eat more fruits and vegetables as your points level goes down. You can keep eating the same amount of food even as your allowed points decrease, your choices just have to get a little better each time. It’s a neat way to ease yourself into a better lifestyle, and it’s really kind of fun.
I used to be on the WW points system - it works. I lost 65 lbs in somewhere under a year (it’s been a while, I think it was between 7-9 months). I started at 220, and I’m 5’7.
The thing about the points sytem, I find, is that even after you “go off of it” or “stop dieting”, your mind never forgets those points you’ve gotten so used to counting, and when you’re flying solo, so to speak, you may find yourself eating perfectly sensibly because now *you know * exactly what is going into your mouth! You’ll think “Oh! I will have a treat today, after all, I’m not dieting! I will eat this Big Mac!” And in the back of your mind, you’re thinking “Okay, that’s like, around 15 points…” and you’ll find yourself properly adjusting what you eat later in the day. “More veggies, they’re low in points, so I won’t go over…” Even if you’re no longer dieting. It’s a good, good plan. You never feel deprived.
No food is off limits, either, at least when I was on it. Portion size will come naturally to you over time; at first, you say “Well, I don’t want a measly 1/2 cup of pasta, I want a whole cup!” Well, you can have it, but you adjust with other foods. Later on, you may actually decide you’d rather have the 1/2 cup serving so you can have that ice cream cone after dinner later. It all balances out once you get the hang of it.
In my experience Weight Watchers works . . . and it doesn’t. I have been on the program (it’s not a diet, or so they say) several times over the years and each time I lost weight. I’ve lost as much as fifty pounds, then hit the terrible plateau, lost hope (or courage, or something), quit the program and gained it all back in a few months . . . plus more.
The main problem I always had with WW is that I had to think about food all the time. I haven’t tried their most recent system with the numbers, so maybe it isn’t like that now. But when I did it, I had to plan food for the whole day every morning, and think about every morsel.
My new plan works much better for me. It’s called fear of dying. I had a heart attack at the end of December, and since January 1 I have lost 45 pounds by eating three meals a day, eating a little less at each meal, and walking as often as possible. No gym, no strenuous workout program, just walking. And I don’t eat anything after dinner or between meals. That’s it. I do avoid sugar (which I need to do for my type II diabetes anyway), and limit fats and carbs like butter and potatoes. Sprouted grain bread (no flour) is a concessions I make, too, but there are brands that are quite good. Fresh fruits and veggies are good for you. If I must do fast food, it’s chicken something with no fries and no shakes.
When – not if – this new way works for me I will have changed my habits permanently. I knew too many people at WW who had lost 100 pounds or more, gotten to goal, and then gained the 100 back plus more, only to statrt on WW again. I never even reached goal weight. I expect to now, and I don’t obsess about food anymore.
But that’only MHO. If WW works for you, do it, and good luck!
I lost and maintained a 50 lb. loss on WW a few years ago. Since my husband was deployed to Afghanistan a year ago, I’ve been feeling sorry for myself and eating anything that hasn’t been nailed down. Unfortunately, I’ve gained it all back so as soon as I drag my butt out of this anxiety/depression cycle, I’ll likely go back.
The biggest component that worked for me was the accountability. Journaling the points for the day made me be accountable to myself for what was going in my mouth. Attending meetings made me accountable in a way, too. Plus, I got a ton of good food tips from the meetings and other members.
