Weight Watchers Anyone???

Stacy

Cathlete
Who out there is currently doing Weight Watchers?? I did it a few years ago and I'm in need of a some discipline and planning on starting it back up. Just looking for some good success stories as I embark on the journey.

What's different with the new 360 plan vs the PointsPlus plan??
 
Hi Stacy - before I found SparkPeople, I was looking at various eating plans and had found these pages to be a help:

Here's how the points are calculated (and there are free calculators out there :))
How to get Weight Watchers for free. Really!

Points Plus - Weight Watchers

And here's a good description of the 360 program:
A Look at Weight Watchers 360

I'm not much on meetings like WW, so SparkPeople suited me better. I log my food, my exercise, participate in the community that I want to.

Good luck in your choice and congrats on taking charge!
Ellen
 
Thanks for the links! Since I'm, ahem, older now, my Daily Points have changed from 29 to 26, bummer! I'm glad my Weekly Points have stayed the same!
 
Hi... I'm doing WW online right now. I lost some weight on my own but got stuck and wasn't moving, so signed up about 2 months ago.
I've lost about 5 lbs for a total of 10. I had lost about 6 lbs previous to the 10, so am gradually returning to what will be a better weight for me. I don't lose easily regardless of how much or little I eat, or how much I exercise. slow and steady ( I hope) wins the race. I'm finding tracking helps me stay on program

You aren't (by some remote chance) the same Stacy that used to post over on the CL board? That 'Stacy" exercised with Cathe so not a totally wild guess but Stacy is a pretty common name. we still have a support thread going on CL. one of the ladies has lost 70+ lbs.
 
Chances were pretty slim for that ! I haven't found a good thread on WW forums to be part of. doesn't mean one doesn't exist. I post on one at cooking Light (CL).

the WW food plan seems good to me and is quite flexible. WW also counts activity points to give you extra eating points if you're very active but none of the listed activities match Cathe workouts very well. there's an option to create your own category but then you need to guess at the how many points it's worth. there are lots of 'activities" listed.
so I try to "track"(record) my food and post activity points but don't rely on them for extra food since I don't lose weight easily .
 
Trail, I dont lose weight easily either and I also tend not to use my Activity Points. I get 2 AP's for 30 minutes of "moderate exercise" so alot of room to over-estimate points. I find it's easier just to consider my workouts a bonus and not include those points.
 
Hey girls,

You guys have kind of inspired me :) I just recently started tracking all my food, not counting cals or anything, just writing down what I eat. I have been doing it for about a week now.

The strangest thing has happened - I am starting to eat less. I think it's because I'm lazy and I don't like to write. HAHA! I'm dead serious though.

Anyway, I am interested in actually DOING something - in order to try to start losing. Maybe I will try WW... I would only need to worry about points, right? Also, what is the best program to follow (If you are going to do it for free, using online calcualtors) - the points plus or the 360? Or can you do them both at the same time? I guess I'm a tad confused :eek:
 
I would do the points plus. It's so easy and once you get the hang of it you will be losing weight in no time at all.
I joined WW on line in Jan 2012. I didn't have a lot of weight to lose just about 8 lbs. Thats why I never joined but I was at a plateau and those last few pounds would not budge. So I joined and those last pesky pounds finally came off!

One year later those few pounds have not come back .
Good luck to you!
 
I recently re-joined weight watchers since I really want to lose about 10-15 pounds. I'm going to the "in person" meetings" and tracking online. It has only been a couple of weeks so not much to report. I really want to get these stupid pounds off so my plan was to do everything possible to help myself be successful.

I really like the program and I find the meetings VERY helpful, however, just a warning about the marketing....there is a constant subtle 'up-sell' for their bars, cookbooks, pedometers and other crap.

I find that stuff fascinating (how companies get us to "need" things) so I'm enjoying it!! ...but other people may find it a turn-off or ....an excuse to buy a lot of junk you don't need!
 
when I need to write it down, I think about what I was going to eat more carefully. sometimes I don't eat it, or make a different choice. on WW, fruits or vegies are mostly "free" ...no points. a few exceptions. just the act of needing to record influences my choices way more than I would have thought.

I also ignore extra points from exercise. I'm losing very slowly even with a lot of activity. this is not new, I'm 'older" and have always had a tough time with loss. I don't let my weight jump around much, much easier to not gain to begin with. but losing is tough.
I also lost some on my own, hit a plateau, and signed up for WW for extra incentive and the tracking requirement.

WW online has a recipe builder feature that calculates points if you fill in ingredients and quantities. I cook a lot, and don't eat "prepared' foods so needed a reasonably easy way to do the calculation.
another feature lets you enter protein, fat, fiber, carb grams and calculates WW points. these features work pretty well for me. I tried My Fitness Buddy( think that was the name) and it was too complicated for me to use easily.
also have a WW scanner that calculates points on products before you buy. works well when it works, but a lot of things aren't in it.
 
WW 360 and PointsPlus are the same plan. The 360 is really the at WW delivers the program: 360 degrees of support. PointsPlus values are assigned a number based on the amount if carbs, protein, fat and fiber a food has. However, each of those values weighs differently in the calculation because of the way our bodies process certain nutrients. Protein keeps you fuller longer and your body has to work harde to process so PPV favor protein heavily. Carbs are favored less so with fiber being less of a benefit to lowering your points over previous plans. Fat counts highest. So, a piece of lean grilled chicken will be low in points while a fatty hamburger patty is higher. In previous plans ey used to be roughly the same.

WW encourages members to follow the good health guidelines and try to make those the basis of your menu. We are encouraged to eat power foods, which is a list of foods WW deems healthy. They are mostly things like lean proteins, FF dairy, fruits, vegetables and whole grains. If you don't like counting, WW also has the simply filling technique. You choose foods from the power foods list and use your weekly or activity points for foods not on the list.

Activity points aren't the same as food points. You earn 1 activity point for every 80 calories you burn. A food point is roughly 40 calories. If you eat them, you're only eating half of what your dailies or weeklies are. That said, not everyone can eat all their points and lose although some can. It's really important to find the weekly balance of points that works for you. Eat some, all or none.

I really love WW. I've been a member for years now. It is a sound eating approach and easy to follow for me. If anyone has questions, I'll try to answer them.
 
Bonivant,

Thanks for the response, that really helps to clarify. Do you think it is possible to follow WW for free? I am going thru a time period where money is going to be tight for me, for about 9 months. I *think* I can keep my motivation up without the meetings, and tracking, I have found I do best when tracking in a notebook, by hand. I don't necessarily hate counting cals, it just seems so tedious. I like the idea of the PP because it's a smaller amt and it gives you a benefit for eating healthier choices.

I know some have said they don't like how fruits and veggies are free...but I do like that. I love fruit, in the summer time, when it is fresh and ripe and real (not fake raspberries in december - gross!). I refuse to not eat as much fruit as I possibly can in the summer time. I just won't. I can give up other things - but God forbid someone asks me to give up delicious Washington blackberries in August or strawberries in June.

Anyway, I do like the idea of WW...I just don't think I can justify the cost right now. I also really like dairy (milk, mainly) so that is good to hear it is OK on the WW plan; but I prefer 1% over FF.

Do people manage to create "plans within plans" on WW? For example, if you wanted to go gluten free or low carb or vegetarian or dairy free, are there people that do that, and still follow the WW?
 
Sure! All different types of diets can follow WW as long as you stick to your points you should be fine.
I also think you can still follow weight watchers and not go to meetings. You just have to find your daily points allowed for the day. The lowest points WW allows is 26.
 
I find vegetarian hard to follow on WW. Points for carbs like brown rice, pasta, bread are high. I guess I focused a lot on them for meals previously. Not saying it can't be done, but I was too hungry with the allowable serving size. my problem was good food, not junk, but too much of it. I'm eating more fish and chicken to keep from getting too hungry. I don't lose easily.... may not be the same for you.

there are limits on dried fruit and juices but fresh fruit is free. I like that but over doing isn't an issue for me. vegies are free except for potatoes, corn, peas, avocados. I think that's all. I use ff milk and almond milk...don't think 1% would be a problem fitting in.

Tracking points is less calculating and recording than food/calories, but same idea. if you record what you eat you're more likely to make better choices or at least see where the problems are. raises awareness about 500%.
 
Hi traildogge-

that's what I'm thinking, is that tracking points seems less calculating. I have been simply recording my food, with no counting of anything, for about 10 days now. I am definitely seeing where the problems are which is good because Now I know where I need to start.

I did calculate my points and I was given 27 a day. I think this week for Monday - Thursday I am going to track my food without making any changes, and also track how many points I use/eat. Then starting Friday I will start to lower down (if I'm above) 27 a day.

I am off work for a toothache and have an emergency appt today, so today I probably will hardly eat at all seeing as how my darn mouth doesn't want to open much at all, haha!
 
Has anyone tried Simply Filling? I am considering switching to this. I used the old plan and had good success with it. I am struggling more with the new one even though I like the greater emphasis on healthy foods. I have recently discovered that I am hypothyroid so I'm sure that plays a part. I don't know how I will be treated. I'm hoping it helps as well.
 
I did WWers some years ago and lost 28 lbs. It took about 4 months. I was doing Cathe and Firm workouts. I was so strong. I just started back. Doing my own low carb version. I think it will work just fine.
 

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