Anyone here ever tried Weight Watchers? My girlfriends mom is on it right now, and seems to be losing a lot of weight. My mom and I were looking into it together, and I want to lose 50LBS (down to 200LBS) from my current 250LBS. So, did it work for you? What’s the best thing about it? Worst?
This was discussed recently in this thread.
I’ve been on it now for almost three weeks. So far I’ve lost close to ten pounds.
I like the freedom it gives me. There are no “forbidden foods” and it’s up to me to budget my food during the day. Every food has a point value and I can eat up to a certain number of points a day. What happens if you run out of points for a day? You have two options: (1) You can eat 0 point foods (many vegetables are 0 points) or (2) You can “bank” unused points from previous days and save them up (to a limit of 10) to use when you need to “cheat” a little.
It helps that my wife has been very good about it; finding low-point dishes to make and helping me with it wherever possible.
Zev Steinhardt
I’m on Weight Watchers and have been since the end of January. I am doing the online version, so I don’t go to meetings. I have lost almost 30 pounds, and am only a half pound away from my goal weight. I looked into a lot of other programs, and for me this was the best. It is a realistic way not only to lose weight, but keep it off afterwards, which is the real key. You have to look at it as a lifestyle change, NOT a diet, and the programs that cut out whole groups of foods are not, IMO, not sustainable over a long time.
I lost 28 pounds 5 years ago on WW. Now I’m on staff with them.
It was, however, my third attempt at WW.
I like having to be accountable by going to weigh in publicly at meetings. I think the lectures are helpful. The flexibility of the program is nice, as well.
I’m all for it.
And again, if you’re willing to make changes to your lifestyle, the more successful you will be. romansperson is exactly correct.
My wife and I have been on WW since January. I’m down from 238 to 185 and have 10 pounds to go. (6’0" tall) She has lost about 25 pounds but is only 5’0". She paid the fee and bought all of the material. I just follow the point system which you can see the formula for here: http://www.whererhodiesgrow.com/weightwatchers/FAQ.htm
I added a “floor” function to the formula because you always round down.
The system works fine as long as you use it. I’ve got my fingers crossed.
I started a week ago, and I’m liking it very much. I’m learning a lot about portion control. So far I"m down 1.5.lbs. Woo!
Started 20 weeks ago. Down 30 lbs.
Weight Watchers is a wonderful tool for learning how to eat healthily. It makes eating well easy (or easier). Before I started I thought I knew how to eat healthy. I was wrong.
I need the meetings. I need a yardstick, a stabilizer-- some small goal to strive for daily. For me it was weigh ins (Alas my WW at Work group dwindled down to 9. Last Thursday was our last meeting.) Some people don’t need that. Although from all the people I’ve met at WW, all who stop going to meetings don’t do to well. I’ve often wondered whether they stopped going because they knew they weren’t doing well or didn’t do well because they stopped going.
Started 20 weeks ago. Down 30 lbs.
Weight Watchers is a wonderful tool for learning how to eat healthily. It makes eating well easy (or easier). Before I started I thought I knew how to eat healthy. I was wrong.
I need the meetings. I need a yardstick, a stabilizer-- some small goal to strive for daily. For me it was weigh ins (Alas my WW at Work group dwindled down to 9. Last Thursday was our last meeting.) Some people don’t need that. Although from all the people I’ve met at WW, all who stop going to meetings don’t do to well. I’ve often wondered whether they stopped going because they knew they weren’t doing well or didn’t do well because they stopped going.
I’m not on WW, but my former boss was, and the changes she made were just amazing. When I met her, she must have been 300 lbs. She was obese. After about 5 months on the program, she had lost so much weight, it was unbelievable. Of course I don’t know exactly how much weight she’s lost, as it would have been rude to ask, but she takes it seriously and it’s really worked wonders for her. And like others have said, it doesn’t forbid anything from you. She liked to tell me that a Big Mac is 13 points - half a days pointage for her - but if she really really wanted a Big Mac, she could have one and not feel guilty.
She also told me that she needed the meetings. That you’re going to weigh in in front of other people is quite a motivator to stick with the plan.
I have been on WW for 6 months. As of Saturday morning I have lost 73 lbs. I am stuck here with 13 lbs to lose to reach goal weight. I follow the recommended points and exercise 3 ½ hours a week (Karate), walk 2 miles in 30 minutes weekdays for lunch, and play racquetball for 1 to 1 ½ hours each week. So my results are not typical. The plan allows you to earn extra points for activity, but I prefer the weight loss to extra food. My wife has lost 25 lbs and my mother 30+ on the plan. GO FOR IT!
My parents both went on it like 3 years ago. They did very well the first two years (my mom even lost over 75 pounds!!!). It was easier cause they had each other and two pairs of our neighbors as support. Then we moved - they were seperated, stressed out, and lacking our neighbors. I think by now they’ve gained most of it back, and I doubt they’re gonna try again. My advice to you is to stick with it. Even once you’ve reached your ideal weight (as my dad did).
I am down 30 lbs from 260 to 230 in 4 months. I didn’t use WW. I counted calories and used a formula from how stuff works . They have a section on how dieting works, how food works, and how calories work. I never knew about the whole 3500 cals = a pound of weight thing before. They explain it pretty clearly.
It sounds like WW is good because they just formalize the idea of counting calories into an easy to keep track of system. Either way, it sounds good to me because it’s not a gimmick or trick that doesn’t work at all or just works short term (atkins).
Also, I know there is a great palm pilot app for managing WW programs, if you have a palm. I forget the name. Apparantly, WW sued them because they want people to use thier pay for it service via the web. But, this apparantly works better and is still out there for download. Anybody know the name of the program??
Or, anybody have any experience with the many PC wieght calculator programs available? I typed “weight” into the search bar on download.com and got many hits. Can somebody recommend one? The formulas to calculate ideal weight and stuff can be done by hand, but I am always a fan of automation!
**
You can get the program
here. The program was written for the Success 1-2-3 program (in 1998). The Winning Points program is very similar to it that the program is still useful. However, since the method of point calculation has changed, I don’t use the point calculator. Instead, I simply manually enter the points of everything I eat. Another difference is the calculation in the number of points you are allowed. However, the program allows you to manually enter a range (which I did). The program also tracks your water, dairy, fruits/vegetables, activity points and banked points. It keeps a record for the previous week of what you’ve eaten. IMHO, a great program and a must for any Palm OS-device owning WWer.
BTW, an update: another weigh in last night, another 2.2 pounds. Now I only have another 346879751314 pounds to go…
Zev Steinhardt